Read this review to see if the Star Trek: Strange New Worlds episode “Terrarium” is worth watching.
All episodes of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds are available to stream on Paramount+. New episodes of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds drop every Thursday.
Click the link to read our review of the previous episode, “Four-and-a-Half Vulcans.”
Have you watched Star Trek: Strange New Worlds yet? Let us know what you think in the comments section below, and feel free to share this review on any social media platform.
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About Star Trek: Strange New Worlds
- Season 3, Episode 9: “Terrarium”
- Directed by Andrew Coutts
- Written by Alan B. McElroy
- Synopsis: “Stranded on a toxic moon, Ortegas must defy her deepest beliefs to survive.”
- Airdate: September 04, 2025
- Starring: Anson Mount, Christina Chong, Celia Rose Gooding, Melissa Navia, Babs Olusanmokun, Martin Quinn, Rebecca Romijn, Jess Bush, Carol Kane, Alex Kapp, Ethan Peck, Warren Scherer, and Dariush Zadeh
Recap Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (2025): S3E09 – “Terrarium”
The episode opens with the Enterprise exploring a “peculiar” space sector, which sLt. Erica Ortegas (Melissa Navia) says is legendary for its tales of strange phenomena. Because of the “monster” gravity waves, it has to be mapped out by flying a shuttle on manual controls.. Ortegas is psyched to go on the dangerous solo flight in the stripped-down shuttle Archimedes. Despite the dangers, she’s looking forward to the mission to clear her head. She’s having a blast and compares it to flying in a hurricane. But, suddenly, a wormhole appears, and she gets pulled in, causing her to crash-land near a gas giant surrounded by asteroids and moons. Despite the loss of her rations and shuttle, Erica jerryrigs a water condenser and heads out to find food and a better shelter. She realizes the moon is going to be destroyed by the atmosphere of the gas giant. As she explores, she discovers a cave inhabited by a huge Gorn. Of all the gin joints in all the moons in all the universe, the Gorn walks into hers. Two days later, the Enterprise crew has a meeting to assess the situation. The wormhole mysteriously appeared, and there’s still no sign of her shuttle or any signals. Plus, they have a vaccine to deliver to the colonists on Epsilon Indi III soon. Nyota Uhura (Celia Rose Gooding) and Spock (Ethan Peck) find Ortegas’ beacon, proving he made it through the wormhole. Spock is skeptical, but probes show the opening of the wormhole is shrinking. Una Chin-Riley (Rebecca Romijn) and the others lean towards leaving due to the colony’s pandemic. Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount) gives Uhura and Spock four hours to work on a new plan, but simulations show it won’t work. Nyoto fudges numbers to convince Pike they can use the Enterprise to hold the wormhole open and rescue their helmsman. Meanwhile, on the moon, Erica is stranded with a Gorn (played by Warren Scherer). But instead of attacking her, it gives her one of the monsters it captured to eat. When another monster attacks, the Gorn deploys a makeshift shield to protect them. Ortegas volunteers to fix the Gorn’s injured leg in exchange for the parts she needs to build a communication array. Turns out the Gorn is a female pilot like her. The two bond by teaching each other games like chess. Checkers would have made more sense. But, anyway, the wormhole is shrinking, and she says it feels like they’re being watched. Erica uses the spare parts to make an SOS and finds more crystals to heal the lizard’s leg. But the Gorn’s dying and, thanks to the translator she rigged up, insists she’s broken and doesn’t want to leave. For some reason, the Gorn Girl is now her best friend, and Erica insists she come with her to the ship. But, while she’s setting up the communicator, she gets attacked again and destroys the shield and the communicator she built. She says, “I just killed us.” Back on the Enterprise, the “best pilot on the ship,” Captain Pike, heads into the wormhole. They discover the gas giant and 396 moons and start randomly scanning for her. While they’re doing that, Gorn Girl and Ortegas decide to use a flare to make a “burning SOS” signal in the sky. She’s about to give up when the Gorm offers up crystals to set off the explosion. The random scans aren’t working, and they’re out of time. Uhura tries to tell Captain Pike she fudged the numbers, but he already knew. Just when they’re about to leave, they pick up the explosion. Nyota says, “Only Erica would be crazy enough to set a planet on fire to get our attention.” La’an Noonien-Singh (Christina Chong) leads an away team. They beam down and, thinking she’s in danger, immediately shoot the Gorn. Erica is devastated at her friend’s death and screams for the “sparkle thing” to tell her why it’s doing this. Suddenly, the universe freezes, and a pale guy in a sparkly outfit shows up. It’s a Metron. The same race from the Original Series episode “Arena.” It turns out they’re running an experiment by forcing the two races together. The Metron is going to erase their memory of the event, but not her experiences on the planet. Erica receives a hug from Uhura, and Ortegas is left with a souvenir game piece and her memories of Gorn Girl.Overall: Watch Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (2025): S3E09 – “Terrarium”
Watch the Star Trek: Strange New Worlds episode “Terrarium” because it’s a good and charming character study. This episode reminded me of the aforementioned “Arena” and the Next Generation episodes ”The Enemy” and “Darmok Time.” But it reminded me more of the Patrick Swayze and Lewis Gossett Jr. movie Enemy Mine. The good part, anyway. The episode of Strange New Worlds is a solid and engaging return to form after two mediocre episodes in a row. It focuses on the bond between a mistrustful human and a vicious Gorn, highlighting the foundational principles of the show. The episode is entertaining and genuinely moving, and ties into future canon in a meaningful way. It is the most Star Trek episode of the season, putting the show back on track and evoking anticipation for the final episode of the season. “Terrarium” would’ve benefitted from at least one scene with La’an and Ortegas in the aftermath, so they could better understand each other’s perspectives. Of course, Ortegas still considers La’an a friend, but it would’ve been nice to see La’an’s side of things. How they emerged from their Gorn-related traumatic experiences is quite different. I’m giving this episode 3.5 out of 5 stars
All episodes of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds are available to stream on Paramount+. New episodes of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds drop every Thursday.
Click the link to read our review of the previous episode, “Four-and-a-Half Vulcans.”
Have you watched Star Trek: Strange New Worlds yet? Let us know what you think in the comments section below, and feel free to share this review on any social media platform.
You can also follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Bluesky. Have a wonderful day, and be sure to read our previous television reviews. 