Strange New Worlds Delivers The Long-Awaited Ortegas Episode
Warning: SPOILERS For Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 3, Episode 9 – “Terrarium”Star Trek: Strange New Worlds finally delivered the Lt. Erica Ortegas (Melissa Navia) episode fans have demanded for three years. Directed by Andrew Coutts and written by Alan B. McElroy, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3, episode 9, “Terrarium,” places Ortegas in the spotlight, at last.
InStar Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3, episode 9, “Terrarium,” Lt. Erica Ortegas’ shuttle crash-lands on a barren planetoid orbiting a gas giant after she travels into a mysterious wormhole. There’s one other alien lifeform on this rock: a Gorn pilot (Warren Scherer) who crashed before Erica.
Ortegas has been traumatized since barely surviving her Gorn abduction in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds‘ season 3 premiere. In order to survive, Erica overcomes her fear and befriends the Gorn, working together to be rescued by the USS Enterprise – until a tragic twist reveals Ortegas has been manipulated all along by the Metron (Dariush Zadeh).
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Finally Delivered The Ortegas Episode Fans Demanded For 3 Years
Not only is Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3, episode 9 a showcase for Lieutenant Erica Ortegas, but it was practically a one-woman show that placed Melissa Navia’s remarkable talent on full display. As Ortegas, Navia held the screen and the audience’s empathy for the entire episode. We felt her fear, her courage, and her never-say-die determination.
Evoking the 1980s sci-fi film Enemy Mine and episodes like Star Trek: The Next Generation‘s “Darmok,” Erica’s evolving relationship with the Gorn went from abject fear, to compassion, to understanding, to genuine camaraderie. Opposite a stuntman wearing the Gorn costume, Melissa Navia carried the episode with skill, heart, and the inspiring spirit of the best kind of Starfleet Officer.
“Terrarium” also showed off Lt. Erica Ortega’s surprising skills as a Starfleet engineer. In a dire scenario where ingenuity meant survival, the hotshot pilot of the USS Enterprise ingeniously problem-solved, creating a makeshift dispenser for drinking water, and even jury-rigging her tricorder into a universal translator, so that the Gorn can tell her “agree” or “disagree.”
Ortegas’ Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Episode Was Worth The 3 Year Wait
Melissa Navia pours her heart into every episode of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, but she only became aware after season 1 that audiences felt Lt. Erica Ortegas needed more screen time. Fans coined the hashtag #Mortegas online to plead for Erica to get an episode that showcases her to the fullest.
Lt. Erica Ortegas has been pleasingly prominent throughout Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3. Erica has displayed new dimensions, a little rebellion, and introducing her younger brother, Beto Ortegas (Mynor Luken), was a pleasing window into Erica’s family dynamics. Erica continues to be snarky and effervescent, while remaining Starfleet’s best pilot.
“Terrarium” was worth the 3-year wait as Melissa Navia’s limelight showcase playing Lt. Erica Ortegas.
“Terrarium” was worth the 3-year wait as Melissa Navia’s limelight showcase playing Lt. Erica Ortegas. Erica emerged from Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3, episode 9 as an even more admirable hero than before, overcoming her fear of her greatest enemy to mourn the Gorn who became a true friend.
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