[7.6/10] “Terror Firma” tries to answer two essential questions for Star Trek: Prodigy: Why would Gwyn join this ragtag bunch of “cadets” and why would they accept her?
The answer to the former question has been hinted at throughout the show to this point, but gets firm confirmation here -- the father whose love and approval she wants so badly has none for her. She sees that when he chooses the Protostar over her life, and barely hesitates. By contrast, even though they could get away scot free, Dal and the rest of the crew risk their lives to pull her out of the same morass of vines and rescue her for good. It’s a clear and effective dramatization of who cares about her, who doesn’t, and where their loyalties ought to lie.
As for why the gang ought to accept her despite her being complicit in their capture, she proves that loyalty and her value to the group. She saved Murf. She helps with the fixed star idea. She bonds with her fellow ragamuffins. And most importantly, she makes up for having sold them out by putting her own life on the line to save them. Her willingness to stand in front of Drednok and insist he leave them alone balances the scale. She looks out for their interests when she doesn’t have to, when if anything, she puts herself at more risk. That means something.
And I appreciate how this one plays things sly a little bit. Dal is the biggest skeptic of Gwyn given all that they’ve been through, given the way she tried to leave without them, given the way she contacted the Diviner to come intercept them. But he’s also the one who bonds with her over a starlit sky, and the one who chooses to rescue her when he too could just take the ship and boogie. There’s symbolism in Gwyn’s magic arm device locking onto Dal, signifying a more metaphorical bond between them forged from these events.
The rest of the episode’s business is quite good too. I love the twist of the Diviner having to make his choice between Gwyn and the ship, only for the episode to reveal that the ship is just another hallucination caused by the planet. It’s a good reminder of the central conceit of this world, something the show had sorta dropped to that point, and a way to illustrate what the Diviner’s really after without having to spell it out in dialogue.
Granted, the action didn’t do much for me here. The characters movements are still off, and outside of the vine rescue sequence, the set pieces feel a touch rote. Why our heroes had to fight a giant vine monster halfway through is beyond me. It felt like filler. And the humor continues to run a bit broad, with wacky greek chorus commentary from the rest of the crew and “constipation” jokes.
But I do like getting a little more insight into the other characters through explicating their deepest desires. I’d written off the visions for Jankom, Rok, and Zero last episode. But the idea that Jankom misses his Tellarite “sleeper ship”, Rok-Tahk wants people to accept her despite appearance, and Zero falls prey to obsession are all interesting wrinkles for the character.
That said, I find the reveal that the Protostar contains an actual proto star as a fuel source to be a little silly, but maybe it’s a hint as to why the ship was out here. Something about Holo-Janeway ensuring that other Starfleet crews don’t get stranded in the same way that Voyager did? Who knows!
Overall, this was another strong outing for the series, which has done a good job of establishing the characters, relationships, and conflicts, and can now hopefully delve more into regular adventures than introduction mode.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2021-11-18T15:11:10Z
[7.6/10] “Terror Firma” tries to answer two essential questions for Star Trek: Prodigy: Why would Gwyn join this ragtag bunch of “cadets” and why would they accept her?
The answer to the former question has been hinted at throughout the show to this point, but gets firm confirmation here -- the father whose love and approval she wants so badly has none for her. She sees that when he chooses the Protostar over her life, and barely hesitates. By contrast, even though they could get away scot free, Dal and the rest of the crew risk their lives to pull her out of the same morass of vines and rescue her for good. It’s a clear and effective dramatization of who cares about her, who doesn’t, and where their loyalties ought to lie.
As for why the gang ought to accept her despite her being complicit in their capture, she proves that loyalty and her value to the group. She saved Murf. She helps with the fixed star idea. She bonds with her fellow ragamuffins. And most importantly, she makes up for having sold them out by putting her own life on the line to save them. Her willingness to stand in front of Drednok and insist he leave them alone balances the scale. She looks out for their interests when she doesn’t have to, when if anything, she puts herself at more risk. That means something.
And I appreciate how this one plays things sly a little bit. Dal is the biggest skeptic of Gwyn given all that they’ve been through, given the way she tried to leave without them, given the way she contacted the Diviner to come intercept them. But he’s also the one who bonds with her over a starlit sky, and the one who chooses to rescue her when he too could just take the ship and boogie. There’s symbolism in Gwyn’s magic arm device locking onto Dal, signifying a more metaphorical bond between them forged from these events.
The rest of the episode’s business is quite good too. I love the twist of the Diviner having to make his choice between Gwyn and the ship, only for the episode to reveal that the ship is just another hallucination caused by the planet. It’s a good reminder of the central conceit of this world, something the show had sorta dropped to that point, and a way to illustrate what the Diviner’s really after without having to spell it out in dialogue.
Granted, the action didn’t do much for me here. The characters movements are still off, and outside of the vine rescue sequence, the set pieces feel a touch rote. Why our heroes had to fight a giant vine monster halfway through is beyond me. It felt like filler. And the humor continues to run a bit broad, with wacky greek chorus commentary from the rest of the crew and “constipation” jokes.
But I do like getting a little more insight into the other characters through explicating their deepest desires. I’d written off the visions for Jankom, Rok, and Zero last episode. But the idea that Jankom misses his Tellarite “sleeper ship”, Rok-Tahk wants people to accept her despite appearance, and Zero falls prey to obsession are all interesting wrinkles for the character.
That said, I find the reveal that the Protostar contains an actual proto star as a fuel source to be a little silly, but maybe it’s a hint as to why the ship was out here. Something about Holo-Janeway ensuring that other Starfleet crews don’t get stranded in the same way that Voyager did? Who knows!
Overall, this was another strong outing for the series, which has done a good job of establishing the characters, relationships, and conflicts, and can now hopefully delve more into regular adventures than introduction mode.