Warning! The following contains spoilers for the Star Trek: Strange New Worlds episode "Terrarium." Stream the episode with a Paramount+ subscription, and read at your own risk!
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' showrunners promised us that fans would finally get more of Erica Ortegas in Season 3, and her big storyline came to a close in the penultimate episode with a brilliant standalone episode. Viewers may think "Terrarium" featured a lot of actress Melissa Navia acting alongside someone in a Gorn suit, but CinemaBlend learned the reality of filming was much more challenging than that.
I had the honor of speaking to Navia ahead of "Terrarium" being available with a Paramount+ subscription, and she talked about the challenge of acting with an alien that's mainly non-verbal the bulk of the episode. The actress confirmed the episode came with challenges, mainly the fact that they could only use the Gorn suit for a limited amount of time:
Here's the thing, that suit was so heavy and so crazy that our time with Warren [Scherer] in the suit was limited. So there was a good amount of times where I would be having, you know, my close-up and I was acting opposite. George, our Assistant Director. Love George. George is not the Gorn. Oh goodness, I hope George reads this. I could still picture George sitting there going, ‘Grumpy Gorn.’ But I am acting opposite George, or I'd be acting opposite the head of the Gorn with nobody in it because it was just impossible because the suit is so heavy.
Moving around in the practical Gorn suit was a challenge, and as such, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds could only really utilize it when it was absolutely necessary to be in the scene. All this to say, Melissa Navia did most of those scenes without an acting partner, or at least a capable one to help convey the extreme emotion she displays in the episode.
The Gorn does appear in full costume a few times in the episode, but Strange New Worlds was careful in how the full costume was used. Melissa Navia explained what precautions were taken when they used it, and where in the episode readers can tell the full suit is being used:
Warren had a fan inside [the suit]. Like that's how sweaty and crazy it was. So every time he got in the suit, we were really on a timer. And so when we used him to his fullest extent, it was when the Gorn was on screen.
It sounds like the Gorn suit could only be used for a limited time during filming, but one wouldn't know it watching "Terrarium." In fact, I thought it was wild how much I saw of the Gorn in the episode, to the point I almost forgot it wasn't a real creature getting a SAG credit for its role.
While the episode's ending had a tragic twist, I can't help but applaud the episode as what felt like a capstone to Erica Ortegas' big story in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 3. With showrunners seemingly laying the groundwork for a Captain Kirk spinoff highlighting his first year as captain of the Enterprise, the bittersweet reality is we only have so many more episodes where Ortegas is guaranteed to be a part of the story.
The same is true for characters like Number One and La'an, but they've definitely had more of a chance to shine at this point than Melissa Navia's Ortegas. Fortunately, it's clear that a lot of care was taken in beefing up the helmsman's story this season and even adding in some meta references that were personal to Navia's life.
These efforts make it easier to prepare for saying goodbye to these characters, as we know Star Trek: Strange New Worlds will end with Season 5. The series will only get six episodes to wrap things up, with Akiva Goldsman stating the goal is to bring the show right up to where Paul Wesley's Captain Kirk takes command of the Enterprise from Captain Pike. As of writing, a spinoff is not planned for the series, but we'll see if that changes once we get closer to the show's actual end date.
Until then, the Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 3 finale is set to stream on Paramount+ on Thursday, September 11th. We'll see how the season ends soon and how it sets the stage for what's to come in Season 4.
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