Terror Firma (episode)

Real world article

(written from a production point of view)

For the DIS episode with a similar title, please see "Terra Firma, Part 1".

Marooned on a deadly planet, the crew must work together with their captive Gwyn to stay alive... except the planet isn't the only thing in pursuit.

Summary[]

Act I[]

The crew is stranded on Murder Planet when their ship, the USS Protostar, is flung several kilometers away after a failed hijacking attempt by Gwyn. After ejecting from the Protostar, Gwyn and Murf crash landed on the surface in a half-finished escape shuttle. During the crash, Gwyn suffered a compound fracture in her leg. Dal R'El is upset that she tried to steal their ship and blames her for stranding them on the planet, which just ate the Runaway. However, night is falling and the planet's predatory superorganism is still eager to consume them, so the crew and Gwyn are forced to hike towards the assumed location of the Protostar following coordinates given by Hologram Janeway, hoping to find it before the ship is also consumed by the planet's slithering vines. Dal remains distrustful of Gwyn and refuses to offer her any help despite her injury. Rok-Tahk offers to help Gwyn, but she refuses and "looks after herself" by manipulating her heirloom into a leg brace and following the crew.

As the vines infiltrate the ship's nacelles, Hologram Janeway is limited by what she can do, as she does not have access to high-priority systems. Eventually, she realizes she can "clean house" by using the Protostar's photonic ship scrubbers to sterilize the exterior of the ship and burn off the vines, buying the Protostar crew the time to get to the ship.

The Protostar crew's worst nightmare — Their worst nightmare is manifested by the cilium-like vegetation as a giant watcher.

As the crew continues their journey towards the ship, they are surprised when the planet's mountainous terrain begins terraforming around them, sending them in circles so that they can't find the ship easily. Suddenly, a strange noise emanates from the surrounding forest, and Dal speculates that if this psychic planet can manifest their dreams, it could also manifest their nightmares. From the darkness, a gigantic watcher emerges to attack them. Unfortunately, their phasers have been fixed to only use the stun setting, leaving them defenseless against the creature, until Gwyn uses hers to ignite a torch and hurl it at the watcher. The watcher and the surrounding forest burst into flames, forcing everyone to leap off of an embankment down into a ravine to escape.

Act II[]

Klingon Bird-of-Prey crashed — The crew discovers a downed Bird-of-Prey on the surface of Murder Planet.

The crew takes refuge in a downed Klingon Bird-of-Prey on the planet, which has resorted to using acid rain to attempt to digest them. While the crew eat gagh that Jankom Pog has cooked up into a stew from Klingon emergency rations, Dal and Gwyn talk, examine a mek'leth, and settle their differences. Gwyn explains that her relationship with her father is complicated, and the heirloom is the only thing he ever gave her. While the two gaze up at the sky, together they realize they can use the stars to navigate to the Protostar, since the planet cannot manipulate their positions in the sky. Elsewhere, The Diviner has followed Gwyn's coordinates to Murder Planet and prepares to come to the surface to retake the Protostar.

Act III[]

The crew encounter Drednok, and at first assume he is another illusion manifested by the planet. However, he proves to be real, forcing them to flee after Gwyn attempts to protect them and has her heirloom 'leg brace' blasted apart by the android, leaving her unable to stand. The Diviner beams down close to Gwyn's location and believes he has found the ship, but that it is slowly being destroyed by the vines. As other vines start to overcome the injured Gwyn, she reaches out to The Diviner for help, calling him "Father" in her distress as she pleads for him to rescue her. The Diviner appears conflicted, and to Gwyn's shock, he ultimately chooses to try to save the Protostar, only to become trapped and discover that the ship is a vine illusion as well. Elsewhere, Dal and the others find the real Protostar and take off, rescuing Gwyn before she is eaten by the planet. Drednok takes this opportunity to point out that Gwyn has betrayed them.

The crew manages to escape on the Protostar and ascend into space. As Gwyn is helped to the captain's chair so she can rest, she tells Dal of how The Diviner abandoned her, to which he gives his condolences. After they go to maximum warp, they believe they have escaped The Diviner, but soon find that his ship, the Rev-12, is in hot pursuit right behind them. At first, they plan to shut down an unknown ship system called "gravimetric protostar containment" in order to boost their warp factor, until Zero deduces that their ship is called the Protostar because it is in fact powered by a miniature protostar. The Protostar is caught in the Rev-12's tractor beam, and The Diviner hails the Protostar, ordering Gwyn to "do the right thing" and surrender the ship to him. Gwyn, feeling betrayed by her father, chooses to escape with the crew instead, telling her father that he made his decision, and now she is making hers. She orders the computer to activate the protostar drive, and the ship enters proto-warp and disappears off of The Diviner's long range sensors.

Log entries[]

Captain's log, USS Protostar

Memorable quotes[]

"The planet seems to have given up luring us to stay and has resorted to more direct methods."

- Zero

"Technically, it's not a planet, but a sentient lifeform. Perhaps I can ask its name." (telepathically asking the planet) "No. It just wants to eat us."
"Murder Planet it is."
"Aww, I really liked Larry."

- Zero, Jankom Pog, and Rok-Tahk, about the "Murder Planet"

"No crew, no weapons. Just access to non-essential systems. Think. What would the real Janeway do? She would clean house."

- Hologram Janeway

"The planet has been terraforming around us."
"It's trying to scare us?"
"No. Terraforming. It means the planet is changing. Usually, to become more habitable. But in this case, it's sending us in circles."

- Zero, Rok-Tahk, and Gwyn

"If the planet can make our dreams come true, what about our nightmares?"

- Dal

"I can't believe there are so many stars."
"See that cluster in the line of stars to the left? It looks like-"
"Like a constipation."
"Constellation. Constipation is what we'll both have after eating Jankom's stew."

- Gwyn and Dal R'El

"It's not real! It's not real!"

- The Diviner, realizing he was trying to board a fake ship

"Go, go, go!"
"I am already proceeding in a rapid forward motion. I cannot do it in triplicate!"

- Dal and Zero, racing aboard the real ship

"The Protostar isn't just the name of the ship. The engine is a protostar!"

- Zero, realizing the secret of the Protostar

"You made your choice, Father. Now I've made mine."

- Gwyn, before the Protostar jumps to proto-warp

Background information[]

Title[]

The title was officially announced by Paramount+ on 15 November 2021. [1]
The title was erroneously listed as "Terra Firma" on Crave. It is a play on that phrase.

Production[]

This episode marked the end of the first part of Season 1. It was the first mid-season finale for a Star Trek series since DIS: "Into the Forest I Go".
This episode was released at the same time as DIS: "Kobayashi Maru". It was the first time two episodes were released simultaneously since 12 December 2019, when ST: "The Girl Who Made the Stars" and ST: "Ephraim and Dot" premiered. It was also the first time two episodes of separate Star Trek series were released at the same time since 26 May 1999, when DS9: "The Dogs of War" was premiering in syndication the same week UPN aired VOY: "Equinox".

Continuity[]

This episode marks both the discovery of, and the first use of, the USS Protostar's protostar drive.

Production history[]

18 November 2021: Premiere on Paramount+
22 July 2022: Broadcast premiere on Nickelodeon

Links and references[]

Cast[]

And

Kate Mulgrew as Hologram Janeway
Bonnie Gordon as Ship Computer

Previous episode:

"Dream Catcher"

Star Trek: Prodigy

Season 1

Next episode:

"Kobayashi"