Terra Prime

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"Terra Prime"
Star Trek: Enterprise episode
Episode no.Season 4
Episode 21
Directed byMarvin V. Rush[1]
Story by
Teleplay by
  • Judith Reeves-Stevens
  • Garfield Reeves-Stevens
  • Manny Coto
Featured musicJay Chattaway
Cinematography byDouglas Knapp
Production code421
Original air dateMay 13, 2005 (2005-05-13)
Guest appearances
Episode chronology
← Previous
"Demons" 		Next →
"These Are the Voyages..."
Star Trek: Enterprise season 4
List of episodes

"Terra Prime" is the 21st episode of the

Marvin Rush
, his second for the series.

Set in the 22nd century, the series follows the adventures of the first

Starfleet Command, unless all aliens leave Earth immediately. Enterprise, Captain Archer and an away team covertly take a shuttlepod
to the array and attempt to stop Paxton and rescue their crew-mates.

The guest actors who appeared in "Demons" were joined by

Empire
.

Plot

Commanders T'Pol and Tucker remain captives of Paxton, who continues to broadcast his demand on all channels and frequencies. Paxton's action has an unsettling effect on the interspecies conference since it is clear that not all humans support it. On Mars, Paxton allows T'Pol and Tucker to see the baby, and T'Pol uses her scanner to learn that the child is unwell (and that Paxton has been using Rigelian gene therapy to treat himself). Seeking to fine-tune their attack, Paxton then threatens T'Pol in order to force Tucker to optimize the targeting system of the array.

Enterprise is then ordered to Mars to destroy the array, but is turned away when a warning shot from the weapon damages the ship. Gannet Brooks, now in the brig, reveals to Ensign

Starfleet Intelligence operative, and that Terra Prime probably has an operative aboard. Under the urging of Minister Samuels, the crew of Enterprise conceive a way to approach the deadly station undetected, using a shuttlepod hidden inside the tail of a comet. Captain Archer elects to lead the away mission, along with Lieutenant Reed, Doctor Phlox
, and Mayweather.

En route, the shuttle's systems suddenly fail, nearly causing it to crash. Landing on Mars, the team then infiltrate Paxton's ship. Teaming up with Tucker, who has escaped his cell, they battle the Terra Prime followers in the control room. During the shootout, Paxton manages to lock the firing sequence — fortunately, Tucker has altered the targeting, and the beam misses. With Paxton under arrest, the hybrid child, named Elizabeth after Tucker's sister, is brought to Phlox, who unfortunately cannot do anything to save her. Investigations also reveal that Ensign Masaro was the spy, and he dies by his own hand. Back at Starfleet, Archer makes an impassioned speech to convince the delegates to explore the universe's mysteries together.

Production

Shran, played by Jeffrey Combs, was written out of the episode, as the decision was made to have the character appear in the series finale instead.[6]

Filming began on "Terra Prime" on the afternoon of February 15, 2005 and continued until February 25. It was the second episode to be directed by

green screen where the away team enter the array, and the actors had make-up applied to represent the red dust of the Martian landscape.[7]

The rover Sojourner was included in a sequence added post production; it had previously appeared in the opening credits of the series

Several guest stars who had appeared in "Demons" continued in their roles in "Terra Prime";

video games.[7] The baby in the episode was played by a pair of twins, and the pointed Vulcan ears were added in post production.[7]

The script requested two post production shots to be added as references to the

Carl Sagan Memorial Station.[7] Following the cancellation of the series two episodes earlier,[8] Coto stated that he considered "Demons" and "Terra Prime" to be the actual finale of the Enterprise storyline, rather than the final aired episode "These Are the Voyages..." which would be a goodbye to the franchise.[9]

Reception

"Terra Prime" was first aired in the United States on

The WB, which aired re-runs of What I Like About You and Reba, but was behind the other four major networks with a CBS special on Elvis Presley receiving ratings of 7.8/14.[10] This was the same ratings received by "Demons",[11] but was less than the final episode, "These Are the Voyages..." which received ratings of 2.4/4 when it was aired immediately after "Terra Prime".[10]

Michelle Erica Green reviewed the episode for TrekNation, saying that it felt like a "real Star Trek episode", but wasn't sure about the characterization for T'Pol seen in "Terra Prime". Green would have preferred to see more of Mars, but was pleased with the glimpse of the Carl Sagan Memorial Station. She summed it up by saying that the two episodes were "no means perfect episodes, but they're reaching very earnestly for what Star Trek was in the beginning".[3]

Jamahl Epsicokhan at his website

Jammer's Reviews said that while there were plot holes in the story, and that elements were clumsy such as the showdown towards the end, the overall story was "sound". Epsicokhan said that the episode was a "much more satisfying as a send-off for the Enterprise crew" than "These Are the Voyages...". He gave "Terra Prime" a score of three out of four.[12]

IGN gave it four out of five, and said; "In a perfect world, Enterprise would have gotten another year and could have used Terra Prime as a running subplot." While they thought that the message was heavy-handed, it was the type of story that Enterprise should have been covering all along.[4]

In 2011, Andre Fisher for

Empire ranked "Terra Prime" as the best episode of the series.[13]

In 2012 Jay Garmon writing for TechRepublic, listed "Demons" and "Terra Prime" as the third of five best episodes of Enterprise. He thought that Peter Weller "stole the show", and that it created a "solid conclusion" to the show, despite the following episode, "These Are the Voyages..."[14]

In a 2015 interview with some of the show's cast with SyFy, this episode was a recommended favorite of theirs, and they suggested that the combination of "Demons" and "Terra Prime" was an alternate finale for Enterprise.[15]

In 2016, The Hollywood Reporter rated "Demons"/"Terra Prime" the 94th best of all Star Trek episodes.[16]

Home media release

"Terra Prime" was released on home media in the United States on November 1, 2005, as part of the season four DVD box set of Enterprise.[17] The Blu-ray edition was released on April 1, 2014.[18]

References

  1. ^ a b STARTREK.COM STAFF (January 21, 2013). "Catching Up With Trek D.P. And Director, Marvin Rush, Part 2". StarTrek.com.
  2. ^ "Star Trek: Enterprise Series 4 – 21. Terra Prime". Radio Times. Archived from the original on November 23, 2012.
  3. ^ a b Green, Michelle Erica (May 14, 2005). "Terra Prime". TrekNation. Retrieved May 28, 2013.
  4. ^ a b c "Trek Report: Video Report – That's a Wrap, Gang". IGN. May 12, 2005. Retrieved April 1, 2021.
  5. ^ Sparborth, Christian (May 10, 2005). "Manny Coto Praises 'These Are the Voyages...'". TrekNation. Archived from the original on February 1, 2008. Retrieved January 1, 2021.
  6. ^ a b Green, Michelle Erica (May 17, 2005). "Reeves-Stevenses Describe 'Terra Prime' Development". TrekNation. Retrieved August 24, 2013.
  7. ^ a b c d e "Production Report: Mars Main Setting of Penultimate "Terra Prime"". Star Trek.com. March 1, 2005. Archived from the original on March 3, 2005. Retrieved May 28, 2013.
  8. CBS Interactive. February 8, 2005. Archived from the original
    on September 7, 2005. Retrieved August 31, 2013.
  9. ^ Sparborth, Christian (May 10, 2005). "Manny Coto Praises "These Are the Voyages..."". TrekNation. Retrieved January 15, 2008.
  10. ^ a b c "Viewers Love CBS Tender on Friday". Zap2it. May 14, 2005. Archived from the original on May 16, 2005. Retrieved May 28, 2013.
  11. ^ "'CSIs' Have It for CBS Friday". Zap2it. May 7, 2005. Archived from the original on May 8, 2005. Retrieved March 28, 2013.
  12. ^ Epsicokhan, Jamahl. "Star Trek: Enterprise "Terra Prime"". Jammer's Reviews. Retrieved May 28, 2013.
  13. ^ Andrew Fisher (2011). "Star Trek: The Best And Worst Episodes: Enterprise". Empire. Archived from the original on October 26, 2012. Retrieved May 4, 2021.
  14. ^ Garmon, Jay (July 12, 2012). "The five best Star Trek: Enterprise episodes of all time!". TechRepublic. Retrieved March 28, 2013.
  15. ^ Granshaw, Lisa (May 13, 2015). "Scott Bakula and Dominic Keating look back on Star Trek: Enterprise's best episodes 10 years later". SYFY WIRE. Archived from the original on June 4, 2019. Retrieved April 1, 2021.
  16. ^ Aaron Couch; Graeme McMillan (September 8, 2016). "'Star Trek': 100 Greatest Episodes". The Hollywood Reporter.
  17. ^ Douglass Jr., Todd (October 24, 2005). "Star Trek Enterprise – The Complete Fourth Season". DVD Talk. Retrieved May 10, 2021.
  18. ^ "Final Season Enterprise Blu-ray Set Available April 1". StarTrek.com. December 18, 2013. Archived from the original on December 28, 2013. Retrieved October 11, 2014.

External links

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