10 Greatest Star Trek Moments In 2025
5. In This Arena, It's All About Ortegas
Melissa Navia burst onto our screens in Strange New Worlds' pilot episode and, as pilots go, she's been a highlight of the show from the beginning. Season one left fans wanting a dedicated episode for Erica Ortegas, whereas season two teased, but failed to deliver.
Adding together both early seasons and the two-year gap thanks to the Writers' Guild of America Strike in 2023, audiences were crawling the walls in anticipation of an Ortegas-centric episode. Terrarium delivered on that long wait, bringing a modern update on an old story, with a powerful, emotional portrayal from its lead actor.
Navia teased the fact that the show's producers were aware of the demand for MOrtegas and, when the episode finally dropped, hopes were fulfilled. The story echoed Enemy Mine, Darmok, and the age-old trope of two enemies learning to understand each other. Ortegas was paired with a Gorn, one of her great fears, and rather than spend half an episode butting heads, they developed a friendship that we're still loving to this day.
It was the highlight of the show's third season, reminding not only the audience, but those making the show as well, that the strength of Star Trek lies in the ensemble. The many, rather than the few. While at the time of writing, we know next to nothing about the fourth season, other than a piece of felt, we can only hope that this is the beginning of MOrtegas's many adventures.