Terra Nova is described as one of the first attempts by humans to settle another world. Using early-stage warp engines that can take years to go from one star system to the next, the colonists successfully landed on a planet and named it 'Terra Nova', or 'New Earth'. Quite the ambitious declaration. When Earth sought to send another batch of colonists to the same world, the original group protested, and it devolved into a nasty war of words that culminated in TN cutting off all contact with Earth. No one had been there since, until the Enterprise, fast enough to make the trip in a much shorter time, dropped by for a visit.
They discover a race of underground people who speak a primitive form of English, who take Lt. Reed captive and demand that the Enterprise and its crew of 'humans' leave them alone. It doesn't take a degree in anthropology to figure out that these people are the descendants of the Terra Nova colonists, driven underground by a radioactive meteor that poisoned the surface and killed most of the adults; the only survivors were the children, who demonstrated true colonial spirit in figuring out how to survive without any adults to guide them.
In the end, one of the oldest Novans is identified as a young girl from the original colony, and Archer works with the Novan leader to rescue one of the trapped Novans from drowning. The Enterprise leaves Terra Nova without bringing any of its people back to Earth, since they have no memory of the planet anyway and are adapted to survive here. And thus, the mystery of Terra Nova is solved.
This isn't one of the episodes I look back on with fondness. The background is, frankly, weak. The original colonists (of which there were about eighty or so) complain that Earth is sending more people? It's a planet, not an isolated valley. You're going to need some genetic variation to sustain a tiny population like this anyway. You don't want to see the newcomers? They can land on the other side of the world and never have anything to do with you! Threatening a state of war with your home planet when you have zero space capability (having used the colony ship as building materials to get the colony started)? And then blaming Earth for 'sending' a radioactive asteroid to kill you all? Come on. There is so much wrong with that premise to begin with, that it makes the whole episode fall flat.
As for the Novans themselves, the idea is interesting and executed fairly well. The Novans, who were all children and their descendants after the adults all died in the radiation poisoning (why the kids didn't die isn't fully explained), grew up believing that Earth had killed their parents and abandoned them to their fate. Of course they don't consider themselves humans, and treat the Enterprise crew as enemies.
There are some nice character moments; Mayweather is the most excited crewmember, having learned about the lost colony as a child and wanting to solve the mystery. Archer frustrated that he is supposed to be making first contact with alien species, and he can't even do it right with a colony of humans. It's an episode that showcases just how comparatively primitive this show's setting and technology are compared to the original series, let alone the TNG/DS9/VOY era.
Overall, though, this is the weakest episode thus far, and that's two poor ones in a row. This one is getting a 2 out of 10; the interesting initial premise is overshadowed by the terribly thought-out backstory. Very disappointing.
Next time, though...we meet the Andorians. Oh, yes.
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