A fairly pedestrian, Trekkean story about a lost colony of the earliest settlers that has reverted to a primitive existence in underground caves after an unforeseen catastrophe wiped out their parents' village.
That's about it, really.
The main Enterprise crew are seen beginning to get on together as a team but certain tropes are already established: such as the Captain going on every away mission and T'Pol's facial expressions ranging all the way from disinterest to distaste.
Despite sound performances by guest actors Eric Avari and Mary Carver as the luckless offspring of the original colonists, this is starting to look very much like something we've seen too many times before.
After more than three decades someone actually talks about needing to go to the bathroom (only he's British so he says "lavatory") but, when the real -life mysteries mentioned in the opening scene turn out to be more interesting than the one presented on screen, there isn't much to hold the attention. Yes, I did look up Judge Crater and Amelia Earhart and, yes, I admit it, I did so before the end of Terra Nova.
Senior Trekker scores every episode with a 5.