Star Trek: Prodigy Netflix has had a bit of a strange history. It debuted on Paramount+ two and a half years ago and received good reviews. But Paramount canceled the show before airing its second season. Who comes to the rescue? Only the big red N of Netflix, that’s who. Not only did they pick up the show’s first season, but also its already-produced second season.
STAR TREK: PRODIGY SEASON 2: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?
Opening shot: A group of Starfleet petty officers are on a training exercise when little Petty Officer Murf (Dee Bradley Baker) receives a notification from Vice Admiral Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew).
The essence: The whole old group of teenagers who saved the Federation while flying in the Protostar They receive the same notification: Murf, Dal (Brett Gray), Zero (Angus Imrie), Jankom Pog (Jason Mantzoukas) and Rok-Tahk (Rylee Alazraqui). Gwyn (Ella Purnell) has returned to Solum, the home planet she never knew, to see if she can change the First Contact that will lead to the civil war 52 years later, the one that abandoned Captain Chakotay (Robert Beltran) on the future version of the planet.
The quintet meet not Janeway, but The Doctor (Robert Picardo), one of Janeway’s closest confidants in the original. TravelerJaneway has invited them to join her on a new mission, this time on a new one. Travelerworking as interns in their area of interest. The mission is to observe the wormhole created when the Protostar It was destroyed.
Dal is suspicious of the group’s interaction with Janeway when they come aboard, as if the Admiral is distracted by something. He’s also bored with the studying he has to do for command training, so is intrigued when Zero tells him that the Doctor mentioned a third shuttle bay, even though the ship is only supposed to have two.
A quick trip through the Jefferies tubes, despite Rok-Tahk’s objections, brings Dal, Zero, Murf, and Jankom Pog to what looks like an empty shuttle bay. But they soon discover that it isn’t empty; it contains a cloaked shuttle, which is against Starfleet regulations. Then, Janeway, the Doctor, Commander Tysess (Daveed Diggs), and Counselor Noum (Jason Alexander) enter; the four inmates hear what the cloaked ship, called the Plentyit is really for.
What shows will it remind you of? As we said before season 1, Star Trek: Prodigy emits the same vibrations as Star Wars: The Bad Batchbut now the group is a more fully canonical part of the Emigrate universe, so we could also link this to the original. Traveler series.
Our opinion: What we value about Star Trek: Prodigythat Netflix saved from the scrap heap after Paramount+ canceled it is that showrunners Kevin Hageman and Dan Hageman put together a fairly complex adventure despite the fact that the show is aimed at children.
In the second episode, Janeway ends up telling Dal and the others exactly what… Plenty is for: she wants to go through The wormhole and rescuing Chakotay from the future version of Solum. It’s pretty heavy stuff and a dangerous mission. And the mission Gwyn is on is also quite complex, as she seeks to meet the younger version of her father, The Diviner (John Noble). Meanwhile, Aseincia (Jameela Jamil) is determined to sabotage her efforts.
The show’s writers don’t shy away from the dangers of any of these missions, and there are typical Red Shirt deaths, at least in the abstract. And they don’t try to simplify anything, knowing that kids watching the show are smart and their Trekker parents will analyze any inconsistencies or simplified moments.
Since the season spans 20 episodes, there should be plenty of time for this mission to play out without having to leave out details, and there will be time for Gwyn to reunite with the rest of the Ancients. Protostar This is one of the instances where more episodes are helpful, as it gives the writers room to further explore the relationships between the teenage interns, other groups on the ship, as well as Janeway’s relationship with Chakotay. Will it all be canon? Probably not. But there will be more than enough ties to the rest of the series. Emigrate universe to keep fans happy.
What age group is this for?: In addition to the Redshirt-style fatalities, there’s some hand-to-hand combat and pew-pew phaser fights, so despite the show’s TV-Y7 rating, we think it’s more for ages 10 and up.
Parting shot: After listening to Janeway and her executives, Dal says, “And this got interesting!”
Sleeping Star: It’s always fun to hear Robert Picardo play the Doctor again, but…
Pilot’s most typical phrase: We don’t recall the Doctor speaking in any sort of upper-class, haughty voice in the original. TravelerWho ordered Picardo to use a haughtier voice this time?
Our calling: PASS IT ON. Star Trek: Prodigy It offers Trekkers a true adventure with canonical implications that they will be able to understand, while also offering action and characters that kids can relate to. It’s a combination we rarely see in kid-friendly extensions of existing franchises.
Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting, and technology, but he makes no mistake: He’s a TV addict. His articles have appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company, and elsewhere.
