Paramount+ Star Trek: Prodigy (Paramount+) (1 Viewer)

[Jason_V]

The break is also so that there's no overlap with Discovery.

It was stated early in the game that the aim was to have a new Star Trek episode every week of the year.

If I do my math right, there will be overlap with Discovery when Prodigy comes back in 2022.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Finally got a chance to watch last Thursday's episode, and I continue to really enjoy it. Structurally, it's playing a lot like the old Saturday morning serials: A single group of protagonists facing off against a single antagonist and his minions, involved in a single story, which has been sliced up into chapters that tell their own episodic stories and often end on cliffhangers. If it worked for American children for half a century, no reason the format wouldn't work today.

As this young ragtag crew continues to get their feet wet, they're faced with your basic bread and butter sort of away mission threat: a sentient planet that wants to consume them.

One of the advantages this has over the live action shows is that it can feature some truly alien environments, of the sort that only the motion pictures have ever really attempted to show. Some of the backgrounds on the class M planet were truly awe inspiring.

The moral landscape here continues to be quite murky for a kids' show, too. Gwyn is basically an enemy combatant, who is still very much aligned with her father, the season's Big Bad. At the same time, she could have escaped on the shuttle but ended up crash landing because she delayed her departure to grab Murf. And the way she figured out that her father wasn't really her father was when the silica approximation expressed pride and displayed affection. No matter how badly she craves her father's approval, on some level she knows what kind of person he is.

Likewise, Dal starts acting like a reckless immature moron. But when the going gets tough, he focuses in on what matters and rescues the others before returning to the ship.

We also got some hints about how a Tellarite got so far out into the Delta Quadrant. Jankom mentioned having been on a Tellarite sleeper ship. Given that he's never heard of the Federation, of which the Tellarites were a founding member, perhaps his ship left before the Federation was founded in 2161 and he was in suspended animation for centuries.

 

[Sam Favate]

It doesn't yet feel like Star Trek to me. The crew is very immature, sometimes annoying so, and they're facing a real villain who is out to get them. Between that and the main character reminding me a lot of Ezra Bridger from Rebels, this feels a lot like Star Wars. Much of the crew simply acts dumb much of the time. I guess that's comedy, but it's not Star Trek.

 

[Jason_V]

It doesn't yet feel like Star Trek to me. The crew is very immature, sometimes annoying so, and they're facing a real villain who is out to get them. Between that and the main character reminding me a lot of Ezra Bridger from Rebels, this feels a lot like Star Wars. Much of the crew simply acts dumb much of the time. I guess that's comedy, but it's not Star Trek.

I dunno, they're kids and not Starfleet officers.

Something is coming to mind about Prodigy and Lower Decks...I am not trying to start a fight or be antagonistic toward anyone. Simply something I've been thinking about.

Prodigy is crewed by kids with no Starfleet training who have been free for a hot second. Lower Decks is crewed by legit, adult Starfleet officers who have gone through the Academy. I give a lot more grace toward the Prodigy cast than anyone in Lower Decks for that simple reason. Lower Decks is usually absurd and the cast does things because #comedy. And a lot of what happens in that show is praised and laughed at and "don't take it seriously."

Prodigy, on the other hand, gives us a realistic portrayal of kids in a brand new situation and, when they don't act like model Starfleet officers, the internet starts saying this isn't Trek. I'm not saying I didn't cringe when Dal took the vehicle out for a joyride and ignored Janeway saying to stick together. I did. But I have much more patience with that than I do anything in Lower Decks.

I don't get it.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I’m not one to really get into the whole “is it real Star Trek” debate - I don’t like that kind of gatekeeping and in general my philosophy is if the rights holders make it and call it Star Trek, then it’s Star Trek. Same with Star Wars, for that matter.

What I’m finding a little confusing about Prodigy is what age group the show is intended for. The double length pilot seemed to skew much older for me - that struck me as something for teens or preteens with its depictions of a dark, violent, slavery driven world fueled by child slavery. The following episodes seemed to skew a bit younger, with more exploratory stories and a more lighthearted tone.

Caveat here is that I have two year olds so I haven’t really had to gauge what content works for what ages yet and all that. Even if all of the episodes were more like the less violent installments they’re still not ready for it so that’s a moot point.

The tonal shifts do leave me confused for who this is supposed to be for. But that doesn’t mean I’m not enjoying it. I definitely get some of that animated Star Wars feel, but I consider that praise since those were/are very good shows. It’s interesting (in a good way!) to have a show that looks at the Trek world/Federation/Starfleet from an outsider’s perspective, in much the same way those Star Wars shows (particularly Rebels, which this most reminds me of) take iconography that’s now universally familiar but use it in service of telling stories mostly separate from what other films and shows have told before.

 

[TonyD]

Still feels more Star Warsy then Trekkie to me but that’s not a complaint..

So anyone have thoughts on the ship having a “3-D printer” that can make a shuttle in about 5 minutes.

 

[Jason_V]

Still feels more Star Warsy then Trekkie to me but that’s not a complaint..

So anyone have thoughts on the ship having a “3-D printer” that can make a shuttle in about 5 minutes.

Maybe it’s a piece of tech they got from Voyager? I mean, how many shuttles did they go through with limited resources?

Really, I thought it was pretty cool. A different kind of replicator, really. That’s it. Kinda like the tech to recreate Worf’s spike from Ethics…just with a technology overlay on it. I don’t know why it was taking so long, but I’m not going to try to overthink this one.

 

[Greg.K]

The “industrial size” replicator is a logical evolution of the smaller ones and would be pretty handy on a starship. Not sure what it uses for raw material though.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

I'm guessing that was one of the technologies that earned the Protostar an NX registry number. And given that this ship was apparently intended for the Delta Quadrant, cut off from resupply from the Federation for an extended period, it makes particular sense for this ship. I mean, Voyager went through at least a dozen shuttles during its journey home, and even replicating the parts it would have taken a lot of crew resources to build them from scratch. In the heart of the Federation, where there are highly automated production lines, the industrial scale replicators are probably more resource-intensive than they're worth.

 

[Jason_V]

Also, industrial replicators have been mentioned in DS9 quite a bit, so they aren’t anything new.

 

[Jason_V]

Ah part II...the mid-season finale. Going in, I wasn't sure five episodes then a break was a good idea. In hindsight, I think this was a great place for the show to take some time off. Why? Put simply, we have the Protostar's crew finally formed. Up to this point, Gwyn was "the other", the one person on the Protostar who was not a conventional slave at the beginning of the show (she was a slave in other ways). She has fully reconciled the fact her father does not care about her by the end of this episode. Of course, she knew that previously, but this crystalized the idea in her mind.

Do I expect her to lapse back into "can Daddy change and love me?" territory? Sure, but I don't want to see that as an ongoing story every week.

As for Dal this week, the mere fact he put his life on the line to save Gwyn shows he is maturing, little by little. As the "enemy," it would have been easy for him (and the crew) to walk away from her...but that's not what Starfleet does, it's not what good people do. So the crew rescues Gwyn and there really isn't any discussion about putting her back in the brig. She's on the bridge, they escape from the Diviner and we're on our way.

I am still captivated by the opening credits and the theme. It looks magnificent and I can't help but be enraptured by them every single week.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Ah part II...the mid-season finale. Going in, I wasn't sure five episodes then a break was a good idea. In hindsight, I think this was a great place for the show to take some time off. Why? Put simply, we have the Protostar's crew finally formed. Up to this point, Gwyn was "the other", the one person on the Protostar who was not a conventional slave at the beginning of the show (she was a slave in other ways). She has fully reconciled the fact her father does not care about her by the end of this episode. Of course, she knew that previously, but this crystalized the idea in her mind.

It was inevitable that Gwyn would side with the Protostar over her father at some point, but I was pleasantly surprised that it happened this quickly.

As for Dal this week, the mere fact he put his life on the line to save Gwyn shows he is maturing, little by little. As the "enemy," it would have been easy for him (and the crew) to walk away from her...but that's not what Starfleet does, it's not what good people do. So the crew rescues Gwyn and there really isn't any discussion about putting her back in the brig. She's on the bridge, they escape from the Diviner and we're on our way.

The thing that gives me the most hope for Dal is his willingness to listen to the others and change his mind when they make good points.

I am still captivated by the opening credits and the theme. It looks magnificent and I can't help but be enraptured by them every single week.

The CG characters are fine, but the planets and the space backdrops are at times jaw-droppingly beautiful.

 

[TonyD]

Is this right, only 5 episodes this part in the season and only aired over 4 nights and the rest some time next year?

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Is this right, only 5 episodes this part in the season and only aired over 4 nights and the rest some time next year?

Ten episode first season, split into two halves. Episodes resume on January 6th.

 

[Nelson Au]

I watched the latest episode Terror Firma last night. But before that, I re-watched Dream Catcher because I fell asleep halfway through last week, on the second try, I still fell asleep! But I managed watch most of it. Perhaps the issue I had with Dream Catcher is it is a familiar plot of a life form that reads your thoughts and tries to give you what you want while it kills you.

Terror Firma was much more engaging and I figured the outcome between Dal and Gwyn‘s character story arcs would play the way it did. I was curious how Kate Mulgrew’s holographic Janeway would develop. It was interesting to see her play out more like the holographic doctor did on Voyager. There was one line that I thought was kind of odd, she asks what the real Janeway would do. Kind of surprised she didn’t know what the protostar was.

I guess that’s the first 5 episodes done now. And the remaining 5 will be released next year. Not sure how I feel about the show so far. I hope they reveal why the Protostar is out there in the Delta Quadrant.

 

[Doug Wallen]

Just finished this series return with "Kobayashi".

Nostalgia big time, interesting use of the holodeck and an excellent storyline. Some answers given and a larger mystery uncovered. Looking forward to where this is headed.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Just finished this series return with "Kobayashi".

Nostalgia big time, interesting use of the holodeck and an excellent storyline.

Unfortunately, one of the entertainment sites I frequent had a big screenshot of Dr. Crusher rendered in the CG style used by "Prodigy", so I knew that cameo was coming but not the full extent of the fan service. We already knew that the version of the Kobayashi Maru test used at Starfleet Academy got regular updated to reflect contemporary ships, and that the crew used in the simulation was customizable. It makes sense, then, that ships would have a version of the test that was fully customizable.

It stretched credibility a little bit that the all-star crew selected by the computer would just happen to consistent entirely of beloved characters that adult versions were already familiar with, but it was fun enough for me to not get hung up on it. Bringing back Gates McFadden to do the heavy lifting with the required exposition allowed them to get away with cleverly reediting dialogue from episodes of the previous shows to serve their needed purpose here for the rest. Especially with the TOS characters, you can hear the difference in sound quality between the dialog recorded in analog using 1960s technology and the newly recorded dialogue. But, again, it's so fun I didn't care.

Having an all-star crew served a storytelling purpose, too: up until now, Dal has blamed others for his mistakes; if only he had a better crew, he told himself, his genius as a captain would shine through. This story forced him to confront the fact that maybe the problem was him.

Some answers given and a larger mystery uncovered. Looking forward to where this is headed.

Driving that point Dal learned in the test home is the fact that in her first day of unrestricted access, Gwynn has already accomplished more than Dal's entire tenure as "captain". We knew that Robert Beltran had recorded dialogue for the show, but we didn't know in what context he would appear.

The reveal that he was actually the captain of the Protostar was one that I didn't see coming, but probably should have. It helps explain why Janeway looks like she did in the Voyager era, too; Chakotay would want the Emergency Command Hologram to look like Janeway during the period of time he knew her best.

It does raise questions about the timeline, though. CBSViacom had previously indicated that the first season of "Prodigy" takes place in 2383, five years after Voyager made it back home.

But the mid-episode flashback jumps back 17 years. 2383-17=2366. The stardate indicated, 43939.9, actually supports this: It's in between the stardates for the TNG episodes "Ménage à Troi" and "Transfigurations", which both took place in the year 2366. And it's more believable that Starfleet would have trusted Chakotay with command of a cutting edge vessel before his defection to the Maquis than after.

That would seem to mean that the Protostar is a lot older than most of us had assumed, however -- especially since the henchmen of Gwynn's father indicated that others had been searching for the ship for years by 2366. Barring time travel schenegans, though, or the ship returning to Federation control after the flashback in this episode, it's a pretty massive retcon for the Chakotay character.

The uniform isn't much help, either, since the design of Chakotay's uniform isn't one we've seen before.

 

[GlennC]

I really enjoyed this episode. i suppose I shouldn’t laugh but it was really funny when following the success of the test, the Enterprise was accidentally destroyed because of the feet on the desk.

 

[Joseph Bolus]

The "CGI Spock" was a *hoot*!!

 

[Jason_V]

I'm way behind in a lot of TV and finally got to watch "Kobayashi" this morning...and I was not impressed. The cameos were nice, but, as Adam said, I just couldn't use logic to justify why each person was there or the dialogue they were given.

If the computer was pulling the best of the best, fine. I'll go with Spock as first officer (again, like Adam said, the sound quality from one line to the next was very noticeable...it was off putting for me). But why is Odo at the CONN? Why is Uhura at OPS? Why is Beverly acting like a first officer? Why is Scotty in his movie uniform but Spock and Uhura are in their TOS uniforms? I don't believe these five officers are the "best of the best" in all of Starfleet and any associated worlds (remember, Odo is not Starfleet, so including him doesn't adhere to the "rules"). I get the real world answers for some of this, but if I'm trying to logic out what is happening instead of enjoying the story, I consider that a fail.

More than anything, I was just annoyed at the blatant fan service in this storyline. It serves a purpose for Dal, of course, but man, I was not amused by any of it.

The other storyline, Gwyn coming to terms with her father putting the Protostar over her safety, is where the show excelled for me. This was a needed and necessary realization for her, something that is incredibly painful. The show did what it had to do within the confines of being a subplot and not over-analyzing the situation.

Seeing Chakotay at the end of the episode wasn't a shock to me. It had been announced some time back Beltran was coming back to the franchise. Until we can figure out more about how he got command of this ship, I'll reserve judgement on his use. Just goes to show that no matter how upset someone is, they're always open to coming back "home"...Beltran, remember, wasn't thrilled with a lot of Voyager when it was airing.