******STARSHIP-SIZED SPOILERS!******

After its unceremonious cancellation—and inexplicable removal—from the Paramount+ streaming service, “Star Trek: Prodigy” (PRO) has safely beamed down to Netflix, where it recently dropped its entire 20 episode second season for streaming on June 1st (nice not having to wait week-to-week for new episodes). I’ve long championed this underrated series, which is one of the best new Star Trek series to date (animated or live-action), since the franchise was revived in 2017 with the often-problematic “Star Trek: Discovery.” 

In fact, PRO is everything I wished 1973’s equally worthy but cheaply-made “Star Trek: The Animated Series” could’ve been, if only that series had modern computer animation technology and resources.

Season 2 Overview

The second season of PRO sees new Starfleet cadets Dal (Brett Gray), Jankom Pog (Jason Mantzoukas), Rok-Tahk (Rylee Alazraqui), Zero (Angus Imrie) and Murf (Dee Bradley Baker) finding varying degrees of success with adjusting to Academy life, while their friend Gwyndalla (Ella Purnell) has been sent to her homeworld of Solum on a diplomatic mission for the Federation (“Into the Beach, Part 1”).  

Along the way, the spacetime continuum is disrupted when the experimental Federation starship Protostar is not sent back in spacetime to where was supposed to be. This causes a temporal paradox, as two realities are fused together; the Prime timeline, where our young heroes originally found the deserted Protostar and used it to escape, and another—where Gwyn was never born, since her father’s discovery of the stranded vessel on Tars Lamora ensured her very existence. 

The season becomes a race against time to keep Gwyn from shifting out of existence altogether (much like the disappearing Marty in “Back to the Future”), while attempting to return the stranded starship Protostar to the Tars Lamora prison colony where it was, or rather will be discovered by Dal and his gang sometime in the future (S1’s “Lost and Found, Parts 1 & 2”).  To that end, the former/future Protostar crew find an ally in their elite Vulcan classmate, Maj’el (Michaela Dietz).

There is also the return of last season’s duplicitous Asencia (Jameela Jamil), who’s risen to power on Solum with the aid of time-traveling technology. In this paradoxical timeline, Gwyn’s father Ilthuran (John Noble) has yet to be corrupted into last season’s evil “Diviner.” In fact, when we meet him, Ilthuran is just a kindly astronomer who does not yet have a family (his arc being similar to the character of “Annorax” in Star Trek: Voyager’s “Year of Hell, Parts 1 & 2”).

To fix the spacetime continuum, the young cadets join forces with Admiral Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) aboard the starship Voyager-A, where they are sent back to find the Protostar’s missing captain; Janeway’s former first officer, Chakotay (Robert Beltran). Overly constrained by Starfleet regulations, Dal and his team steal a temporally-shielded ship from the Voyager-A shuttle bay to find Chakotay, who’s been marooned for ten years on an alien cliff, overlooking a deuterium-rich storm system, after losing his crew (“The Last Flight of the Protostar, Part 1”).

This bitter version of Chakotay slowly warms to Dal and his gang, and eventually agrees to help the young cadets resurrect the stranded Protostar (“The Last Flight of the Protostar, Part 2”), so that the timeline can correct itself. They are also being hunted by large, floating inter-dimensional predators called “the Loom,” which feed on beings trapped in paradoxical realities; deleting their victims from existence retroactively, as if they never existed. With Chakotay’s help, the cadets eventually reunite with the Voyager-A, overthrow Asencia, and restore the timeline. They’re also given a new ship as a much-deserved reward.

There are still a few standalone stories within the seasonal arcs as well, including Zero getting a corporeal body, which they bravely choose to sacrifice (“Is There in Beauty No Truth?” “The Last Flight of the Protostar, Part 2”), as well as a brief side trip to the infamous Mirror Universe (“Cracked Mirror”).  There’s even a tribbles episode, where Rok-Tak accidentally creates a new pet she names Bribble (“A Tribble Called Quest”).  And with a full 20 episodes (not 10 to 14), there’s room for these standalone ideas to breathe a bit within the overall seasonal arcs. 

Core Characters

Impulsive, headstrong Dal (Brett Gray) starts off season 2 chafing under the restraints and rules of Starfleet Academy (“Into the Breach, Part 1”), while still hoping to become an official Starfleet captain someday, after his trial run last season.  This year, Dal finally recognizes that he may not have the right stuff for the big chair just yet.  While the genetically-enhanced Dal still manages to think smartly on his feet during a crisis, he’s also much too rash and impulsive; taking risks before thinking through the consequences (“Temporal Mechanics 101”). The final episode of the season (“Ouroborous, Part 2”) sees Dal taking a first step towards greater maturity by recognizing that his place—for now—is serving as first officer for someone who does have the temperament for leadership; his dear friend and new captain, Gwyn. 

Gwyndala (Ella Purnell), aka Gwyn, is the living fulcrum of the entire second season, as she’s kept suspended between two realities (with the aid of a handy inter-dimensional stabilizer), while helping her friends restore the timeline by returning the Protostar to Tars Lamora. She also must liberate her homeworld of Solum from the despotic Asencia the Vindicator (Jameela Jamil), who’s risen to power by use of time-travel technology, turning Solum into an autocratic nightmare (a warning for world politics these days). Gwyn also gets to know her once-kindly father Ilthuran (John Noble), before his inevitable corruption into The Diviner. The ending of season 2 sees Gwyn defeat Asencia with a little help from her friends and a rebelling Solum population. Returning to Starfleet, Gwyn is eventually rewarded with command of a new Protostar-class starship, the USS Prodigy, with Dal as her first officer (“Ouroboros, Part 2”). 

Zero (Angus Imrie) is the genderless, noncorporeal Medusan who lives in a shielded mech-suit, since their unshielded appearance causes madness in most sentient beings (see: TOS’ “Is There In Truth No Beauty?”).  While helping their friends find the missing Chakotay and the Protostar, Zero finds a colony of fellow noncorporeal beings who create bio-engineered bodies for themselves in order to rejoice in physical sensations (“Is There In Beauty No Truth?”).  Zero is given a body for themself, and rejoices in having biological senses and appetites for the first time, but that joy is short-lived, after Zero breaks their new leg which won’t heal with conventional Starfleet medicine. Eventually, Zero is forced to sacrifice their new body (“Ascension, Part 2”), but not before their friend Jankom creates an upgraded exo-suit (with new tactile sensors) for them to inhabit. 

Note: I appreciate how effortlessly the young crew refer to Zero using proper neutral pronouns of they, them and their. To those who claim to have a problem with genderless pronouns in our world, PRO shows us that even kids can do it.

Jankom Pog (Jason Mantzoukas) is the gruff Tellarite engineer with the mechanical arm who speaks of himself in the third person (a habit born in years of isolation talking with a computer), and is somewhat averse to bathing (“Is There In Beauty No Truth?”). Despite his frank and seemingly insensitive nature, Jankom has a true heart of gold, and would do anything for his friends and shipmates.  Like TOS’ Scotty, Jankom is also something of a “miracle worker” as well, coming up with wildly unorthodox solutions that work almost in spite of themselves (“The Last Flight of the Protostar, Parts 1 & 2”). We see him create fully-sentient holograms of his friends in order to aid in their escape from the Voyager-A (“Imposter Syndrome”) in order to find Chakotay and the Protostar.  In what is perhaps his greatest gift, he builds a new exo-suit for his Medusan friend Zero, after their new corporeal body is artificially aged to death with a temporal weapon during a desperate battle with Asencia’s forces (“Ascension, Part 2”).

Rok-Tahk (Rylee Alazraqui) is a bright child and scientific genius who also happens to look like a  large, formidable rock monster (the kind Capt. Kirk would’ve pulled a phaser on without thinking). However, Rok’s sweet and innocent disposition couldn’t be further from her appearance (a walking lesson in not judging by appearances). This season sees Rok enjoying academia (“Into the Breach, Part 1”), and putting her exobiology expertise to work in “cetacean ops” aboard the starship Voyager-A. There, Rok bonds with a whale crew member named “Gillian” (“Observer’s Paradox”), named after Dr. Gillian Taylor (seen in the feature film, “Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home”). This season, Rok also helps a stranded Klingon scientist reverse-engineer a dangerous strain of large predatory tribbles, while an accidental sneeze helps to create a tribble-Rok hybrid she names Bribble (“A Tribble Called Quest”).

Note: The intelligent, sweet-natured Rok-Tahk is a wonderful lesson for younger viewers (and older ones, too) in the importance of not judging others by appearances or body types. She is a living embodiment of Star Trek’s noblest ideals.

The tough, fearless, gelatinous being called Murf (Dee Bradley Baker) finds his calling in Starfleet Security, despite his small size. During this season, we see some comical attempts to understand Murf’s unfathomable native language (which remains indecipherable, even with Starfleet universal translator technology). With his infinite adaptability, surprising strength and resourcefulness, Murf is Star Trek’s answer to R2-D2.  Though Murf doesn’t have a strong arc this year like some of his shipmates, he’s still an indispensable part of the team, as we see on many occasions. 

Joining the original Protostar pirates from last year is their newfound Academy classmate, Maj’el (Michaela Dietz); a Vulcan descended from the legendary T’Pau (TOS’ “Amok Time”) and Mr. Spock. Maj’el is at first dismissive of Dal and his gang, but after working with them side-by-side (“Imposter Syndrome”) she comes to gain an affinity for their ‘illogical’ but effective means.  She also becomes close friends with both Gwyn and Zero.  By the end of the season, Maj’el becomes an indispensable ally to the team, and even becomes an official member of the new USS Prodigy crew (“Ouroboros, Part 2”).

Note: Maj’el is, of course, named after the late actress Majel Barrett-Roddenberry, the widow of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry. Barrett-Roddenberry played Number One in the original 1964 Star Trek pilot, “The Cage,” and would go on to play Nurse Chapel in TOS Star Trek, as well as Lwaxanna Troi in TNG. I had the opportunity to meet the actress in 2006, and though she was clearly not well at the time (she passed away a year later), she still signed autographs for her waiting fans.

Vice-Admiral Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) is quick to recognize the resourcefulness of her new cadets and Protostar veterans, but she’s also forced to answer to Starfleet on their behalf, after Dal and his gang create holograms of themselves and use a prototype ship to find Chakotay and restore the timeline (“Imposter Syndrome”). By the end of an exhausting season, Admiral Janeway is ready for early retirement, and is hoping to settle down on a farm in her native Indiana. However, that dream is dashed just as it begins, after Janeway learns the Starfleet shipyards at Mars have been attacked by Synths (Star Trek: Picard, “Maps and Legends” ).  Forced back to duty after heavy losses in the fleet, Admiral Janeway is able to call in a few favors and keep Starfleet’s exploration wing alive by assigning Captain Gwyndala and her friends to a brand-new Protostar-class vessel, the USS Prodigy, NCC-81084 (“Ouroboros, Part 2”).

Janeway’s former first officer and last captain of the Protostar, Captain Chakotay (Robert Beltran) is finally located, ten years after being marooned on an alien cliff overlooking a cyclonic storm system that is rich in deuterium (“The Last Flight of the Protostar, Part 1”). This bitter Chakotay has lost his entire crew, and has effectively grounded the derelict Protostar by ejecting the ship’s warp core and protostar drive—deliberately stranding the ship’s dangerous technology. However, the arrival of Dal and his friends reawakens Chakotay’s lost optimism, and he helps make the Protostar spaceworthy again. Using large improvised sails, they push the Protostar off the cliff (à la “Star Trek Beyond”) and sail her directly into the storm, where they recharge the engines manually, using the cyclone’s rich deuterium supply (“Last Flight of the Protostar, Part 2”). After shaving and getting a fresh uniform, Chakotay anticipates reuniting with his former captain and old friend, Vice-Admiral Kathryn Janeway (“Cracked Mirror,” “Ascension, Part 1”).  

Note: While Chakotay was never a favorite character of mine on Star Trek: Voyager (VGR), he is far more interesting on PRO than he was ever allowed to be in his former live-action series, with a richer backstory and a lost crew to mourn. The character’s terribly clichéd Native American tropes (c. 1995) are largely ignored in this series.

Speaking of legacy characters, former USS Enterprise-D acting ensign and now omniscient spacetime “Traveler” Wesley Crusher (Wil Wheaton) returns to help Dal and his crew.  We also learn that Traveler-Wesley has been their ally all along (“The Devourer of All Things, Parts 1 & 2,”).  Wesley and his fellow Travelers and Supervisors (such as “Gary Seven,” from TOS’ “Assignment: Earth”) operate largely at their own discretion.  However, this paradoxical universe that’s been created by the Protostar’s dislocation has created something new, while inviting the Loom into our universe.  During the course of the season, Wesley temporarily loses his Traveler powers and senses, but still retains enough knowledge to help his newfound friends through their difficult mission.  He even finds a moment to say hi to his mother, Dr. Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden), while meeting his new baby brother, Jack (Star Trek: Picard; “The Next Generation”).  

Note: While I was never a huge fan of the Wesley Crusher character, either (not even his smarmy cameo on Star Trek: Picard last year), Traveler-Wesley’s role in this series transforms him from obnoxious teenage wunderkind into a lovably scatterbrained, Americanized answer to “Doctor Who.” Traveler-Wesley previously had a mercifully brief cameo at the end of Star Trek: Picard season 2, but let’s not talk about that, okay?

The Doctor (Robert Picardo), aka the EMH (Emergency Medical Hologram), is still chief medical officer aboard the Voyager-A, though he also has a side-career as a holo-novelist (“Imposter Syndrome”) and still sings opera, as well.  With his unique mobile emitter (Star Trek: Voyager, “Future’s End, Part 2”), the Doctor has the ability to travel anywhere he wishes, though his mutable holographic nature also comes in handy for tricking an enemy into believing he’s someone else (“A Touch of Grey”).  An indispensable aide to Admiral Janeway, the Doctor is one of her closest friends and confidantes, despite his synthetic nature.  He even forms a bond (and hinted future relationship) with the mentor-hologram version of Kathryn Janeway aboard the USS Protostar, who is later seen aboard the USS Prodigy (“Ouroboros, Parts 1 & 2”).

There are assorted appearances by other legacy characters, such as Okana (Bill Campbell), who first appeared in Star Trek: The Next Generation (“The Outrageous Okana”) and  also appeared in last season of PRO (“Crossroads”), as well as Admiral Edward Jellico (Ronny Cox), who once captained the Enterprise-D while Picard was kidnapped and tortured by Cardassians (TNG’s “Chain of Command, Parts 1 & 2”). 

Summing It Up

Created by writing partners/brothers Kevin Hageman and Dan Hageman, Star Trek: Prodigy is an absolute delight, with a new season that delivers some terrific character moments and growth within its core group of Starfleet cadets.  While this is, on paper, a “kid’s show,” it is solid Star Trek through and through—far steadier than the disappointing Star Trek: Discovery and infinitely superior to the unwatchable Star Trek: Lower Decks (the USS Cerritos’ boorish crew is even mentioned disdainfully by the EMH in a throwaway line). 

The key to PRO’s success is that it takes Star Trek core ideals seriously, while still allowing for organic character-driven humor within its appealing core group; this is the same strategy used in the The Original Series (the Kirk-Spock-McCoy triumvirate), The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine (arguably the best Star Trek ensemble of them all). As the Hageman Bros clearly understand, Star Trek works best when its aspirational, and through the show’s core group of young Starfleet cadets, we see the wonders and possibilities of the Star Trek universe through fresh eyes (or whatever means of sight that Medusans use). PRO makes us want to be a part of that bright, shining universe again, despite other Star Trek spinoff shows doing their damndest to make it seem almost dystopian.

The second season’s 20 episodes are more serialized than those of season 1, making it not quite as accessible to new viewers, but it still allows for standalone storytelling as well (“Is There In Beauty No Truth?” “A Tribble Called Quest”). There are a few attempts to synch up with newer Star Trek series, such as Star Trek: Picard (the attack on Mars, baby Jack Crusher, etc) and Star Trek: Discovery (Traveler-Wesley’s accidental slip-mention of the highly classified mycelial network).

All of this is Trek-goodness is capped off with an elegant main title theme by Oscar-winning composer Michael Giachinno (2009’s “Star Trek,” “Up”), just as Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Voyager used themes created by the late Oscar-winner Jerry Goldsmith. This is one Star Trek series I don’t hit the “Skip Intro” button on when I’m streaming it, since Giacchino’s main title theme is a genuine treat that gets me psyched for the show.

Coproduced with Nickelodeon, the series is inclusively written towards a family-friendlier demographic, but the intelligence and stakes of the storytelling are not compromised at all. Yes, the core characters are a group of misfit alien teenagers, but their adventures are as sophisticated and well-written as anything seen in Star Trek’s 1990s heyday. If the show’s animated format is a barrier to older fans, then I’d suggest—no, I’d implore those fans to watch Star Trek: Prodigy with an open mind, because they’re really missing out.  

Live long and prosper!

Where to Watch

“Star Trek: Prodigy” is currently available to stream exclusively on Netflix (take that, Paramount+), while individual episodes can be purchased digitally on iTunes, Prime Video and other platforms. Season 1 is also available for purchase on DVD and Blu-Ray from Amazon and Barnes & Noble (prices vary by seller).