RED ALERT! This roundtable discussion includes spoilers for Star Trek: Prodigy Season 2 episodes 11 through 20. If you haven’t seen this highly recommended series yet and wish to avoid spoilers, all 40 Prodigy Season 1 and 2 episodes are now available for streaming on Netflix.
Finally, Star Trek: Prodigy Season 2 has arrived for streaming on Netflix! With a fortnight since all 20 episodes were dropped, it’s time for Comics Beat’s Star Trek Away Team to discuss the second half of the season.
What did you think of the latter half of Prodigy Season 2? Be sure and let us know in the comment section.
What did you think of Prodigy Season 2 part 2?
AVERY KAPLAN: I especially appreciate the way the second half of the season had such a different vibe, and the parallels between Prodigy Season 1’s structure and this one (like alternating leadership figures, or the iterations of the story circle traced by our heroes).
TAIMUR DAR: It was definitely a bittersweet viewing experience knowing that this could very well be the end of Prodigy…for the time being. Obviously this wasn’t the intentional at all, but I couldn’t help but see Starfleet ceasing its exploratory and rescue missions as a metaphor for Star Trek: Prodigy itself but the way parent companies have been pulling back on the animation industry as a whole. The first half introduced a lot of great new material that I don’t think had time to properly develop. Don’t get me wrong, I think the second half of the season is still great. But the Zero and Maj’el relationship somewhat fell to wayside due to how much they had going on this season. So I guess my only complaint is I wanted more episodes!
Did you have a favorite episode from Prodigy Season 2 part 2, and/or the season as a whole?
GEORGE: I’m always going to rep for the Mirror Universe, where “even their whales are evil,” Next Gen and Voyager missed out on crossing over. When the Protostar crew finally get back to their universe, the Janeway and Chakotay reunion is near perfect, it’s funny, sincere, and way overdue.
TAIMUR: In terms of part 2, I’m a sucker for Tribbles so I gotta with “A Tribble Called Quest” especially since it featured the incredible Jorge Gutierrez voicing a Klingon scientist. But for Season 2 as a whole, without a doubt “Imposter Syndrome” was not only comedic gold but such a clever take on familiar duplicate tropes with holograms.
AVERY: Gutierrez’s delivery on the line where expresses his doubt that Rok-Tahk can successfully genetically modify the Tribbles is pitch perfect!
Do you have any specific thoughts on the inclusion of Wesley Crusher in this season?
AVERY: I very much enjoyed the inclusion of Wesley, who is indeed the original “Star Trek prodigy.” Since this season was so closely aligned with Star Trek: Picard, it felt like a natural connection there, too. I especially enjoyed getting to see him enjoy the training room for Gary Seven. Who knew Wes would be involved in solving this decades-long mystery from Star Trek: The Original Series’ “Assignment: Earth,” eh?
But what I was surprised by was how well Wes functioned as a member of a Starfleet team. Considering what a big deal was made of his choosing a non-Starfleet path in Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 7’s “Journey’s End,” I found it somewhat cathartic to see Janeway pull him into action anyway. He did really well! And hey: you don’t see Starfleet bailing out of the universe because there’s a problem, TRAVELERS.
GEORGE: As a first-run watcher of The Next Generation, I wasn’t the biggest fan of Wesley Crusher in the early seasons, my appreciation for him as a character would come as he heads off for the Academy and his subsequent guest appearances. And I agree, his appearance in the Picard season 2 finale was a cute bridge to the Original Series, and to bring him back for this is a brilliant way to incorporate him into the Prodigy/Voyager mythos.
TAIMUR: I didn’t grow up watching TNG but I was well aware of the love/hate relationship towards Wesley Crusher among the fandom thanks to pop culture like this classic Robot Chicken sketch. But from my understanding, the character has been redeemed the last few years. So based on my limited prior experience with Wesley Crusher, I enjoyed this Doctor Who inspired version.
Were there any non-Star Trek references you especially enjoyed in Prodigy Season 2?
AVERY: Look: once a Back to the Future fan, always a Back to the Future fan. I loved the DeLorean Time Machine vibes the USS Infinity was channeling before it got eaten. And speaking of which, when I was a kid, I was traumatized by The Langoliers. I’m glad that the Loom is here to ensure a whole new generation of children can suffer similar trauma.
GEORGE: If we’re going with Back to the Future, the power cable that needs to be plugged in was cool. And then there were the Star Wars like fighters and even a bit of pilot jargon that reminded me of the Death Star runs to go along with the flying around asteroids.
AVERY: And I understand The Last Starfighter was an influence, as well? This one’s actually a longstanding gap in my personal viewing history, and maybe this season is finally my catalyst to amend that. Plus according to IMDB, Wil Wheaton is in Last Starfighter, too? Ouroboros all over the place.
TAIMUR: Back to the Future was definitely my favorite bits. Though I’m not a Whovian myself, I’m familiar enough with the franchise especially since a lot of my friends are big Doctor Who fans. So I definitely had some appreciation for the influence of Doctor Who on this season of Prodigy.
Any thoughts you have on a potential Prodigy Season 3?
AVERY: I think it’s wild to go to such effort to contextualize this series with Lower Decks and Picard throughout this season, not to mention Short Treks, and then to squander that just when the dividends are poised to pay off.
GEORGE: From what showrunners Kevin & Dan Hageman stated in Avery’s interview with them, it looks like they have some ideas that I would be interested in watching, and now that Paramount has their merger issues behind them maybe Prodigy can come home and we can get that Lower Deck crossover, the Cetacean Quest.
AVERY: Matt, Kimolu and Gillian all on one vessel? Be still my heart.
TAIMUR: In Avery’s aforementioned interview, I am very taken with the idea of an adolescent Murf in the same vein as we saw Groot in Avengers: Infinity War. Again, as I mentioned in the previous conversation, I want to see more development with “Maj’ero.”
If this does end up being the complete story, what’s your opinion on the full Prodigy package?
GEORGE: To me this felt like a perfect and final cap for the Protostar crew’s story. We got two full seasons of fun adventures that could have worked as an “adult” show, the fact that it was animated only adds to the beautiful design work done on the characters and settings, if this were a Disney property you know there would be some type of ride based on this show. Everyone’s arc was completed and the story leaves us satisfied that while this part is done there can be more adventures down the transwarp conduit. As much as I want more, if the show ends here I’ll be happy and content.
AVERY: One thing that does soften the blow for me if this is indeed Prodigy’s end are the 20 episode seasons. In an era when so many shows get 10 episodes per season tops, I was glad Prodigy got enough room to breathe. I still don’t think 40 episodes are enough for this show, but it’s sure better than just 20.
And George, you’ve left me once again wishing Star Trek: The Experience was still a thing. Would a Prodigy ride be a Star Tours-style simulator that puts you on the bridge, a roller coaster fashioned after the Runaway or even a water ride that recreates “The Last Flight of the Protostar, Part II”? Plus, they could sell those Murf plushies everyone’s always asking about in the ride’s gift shop. Qapla’!
TAIMUR: Finales for big properties are always a tricky thing. On the one hand, you want to give some sense of closure while simultaneously leaving the door open for new stories on the chance years (or decades later in the case of X-Men ‘97) the show does return. Definitely think the Hageman brothers and everyone involved in Prodigy should be proud of what they accomplished. They were able to play with familiar concepts as well as add new things to the proverbial toy box that I’m hoping will be picked up by future creators down the line.
You can keep up with all of The Beat’s Star Trek coverage here.
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