Star Trek: Prodigy
"Starstruck"
Air date: 11/4/2021
Written by Chad Quandt
Directed by Alan Wan
Review by Jamahl Epsicokhan
As I was watching Dal give the most incompetent orders amid a fit of desperation, having unwisely deactivated Hologram Janeway because he'd rather figure things out on his own, and as he was jettisoning all the cargo into space (including the escape pods and who knows what other useful equipment) and diverting all power away from other essential systems — and as the space debris started slamming into the hull of the ship as the ship was getting sucked into the gravity well of the (colorfully animated) dying star, the parent in me just shook my head and thought, "This is why we can't have nice things."
"Starstruck" is what happens when you have a bunch of kids — with an arrogant and overconfident self-appointed leader — in charge of a starship. Stuff gonna get broke. The episode begins with a reasonable sense of wonder in watching these kids in awe as they discover all the cool stuff aboard the Protostar. And I guess I can understand an episode that's about showing how these kids are out of their element and in over their heads. But "Starstruck" takes it too far in the direction of utter viewer frustration in driving the point home.
Dal, who showed street smarts in the pilot, fails utterly here at listening or accepting help, which nearly destroys the ship. Unfortunately, all other characters are rendered nearly irrelevant in the process. While I see what they were going for here, having Dal's ego and insistence for independence take over the episode while the ship is getting sucked into a vortex makes him look more stupid than stubborn. My 9-year-old daughter was screaming at the screen, "Come ON, just ask Janeway for help already!" Yep, you said it, kid. Dal needs to learn from his mistakes, or someone wiser than him needs to step up. I'm not sure who the titular "prodigy" of this show is supposed to be, but right now it sure doesn't look like Dal.
In a subplot, Dal locks Gwyn in the brig where she sits sullen until an opportunity presents itself for her to escape. Dal assigns Rok to return her to the brig (a completely misplaced priority given the unfolding crisis on the bridge) and they end up in a struggle inside the shuttle bay as the ship's "vehicle replicator" literally builds a shuttle in the middle of and around their fight sequence, in what is perhaps one bright idea too many.
Previous episode: Lost and Found
Next episode: Dream Catcher
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24 comments on this post
Thu, Nov 4, 2021, 1:38am (UTC -5)
Heh.
@ navamske Thanks!
Thu, Nov 4, 2021, 7:44am (UTC -5)
I'm still really not liking the cutbacks to the big bad (the Diviner) as he seems way too cliched of a villain so far. I know the Hageman brothers have hinted he's not what he seems, and I can't wait for the mask to come off.
Thu, Nov 4, 2021, 9:59am (UTC -5)
Thu, Nov 4, 2021, 2:55pm (UTC -5)
-Ragtag band of escaped convicts
-Commandeered vessel
-Possible betrayer in the crew
-Vessel has artificial intelligence that seems to have a mind of its own
-Prison leaders are willing to use mind control/damage to ensure compliance
-Government leader is a megalomaniacal tyrant trying to retrieve his ship
I'm sure there are more parallels, but these seemed too obvious to ignore.
Thu, Nov 4, 2021, 5:56pm (UTC -5)
Dal is getting annoying anointing himself the captain and not knowing how to do anything -- and why can't Janeway realize that this band of misfits are not supposed to be running the ship and autopilot it to Federation space?
Is it supposed to be a lesson for kids that it's OK to call on an adult when you're screwed? Interesting that Dal rebels against authority (Janeway and the Federation)...
Now that this ship has a vehicle replicator -- there's your explanation for all those shuttle crashes on VOY and how they always have one available for the next episode.
1 star for "Starstruck" -- limited with what you can do in 1/2 hr compared to last week's 1 hr pilot episode which obviously had more depth to it. Sounds like Gwyn's dad is going to pursue in his cloaked vessel and it's just going to be one weekly adventure after another. Much less piqued by Prodigy now than I was last week.
Thu, Nov 4, 2021, 9:51pm (UTC -5)
Jammer, first time posting here, but have basically read every single one of your reviews. I appreciate all your time and effort. I vote for reviewing Prodigy. Or like some others have commented, maybe get opinions from your kids.
Thu, Nov 4, 2021, 11:45pm (UTC -5)
(But can it build photon torpedoes? Inquiring minds want to know).
Join us next week when the Protostar discovers the secret network of transwarp conduits the Kazon were using to always be in front of Voyager!
Fri, Nov 5, 2021, 12:32am (UTC -5)
This one was probably a 2.5 out of 4. Not as involving as last week's but there were nice moments along the way.
There was some good character work this week, and I tingled a bit when Janeway was describing the Federation to the ragtag crew. Seeing them all overcome a small problem by coming together was a good moment as well.
Janway having a coffee cup is perfect.
Fri, Nov 5, 2021, 3:03am (UTC -5)
What has puzzled me most about Prodigy is what its niche in overall Trek is supposed to be. Each series has its own snappy premise that in rough terms distinguishes it from the others – for example, TNG is ‘TOS updated’, DS9 is ‘Trek on a space station’, VOY is ‘Trek does Lost in Space’, the latest and upcoming seasons of DIS are arguably ‘NuTrek does Andromeda’, and so on. Besides ‘Prodigy is NuTrek does Star Wars: Rebels’, Prodigy is proving hard for me to conceptualise, so I’d like to thank @Penguinphysics for clarifying this a little more via the Blake’s 7 comparison.
Fri, Nov 5, 2021, 11:18am (UTC -5)
Sat, Nov 6, 2021, 2:07pm (UTC -5)
I liked it fine.
I wonder how long Gwyn will remain in the brig?
Shuttlecraft replicator??? lol!!!
I wonder how long before Janeway realizes that these folks aren't cadets?
All good fun. I'm still impressed with the animation.
I don't think I have a favorite character yet.
I still like the tone, something Discovery and Picard are missing.
Interesting that we get the introduction before any of the episodes.
I wish I had appropriate age children at home to enjoy this with.
2.5 stars from me.
Sun, Nov 7, 2021, 5:56am (UTC -5)
Sun, Nov 7, 2021, 5:05pm (UTC -5)
Mon, Nov 8, 2021, 3:16am (UTC -5)
Mon, Nov 8, 2021, 3:46am (UTC -5)
Is Jammer ready to send his children to a boarding school to free up some time? Maybe there will be more shows and more reviews! I really don't see how he can still find time for his children and write the reviews. Could his wife quit her job? Could the children find jobs? Maybe he could start selling LuLaRoe fashion?
Mon, Nov 8, 2021, 5:56am (UTC -5)
Mon, Nov 8, 2021, 12:05pm (UTC -5)
Mon, Nov 8, 2021, 12:29pm (UTC -5)
Mon, Nov 8, 2021, 12:35pm (UTC -5)
So, it looks more like a consecutive model, after all.
Tue, Nov 9, 2021, 10:13am (UTC -5)
First, two more episodes until the "quarter-season finale" - with the last episode premiering the same day as Discovery's premier.
Then, a hiatus, with the next five episodes playing starting on January 6th (which still overlaps with Discovery Season 4. Indeed, Episode 10 (mid-season finale) seems like it will air the same day as Discovery's season finale).
Picard will start up soon thereafter. If I would hazard a guess they're holding back the next 10 episodes of "season 1" until after both that and Strange New Worlds.
I have noticed the weird split of seasons into "parts" is now quite common with children's shows. Not sure why that is exactly.
Wed, Nov 10, 2021, 4:50am (UTC -5)
Season 1 Episodes 1 & 2 - Lost and Found
“Do you realize what you’re doing?”
- Gwynala
“Making a series of bad decisions.”
- Jankom Pog
Mal’s review before Jammer’s
3 stars (out of 4)
In a fun and interesting pilot, we get to know our scrappy but lovable Chris Pratt Star Lord named Dal, who is purple, has adorable ears, and is desperate to break out of a mining colony, even if he doesn’t know how, or have any plans for what he’ll do - or where he’ll go - if he succeeds.
In the role of Zoe Saladana's Gamora, we have Gwynala. Her father might not be quite as badass as Thanos, but he gets the job done.
And rounding out the team in the role of Taika Waititi’s Korg, is the far more adorable, if slightly less hilarious, Rok-Tahk.
Lest you think Star Trek:Prodigy is 100% Marvel, the main henchman is basically General Grievous (h/t @Johnathan Hancock). And the starfleet vessel moves like the Millennium Falcon. But that’s getting far ahead of ourselves.
I’ll echo what @Karl Zimmerman says above, that this "was a good episode. Honestly probably the best pilot episode of Kurtzman Trek.”
Children in mines seems to be some weirdly popular fictional foundation (The Dark Knight, ST:Nemesis), but as far as these things go, Prodigy had more in common with Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country - Kirk and Bones at Rura Penthe. Imagine all the high-jinks that might have ensued if those two had been animated teens!
@Fortyseven is also right on the nose about the Orville references. I particularly loved the closing credits (has anyone ever said that about nuTrek?!?). It had a real Orville/Voyager feel to it. Now with the passing of Norm MacDonald, I suppose we’ll lose Yaphit too. So it’s nice to see that Rok-Tahk adopted a blue Yaphit to act as weapons officer. They must have known that at least a few viewers would make the connection, cause I at least kept expecting the blue blob to make repairs. Well played!
The pacing of the show is enjoyable. The violence is not overwhelming, and it makes a lot of sense for the story. The humor is gentle, good-natured, and avoids sarcasm and bodily fluids. Nice.
Finally, the genderless Fugitive Zero. A Medusan in a robot suit, almost reminds me of that brain-in-the-stomach guy in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I went back and read my review of TOS "Is There In Truth No Beauty?” ( https://www.jammersreviews.com/st-tos/s3/beauty.php ) but suffice to say, there is nothing of that episode to be found here. The writers merely borrow the basic premise of the species - that no one can look upon one and remain sane - and I suppose we’ll just have to see what they do with it. Will Meduans turn into Prodigy’s version of the Trill? Tune in next week.
Before I close this “review”, I wanted to touch upon two other scifi events that we saw in the last month or so: Foundation and Dune. There is a great column by Krugman ( https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/26/opinion/dune-movie-foundation-series.html ) that is behind a paywall, so I’ll pull out a key quote for you,
About Apple TV+’s Foundation, he writes, "So how does the Apple TV+ series turn this into a visually compelling tale? It doesn’t. What it does instead is remake “Star Wars” under another name. There are indispensable heroes, mystical powers, even a Death Star. These aren’t necessarily bad things to include in a TV series, but they’re completely antithetical to the spirit of Asimov’s writing. Pretending that this series has anything to do with the “Foundation” novels is fraudulent marketing, and I’ve stopped watching.”
Reading that was like reading what so many of us have written about NuTrek over the years. But unlike Discovery, Picard, and Foundation, Prodigy doesn’t immediately abandon the philosophy of its progenitors to appear edgy and new.
Ironic, given the demographic pitch, that Prodigy actually shows more maturity.
With the show taking place so far out of the way, though we may get a glimpse here or there of a familiar face (we see a Kazon early on), in reality, the show has a lot of room to do it’s own thing. That's what made Guardians of the Galaxy so different from the rest of the Marvel Universe. In a many of ways, Prodigy is a little of what I had hoped Enterprise might have been, back when Firefly and Babylon 5 was showing us how different scifi could be from the Berman & Braga cookie cutter productions.
Like @Peter G., I didn’t even know that Prodigy existed until Jammer posted about it. So, @Jammer, I hope you’ll strongly consider at least opening threads for each episode.
And finally, I enthusiastically second @Scott’s suggestion, "Maybe Jammer should let his kids do the reviews on this one”!!!!
Thu, Nov 11, 2021, 1:50am (UTC -5)
.
But seriously though, I liked this episode quite a bit. Maybe it was predictable and nothing we haven't seen before, but it WAS well done. And the art design continues to be excellent.
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I wonder which producer's fetish box "Janeway sprouts tentacles and chases after you" ticks? Kidding! Kidding. Buuuuuuuuut I definitely wouldn't have had that on my bingo card of "things I think I expect I might see in an official Star Trek episode."
(Well, unless she goes Warp 10 again, I guess. :p )
Mon, May 9, 2022, 7:27am (UTC -5)
Fri, Jan 13, 2023, 2:30pm (UTC -5)
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