Review Text
The Infinity at last reaches the location of the hidden planet where the mysterious messenger has indicated is where the Protostar is (maybe) supposed to be. The planet is invisibly out of phase but Rok is able to use technobabble to make it reappear in normal space. The crew lands the ship on the surface, where there's a massive masonry structure of great interest. There are huge statues and a mysterious 20th-century-style vault door and ... WESLEY CRUSHER?!?!
Yes, Wesley Crusher — he who joined the Travelers and, as it was revealed in Picard, was also a part of the Supervisors from TOS's Gary Seven unpursued backdoor pilot spinoff concept. (At one point, Dal asks to speak to Wesley's supervisor, not knowing what that means to him.) It turns out Wesley — not Chakotay — was the mysterious messenger behind the entity that's been sending messages to these kids, imploring them to stay together. (When the kids express disappointment that they've not found the Protostar, Wesley tells them, "You're halfway there," which if taken literally would hint this arc may continue through the entire back half of the season.)
We learn a lot from Wesley here, who Wes-splains plenty about how the timeline multiverse works. The timeline, you see, is a delicate fabric. Pull a thread, and it may unravel. Like a tapestry, one might say. Losing the Protostar in the wormhole with Chakotay caused a paradox that has pulled Gwyn out of phase and threatens her existence. Furthermore, the paradox, if not repaired by restoring the Protostar to its rightful place at Tars Lamora, is an open wound in the universe that allows cosmic scavengers (the Time Ghouls) called the Loom to begin feeding on things in our universe and erasing their existence. Gwyn is a key target, since she's an anomaly that shouldn't exist with the paradox in play. There's a frantic action-chase by the Loom, and Wesley helps the kids escape through a portal to what appears to be the 1960s (perhaps Gary Seven's office?).
This is, of course, all very ... timey-wimey. An invented concoction that relies more on breathless exposition than logical flow. But the show brings an entertaining urgency to it all, and Wil Wheaton goes into manic overdrive delivering the crazy dialogue with zeal, suggesting a Wesley Crusher who has cheerfully lost his marbles as a time-travel manipulation guru. In terms of character, the episode frames this through Gwyn's personal burden, whose life hangs in the balance: "It's not about the journey. It's about the destination," she notes. Because for her, it's hard to enjoy the journey when your destination is so uncertain.
Back aboard Voyager, Janeway follows the clues in pursuit of the Infinity and takes the Borg transwarp conduit to Wesley's planet. But not before she amusingly and satisfyingly hangs up on Admiral Jellico, who really starts to become an obstinate pain with his Wrongheaded Starfleet Admiral Orders. Life has its little pleasures.
Previous episode: Is There in Beauty No Truth?
Next episode: The Devourer of All Things, Part II
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12 comments on this post
Chris W
I've just been binging episodes and I've found season 2 to be solid (including the filler episodes), but I had to take a pause here because I thoroughly LOVED this one! Maybe because it's the TNG fan service, but I also found the science-y reasons for why this story exists to make sense and is quite fun. Combined with the action here, and I would consider this a top-notch episode. I'm looking forward to part 2!
Brandon
Welp, this series is perilously close to swan-diving into Doctor Who territory at this juncture. I can't say I'm not having fun, but whoa. Langoliers, really? Their heads even reminded me of like the toothed Pacmen from the TV adaptation.
The messenger's identity was a neat reveal but the performance was rather nutty, more in line with a Lower Decks-style caricature than being grounded in the live-action version like this series' Janeway. Loved the callback to 1967 Earth vibes, too.
Chris W
@Brandon - "the performance was rather nutty"
---> I loved the nutty performance! Who's to say all that hopping through time and realities doesn't make someone go a little crazy?
Karl Zimmerman
This episode was perilously close to losing me when they brought in not only Wesley Crusher, but directly built it off of his awful cameo at the end of Picard Season 2. Surprisingly, Wil Wheaton seems to have remembered how to act again, and the episode succeeds in spite of this. It even pulls off having a secret room very reminiscent of Gary Seven's office!
Despite generally enjoying it, I find very little to remark on, other than it's surprisingly fun, and has some of the most ridiculous technobabble I've seen in Star Trek. This is a pure plot-based outing, so there's really not much meat put on the character interactions.
Louis Brantmeyer
The first episode of the season that was legit no question interesting, consequential, and fun.
Chris W
@Karl Zimmerman: RE: https://www.jammersreviews.com/st-prodigy/s2/devourer-of-all-things-1.php#comment-118055
---> Don't spoil it for people!! 😁 I think "that guy" is very well utilized in this show and season. I loved the writers' take on the character and the actor does a bang-up job. I also actually think the technobabble wasn't too bad in this episode. "That guy" does have to do quite a bit of exposition, but he's not really using too many made-up words to me (maybe I've just been a Trekkie for too long, though). I do sometimes wonder if the plot could be a bit too complex for a kids show (and I have thoughts on this which I'll eventually leave in the comments in the season finale).
Also, regarding that office: I think it IS "that" office. That's why "that guy" holds up the newspaper citing the date.
Jeffrey's Tube
Well I wasn't expecting Wil Wheaton! That was certainly a surprise.
Yes, this story is a bit derivative of Doctor Who, which isn't my preference for Star Trek (love Doctor Who though), only I don't see how that can be avoided. Gary Seven and anything to do with him is Doctor Who-ish and this has been noted and remarked upon for decades, and Wesley and the Travelers are now linked with him.
Does anyone else think the Loom monsters' heads are shaped like glans and when they open their mouths it looks like dickholes? I'm going to have to start calling them the penismonsters. Oh dear.
EscapedLion
I was waiting for Wesley to pull out his not-sonic-screwdriver and yell “when I say run, RUN!”. However, he did fulfill expectations by grabbing Gwen’s hand as they ran away from the not-time-reapers down the corridors of the not-a-Tardis. This was a very fun Not-Doctor-Who adventure!
The Queen
This was brilliant! By far the best episode of the season, and a perfect development of the Boy Wonder's arc. I think his dialogue was completely appropriate for his characterization. It builds so well on his previous one-off appearance, and to my mind is exactly the way he would have matured (as it's clear he would never become staid and predictable) under the effects of all his time-and-space-and-thought travel. The leather jacket look, with constant references to sweaters, was awesome and funny. I haven't watched Dr. Who for years so I don't care about any echoes of that. This all felt very appropriate! The safe house was also as cute as could be. I even liked the scavengers, which were incredibly beautiful in their horribleness. And Wil's voice acting was excellent IMHO. Fun fun fun.
Kyle
I love that Wes is wearing a very 80s style sweater that he would have worn on TNG Seasons 1 and 2. Nice continuity. I think Wes's appearance here makes way more sense and is more natural and fits the plot than the ridiculous cameo he did at the end of Picard Season 2 that had nothing to do with anything and was just there for the sake of saying Hey it's a Wesley cameo. One more example of how Prodigy is shaping up to be great Trek; very smart, nice continuity and taking the Trek iuniverse into the 25th century. Unlike the drek that Kurtzman and Co. have been churning out with Disco and Picard. Prodigy is my new favorite Trek show, along with LD and SNW.
Kyle
So are Gary Seven and the Supervisors and the Travellers the same group/Species? Also, nice nod to DIS and that shows messiness: "... the mycellial network, and ..., oh wait! you're not supposed to know about that; it doesn't exist!"
Black Oat
I wonder, why Tim Russ was never on Prodigy?
It would have been a fun nod to TAS's "Yesteryear" to have the Andorian first officer be wiped out of existence by the Loom, and have Tuvok suddenly appear in his place in the altered timeline.
I was pretty harsh on this episode in a comment I left for part 2. I just rewatched both parts and I'm a bit conflicted. You ever watch a low budget sci-fi movie that just shamelessly rips off a bunch of better movies but is still oddly entertaining? That's what this episode reminds me of.
The funny thing is that the episode is chock full of references and homages to things I hate: Dr. Who, Wesley, The Langoliers, Badass Janeway, Coda, technobabble, Gary Seven, Discovery, the JJ Abrams movies - hell I even hate mango juice - and it still turned out to be a fairly entertaining 45 minutes. Entertaining, but not a good Star Trek episode.
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