Review Text
Gwyn takes a Federation shuttle home to make contact with her people, the Vau N'Akat, and to warn them of their forthcoming civil war. She meets with the elders to make her case, but is immediately outflanked by Asencia (AKA the Vindicator) who discredits Gwyn as an imposter who will bring about the end of Solum while she adds to her own bona fides by pointing to — as proof that she traveled back through time — the presence of her younger self. Now declared a fraud and fugitive, Gwyn makes a daring escape, and is forced to flee through the city when her orbiting shuttle is destroyed by Vau N'Akat warships.
The continuation to the season premiere is a fast-moving, information-heavy, and perhaps overly busy outing. Gwyn's adventure through the city brings her immediately (like, right there and now) to the 20-plus-years younger version of Ilthuran (AKA the Diviner), her father, in what one could charitably call an astronomical coincidence. She's able to convince her father that she's his daughter who does not yet exist, and Ilthuran tells her she can prove her identity to the elders by undergoing the ancient rite of the Va'Lu'Rah, which could potentially prove as deadly as it would be useful to her story.
Meanwhile, aboard Voyager, a mysterious glowing orb appears outside the ship at the entrance of the wormhole and warns them not to travel through it or "All will be lost." What is this mysterious entity? This is conveniently witnessed by the kids, who have snuck through the Jeffries tubes until they've arrived at a vent right above the bridge, which they, of course, fall through. Maybe I just have to get over it on a kids' show, but the way the pre-cadets constantly end up in the middle of the adults' story is contrived to say the least, and says nothing for Starfleet security protocols. Janeway decides to provide them with the full details of their mission rather than throw them into the brig. Starfleet, you see, recovered data from the Protostar debris that had revealed Chakotay as a prisoner on Solum.
I may also need to get over Temporal Mechanics 101, which is used here to explain why they must wait for Chakotay to send the Protostar through the wormhole in the future before they can travel there to rescue him, lest they stop him from doing what allowed the entire first season to transpire (i.e., PARADOX!). Funny how the exact opposite was argued in part one, where Gwyn said, "The past is the past," and that she couldn't be erased from existence simply by changing the present. I'm going to have to start referring to all this, like Dal does, as "timey-wimey" stuff.
Then, of course, there's the extreme Three Stooges manner in which Dal and much of the gang (including stern Vulcan rival Maj'el of the Nova Squadron group) end up aboard the Infinity, which gets launched and pulled into the wormhole by accident (Jankom's forehead hits the big "launch" button; sigh) when such a thing should not be possible by these kids even on purpose. It's unfortunately a very lazily written and poorly staged sequence. It might be passable for 9-year-olds, but I expect more from this series, especially given the otherwise relative density and complexity of the time-travel plot.
Previous episode: Into the Breach, Part I
Next episode: Who Saves the Saviors
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4 comments on this post
Chris W
Prodigy is starting to break with what I would consider established in-universe expectations. For example: when Dal accidentally drops on to the bridge and reveals he's been sneaking around and knows about the secret cloaked ship, Janeway decides to read him and all of our main characters in on the classified mission.
I would not expect Janeway to read in a bunch of cadets just because Dal's been sneaking around and learned of some secrets, even if she brought them along. They are cadets, after all. But they are also our main characters. And it's a kid's show.
I do appreciate that Dal has trouble fitting in, can't follow rules, and gets into trouble. It frustrates me, but I think it makes some sense.
Why is Gwyndala being sent completely alone for a First Contact mission? When she left to go on this mission at the end of last season, I presumed it would be with other officers. I mean, that's a crap load of responsibility.
Nevertheless, I'm quite interested in how her story will unfold perhaps more so than the search for Chakotay. Seeing her interact with her now-gentle father was seeing her begin to achieve a resolution most of the other characters achieved at the end of last season. Also, I'm curious what we'll learn about this species.
Karl Zimmerman
So much better than Part 1, despite some really silly things that happen for the needs of the plot.
Dal continues his first-season habit of doubling down on bad decision after bad decision. I have my quibbles regarding Janeway bringing them in on the secret, but realistically what other option did she have other than throwing them into the brig? What follows is a series of failures that lead to the kids ending up essentially in the same situation as the first go around - separated from any competent adults on a ship of their own. As it should be, with a show of this sort, playing cadets-in-training doesn't work, given what we saw in the first season.
Gwyn's subplot also stretches credulity - and here, the mistakes come across as more the fault of Starfleet rather than hers (it's difficult to determine what flaws her character has other than a soft spot for her father). I have to admit I'm not thrilled to see Ascencia again, but it's not surprising either, and hopefully the show will deepen her this season. Still, Ella Purnell is such a good performer I'm immediately engaged whenever she's onscreen.
On the whole, it's on an upward curve. Indeed, so little was really established in the first episode that with some minor tweaking (and a more in media res setup) this would have worked pretty much fine as the season 1 opener alone.
Again, interested to see where it goes from here.
Jeffrey's Tube
I remain convinced the entire reason the kids are on this ship is because Janeway knows they're needed for future events to play out as they're supposed to. The same reason the Doctor "let slip" about the existence of shuttlebay 3. So, with that in mind, of course she's going to "read them in" on the secret mission when they discover the secret shuttlebay. This is all according to her plan.
Jeffrey's Tube
As for Gwyn being sent on her own . . . I don't know, her species is repeatedly said (and shown) to be extremely xenophobic. Perhaps Starfleet think sending anyone with her would blow the mission. They already greeted her with extreme suspicion, if she shows up with a bunch of aliens, they would probably think she's just a trick. (And they weren't counting on Ascencia being there to oppose her.)
It's something I can rationalize without too much trouble, though I too recognize it as unusual for Starfleet.
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