Star Trek: Prodigy has set itself an ambitious task: be a kids show, but one that can also appeal to just about everyone else, regardless of age or familiarity with the Star Trek universe.

With “Lost and Found,” its premiere episode, the Prodigy creative team has managed to strike a nice balance between this variety of interests. There is enough intrigue to keep adults entertained while also just the right amount of fun to keep children engaged. I watched with my three children (ages 7, 9, and 11), and while some parts moved a little slow for them — especially for my 7 year old — by the time the USS Protostar made its triumphant first flight, all four of us were ready for the adventure to continue.

Nickelodeon’s animation is stunningly beautiful, to the point that some scenes almost feel like the artists are showing off. Our young heroes’ escape from the Tars Lamora prison colony introduces us to Prodigy’s visual language; it’s an expansive, intricately-detailed world filled with both natural and mechanical wonders.

Everything is meticulously rendered, from the smallest speck of chipped paint on mining equipment, all the way to the blanket of stars in the vastness of space.

Tars Lamora is the asteroid domain of The Diviner (John Noble), a ruthless villain who uses prisoners of all species — and all ages — to mine for a valuable crystalline substance known as chimerium that has an inner glow similar to dilithium crystals.

Managed by shifty robotic henchman Drednok (Jimmi Simpson), the mining operation’s real goal is to find the USS Protostar, a Federation starship that somehow found its way deep into the interior of the asteroid.

We don’t know yet why The Diviner is so desperate to find it, but from his concern about the Federation, it’s clear he knows where the starship comes from — and that he wants to keep knowledge of the Federation away from his progeny, the only other remaining member of the Vau N’ Akat species.

The Diviner’s abusive sheltering extends to the entire colony, as all translation devices are banned from the facility — adding a terrifyingly lonely touch to life on the planetoid, since all of the different prisoners (referred to as “the unwanted”) are prevented from understanding each other.

It’s a beautiful choice, then, to have Gwyn (Ella Purnell) serve as the living translator for visitors to Tars Lemora — showing offer her skills when a visiting Kazon arrives at the colony, in perhaps the first time the Kazon language has been heard aloud.

She speaks of language as “a window into a new culture,” and while she ostensibly works for her father, Gwyn tries to act as a barrier to much of the violence and mistreatment of the prisoners that Dreadnok and The Diviner would see come to them. (The very first thing we see her do is show compassion for a young Caitian brought to the colony by a Kazon, even purring the native language spoken by the cat-like race.)

Her internal conflicts are evident. Her loyalty is to her father, but the fear which incentivizes this loyalty is shown when they speak to each other. She literally bows down to him, and certainly feels burdened with expectations of being the last of their race.

The first of a few new Prodigy alien races, the unique Vau N’ Akat character design quite interesting as both Gwyn and the Diviner have ridges on their faces that, along with their eyes, glow as they interact — connecting the elegant and austere Gwyn with her aged father in a very visceral way.

When she goes into combat later in the episode, we also learn that the metallic design worn on her upper arm is actually reminiscent of the “programmable matter” introduced last season on Star Trek: Discovery. Disguising her bladed weapon as jewelry is an excellent choice for this character, showing us immediately that anyone who underestimates her is making a formidable mistake.

One of the prisoners Gwyn begrudgingly tries to protect is the purple-hued main protagonist of the series, Dal R’EL (Brett Gray), who when we first meet him isn’t bogged down by the hopelessness of his situation — but already showing Starfleet-level optimism about escaping from Tars Lemora, and I found myself rooting for him right from the start.

He also maintains a unique sense of humor, as Brett Gray’s easygoing delivery gives Dal a true relatability — he’s confident, but not cocky; funny but not farcical; clever, but not a genius. He’s a natural leader, albeit a bit rough around the edges, but with so many of the raw qualities our most beloved Starfleet captains possess.

I suspect that the Protostar’s training hologram will see that potential in him as well, and I look forward to seeing what kind of relationship the pair forms as the series moves forward.

Another relationship I’m interested in seeing more of is that between Dal and Zero (Angus Imrie), who already have shades of the classic Star Trek friendship pairing between a headstrong character and a more logical partner — like the genuinely funny moments when Zero calls out Dal for lying, and Dal making funny faces to catch Zero’s attention.

Zero is a Medusan: a genderless, non-corporeal telepathic race introduced all the way back in “Is There in Truth No Beauty?” Housed inside a mechanical encounter suit of their own design, Zero must stay out of sight — as any humanoid who catches a glimpse of a Medusan’s natural form is driven mad (as we see in a disturbing flashback midway through the premiere).

Prodigy didn’t shy away from showing just how terrible it is to see a Medusan up close, as it added weight to Zero’s heroics, managing away to build a body (without using hands!), and finding a way to escape from Dreadnok and the Diviner’s clutches.

I love Zero’s suit, which feels vaguely steampunk, and it reminds me of an old-fashioned diving helmet. The suit has mismatched, detachable limbs, and we see them both walking and floating throughout the episode.

My 9 year old asked me if Zero was a ghost, and I could almost see the gears turning in his mind as he tried to ration out what it would mean to be a non-corporeal being. I love that the creators are mining Star Trek lore for just these kind of nuggets that can really appeal to the imagination of kids.

While the ghostly Zero is delightful thought experiment, it was Murf (Dee Bradley Baker) that was the biggest hit in my house as the happy, iridescent blob elicited squeals of delight from my kids when he made his first appearance on the ship.

His gelatinous movements are rendered beautifully in CG, with the real-world “goo” physics obviously being taken into account. While we don’t know what he is made of, the colors and dotting give him the appearance of being born from a nebula, which makes him a perfect “star stuff” mascot for the Protostar and its crew.

Even though the group (or the viewers) can’t understand him, Murf’s moment of landing in just the right spot at the right time to activate the phasers gives me the impression that there is more than meets the eye to this adorable glob.

The biggest surprise comes from the hulking “rock monster” Rok-Tahk (Rylee Alarzaqui), whose deep growls and roars magically turn into a delightful young voice once the Protostar translators kick in.

Once we finally get to hear the sweet tones of the eight-year-old voice actress, the incongruity between her looks and Rok-Tahk’s “real” voice really surprised my kids and immediately endeared the character to them.

Everything about the big red Brikar is scene-stealing, from her enormous size to the icy-blue eyes that pop against the reddish tones of her pebbled skin — she is uniquely lovely.

The last member of Prodigy’s alien crew is the contrarian engineer Jankom Pog (Jason Mantzoukas), the rascally Tellarate, who was also a hit with the youngsters in my house. They found the gimmick of him always taking the opposing viewpoint hilarious, and while I’m sure it’s a characteristic that will come in handy in the future — perhaps when our crew needs to brainstorm for an idea to save the day.

I’m also interested to learn more about him, his backstory, and if he’ll continue to keep referring to himself in the third person!

In a metaphor for his fungibility, Pog also has an extremely cool gadget arm that we see transform into various tools depending on his engineering needs — a multi-tool that’s surely the envy of any Starfleet technician — and he seems perfectly at home repairing both Class-D loaders and the USS Protostar.

As for that mysterious ship, the USS Protostar (NX-76884) is sleek and sparse, limited to only a few decks and filled with technical wonders that our young adventurers have never seen — from the food replicators, surprising shuttlebay systems, and the visually-impressive LCARS displays seen around the ship. (Get ready to screencap, Trek tech fans!)

Building on the “window” viewscreen that’s been part of Trek starships over the last decade-plus, the Protostar has an expansive wraparound canopy that truly hammers home the awe-inspiring vastness of space for our young crew, who were trapped for so long in their dark little corner of the universe.

Our primary vantage point on the bridge is forward-facing, allowing us to experience the beauty of space along with our heroes — but it also mimics the idea of pupils in a classroom, facing what is ostensibly the galaxy’s coolest chalkboard…

…and it’s here in this space-worthy “classroom” that we finally get to meet the Protostar’s resident educator: a holographic version of Captain Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew).

We only spend a moment with “Hologram Janeway,” as she introduces herself in the final moment of the premiere, and I think that was an excellent choice. Saving the returning franchise star for next week — where she certainly gets her time in the spotlight! — really allowed these new characters time to own their introductions, setting a nice stage for the story to come.

OBSERVATION LOUNGE

• Tars Lemora is located in the Delta Quadrant — somewhere along the USS Voyager’s path home — as The Diviner is well aware of the Federation, and Gwyn references their location “this side of the Delta.”
   
• Gwyn is a master of languages, speaking Caitian, Kazon, and “Standard” — or English — among others. Her holographic language database also features several Klingon glyphs.
   
• Prodigy follows both the original Animated Series and Star Trek: Lower Decks in featuring the feline Caitian race; the child (or kitten?) delivered to Tars Lemora is one of the few Caitian youths we’ve seen.

• The trader who delivers the Caitian child is the first Kazon seen in over twenty years (and the first we’ve heard speak the native Kazon language); the last time the less-than-successful Voyager species appeared was in 2001’s “Shattered.”
   
• During Zero’s ominous flashback, we see the Medusan being carried around in a hexagonal encounter case like the one seen in the Original Series.
   
• A member of Morn’s species, this time a poor Lurian is the victim of Medusan exposure, later put to work on the airless surface of the asteroid. Following Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Lurians have since been seen in Discovery and Lower Decks as well.

• As Rok-Tahk activates the Protostar’s system, the musical score is quite reminiscent of the Star Trek: Voyager opening theme — and when Hologram Janeway appears, a pair of loud beats from a tympany drum can be heard… a primary instrument in the Voyager theme.
   
• Dal doesn’t know anything about his own species, but even without a universal translator, he seems to know that Tellarites love to argue, and that Medusans are telepaths.
   
• Among the Protostar’s many systems are a few clues to the mysterious “third nacelle” engine that appears to kick the ship into super-high speeds (as seen in the opening credits sequence), as a panel on the bridge contains a “Trans Warp” control — and a few graphics at the October 28 series premiere event in Los Angeles seem to indicate a “Proto Core” engine powers “Proto Warp” speeds.

While “Lost and Found” absolutely needed the setup on Tars Lemora to launch the series, by far my children were most invested in the tale when our new young friends finally boarded the Protostar, and were enthralled by the time they began their daring escape with high-flying starship action.

While the flight of the Protostar held a perfect mix of danger and action, it wasn’t just the “pew-pew-pew button” that got them invested — every character had a chance to contribute to the escape, with just the right amount of levity in the mix.

These scenes are what cemented the Star Trek: Prodigy premise in my children’s minds as something they would like to see more of, and after the last two years have forced us all to experience some extreme family togetherness, they’re primed to immerse themselves in such a kid-powered adventure into the unknown.

All of us could use a little bit of Federation ideals right about now, too, and I can’t wait to see where this journey takes them — and where the Protostar crew goes, too.

Star Trek: Prodigy returns next week with “Starstruck” on Paramount+ in the United States, Australia, Latin America, and the Nordics, as well as on CTV Sci Fi Channel in Canada.