After last week’s ‘meet-the-cast’ cinematic premiere, Star Trek: Prodigy wastes no time getting into the swing of things with the show’s second chapter.

While the episode’s greater purpose is for the audience to get to know this new, holographic version of Captain Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) — and to get more familiar with the USS Protostar itself — “Starstruck” also manages to fit in both a classic Star Trek science dilemma and a classic Star Trek moral dilemma.

If this is representative of what we can expect from the majority of Prodigy episodes, this show will be pure Trek goodness, in addition to being an outstanding children’s program.

The episode picks up just a moment after “Lost and Found” ended, as our young crew finds themselves mystified by the suddenly-appearing Starfleet representative. Janeway explains to the confused group that she is a training advisor, aboard ship to do nothing more than offer advice and maintain the ship’s lower level functions — a nice clarification of her role, proactively explaining how these kids manage to keep a starship running.

With the graceful mannerisms of her human counterpart, Janeway introduces them to the concept of the United Federation of Planets, and the role of Starfleet. Hearing her put into words what that means was quite touching to me, and quite awe-inspiring to the Protostar crew (“Equality? That sounds nice!”).

Hearing Janeway speak lines from the famous captain’s oath affected me more than I thought it would have. Long overdue.

Dal (Brett Gray) is skeptical of the Federation, calling it “just another name for someone else in charge,” and makes the executive decision to send the ship in the exact opposite direction. He assumes Janeway is lying (“If it sounds to good to be true, it is!”), and even when things go bad later in the episode, Dal’s desire for the group to make it on their own keeps him from taking Janeway’s advice.

All of Dal’s reactions here remind us that these aren’t just happy-go-lucky children on a joy ride — they are first and foremost survivors of terrible abuse. It makes sense that Dal would be so weary of authority that he would run across the galaxy to stay away from even an implication of another one. He’s survived on this own for this long, so asking for help —being able to trust even a friendly neighborhood training hologram — is something he has to learn.

This all feels really natural to his character and adds a lot of weight to the journey we are on with all these characters.

This thread of learning and unlearning things after trauma is continued in the most poignant scene in the episode, as Jankom Pog (Jason Mantzoukas) and Rok-Tahk (Rylee Alazraqui) discover one of the coolest pieces of Trek tech: the food replicator!

Jankom orders what we can only assume is a Tellarite delicacy, as close to pig slop as you might imagine — but Rok-Tahk faces quite a struggle when it comes time to choose her meal, ultimately resigning herself to the same Nutri-Goop served to prisoners back on Tars Lamora. When she admits to Janeway that the goop is the only thing she’s ever eaten, it’s a gut-wrenching moment that serves to to show us just how far these kids will really have to go to process and recover from their tragic pasts.

Framing this idea through the replicators was so smart, as it was done in a way younger viewers of the show can grasp — my kids really understood the contrast between Rok-Tahk’s experience, and the easy choices they’d make in the mess hall (ice cream and Lucky Charms cereal, naturally).

Branching out from the mess hall, we also got to see much more of the Protostar interior this week — including the crew bunks, the brig, main engineering, and the captain’s quarters (which of course Dal claims for himself).

My kids were absolutely riveted! Introducing all of these new spaces through a ‘tour’ of the ship was a really good way to sell them on how cool the Protostar is, and they were really interested in seeing all the different-purposed areas. The look and feel of the Protostar is big enough to be impressive, but not so big that it’s overwhelming.

Engineering, especially, was great to see, and the scene there did a nice job of setting up the mystery of the still-unknown prototype engine for another day. We did learn, though, the Protostar has not just a standard impulse drive, but also two warp cores — and I am very invested in finding out what else this ship has under the hood.

After the tour we are introduced to another classic part of life on a Federation starship: a red alert! Here the episode veers into a scientific problem that felt straight out of a live-action episode: Dal’s erratic course has taken the ship right into the gravity well of a dying star.

The animation of the stellar phenomenon is exquisite and the danger is palpable, and when Dal finally gives in and admit he needs Janeway’s help, she obliges… but not until after she takes a swig of holo-coffee. She guides them from the sidelines, but lets them work out and implement the solution themselves — the solution of not being able to run away from some problems, but rather having to face them head on, doubled as a lovely lesson for Dal.

This episode is packed, and while all this is happening, we also have a really interesting and thought-provoking moment happening below decks.

During the confusion, Gwyn (Ella Purnell) escapes from the brig where she’s still being held captive, and while looking for a way off the ship, finds the Protostar’s shuttlebay, which contains a fascinating vehicle replicator—a hilarious nod to Voyager’s never ending supply of shuttles.

And while this gigantic 3D printer is working it’s magic, Gwyn and Rok have a really well-choreographed fight in and around the emerging shuttle that would feel right at home in any big-budget live-action movie, as Rok must battle Gwyn as the shuttlecraft is being constructed around her.

As Rok tries to subdue Gwyn, they argue about how she never helped the prisoners during their time on Tars Lamora, while Gwyn maintains that was only doing what the Diviner commanded.

This question of personal responsibility, of what it means and who is considered to be a collaborator or complicit, is a thread that is weaved throughout Star Trek, explored especially through the entire run of Deep Space Nine. Putting this complex topic against the backdrop of a fight scene was an excellent choice, making it seem more off-handed than a classic ‘debate’ with a right or wrong answer.

In fact, it wasn’t a debate; the episode didn’t answer the question at all, just putting it out there — in a very kid-friendly way — for both the audience to think about and for the characters to think about in their relationships to each other and introspectively.

As the episode ends, we see the Diviner fly off from the Tars Lamora base in a ship reminiscent of the Narada, on his way to chase after both Gwyn and the Protostar itself. So while the show might be episodic, the Prodigy writing team is just getting started with the ongoing threat from the Diviner’s obsession — and now we know why chimerium is so valuable: it’s used in cloaking technology, as the villain hides his asteroid base once off the surface.

OBSERVATION LOUNGE

• After debuting at the end of “Lost and Found,” the Prodigy title sequence moves to its standard episode-opening placement this week.
   
• Along with Enterprise Season 4’s “Observer Effect,” this episode is one of the very rare Star Trek entries with zero credited guest stars.
   
• Janeway describes her role as an assistant to the Protostar crew while they “journey back to Federation space,” which seems to indicate the ship was always intended to end up a distance away from the Alpha Quadrant.

• Janeway’s introduction to the Federation includes sketches of typical human, Andorian, Vulcan, and Tellarite citizens, along with their planetary logos that we’ve seen across the franchise.
   
• The kids also get a passing glance at many familiar starships, from the Enterprise NX-01 to the USS Defiant to a Crossfield-class starship that, while its registry number is difficult to read, is likely meant to be the USS Discovery. (While the Discovery’s time travel journey and spore drive were classified, the ship’s general existence was not.)
   
• The holographic map of the Alpha and Beta Quadrants gives sector names to the various segments of Federation space, such as “Terran,” “Cabral,” “Zalkon,” “Melona,” “Mutara,” “Maxia,” and more — along with identifying Klingon and Romulan territories with their familiar logos.

• Gwyn is resistant to telepathy, a trait which seems to be inherent to the Vau N’Akat species.
   
• The Diviner’s ship is called the REV-12.
   
• While Rok-Tahk sticks to her Nutri-Goop, Jankom Pog orders “blood truffle biscuits, sweet radish pie, and sour gravy.”
   
• Utensils generated by the Protostar replicators include a tiny Starfleet delta (naturally).
   
• Rok-Tahk’s cute “I’d like to boldly go!” is tailor-made for a Prodigy commercial.

While “Lost and Found” was a wonderful introduction to the Star Trek: Prodigy premise and characters, my kids and I preferred “Starstruck” as the new adventure really found its start aboard the Protostar.

They loved getting the tour of the ship, which reminded me that all of these familiar Trek settings are brand new to them! This really is a whole new adventure, and in this episode Prodigy has set them up for the unique way Star Trek manages to weave science, action, and ethical concepts together.

My guess is that this  episode is more indicative of the show as a whole, and if this is what we can expect week to week, I think we’ll all be in for quite a ride.