Prodigy Season 2 has served up many different flavors of Star Trek. In this “Ascension” two-parter, it’s the taste of a classic space battle action — one that could stand toe-to-toe against any of the best episodes of previous Treks in that genre.
It’s cinematic in quality, reveling in the fantastic sights and sounds of ships attacking and evading, but also thoughtful in the choreography of the back and forth of the fight itself. It’s a thrilling action interlude that gives every one a chance for bravery and clears the path to the final four episodes — by taking the fight to the source.
Dal (Brett Gray) delivers a personal log that sets the stage for what he thinks will be a little bit of a breather. The gang is back on Voyager, and the Protostar is safe while top minds are working on ways to deliver it back in time to Tars Lamora. No dropped balls, as he even remind us how the Federation can handle being in contact with the weaponized Protostar: thanks, Bynars! We also get a nice little quiet moment with Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) and Chakotay (Robert Beltran) in the mess hall acting adorable, as Janeway initiates a little hand-to-hand contact. The flirting flows in both directions here on the Voyager-A.
Nova Squad works on some holodeck drills and Zeph tells Grom, the Lurian, to cut the chitchat. It’s a wonderful nod to Morn, Deep Space 9’s resident Lurian, always mentioned as being very talkative but never seen speaking on screen. And before I could even stop grinning from that reference, the squad gets into position for a “Boothby Supernova”, a sweet tribute to the beloved Starfleet Academy groundskeeper.
But before we get to witness this fancy maneuver, Dal enters the holodeck — Maj’el (Michaela Dietz) has invited him to join them in the training exercises. Zeph pushes back, and in a moment of real character growth, Dal doesn’t get cocky or defensive, but rather extends a hand and says he’s “excited to learn from the best.” I’m so proud of how far he’s come.
In sickbay, it’s prognosis negative for Zero’s body, as none of the damage can be repaired and they realize their time in corporeal form will soon be over. Luckily, the EMH (Robert Picardo) has some good news as Federation technology has advanced enough that Zero (Angus Imrie) can get a body that can “recreate tactile sensations” and look however they wish. Angus Imrie always gives a thoughtful performance as Zero, but his soft and earnest delivery of the line “So I can look like me and feel like me!” is heartwarming. Everyone deserves that. This part of Zero’s journey is Trek at it’s best.
The EMH offers to call the Daystrom Institute, but who needs the best scientific experts in the Federation when you have friends. Zero would rather have Mr. Pog oversee the project. This is the type of pure conceit of a children’s cartoon that Prodigy rarely indulges in and I love it. It’s a beautiful sentiment that Zero wants to keep their journey in the family and for their body to have “the old Jankom touch.” The EMH does mention obtaining some schematics so I’m sure Jankom is working under the supervision of the experts at the Daystrom Institute to get it done right.
The family journey continues as Janeway and Chakotay prepare for his first Starfleet debrief since returning. Chakotay switches out his Protostar combadge for the current Starfleet badge, brought to the “present” by Janeway’s future self in “Endgame” — and we actually get acknowledgment of that fact, as they discuss first seeing it during those events.
Spoiler alert for a twenty-three year old episode of television as Janeway talks about her future alternate version who “blasts her back to the Alpha Quadrant”. My son asked — in such a reverent tone — if that was an episode of old Star Trek. It’s clear to me that he is hooked by all the weird and cool things that have happened in Trek. I really think we’ve created a Trekkie over here!
Admiral Jellico (Ronny Cox) delivers the devastating news that they are to come back to Earth instead of continuing to try to find a way to send the Protostar back in time. He name drops the Romulan evacuation and A500 androids (seen in Star Trek: Picard) alongside Prodigy’s own Living Construct as reasons the fleet is stretched thin — and it’s really cool to ground the show with other events of the time.
Janeway asks for options, but both her old and new Numbers One reluctantly agree with him. I’m loathe to agree with Jellico myself, but the fact that they have a Department of Temporal Investigations who could handle this sort of thing is a solid argument. Of course, he ruins any point he has by being Jellico and referring to our heroes as “would-be cadets” with waves of contempt in his voice. Again, Ronnie Cox does a spectacular job of being such an unlikable buzzkill.
The gang takes the news as poorly as you would expect… but also accept that maybe leaving it to the experts might be the right thing to do. All this quickly becomes moot, however, as Voyager receives a hail from Solum. It’s Ilthuran (John Noble), with an update on Asencia (Jameela Jamil), who has overthrown the council and is building up military forces using advanced temporal technology to speed up the process. The visuals of the time compressed domes of construction really give off an air of menace.
And then, the Vindicator herself breaks into the transmission. Jameela Jamil gives a delicious performance, owning that viewscreen and showing off Asencia as the all-time Trek villain that she is. She taunts both Janeway and Gwyn personally before delivering them a present in the form of the Rev-1 right in their face.
The Rev-1 targets Voyager with a weapon that drains its power and simultaneously hits the Protostar with torpedoes. Battle on two fronts now as Chakotay and the rest of the Protostar crew run to the transporter room to board their ship. Make that three fronts, as Nova Squad has their orders, too, and will be taking shuttles out. When Grom gets injured and Zero takes her to sickbay, they are down a pilot. Chakotay looks at Zeph and nods in Dal’s direction. Chakotay reassuring Dal with a “Go. Starfleet needs you!” is a sweet mentor moment that also gets Dal (and me!) fired up.
Just pure excitement and Star Trek battle goodness as we go from bridge to bridge, first watching the Protostar do some impressive evasive maneuvers. Then sparks fly on the Voyager bridge as Janeway tries to stop the power drain and get control of her quantum torpedoes to target the Rev-1’s weapons array. But there is too much chronometric interference to get a lock. Luckily, we have Mark 2 Nova Flyers —redesigned by Lieutenant Tom Paris himself, of course — that are fast enough to get in close and relay coordinates.
Dal quips in true action movie style, “They ain’t gonna make this easy!” as Asencia and Drednok release a swarm of drones upon the Nova Flyers. And then: oh the teamwork! Dal has the idea for the Nova Flyers to lure the drones away while the Protostar gets close enough to get the coordinates to the weapons.
It’s so satisfying to watch while everyone does their part, and Janeway can finally give the order to fire the quantum torpedoes. But the drones fall back and form some kind of force-field, protecting the Rev-1 and reverberating the torpedo explosions around all of our ships. Things look dire as Tysess (Daveed Diggs) tells Janeway that Voyager’s shields are completely lost.
This would have been a really great way to end Part 1, but the show manages to up the stakes even more when it’s revealed that Asencia has Wesley Crusher (Wil Wheaton) as a prisoner, attached to machines and not looking well. My daughter gasped.
We rolled right into Part 2, and I’m a bit envious that these kids will never know the feeling of the “Best of Both Worlds” summer their mother had to endure when I was their age!
Voyager is helpless, as another round of drones comes on the attack. It’s the Protostar’s time to shine, as they disobey Janeway’s order to stay back and knock out the drones. Great action as Murf (Dee Bradley Baker) gets to pew-pew to his heart’s content and, in one of my favorite moments, Jankom (Jason Mantzoukas) bifurcates the tractor beam. We even get a great “phew!” moment with the just-in-time destroying of drones about to attack our beloved Zero and EMH and the rest of the sickbay evacuees. Dal speaks for all of us as he yells “That’s my crew!”
Meanwhile, Asencia has Wesley show her the future if she uses her next tactic. She likes what she sees so she has Drednok fire “The Incursor,” and there’s nothing anyone can do but watch as it pierces through Voyager’s hull. We find out what this weapon is capable of as it blasts out temporal radiation through the cargo bay.
Commander Tysess goes to full Christopher Pike levels of bravery as he saves an ensign but gets hit by the radiation himself and has aged rapidly. Oh, “The Incursor” is a fantastic name for a temporal weapon and, also a very Vau N’Akat moniker.
Zero’s turn for bravery as they realize they are the only one on the ship who can withstand the effects of the Incursor, as Medusans do not experience the passage of time the way corporeals do. But this means giving up their body so it is still a huge sacrifice. It’s tough to watch as they get weaker and weaker while realizing they can’t shutoff the weapon, only reroute it’s target to another Starfleet ship.
Zero passes the hero baton to Maj’el, who tells them to lock the weapon onto her shuttle. She will lead it into the Rev-1. Nova Squad will perform the Boothby Supernova (“No one’s ever pulled off that maneuver!”, so you know its special). What a delight as they open their coolant interlocks and get into position. The maneuver appears to involve separating the nacelles and pealing off. I’m not sure what’s its supposed to look like outside the context of running into an enemy ship, but I bet it’s neat! The explosion is impressive as the REV-1 is destroyed.
It’s a celebration as everyone is reunited in the Voyager shuttle bay in time for Zero’s big reveal. This is Zero’s best look in the series, taking the best things from their original design and smoothing the rough edges while adding the sensory upgrades. Looks like Zero made the right call entrusting Jankom with the build. But it doesn’t matter how I feel about it; all that’s important is Zero’s statement: “I feel like me”. Janeway punctuates the point with her response of “And that’s what matters most, even if it means we must adapt.” (I really don’t understand why that concept is so difficult for some people to understand.)
I’m very grateful to Prodigy for keeping up the Star Trek tradition of tackling subjects like this and reinforcing the concept for my kids that everyone deserves this same basic respect for who they are.
Prodigy takes everything awesome about Star Trek battle scenes and packs it into “Ascension” in incredibly satisfying ways. They set the momentum bar high and hopefully they can sustain it through the last four episodes. Janeway’s new orders are for Voyager and the Protostar to proceed to Solum.
They have a war to prevent and — although they don’t know it yet — a Traveler to rescue!
Star Trek: Prodigy Season 2 is available to stream now on Netflix globally (excluding-Canada, Nordics, CEE, Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, Poland, Russia, Belarus, and Mainland China). The show can also be viewed on SkyShowtime in the Nordics, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Central and Eastern Europe.