With the finesse of Moriarty and the riveting action of a Dixon Hill novel, Star Trek: Prodigy Season 1 Episode 17 sucks us into a labyrinthine mystery adventure with a sinister motive.
In keeping with the backstories revealed on Star Trek: Prodigy Season 1 Episode 16, the personal holodeck programs provide further insight into each of the crew members’ desires and motivations.
And while the villain behind the trap is pretty obvious in hindsight, it’s hard to watch Hologram Janeway realize her subverted programming has betrayed them all.
While Star Trek: Prodigy Season 1 Episode 12 aboard the Borg cube was purported to be the “haunted house” narrative, I found the hijacked holodeck here more sinister.
There were many dangers with the dormant Borg cube, but there was a clear mission to be accomplished. On the holodeck, the entire point was to obscure the purpose of their being there.
At first, I’ll admit I considered this was a take on Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 4 Episode 17, “Night Terrors,” where the crew experienced hallucinations due to sleep deprivation. Maybe the replicator tainted the ice cream?
However, when Rok-Tahk can see and identify the Glitter-Smooch (?) Jankom Pog finds in the corridor, that theory falls apart.
Gwyn: Did anyone else just see a feral human suffering from malnutrition strolling around on our ship?
Jankom: No, but some odd-looking glittery puffball is giving me… kissy-lips?
Zero’s Cellar Door Society speaks to their need for intellectual challenge.
Like Data and Picard, solving the inexplicable is Zero’s jam. They want to stretch their logical muscles, puzzling out mysteries and using their deductive skills and powers of observation to find the solution.
I love that Zero ultimately has to abandon their initial plan when they realize it’s wrong. It’s not something we see often enough in mystery adventures. Typical super sleuths never go that far off-track.
Jankom Pog’s rock ’em, sock ’em back alley brawl program where all his opponents look like the Dauntless’s Dr. Noum belies his comments about only using words to get payback on the abrasive physician.
It’s interesting that the ship’s engineer’s recreational holodeck program has nothing to do with engineering, but then again, Jankom Pog’s percussive maintenance approach has always struck me as less Geordi La Forge and more The Fonz.
Gwyn: Do you realize what you’re doing?
Pog: Making a series of bad decisions? Ah, yes, Jankom Pog is aware.
Murf always steals the scene for me, but having him break out his song-and-dance routine is a surprise and treat. I’ll assume Dee Bradley Baker voices the blue guy’s singing too, and kudos to him!
Again, it just goes to show that we all have dreams. Murf may have morphed from a blobby slug to a bipedal ninja stretch creature, but all he wants to do is entertain!
The Key Club nightclub is a slick turnaround point for the plot.
When we’re not reveling in Murf’s crooning, Zero and Rok-Tahk are slicing away the obfuscating distractions to get to the heart of their puzzle.
Also, Gwyn’s daddy issues — totally legit, there’s just no other way to phrase it; I do NOT mean to make light of them — sneak into the setting with The Diviner tending bar.
Another moment of unexpected joy is hearing John Noble sporting a Bostonian (?) accent and offering Gwyn some sage advice and comfort. I wonder if that twist on her father’s personality is something the holodeck deduced from Gwyn’s previous uses of the program.
Dal’s fantasy of a crew that respects him is awfully endearing. For all his chutzpah, we have to remember that, of everyone on the Protostar, Dal’s got the biggest case of imposter syndrome.
His insecurities are absent as he gives out orders on his pirate ship. It’s heart-warming to see what a difference that confidence makes.
Speaking of heart-warming, I demand some time in Rok-Tahk’s Delta Heart: Magical Veterinarian program. Seeing the patients inserted into the various settings in the merged program is intriguing enough to warrant a visit.
Maybe a Short Trek? Hmm…? After all, she’s been through, Rok-Tahk deserves a 5 – 15 minute respite from being chased, enslaved, or forced to participate in a staged fight club. Who’s with me?
And this brings us to the reveal that Hologram Janeway is the culprit behind it. Granted, it’s a rather unique situation that revealing the villain is a shock to literally everyone, including the villain herself.
As mentioned above, Hologram Janeway is really the only possible saboteur for several reasons.
First, if corporeal enemies had secretly boarded the ship, Zero would have sensed their presence and probably their intentions.
Second, we’ve known ever since they found the living construct in the secret sub-deck below the bridge that Janeway’s memory and programming are fallible.
Third, needing Dal’s command code for dealing with a holodeck malfunction felt immediately suspicious.
In terms of ways they would exit the Neutral Zone, I did not have “betrayed by the hologram training program” on my dance card, but it’s both an elegant and logical mechanism to activate. Kudos to the writers for that.
Now that they’re heading into Federation Space, what will they have to do to avoid infecting the Dauntless or any other Starfleet vessel they meet?
Will Hologram Janeway deactivate herself rather than risk endangering the crew further?
Can the crew afford not to have her presence supporting their endeavors?
Hit our comments below with your best predictions for how they survive this next adventure!
Diana Keng is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow her on Twitter.
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