Believe it or not, words fail me at times. Not often, but trying to articulate the level of admiration I have for the team that created Star Trek: Prodigy Season 1 Episode 10 falls in that frustratingly “lightning-bug-instead-of-lightning” way.
Finale episodes — whether season-enders or midseason — are held to a higher standard than a typical episode.
The Star Trek: Prodigy team — all of whom are credited on-screen and have been throughout social media with having a hand in the actualization of “A Moral Star” — does everything perfectly. And that’s about as rare as a childless tribble.
When TV Fanatic spoke with creators Dan and Kevin Hageman and director Ben Hibon, we asked them about the Tower of Babel-like plot device used to enslave and isolate the Unwanted of Tars Lamora.
Describing the Diviner’s realm as one as far from the Starfleet and Federation ideal of understanding diverse species as possible, they identified communication as the key to the series.
So when the crew introduces translators, is it any wonder that it opens floodgates of emotion and expression among all these individuals who have toiled for years and years together but who could never communicate with their co-workers?
Furthermore, the little Caitian’s first words are absolutely thrilling, not to mention pretty bad-ass. It’s like we waited THREE MONTHS to hear them.
Yeah, we now have a voice! Good for us! Bad for you!
Caitian
I’m holding out hope that she sticks around for the back half of the season. In fact, having the Protostar escort the Rev-12 to return all the Tars Lamora miners to their homeworlds (or new home worlds) would be pretty cool and provide the crew with even more experiences in diplomacy and meeting new species.
The truth of The Diviner’s mission is a worthy reveal for all the build-up that’s teased us this season.
Like a misguided Terminator sent back to destroy the Federation (playing the Big Bad role of Skynet in this context), the Diviner paints a compelling logic to his quest.
Starfleet lit the fire, and left us to burn.
The Diviner
The irony is that if he’d told Gwyn all of this before she was abducted by Dal et al., she would probably have been all-in with the mission.
Her exposure to the Protostar’s crew, Janeway’s influence, and the principles of the Federation and Starfleet have changed her into a young person with a greater perspective and vision than her parent.
You can’t trade one tragedy for another.
Gwyn
Just spitballing here: If Gwyn manages to remember the danger the Protostar presents to the Federation and Starfleet, and they cannot deactivate the viral weapon The Diviner installed, could they maybe go to Solum themselves and make first contact?
I’ll take a quiet victory lap on predicting Hologram Janeway’s duplicitous programming ala Gwyn. My predictions have such a low rate of proving right that I’ll take my wins when I get them.
However, I didn’t expect her to make the hologram solid enough to fend off and incapacitate The Diviner. That’s an intriguing development with a lot of potential for future usefulness as well as danger.
It could mean that Admiral Janeway will one day shake hands with her own hologram self. How trippy would that be?
Rok-Tahk: What’s your plan?
Dal: I’ll tell you when I got one.
This finale demonstrates how far Dal and his crew have come from the wide-eyed innocents they were when they first escaped Tars Lamora.
Rok’s indeterminable time in the anomaly gave her engineering skills that far outstrip Jankom Pog’s approach of “percussive maintenance.” At the same time, Pog shows his growth by acknowledging that she’s now the expert, and he should play doorstop.
I’ll admit to being a little scrambled at times on which containment suit was Zero and which was Murf, but it all came clear once the protocore was transported out of Murf.
That’s some seriously precise transporting. Props to Drednok’s interface with the Rev-12.
Speaking of tall, metal, and evil, while we know what happens to The Diviner and the crew, I’m a little hesitant to call Drednok completely out of the picture just because he’s been decapitated.
We know that his schematics were transmitted to the Protostar’s computer on Star Trek: Prodigy Season 1 Episode 8. What if some version of his program/sentience is in there too?
Could it lie dormant until some Vau N’akat trigger sets it off and reconstitutes it via the vehicle replicator?
Another spitball, but the genius of the scripting is that the possibilities exist.
And if communication is the theme upon which the season is built, there are a myriad of possibilities of where the back half will take us.
How long will it take the USS Dauntless and its Admiral Janeway-led crew to intercept the Protostar? How will they open that communication, considering the admiral is expecting Chakotay to still be in command of the ship?
Will we see Nandi again? Or the song-giving first contact species? Or the murder planet?
Will Dal find his home planet or other members of his species?
I also appreciate the respect afforded to the trauma in giving their all to defeat an opponent so clearly out of their league.
Zero’s choice to uncloak their visage to defend their friends brought tears to my eyes.
Their deep love for Gwyn and Dal drives them to use the power that The Diviner once exploited. It’s the most profound form of victim closure I’ve ever seen play out.
It cannot be forgotten that while Dal, Pog, Murf, and Rok were forced to labor on Tars Lamora, Zero was used as a weapon to harm countless opponents to The Diviner’s will. That sort of scarring doesn’t spare even non-corporeal beings.
Not to beat a dead Watcher drone, but, seriously, this offering ticked every box I have for a great finale.
Wraps up major plot points? Check.
Rescues and empowers the downtrodden? Check.
Shows in rich detail the development of the crew’s relationships and personal growth? Holy freakin’ CHECK.
Best of all, it leaves us wanting to come back with the Dauntless stinger, instead of forcing us to come back with some infuriating cliffhanger.
We have ten more episodes to look forward to, releasing on the oh-so-mysterious Paramount+ schedule “later this year,” and I cannot wait.
What was the highlight of the season so far for you?
Who is your favorite character, and why is it Murf?
What are your predictions for the USS Protostar’s next adventure? Lock them into our comments below! Go fast!
Diana Keng is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow her on Twitter.
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