I feel like Tom Paris should have been on the Prodigy when it first launched on its mission. The fastest ship with his love of propulsion design and the need to be on the leading edge. With the time between them getting home and it launching he would be a good first officer or maybe captain (a bit of a stretch). Then having the need for the Janeway hologram would make sense, Chakotay wouldn't have needed it but he would have liked it.

I just finished binging the series (fingers crossed for a season 3) and the entire time I couldn’t help thinking how similar Dal and Tom were, they were cut from the same cloth. Honestly it would be so interesting to see how the dynamic between an older, more mature Tom Paris, with some experience as a father, and Dal who was just like him not that long ago. Plus it’d be cool to see him teach Dal and Maj’el some tricks since Dal likes flying and Maj’el is the Prodigy’s Conn Officer.

Side note, seeing Jankom and B’Elanna arguing about engineering would be hilarious.

Voyager is my favorite Star Trek series. I've always wanted to see more of what happened to the crew once they returned to Earth. This show was such a fun treat for that reason alone. They created a solid cast and the voiceover work was great.

Jankom Pog is my favorite of the crew because I'm a HUGE Jason Mantzoukas fan, but they are all loveable. Having The Doctor come back in season 2 was awesome. The shorter season versus a live-action show also means fewer filler episodes. The show kept moving forward at a solid pace and had satisfying conclusions. My fingers are crossed for a season 3.

#r/LowerDecks ...

... your home for discussion on the animated comedy as it begins its final season on Thursday, Oct. 24!

With nods to every corner of the franchise -- the more obscure, the better -- Star Trek: Lower Decks has wormed its way into fans' hearts just like Ceti eels worm their way into ears. Yes, there is consternation that Paramount+ is ending the show while it's still going strong, but there are ten more episodes of churro-flavored goodness to enjoy. May your bananas remain hot and may the Cerritos keep on trekkin'.

Other active subs in our network:

r/StrangeNewWorlds (third season coming in 2025)

r/TrekAcademy (for the upcoming Starfleet Academy series)

r/StarTrekS31 (for the upcoming Michelle Yeoh movie)

r/ClassicTrek (for discussion of TOS, TAS, TNG, DS9, VOY, ENT and the films)

r/StarTrekDiscovery

r/StarTrekPicard

r/StarTrekLegacy

https://preview.redd.it/g6gdukims3td1.png?width=994&format=png&auto=webp&s=9fab1fff2aed0ca5853363de769acffd6898f58b

Maybe that's how the crew and Picard got the Enterprise D and returned to the solar system so quickly 🤣

"As the episode ends, we get the reunion scene that we’ve been waiting for between Prime Chakotay and Prime Janeway. It’s an incredibly lovely and understated moment played exactly the way you’d think these two characters would react in this situation. You can feel the love between these two and, for now at least, there is no reason to try to define the type of love that is. [...]

Prodigy has done a great job of expanding on Chakotay’s feelings about Janeway. Only hinted at in Voyager, here they are completely obvious but at the same time not intrusive; it’s not a focus of the plot, but just another layer on a very well defined character. He’s not trying to hide his feelings, or his nervousness at seeing her again. I find it incredibly endearing."

Jenn Tifft (TrekCore)

Link:

https://blog.trekcore.com/2024/10/star-trek-prodigy-review-tribble-quest-cracked-mirror/

Quotes/Excerpts:

“A Tribble Called Quest” and “Cracked Mirror” are two fun stand-alone adventures that are more pointedly aimed at the younger set. Similar to “The Fast and the Curious” and “Is There in Beauty No Truth?” from earlier in the season, they mostly take a break from the main story line action to introduce newer fans to classic Star Trek setups — with a Prodigy spin. They manage to do justice to the tribble and the Mirror Universe concepts by maintaining the inherent silliness of both within well-structured adventures that had my kids spellbound.

[...]

We get a little Tribble 101 from Rok — for the watchers who are having their first tribble encounter — while we enjoy the familiar soothing sounds of the tribble “coo.” We live in this scene long enough for even first timers to understand that it is unusual when Rok gets bitten by one of her “cute babies.” And the fact that this bite was strong enough to hurt a rock person is enough to make these tribbles menacing, even before we are introduced to the gigantic boulder-sized tribbles rumbling down their path. They makes the giant tribbles in “More Tribbles, More Troubles” look like pebbles!

[...]

Dal laughs when Dr. K’Ruvang calls the tribbles the Empire’s “ancient blood enemy”, which is always a funny joke and made even funnier when Gwyn shakes her head at him that it’s not a laughing matter to the Klingons. It turns out, the gigantic, toothed tribbles are a result of Dr. K’Ruvang’s experiments and he has lost his honor since he can not figure out a way to fix his mistake.

Luckily, we have our resident expert on all things cute and cuddly and Rok comes up with a solution right away. The events of “Time Amok” are referenced in a really funny way as Chakotay (Robert Beltran) asked Dal exactly how smart Rok is and Dal recounts everything she accomplished in “ten minutes.” My kids thought this was really funny and it sent them off on another round of conversation about exactly how long Rok was alone during that episode, which is something that sparked conversations between my kids for a long time after that episode dropped.

I have to say, seeing just how great at so many different areas of science she’s been this season, my estimate for her alone time has increased. I’m still in awe of how Prodigy truly earned their “science genius” with that fantastic episode and it’s been really satisfying seeing them take advantage of it this season.

[...]

The Protostar is back in peak performance with both warp and protowarp drives fully functional, as the crew make their way back to the Voyager-A. Chakotay is being very cute about seeing Janeway once more, and Dal makes a hilarious — and surprisingly suggestive — joke about Chakoatay being sent to the Admiral’s ready room. Prodigy has done a great job of expanding on Chakotay’s feelings about Janeway.

Only hinted at in Voyager, here they are completely obvious but at the same time not intrusive; it’s not a focus of the plot, but just another layer on a very well defined character. He’s not trying to hide his feelings, or his nervousness at seeing her again. I find it incredibly endearing.

But the reunion will have to wait as the gang soon realize they are in an alternate universe where Janeway, Tysess, and Noum went on the Infinity mission — instead of the Protostar gang — and perished. I liked learning this about their mission because it adds something good about the Protostar crew’s interference with the timeline. This universe’s version of the EMH (Robert Picardo) beams away to meet them at sickbay and the gang take turbolifts… but end up on decks that exist in other parallel universes.

[...]

Each deck is a different reality, similar to the Voyager episode “Shattered,” and it’s a nice oblique reference to that episode when Chakotay says “I’ve been through something like this before.” It’s truly a shame that “Shattered Mirror” is already an episode of Star Trek, because that would have been a perfect title and reference to an amazing episode of Voyager that really showcases Chakotay. I’m definitely adding “Shattered” to the list of episodes to watch with my kids!

[...]

The bridge is eight decks away, and despite her claims to the contrary, Gwyn can not handle that many reality shifts. They have Okona try to beam them there. He beams them to another reality, but which one?

The reveal is delicious. Stepping into frame is Mirror Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) and she is glorious. Voyager never had a mirror universe episode — the closest we ever got was the false history in “Living Witness” — and this feels specifically like the Prodigy writers trying to make up for that. Mirror Janeway has the classic Mirror Universe swagger, rolling up in a leather uniform and slicked back hair, rocking both a cool scar and a Seven of Nine-style Borg implant. Pinch me.

Kate Mulgrew has a lot of fun leaning into the sarcastic side of evil, giving us yet another flavor of Janeway in the way only she could. Prodigy somehow manages to imply an intimate relationship between Mirror Janeway and Mirror Chakotay — who wears the classic Mirror Universe facial hair very well — while still maintaining the show’s kid-friendly status. It was just provocative enough to be a fun tease to the “will they or won’t they” status between their prime universe counterparts this season.

[...]

As the episode ends, we get the reunion scene that we’ve been waiting for between Prime Chakotay and Prime Janeway. It’s an incredibly lovely and understated moment played exactly the way you’d think these two characters would react in this situation. You can feel the love between these two and, for now at least, there is no reason to try to define the type of love that is.

These two episodes were a joy to watch with my kids, as I could see them falling in love with the silly side of Star Trek that I adore. One really big strength of this season is the wide variety of types of episodes in a way that is pretty representative of the longer seasons of classic ‘90s Trek — and they were a really great lead-in to the reunion we’ve been waiting for.

And now that everyone is back where they belong, it’s time to save the universe!"

Jenn Tifft (TrekCore)

Full Review:

https://blog.trekcore.com/2024/10/star-trek-prodigy-review-tribble-quest-cracked-mirror/

Just started season 2 and this is addictive as hell, they should do 100 seasons of Prodigy, I was sceptical of a 3d animated post-voyager Janeway + crew but by god this is amazing, the possibilities are endless in terms of narrative

I'm a trek junkie and Prodigy is my new fix

I am old. I remember ToS. I know this was aimed at kids, but damn, this was an amazing show. Better than any I can recall. I sincerely hope Netflix recognizes what a diamond they have with this show and gives us many more seasons.

Thank you, Netflix, for giving us a chance to see season 2.

I told my friend that but his only response was "What, as opposed to dog boots?".

I'm just starting the last two part episode of the season. Season 2 has blown my mind. So good. Especially with Wesley! It's funny how he started off as such a square and then matured into a conflicted cadet with great piloting skills and then onto a new existence. I felt cheated when they gave him a cameo in the movies without even a mention of what his existence has been like. "Picard" at least gave a small bit of deposition but now we finally get to see the man-child as a full-blown Traveller. Space! Time! Thought! Imagine if live-action Trek was written and created like this

I don't have much to say on the subject because I'm still researching, but why did Paramount get rid of the show and what made Netflix bring it back? Will there be a season three

Long time Star Trek? But honestly I had my doubts about this series. finally gave us a chance toneelive voyager characters and timeline and it's amazing.

#Link

(Panel begins at approx. 18:00.)

Lots of great tidbits in there and wait until you hear who accidentally got added to the show as a guest captain.

"The entire promise of the “finding Chakotay” plot that has permeated both seasons is realized in these two episodes in touching and unanticipated ways. The two-part “Last Flight of the Protostar” brings both Chakotay and the Protostar back into play while showing us sides of both the man and the ship we’ve never seen. [...]

Giving them such a sublime adventure together in which to bond feels like Star Trek stripped down to it’s basics. A special episode that will be remembered as one of the best of the modern era."

Jenn Tifft (TrekCore)

Full Review:

https://blog.trekcore.com/2024/09/star-trek-prodigy-review-the-last-flight-of-the-protostar/

Quotes/Excerpts:

"Part I opens with a bleak montage of Chakotay’s (Robert Beltran) repetitive days stranded on the unforgiving planet of Ysida. Ysida itself is stark and eerily beautiful — the color pallet unique and striking, with bold reds, deep purples, and greys. Day in and day out, he takes care of his basic needs, living off of fruit and eel eggs, polishing his solar collectors and literally whittling away his time. Until today, when he captures our Protostar gang in a net trap. It’s then that we learn he’s been marooned on this planet for ten years.

Ten years. That’s longer than he was in the Delta Quadrant! And that was, of course, in infinitely better conditions. What a bold choice for Prodigy to make — as it seems like a really harsh fate for someone we know and love. But because we know him, we know Chakotay can handle anything. And this version of Chakotay is arguably the best we’ve ever seen.

He’s older and wiser, a little bit grizzled, a man determined to live out his life alone as the caretaker of the Vau N’Akat weapon, heroically giving up himself to save the Federation. He’s awesome. (And as an aside, this isn’t even the worst fate modern Trek has delivered to someone we care about. I still haven’t recovered from what Picard did to poor Icheb!)

[...]

Seeing Holo-Janeway again is incredibly comforting, given her eventual/previous fate — and also as a relief that Chakotay wasn’t completely alone for all these years. I did have to give my youngest a temporal mechanics refresher, as she was confused how Holo-Janeway was still alive, but that wasn’t due to any lacking in the episode. The dialogue actually did a nice job of explaining just where everyone exists in the timeline, with the kids so happy to see her and her not yet knowing them.

[...]

They find Dal, and in an incredibly somber moment, Adreek. For how little we got to know Adreek, he loomed large over Prodigy as Chakotay’s Number One. At first it was partially due to his unique looks (It doesn’t get much cooler than a birdman!) but then when we got to meet him properly in “Who Saves the Saviors,” his wry personality and heroic attitude cemented him as a favorite.

When his skeleton came on screen, my daughter gasped. We all felt his loss. Robert Beltran’s heartfelt performance made us feel the depth of Chakotay’s loss too. We soon find out that Adreek died as he lived: a Starfleet hero. He managed to rig up some kind of lightning rod and was able to harness the energy of the storms to collect antimatter. Way to go, feathered friend.

[...]

Composer Nami Melumad just absolutely out does herself in this two-parter. The music ebbs and flows along with the emotional highs and lows — like so many waves on the vapor sea — making the character moments feel even more intimate and the action moments even more epic. A beautiful companion and guide on this journey.

[...]

Dal makes a mistake and gets demoted from the jib to rope coiling duties. This leads to what might possibly be my favorite scene in all of Prodigy. Dal and Chakotay sit on the edge of the ship and have a moving heart-to-heart chat. Chakotay talks about his history, familiar to us, about how he felt the same way when he was Dal’s age and he joined the Maquis — but he never felt like he truly belonged until Voyager.

He gives him some great advice: “Whenever you’re feeling lost, it’s best to find where you’re needed most.” This quiet little moment of connection — this poignant conversation between two characters we love — is the best sort of reason to bring back these legacy characters. And Prodigy has done some of the best work of all the newer shows in making their returns worthwhile and meaningful.

[...]

I haven’t even mentioned the fantastic and surprising Gates McFadden cameo! It certainly looks like we are definitely going down the path of intersection with what we learned about the Crusher family in Picard. It’s a lovely conversation between two wonderful women. The emphasis on Janeway being like a mother to the Protostar crew adds depth to Chakotay becoming somewhat of a fatherly figure, as in his “father-son” heart-to-heart chat with Dal. The idea of them “co-parenting” in that way is one I’d really like to explore more.

[...]

“The Last Flight of the Protostar” feels like an emotional interlude in the middle of the season but it’s more than just that. It’s integral in advancing the plot to get both Chakotay and the Protostar back into action. It’s unique to slow it down this way, to let it breathe and to allow us the time necessary to get to know Chakotay again and — for the younger viewers and the Protostar crew — for the first time.

Giving them such a sublime adventure together in which to bond feels like Star Trek stripped down to it’s basics. A special episode that will be remembered as one of the best of the modern era."

Jenn Tifft (TrekCore)

Full Review/Recap:

https://blog.trekcore.com/2024/09/star-trek-prodigy-review-the-last-flight-of-the-protostar/