Recap/Review: ‘Star Trek: Prodigy’ Returns With A Bang In “Into The Breach” (Part I & Part II)

“Into The Breach, Part I” and “Into The Breach, Part II”

Star Trek: Prodigy Season 2, Episodes 1 & 2 – Debuted Monday, July 1, 2024
Part I: Written by Kevin & Dan Hageman, directed by Ben Hibon
Part II: Written by Aaron Waltke, directed by Andrew L. Schmidt & Patrick Krebs

This delightful series doesn’t miss a beat as it reintroduces us to the characters and sets them on a grand new adventure.

Miss us?

WARNING: Spoilers below!

RECAP

“Greetings, Starfleet Academy hopefuls.”

Some time has passed since the season 1 finale, and the kids are now Starfleet Academy hopefuls, each assigned to a different specialty. Separately, Murf, Rok, Jankom, Zero, and Dal get a message from Admiral Janeway that “prep school is over” and it is time for some “study abroad.” They reunite to be greeted by their escort: It’s the holographic Doctor, or as he reminds us, a “hero of the Delta Quadrant.” Their escort tells them the mission is to explore the wormhole that was created when they blew up the Protostar last season, which created a gateway to future war-torn Solum (where Chakotay is), not to be confused with the peaceful Solum of today (where Gwyn is headed)… “This timey-whimey stuff hurts my head,” says Dal. They arrive at their new home, the USS Voyager-A, Janeway’s fancy new ride. They soon find out the ship has other potential Academy recruits, including teen Vulcan Maj’el, one of the snooty Nova Squadron candidates calling the prodigies “Never Squadron.” Burn! The kids are sent to their assignments with four of them very happy: Murf starts security training, Zero heads to sickbay, Jankom’s in engineering, and Rok in Cetacean Ops! But Dal is disappointed command training isn’t an away mission fighting the Borg; he’s just handed a huge pile of books, Temporal Mechanics 101 at the top. Boring!

Sorry kid, can’t talk, have to finish today’s Wordle.

“It’s time for one of my cockamamie plans.”

Dal runs into a brick wall when he tries to rally the gang into some hijinks. They’re not moved by his talk of how they “used to be heroes” on their own ship. Even Jankom is “trying to fit in.” The former kid captain retreats to his room to facetime with Gwyn, revealing he is rethinking the whole Academy thing, but she has her own concerns as she heads to Solum to convince a bunch of xenophobes that a galaxy full of aliens is actually going to be fun for them. But after Zero overhears The Doctor get a cryptic message from Janeway about Shuttlebay 3, which isn’t supposed to exist, they take Dal up on his suggestion of doing some snooping. Jankom and Murf join in, but Rok will have nothing to do with breaking the rules. They eventually find a seemingly empty hanger that actually contains a cloaked ship (still illegal in the 24th century). Janeway and her bridge crew show up, so the kids hide as the officers reveal the real mission was to use this ship called “Infinity” to go into the wormhole and save Chakotay—but now Admiral Jerkico is having second thoughts. Noum, Tysess, and Doctor say they are ready to go anyway, but Janeway is going to play by the book for the moment, and will keep trying to convince her boss to change his mind and go through with the secret time travel mission. Dal nails it with: “And this just got interesting.”

Yes, this would qualify as hijinks.

“I have traveled here from the stars.”

Gwyn finally arrives at Solum, and beams down alone with the assurance that she can return to the shuttle anytime. After announcing her surprise appearance to a crowd she is ushered in to meet the elders, but her message of “peaceful worlds and civilizations” falls on deaf ears. Surprise! Asencia (aka The Vindicator) arrived earlier and already convinced the leaders of the planet that Gwyn is a fake Vau N’Akat and a spy there to destroy the planet for her “Starfleet masters.” Things go downhill with calls to “seize her!” and she barely escapes, only to see her Federation ride home (and its pilot) blown out of the sky. These people aren’t very neighborly. Gwyn slinks around the back alleys of Solum until she feels the pull of her heirloom, leading her to the younger version of her father. This lonely astronomer named Ilthuran is far more amiable years before the civil war she is there to stop turns him into “The Diviner.” After she convinces him she is indeed his daughter, he takes her to meet the Lorekeeper, which appears to be an equally amiable version of the future evil robot Drednok. Using the “Arcanum” repository of the planet’s history, this friendly bot suggests Gwyn can prove she is a true blue Vau N’Akat if she can successfully perform the ancient ritual of Va’Lu’Rah. That is, if she survives the dangerous ceremony that hasn’t been done in a millennia. Gulp.

Take me to your leader?

“There are so many violations here.”

Voyager arrives at the wormhole, where the ship is greeted by a glowing orb thing warning “Janeway, do not enter the anomaly.” Ominous, much? At this point Dal, channeling his inner John McClane, falls out of his ceiling snooping spot, exiting by dropping a hint he knows about Shuttle Bay 3. Janeway calls the prodigies to a secret meeting and they spill what they know. The admiral reveals data recovered from the Protostar showing how Chakotay was captured on future Solum and the Protostar was turned into a weapon. The kids now understand his sacrifice; sending the ship back in time to be lost is how they won their freedom from Tars Lamora, “His sacrifice changed our lives.” They know flying the Protostar around almost allowed the Living Construct to fulfill its nefarious Starfleet-destroying mission. As the wormhole is locked to exactly 52 years in the future, the secret mission is to use the Infinity to rescue Chakotay, but even if they had permission, it would have to wait 41 hours so they arrive after Chakotay sends the Protostar back in time; otherwise, bad stuff happens—like Gwyn will cease to exist. Later, the gang’s enthusiasm of being on the inside of the big secret gets overheard by Maj’el. The Vulcan calls her Nova wannabe buddies to meet her at what she now knows to be Shuttlebay 3, revealed by some uncool mindreading of Zero. Dal decides the best way to keep Janeway’s illegal ship a secret is to fly it into another shuttlebay without anyone noticing. That plan works as well as you can imagine: The Novas show up, a struggle ensues, and the secret little ship gets launched at the wormhole just in time for the mysterious entity to show up again for a cosmic “WTF.” Rok and Murf are left behind, but Maj’el is along for the ride as Janeway and her bridge crew can only watch the Infinity disappear into the wormhole… unauthorized and way ahead of the timeline-breaking schedule. Prodigy and its hijinks are back!

Murf calls this pose the “Burt Reynolds.”

ANALYSIS

Welcome back, kids

The return of Prodigy took too long but was still worth the wait. The 2-part season premiere had all the season 1 touches of fun, lore, and heart while adding new twists by moving our characters into a new setting with a new mission. The team behind the show reveals a new confidence, knowing their formula works and refining it more as the characters evolve. Each episode  stands well on its own, but together they hint at the more serialized second season ahead. It didn’t take the show long to catch us up on where each character was in their post-Protostar life, each settled into the disciplines they discovered suited them in season 1, but we also got hints of new arcs for each, such as Zero’s longing for corporeal love and Dal’s frustration with fitting into the restrictions of life as a Starfleet Academy cadet trainee. All of the catch-up did start things off a bit slow, but the action ramped up soon enough, especially in the second part. No time was wasted reminding us how much we cared about these kids, and their new challenges should be relatable to kids of all ages. The cast is as strong as ever, but Angus Imrie stands out for his nuanced performance, delivering light and touching moments.

Oh to be a sphere in love.

The second season also introduces us to some new (and familiar) characters. Maj’el (Michaela Dietz) and her Nova trainees start off as a bit of a clichéd cool kid clique to conflict with our outcast heroes, but hopefully, things will get more nuanced as the season progresses. The more interesting character tension is between the prodigies themselves, with Rok-Tahk representing the desire to fit into the rules and Dal bristling against them on the other extreme. Bringing Robert Picardo’s Star Trek: Voyager EMH back as a holographic minder for the kids worked right from the start, adding lots of humor (including “I’m a doctor, not a butler”), but also some heart, like when he offered Zero some non-corporeal wisdom about their potential for growth. As we get into the second half of the episode, we get to meet Ilthuran, the younger Diviner, and John Noble is amazing in how he creates an entirely different character from his terrifying (and too often one-dimensional) season 1 villain. An exciting new character of the season is the USS Voyager-A, a beautiful update on the original akin to the evolution of the sacred 1701 refit. The visual effects team nailed it with the classic spacedock scene and we are just getting to see some of the exciting elements of this new Voyager, including Cetacean Ops… a perfect new home for Rok-Tahk. It’s also a nice setting for the kids (and therefore the audience) to learn more Trek lore, even the seemingly mundane like the turbolift—because turbolifts are cool!

Get ready for more “I’m a doctor, not a ___” gags kid, I have been saving up.

The main plot for the season was established well, with quite a bit of exposition for the benefit of those not familiar with Temporal Mechanics 101. The season 1 finale set up a storyline that is going to take place in multiple timelines, with potentially dangerous implications. The secret mission, cool new ship, and mysterious Orb entity all added to the galactic stakes and offered plenty to keep the audience intrigued. The focus is still on saving Chakotay, and who doesn’t choke up when he records his “Tell Kathryn… I’m sorry. But I’m doing this for you” message, establishing the very personal stakes for the season. Of course, once the Infinity was introduced, it was obvious Dal and the gang would end up taking the little ship, and the series of events that lead to them flying it through the wormhole bordered on sitcom antics but got them back into space on their own and set up for many more adventures for this new season. Splitting the kids up in time and space with Rok and Murf on Voyager and Gwyn on present-day Solum does complicate things, but that is a problem for the rest of the highly anticipated season to come.

Is this thing on?

Final thoughts

Prodigy is as good as it has ever been, and possibly even better. This show may be targeted at young audiences, but it works for all ages and even for us (too often cynical) older fans as well, demonstrating a deep understanding and love for Star Trek. The show simply makes you feel young again.

Still has that new ship smell…

BITS

  • Stardate 61859.6 (as of Part II).
  • Rok-Tahk’s presentation on solving the Tribble multiplying problem referenced the late Edward Larkin from the Short Treks episode “The Trouble With Edward.”
  • The original USS Voyager was mentioned as a “floating museum,” which was seen in Lower Decks, set a few years before.
  • It’s mentioned that Admiral Janeway personally took command of the new Voyager because much of Starfleet was focused on the “Romulan evacuation.” This effort was headed up by Admiral Picard at this time (around 2385).
  • The USS Voyager is launched from above Mars, home to the Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards, not long before the Synth Attack on Mars from Picard and Short Treks.
  • Janeway said she promised Picard she wouldn’t lose the new Voyager in the Delta Quadrant, referring to how she did get lost in the Delta Quadrant for seven years on Star Trek: Voyager.
  • One of the Nova candidates was a Lurian.
  • Zero notes Bolian births are “colorful.” The Bolian mother talks about her baby having “heartbeats,” indicating Bolians have more than one heart.
  • Bonnie Gordon (who voiced the USS Protostar in season 1) returns, voicing the Voyager and Infinity computer, as well as the Bolian mother.
  • Jimmi Simpson (voice of Drednok) also voices the much nicer robot “Lorekeeper.”

You can tell he is a nice robot because he is painted white.

TrekMovie’s Prodigy July binge-watch

Since all 20 episodes were released on Netflix at once, we’re binging it in five-episode arcs; we can’t stick to watching just one a week! Each All Access Star Trek podcast (every Friday morning) will cover five episodes, while written reviews for all five will publish throughout the week, with two-parters paired up.

This will all wrap up just as San Diego Comic-Con kicks off at the end of the month. We also hope to have more Prodigy interviews and analysis in July and beyond.

We welcome fans joining us through July covering 5 episodes each week. However, for those choosing to binge the show even faster, we ask readers to avoid spoilers for episodes beyond the latest recap/review in our comments section.

Season 2 of Prodigy is available to stream on Netflix globally (excluding Canada, Nordics, CEE, Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, Poland, Russia, Belarus and Mainland China) and season one is currently available on SkyShowtime in the Nordics, the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal and Central and Eastern Europe with season two coming soon. Season two has launched in France on France Televisions channels and Okoo.


Keep up with news about the Star Trek Universe at TrekMovie.com.

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It is hard seeing this review living in Canada. This is the first time since 2017 I haven’t been able to watch a Star Trek show at the same time as those in the U.S.

Okay so fingers crossed I don’t get in trouble for suggesting this … but … Maybe try a VPN? That way, if you already subscribe to Netflix, you should be able to see Netflix’s US catalog.

That’s what I did. I logged into the UK yesterday and watched the first two eps…

(Whoops, edited! I meant to reply to OP.)

Thanks!

I am watching again on Netflix, as I want them to get as much watch time logged as possible, for the show to be successful and get another season (or five 🤞😉), but there ARE a few other options to watch it for absolutely nuthin’ now, and rewatch whenever it comes to Canada later, for your eyeballs to count!

I’d love to provide you with the name of a 🏴‍☠️-site, but don’t want to get banned over it… 😬💦

Of course, if the rights holders could coordinate the international release(s) better 🎬🤝📺, we wouldn’t even need to acknowledge those kinds of sources at all, that do very little to reward the production (other than allow the show to get popular within, uh, penurious circles, and hopefully contribute to word-of-mouth).

It looks great, I can’t wait to get back into the world of Prodigy again.

NO Canada!! Lack of information is what’s most frustrating. I’m sure Trekmovie has been contacting Bell Media. They are just not responding apparently. I’m going to wait a week to see if we get clarity . If not I’m going to be exploring other options to watch Prodigy.

I’m not waiting until Christmas/early 2025 for a physical media release/ digital purchase option

If you subscribe to Netflix, subscribe to a VPN service like ExpressVPN. (They have a 30-day money-back policy.) If all you want to do is watch Prodigy, get a refund before the 30 days. I used the time zones to my advantage yesterday. I logged in to the UK at 6 p.m. yesterday. As it was July 1st in the UK, I was able to watch the first two episodes.

Without spoiling anything, I watched the first three episodes last night and had to force myself to go to bed. For sure a good sign. I don’t know if it was really dumb or really smart for Paramount+ to let this show go. One thing is clear to me though I can’t wait run and go watch more. The world building they create on this show is some of the best of any from the Star Trek Universe.

This show was meant to be a kids show to attract new fans at a young age. But it seems to only appeal to old fans who already watch Trek. The show failed to reach it’s demographics so they did the right thing in canceling it.

Useless opinion without data. P+ canceled it to take advantage of a tax write-off.
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I have grandsons 8, 10, and 13 who all have been hooked on it from the get go. They find it … fascinating.

The show also entered the top 10 in children shows when it debut on Netflix last year. While I’m positive way more adults are watching it that’s a great sign kids are at least watching it too…or watching it with their Trek parents.

And very happy your grandkids are loving it. It’s such an amazing show and my favorite season of modern Trek so far.

The world building is truly stunning. I been impressed with every episode so far and I know people keep saying it but it’s hard to believe this is a show made for 8 year olds in mind. But they are getting Star Trek at its best IMO.

As far as Paramount+ it still sucks but that place has real problems that goes beyond one show. I won’t be surprised if other Star Trek shows appear on Netflix in time.

Sadly I think P+ is on deaths door and may be able to stick around beyond a few more years but it sounds dire unless they there is some major turnaround or reprieve.

And as much as we love Star Trek, I don’t think any of the modern shows have been strong enough to make a real difference with P+ viewership and why it’s gone from five shows to now two in a such a short time.

Hopefully it will do better on Netflix. And unlike Paramount +, lots of people actually have it.

But yes it’s an amazing show. This what the franchise needs more of again.

Not available to watch on SkyShowtime in Europe. Stupid.

…because it was licensed to Netflix. Which is everywhere.

I wish they had stuck to the original vision of the show and not turned it into “Star Trek Voyager Part Deux”.

The show is too content heavy, no wonder kids didn’t watch it.

Are you kidding? Star Trek: Prodigy, and especially its second season, is absolute perfection. Kids can find young heroes to identify with, while adults can follow the fates of characters they’ve known for decades. I can’t count how many times I was on the verge of tears; I hadn’t expected to be so emotionally affected. All the familiar characters are logically integrated into the story where it makes sense. For me, it’s one of the best modern Star Trek series.

This makes me wish for a continuation of Star Trek: Enterprise in a similar animated format. A live-action sequel is 99 percent unlikely, and this would be an easy way to continue the stories we were “robbed of”. Also, it could pick up directly after the “Terra Prime” episode, without having to jump fifteen years into the future, which would be necessary in a live-action sequel…

I’ve said it before: just because Voyager characters appear does not make it a rehash of Voyager. It’s such a lazy attack line for trolls like you to wheel out.

This is its own show with its own identity and you know that- you just have nothing better going on, so you hop on here and try to cause some trouble. If you weren’t so bland and predictable, I’d feel sorry for you.

I managed to get through the first five episodes so far and it’s amazing. Season 2 has already managed to take an already excellent first season and so far exceed that.

It’s just so well done, thoughtful and with a lot of heart. This is Star Trek at its best and could be my favorite season of modern Star Trek (currently Picared season 3 is my favorite) but I won’t get ahead of myself yet lol.

I’m happy to be back in 24th century starfleet. I’ve only seen the first two episodes and I loved them both. I miss those crazy time travel stories from the modern era. What I loved the most was Gwendala on Solum. I’m a fan of the worlds introduced in Prodigy The Hagemann brothers nailed it. And I’m happy John Noble/Jimmi Simpson are back.

The only worry is this weird Janeway/Chakotay relationship. I might be misreading it.

Totally agree dear. This feels like the golden age of Star Trek again, only animated. Everything feels like its in the right place and love being back in the 24th century again. I started out as a TOS and 23rd century girl back in the sixties but I want to see more of this era since there is still so much they can explore in it. And it’s fun returning to our old favorite characters while being introduced to new ones as this show does splendidly.

And the timey whimey stuff in Star Trek is always good fun. I can tell they are going to have a blast with it here.

I was finally able to watch the first two episodes. And if these episodes are any indication I am in for a fantastic season!

I agree with this review so much and just how well crafted these episodes were and I immediately became invested with the characters again and their new home on the Voyager A.

I was happy to see everyone back and instantly love Ma’jel. Besides having such a splendid name I’m always happy to see more women Vulcans like Saavik, T’Pol and T’Pring. She easily fits right in.

I really loved seeing Gwyn back on present day Solum and curious how they will connect it to Chakotay and the 25th century.

Rok steals my heart every time she talks and Jankom is a riot. But I really love seeing Janeway back on another Voyager being her usual clever and endearing self. That’s where our girl belongs. And I can never get enough of the Doctor.

But it’s a fantastic start. Reading ahead of what others think of the season overall it sounds like it’s another winner. The most excited I been for a show since Picard ended.

Wow so happy to see how much you loved the opening episodes. And yes it gets even better! As you said it’s so thought out. Every episode feels important to the overall story and all the crazy time travel shenanigans and multiverse implications just makes this season feel absolutely bonkers.

They balance the legacy characters along with the new ones so well and the kids becomes more endearing while giving us some great Janeway scenes. It’s so good!

As far as women Vulcans go T’Lynn is no slouch either on Lower Decks and is now a huge fan favorite but I absolutely love Ma’jel as well and she becomes more involved in the story as it goes.

So agree!

This show understands what it is and what I love about it the most it doesn’t talk down to its audience. It feels as mature and smart as some of the most noteworthy TOS, TNG or DS9 stories around. They still let the kids talk and act like kids but it’s all done in an adult environment and where science and Starfleet values are king.

And to have Janeway back on another Voyager is really a dream for me. I love her so much and she is being used well.

But it’s just very impressive to me how rich and thoughtful the story telling is. I just finished the next two episodes and floored with how complex and creative the story is becoming.

But that’s why we love Star Trek isn’t it? And take heed while season one focused on a villain and all of that, this season is not framed in the same way. At least not yet. I’m aware there is one but it’s not the main draw and it’s not another end of the galaxy plot either thats been done tirelessly with shows like Discovery and Picard did.

I’m very much looking forward to the rest of the season now. Such a great show.

And I am aware of T’Lynn but cant comment on her since I never seen LDS, but know how much fans love her too.

Yeah the season only gets more stronger as it goes. I want to discuss spoilers so badly but I have been totally surprised by pretty much everything in it. It’s such a fun ride and the stories are all heartfelt and very very creative.

You’re also completely right the story isn’t framed around a villain this time and mostly jist trying to rescue Chakotay. They were smart to let that be the main focus and have the villain subplot not carry the season. Now they are really exploring and probably more so than they did back in season one whichthey did plentyof as well; another reason why I love it so much. And it’s a bit sad we have been to more strange new worlds in this season than we been to on the show titled Strange New Worlds in its second season. And I love that show as well but one of my criticisms of it.

Anyway I’m just happy season 2 was worth the wait. And while I was one of the people not happy the entire season was being dropped at once, it actually really works well since it’s more serialized this time. Prodigy will be the show I will probably revisit again and again for years to come as I do all the classic shows.

And lastly I know some people don’t like when I bring up online scores but I checked the ratings for this season on IMDB and so far every episode has an 8 or 9 rating. That’s insane. Season 1 was also strong but most of its ratings fell in the 7 and 8 category which is still higher than most seasons across all the shows. But at this moment the only other season where every episode has been rated an 8 or 9 is Picard season 3. And I don’t mean just for the modern shows but for all of Star Trek.

Prodigy is a bonified hit across the board; the show I always have to stress was made for 7 year olds in mind.

I would like to note that Dal saying “timey wimey” is a direct reference to Doctor Who. David Tennant’s incarnation of The Doctor explained the universe as “a big wibly wobbly ball of timey wimey stuff”.

I know this was written before the latest season of Doctor Who but it works so well with the conversation between the current Doctor and his companion where he explained how a teleporter worked and the companion said “like the transporter in Star Trek?” To which the Doctor answered “we should go see them sometime”.

Loved the premiere but I do feel like they simply cut to the end credits arbitrarily. Parts I and II end very suddenly and with very little tension build up. It’s like they produced everything in one go (I know they don’t) and then just decide to chop it up when it hits 20 minutes or so, regardless of where the plot is.

Spent the last couple days binging the season (and just started my rewatch this morning). Without saying too much, I’ll just say I loved this season. Definitely worth the wait IMO.

As for these episodes in particular, it’s a very good start to the bigger story. The show does a good job easing us back into the characters’ lives. Nice seeing glimpses of everyone’s lives at the Academy before joining Janeway’s crew, and then seeing what their roles on Voyager will be. I liked both Rok’s and Murf’s enthusiasm when they see where they’ll be. And Zero’s scenes with the Doctor were one of the highlights of the episode for me. Hadn’t thought of their similarities, but the writers did a great job leaning into it here. Another part I really liked from the first episode was Dal’s conversation with Gwyn. Great to see them keeping in touch, and showing how much their relationship has progress. The whole thing with Dal’s suspicions shows how much he still needs to grow, and adjust to his new role on the crew, since he doesn’t like not being in charge, or kept in the dark. I did like Rok being the voice of reason here, but still being pulled into it against her will. And it was great seeing Janeway, the returning Dauntless characters, and of course the Doctor getting some solid screen time this early on into it, hinting at a more direct and prominent role than the Dauntless crew from last season (as good as those parts were back then).

Gwyn’s story on Solum was one of the aspects I was most looking forward to, and they didn’t disappoint here. It’s great getting a closer look at what the culture is like. Great world and character design here. And I figured future-Asencia would come in and mess things up for Gwyn, but I’m surprised it happened so soon. It’s also nice seeing the present versions of both the Diviner (Ilthuran) and Asencia, even if we don’t get to know the latter too much. I liked how different Ilthuran was from who we know, and Gwyn gets to experience the side of him she always wanted to see. In a way, hearing John Noble playing these different versions of the same character gave me serious Fringe flashbacks, and he pulled it off well once again.

I’m so glad you are doing these reviews! It adds so much to my enjoyment to read your takes and insights. Oh, and also the witty image captions. I love them :D

I’ve watched the first two episodes and can’t say I’m all that impressed so far, particularly with respect to the second half, which I found pretty painful. But I’ll keep watching.