Prodigy: Asylum

There was a time when a "lull" in Star Trek content meant years on end with absolutely nothing new. These days, it's a lull when the Star Trek series actively releasing new episodes is aimed squarely at a different audience. Star Trek: Prodigy, the kids' show, is back for the second half of its twenty episode season, with "Asylum."

The Protostar crew has been racking up "good deeds" they hope will offset the fact that when they arrive with the Federation, they'll be doing it in a stolen starship. They pull up to a remote Federation station with only one inhabitant -- and while they receive a warm-ish welcome, their presence soon triggers a disaster aboard the station. Elsewhere, Admiral Janeway remains on the trail for Chakotay and his ship.

There's an undeniable sense of whiplash going from Star Trek: Lower Decks to Star Trek: Prodigy; the two shows might be striking almost the most different tones possible underneath the larger Star Trek umbrella. (It really highlights the folly of thinking of "animation" as a single genre.) I constantly have to remind myself that if I'm choosing to watch this show, I can't be too upset about the plots being simple, the characters being innocent, the pacing being rushed. In short, I can't expect Prodigy to, any episode now, become one of my favorite Star Trek shows. I'm not the target audience.

Still, I find myself wanting to stick with Prodigy because it does still offer plenty to enjoy. For one thing, the animation is simply beautiful. This single half-hour episode spans a chase sequence through a detailed underwater environment, the emotional subtlety of the flashback scene between Janeway and Chakotay, and an action-packed climax full of massive and dangerous explosions. The animators of Prodigy can pull it all off, big or small, quiet or epic.

And the sentiments of a Prodigy episode (certainly this one, at least) still feel like "what Star Trek fans like about Star Trek." Different characters face small crises of confidence in the episode (Dal with reaching the Federation, Zero with the mental damage they caused Gwyn, Rok-tahk with her own abilities), and each must overcome them. Sure, some of this is basic, archetypal stuff -- but the core audience here probably hasn't seen many of these tropes before. (I'm sure kids haven't seen A Beautiful Mind, for instance, so Rok-Tahk visualizing complex equations is a brand-new thing.)

Even in "kids' show adjusted terms," though, a few parts of the episode still clanged for me. Not giving us a "previously on" opening package to catch up on the story (after more than eight months) felt like a weird choice. Having the Starfleet officer on the station abandon a bunch of kids to die felt pretty reprehensible, even for someone who's been isolated for a while. The jeopardy at the end, with Rok-Tahk having to tell them all exactly when to jump, felt pretty false with Janeway able to steer the ship and rescue them. (At least that's exactly what she did.)

At the same time, the show does aspire to bigger things in terms of ongoing story. Arriving at part of the Federation only opened up the mysteries, with Dal's identity tripping some kind of alert. The Diviner is not dead, so that story line from the first half of the season isn't wrapped up after all. And the real Janeway's pursuit of Chakotay remains an element that doesn't feel aimed at the kids at all -- not in its emotional heft nor in its clear appeal to people who watched a 25-year-old television show.

I'd give "Asylum" a B. Would I watch Prodigy if "Star Trek" weren't also in the title? Surely not. But it remains good enough to keep a fan like me on board for now.