As we reach the end of Star Trek: Lower Decks, we pass the baton off to Star Trek: Prodigy, but not before the season ends with a bang. Lower Decks sees the crew in a race to prove themselves against the new drone Texas class ships. It seems all has failed, but Rutherford finally finds out the secret to his implant is from an admiral gone bad. The California class ships come to the rescue with the recruitment of Beckett.
Over in Prodigy, the Protostar crew finally meets someone from Starfleet. But, when the officer starts to download information from the ship, the weapon portion starts to destroy the station. The kids barely make it out, but Gwen remembers what her father has declared and planted within the Protostar. Meanwhile, Admiral Janeway seeks out Chakotay and makes contact with an unconscious Diviner.
And here we go with thoughts on this week’s Trek episodes…
Music
Mr. Daps: “This week was a great week to be a fan of Star Trek music. Both series were very enjoyable to simply listen to. Lower Decks felt very iconic and classic while Prodigy definitely borrowed from Michael Giacchino’s style as found in the J.J. Abrams films. This is fitting as he also co-wrote the theme song for it. While I really enjoyed both scores this week, Lower Decks hit the ball a little further out of the park and takes the win.”
Murray: “Both episodes had a terrific soundtrack this week. Lower Decks had a great homage to classic Trek films while Prodigy took queue from the JJ Abrams films (and probably because Michael Giacchino has helped). I’ve been a little critical with the Lower Decks music in the season, but this episode had some great, epic scores. Prodigy had a wonderful touch with its music too, and it all makes it hard to choose. But, I’ve got to go with Lower Decks. It had more variety and a better touch of classic Trek.”
Design
Mr. Daps: “The designs this week were also quite enjoyable to look at. Prodigy very much felt new, polished, detailed, and almost lifelike at times. Lower Decks did a really nice job of capturing the feel of The Next Generation while also maintaining its animated feel. Lower Decks also showed a lot of different parts of the Star Trek universe this week, which I really enjoyed. It was awesome seeing the starbase, the ships (especially all the various California Class ships!), the interiors, the various uniforms, all of it. Prodigy, on the other hand, did a really nice job of continuing on with building the world that was being built earlier this year during the first half of the season. Things looked great in general but it did seem like some things were really detailed and others were almost overly simplified. The result was that some things almost felt like-like and that made the others feel very cartoon-like. Lower Decks wins on design this week.”
Murray: “Both have done a great job at really fleshing out the characters in animated form. I’ve enjoyed the simplistic designs of Lower Decks. Prodigy has richer detail, and especially in the space station and Protostar. But, I do have to give the nod to Lower Decks with designs. There was a variety in the California class designs which was really great to see. It also bothered me how the junior grade officer looked on the space station of Prodigy. Janeway and Chakotay didn’t look all that fluid in animation either.”
Story
Mr. Daps: “This week was awesome because there was a LOT of good Star Trek to watch. Both Prodigy and Lower Decks had stories that were engaging, had consequences, had depth, character development, and moved each story forward. They both had some good action sequences as well. Lower Decks again edged out Prodigy, however. Honestly, this might have been just because of it being the culmination of a season instead of the midpoint. It will be interesting to see how Prodigy does as it finishes out this season.”
Murray: “For both being under an hour episodes, they really packed a lot. Prodigy had a lot of complexity for being a kids show. I really liked their resolution to getting off the space station. They also jumped right into getting Gwen’s memories back and having the Protostar be a problem. Lower Decks had that extra edge of being a big battled conclusion. It was much better than it’s part one last week, and felt like a great pace. I have to say the story for Lower Decks shined a bit more this week, but this was another category that was close.”
This Week’s Winner
Mr. Daps: “While this week had two very solid episode of Star Trek, Lower Decks was the clear winner to me. It had so many different elements of classic Star Trek that I absolutely loved. This does not take away from the strength of Prodigy. Prodigy was a really solid episode with lots of setup for the second half of the season and perhaps not as many payoffs. Lower Decks was a LOT of payoff. It also gave more depth into how Starfleet works, or sometimes doesn’t, which I really enjoyed. This was such a fun week to be watching and reviewing Star Trek! While Lower Decks was the clear winner, I can’t wait for more Prodigy next week!”
Murray: “This week had two stellar Trek episodes. They were also very opposite in tone, which shows the great complexity of the Trek universe. I have to say that Lower Decks won this week for having basically a small movie in a half hour show. It was satisfying to have so much resolved. And that was even having Prodigy bring revelation about the ship, Gwen, and even have Janeway already in the quadrant. The most satisfying part of Lower Decks this week was having an explanation, although comical one, about how admirals go bad in Starfleet. In all, it has found its stride and I will be looking forward to next season. For now, I’m really looking forward to more Prodigy. There is more mystery to uncover and it is off to a great start even though I gave the win to Lower Decks.”
