This week’s Prodigy episode, titled “All the World’s a Stage,” pays homage to some classic Trek episodes while connecting to a fan favorite ship. The crew of the Prodigy answers a distress call on a planet that seems to be without warp technology. Not only is there no modern technology that they can easily use, they have all taken to the original series Enterprise crew, though getting some names and terminology wrong. It seems an ensign crashed landed many years ago, and in the Galileo shuttle! There was warning to not go near a cave and one of the aliens do which results in a terminal sickness. The sickness spreads to Del and the rest of the crew race to get an antidote. The cause turns out to be plasma from the Galileo hitting dilithium crystals. With the help of the pretend Starfleet crew from the planet, the Protostar is piloted by Del and the aliens to rescue the rest of the Starfleet cadets. And here we go with thoughts of the most recent Prodigy episode…
Music
Mr. Daps: “This week was a very solid week for Star Trek music. I really enjoyed the music found throughout the episode. It did a nice job of staying current while also giving a nod to the past. This is one I’m looking forward to hearing whenever they release the soundtrack.”
Murray: “The music was something I noticed from the get go. It really set a good tone for the episode and gave it a classic movie feel. I appreciated a lot of the sounds and nods to some good Trek music, or it at least felt that way. It’s a great soundtrack in the episode and I think it keeps getting better each episode.”
Design
Mr. Daps: “This week was a fantastic week for design. In fact, it might be one of my favorites for this series. I loved how the pulled modern and then a wacky take on The Original Series, and THEN a real take on The Original Series. It was awesome seeing the Galileo! I thought there were also some really nicely done moments on the planet as well, both with the inhabitants and also the planet itself.
Murray: “It was interesting to see aliens that all basically looked alike in species. It is a very interesting race, but overall was a bit lacking in design as well. It was almost too simple. Much of the rest of the designs looked great. The Galileo was in glorious form. The reflections on the crew in the dilithium cave was very beautifully rendered. Though the aliens bothered me a bit I think it still had some great design to it.”
Story
Mr. Daps: “This was easily my favorite story we’ve seen in Prodigy. I liked what they did with everyone both on the Protostar, the planet, and also the Dauntless. I’m very curious to see how things play out moving forward. I also loved how they connected it to The Orginal Series in a way that totally made sense and didn’t feel contrived.”
Murray: “I was very amazed with the story. It had a great conflict for Del, though a bit simplified to fit in a half hour kids show. The suspense was there as well with the crew facing a huge task of finding an antidote in time. It had the mark of an original story with a lot of charm. It might have been a twist in thought to have the Galileo be the culprit of the sickness, but it didn’t need it. The twist also didn’t detract from the episode either. It was just nicely done.”
Hit or Miss?
Mr. Daps: “This week was the biggest hit for Prodigy to date. It was good for a first-time Star Trek fan and it was good for a long-time fan. I thought the plot was solid and moved along quickly. There were definitely moments that could have been drawn out to lean into the nostalgia but thankfully they were restrained and focused on the story first. There definitely are some hints at what will come in the future but for the most part, this was a solid episode that was mostly self-contained and I loved it!”
Murray: “A big hit with me. I think this is one of my favorite Prodigy episodes so far. It had a great moral and some great Trek jokes in it. I liked the resolution and how well they really went through plot points. The pacing was great too. And we even have some foreshadowing with Janeway and Murph too.”
