You don’t see the part of Star Trek where science is just out there in space, unregulated, often enough. Star Trek: Prodigy Episode 15, “Masquerade,” goes there, and that’s what I liked most about it.

It’s been a while since I’ve had the opportunity, but I’m jumping right back in where I left off. I know I’m a couple of weeks behind, and we’re going to catch up. What’s happened of late is that I’ve been trying to do so many things that I kind of lost track of some of my core stuff, and catching up on these episodes, I’m like, you know what, I need to do better. So I’m going to commit to doing a lot better. Please enjoy the other stuff we’re doing, the Q&A stuff, some of the Doctor Who material, the Willow reviews, all these other things. But at the same time, hey man, I’m all about these reviews of the episodes.

What Happens in Masquerade

The Protostar stops for repairs at a starport in the Romulan Neutral Zone. Admiral Jellico denies Admiral Janeway’s request to enter the zone in pursuit, but orders the Dauntless to destroy the Protostar if the Romulans try to steal it. A geneticist, Dr. Jago, informs Dal that he’s a human hybrid experiment, augmented with 26 other species, and Dal reluctantly accepts an implant to unlock the augments.

The Dauntless enters the zone after concluding the Romulans are trying to steal the Protostar. Romulan agents learn they need the captain to gain control of the ship. When they find the crew, Okona leaves, and Dal subdues them using his new abilities. The Romulans continue to ambush the crew as they return to their ship. Janeway fires photon torpedoes at the Protostar, but has them diverted after the crew repel the agents. Zero removes Dal’s implant and he returns to normal. And on the Dauntless, Asencia reveals herself to the Diviner as another Vau N’Akat in disguise, accompanied by a new and improved Drednok.

That’s an awful lot. That’s a mouthful.

The Star Trek You Don’t See From the Bridge

This was an interesting episode. When they entered the Neutral Zone, I was very much of the mind that you don’t hear much about the things that happen out there. We all hear about how there are no augments allowed, and obviously the Soong stuff and all those pieces. And by the way, I thought it was very interesting that Dal is based on Arik Soong’s experiments.

So the fact that other species may not share our values in Starfleet, in terms of the fear or concern about what genetic augmentation could mean, I think is interesting. I find it very interesting that we’ve now come to the 23rd, 24th century and we’re not improving ourselves that way. And it’s a good thing, I guess. But you have to remember, a lot of what we look at when it comes to Star Trek is based on some skewed version of our socio-political, philosophical, whatever viewpoint. At one point the doctor who’s there says it must have been Starfleet trying to regulate science, and Okona is like, oh yeah, totally, they’re the worst. And it makes you go, huh, but are they?

I’m very interested in anything that moves the gauge forward in terms of Star Trek, and I really love that we’re seeing more of the universe at large. It’s almost the equivalent of seeing the outer rims in Star Wars. We’re so used to seeing the Federation on the ship, make it so, this and that and everything else, but we don’t ever think about what happens outside the ship, in the rest of space, where everybody else deals with things. The Neutral Zone is a political construct of the Romulans and the Federation at this point. Back in the day it was a construct of the Klingons and the Federation. That’s not normally how everybody else sees things, you know what I mean? The Ferengi don’t sit here and observe Neutral Zone type stuff, because it has nothing to do with their business. It’s nothing to do with them.

Dal Is Unique, and He Should See It That Way

Then you get into Dal. At first he’s all Mr. Oh, yeah, no, I’m not going to do this thing, that’s not what we’re here for, the mission’s first. Remember, he’s supposed to be captain. And then, as everyone’s leaving, suddenly he’s like, so, how long do you think it would take to do this thing?

I’m super interested in this idea that, genetically speaking, Dal is unique. He doesn’t see it that way, and he really should. There’s something to be said about wanting to feel like you’re part of something. But at the same time, I feel like that’s the purpose Starfleet and the Federation serve, which is to give everyone a place to feel like one, to feel unified, to feel together.

Asencia Was One of Them the Whole Time

They’re also threading the needle for the reveal that Asencia was actually another one of the same species as the Diviner. She does the little thing on the back of her neck and then, poof, next thing you know you see her transforming into this thing, and you’re like, oh, that’s what they were doing.

It also begs the question: do they have human DNA? What were they using to hide? Mind you, I believe Asencia was supposed to look like a Trill.

I really appreciated seeing the reveal that Asencia is another one of them. My first instinct was that this was actually a Gwyn from the future. It’s not. And in the next episode you’re going to get a really good insight and walk-through on all of that.

Admiral Jellico, and Why I Always Liked Him

I totally loved seeing Jellico, and come to find out he’s an admiral now. There are a lot of people who hated the character of Jellico. I’ve always thought he was funny. I thought he was awesome, and I thought he was awesome because we hated him. But I only hated him because he was doing such an efficient job running the Enterprise while Picard was gone. So when I started to see, oh, this is the direction they’re going in, I get it. I like Jellico. I like seeing him. It was a fun callback.

The Verdict

Star Trek: Prodigy Episode 15, “Masquerade,” is an 8 on the Know-It-All Index.

It was nice. It was solid. I liked it. I appreciated where they were going with it, I liked the overall and overarching aspects, and I’m all about it. I can’t wait to see the next episode.

I’d love to know your thoughts on this one. Specifically, what are the ethical ramifications of this type of culture, meaning people outside the Federation who are just augmenting? Why hasn’t there been some army of augments who come back? Why is there no future version of Khan, so to speak, on the outer periphery, whether it’s an Orion or someone else, who rises up and leads people? I feel like there’s a story to be told there. The conversation lives in the comments on the video above.