Star Trek: Prodigy season 2 is everything we Star Trek fans love and more, and I can’t even express how much you’re missing out on if you don’t give it a watch.

I know I’m late to the party. But I reviewed the back half of season 1 last time (season 1B, I guess is what we call it), so why wouldn’t I talk about this one, Netflix self-sabotage or not? We actually finished it a while back, while I was still in Florida with family, and I didn’t get a chance to sit down and record. Part of the reason is that normally these things drop episodically and I cover them week to week. Paramount opted not to keep the show, Netflix picked it up (thank you, Netflix, by the way), and Netflix has that funny little model where they drop every single thing at once and you binge it.

So here I am, having watched all 20 episodes, 23 minutes or so apiece, and I’m floored. Genuinely floored.

This is going to be a bit of a rambling review. It’s hard to break each episode down, and I didn’t know that I’d add much to the conversation everybody else already had, given the timing. But Mrs. Know-It-All reminded me that Know-It-All Nation probably wants to hear from me, and that was such an eye-opening moment, because she’s right. So this is me geeking out with you about the things I liked. I might nitpick a couple of little things, but it’s very difficult to critique something that’s this good. For the most part the show is fairly flawless.

Star Trek Through the Eyes of the Aliens

As a Star Trek fan, sometimes we don’t get the chance to say correctly what these series mean to us. I’d just come off Discovery, and I’d really learned what Discovery is. It’s Star Trek when it’s about one character focused on a single thing. The Star Trek we’ve always popularly enjoyed is more episodic, a set of events built around a group, an ensemble if you will. You get 20-some-odd episodes a season to delve into each person, and you really get to know who the crew of your ship is.

Prodigy is no different there. It has its own tone. On its face everybody says it’s a show for kids, and look, it’s got Nickelodeon on the logo, so yes and no. Remember, Nickelodeon is the same company that gave us Avatar: The Last Airbender, and you’d be hard-pressed to find fans of that show who’d call it exclusively a kids’ show. I’ve long been a believer in what a lot of filmmakers have been saying, which is that animation is not a genre. Animation is ready to be taken to the next step, and we’re all ready for it. Season 1 may have started one way, but that’s not where this ended up.

So what’s Prodigy’s through line? Classic Star Trek is the episodic ensemble we got used to. Discovery is a singular story about an individual. Prodigy is a view of the Star Trek universe from the eyes of the aliens we’ve always encountered. Whichever one we’re talking about, the classic shows, the movies, Discovery, any of it, the story has always been told from our side. They introduced alien characters we fell in love with, but at the end of the day it’s told from our perspective as earthlings, as Starfleet, as the Federation. This series flipped that model on its head and let us experience Star Trek through the lens of other species. If you haven’t seen my review of season 1B, by all means check it out, and if you haven’t seen the series, go watch it. Season 2 picks up right where everything left off.

A Love Letter to Voyager

If nothing else, and I think season 1 did the same thing, season 2 cemented it: this is a love letter to Star Trek: Voyager. If Picard was a love letter to The Next Generation, then yeah, I’m telling you, Prodigy is a love letter to Voyager.

In season 1 we got wonderful characters interacting with a hologram version of Captain Janeway. This season we get the real Janeway, who’s an admiral, and the story continues in that they’re still trying to find a way to rescue Chakotay, who took the original Protostar out on its maiden voyage.

And you get the Doctor, which is great. Robert Picardo voices him again, and he’s every bit as wonderful as we’ve ever seen that character. If you loved the Doctor on Voyager, he’s carrying on that same tradition here. Robert Beltran plays Chakotay, and I really like that his characterization continues to be very strong. Janeway is characterized perfectly.

The Wormhole, the Warning, and a Blaster Left on the Ground

What you’re dealing with this time is time shenanigans. The wormhole still goes 50 years into the future, and Chakotay is still there, but where does it lead, specifically? There’s even a warning at the very beginning from a creature we don’t know yet (we do find out later). Don’t go in here. Can you clear up the signal? That is the signal. It’s literally as simple as: no, don’t do this, don’t go here.

Okay. Who listens? Nobody.

Dal and everybody else are on the new Voyager, and they’re not full-blown Starfleet Academy cadets yet. They’re sort of cadets in training. They hold no rank and have no title whatsoever. Starfleet is still debating, so the gist of it is they’re letting them learn. Everyone’s picked their area of expertise, Dal can’t help but be Dal, and Gwyn is on her way to her own home world to try for first contact in a better way, a first contact that doesn’t end in civil war and destruction.

Meanwhile the kids discover there’s stuff happening. There’s a secret hangar bay, Hangar Bay 3, which shouldn’t be there, because there are only two. They’ve converted the cargo hold into a secret shuttle bay, and inside is a hidden ship, the Infinity. It’s got a cloaking device, and it’s the ship Janeway was going to send into the wormhole. Janeway finds out they know and swears them to secrecy.

As Nova Squadron is chasing them down, circumstances being what they are, the Infinity gets launched with the kids on it. They go 50 years into the future, yes, but they get there too early. They manage to see secret footage of Chakotay and his first officer trying to escape and not getting anywhere. The Protostar gets sent back, and that’s ultimately how it ends up on the prison asteroid from season 1.

So this time the kids are there, trying not to cause any issues, and of course, as happens, just by being there they cause trouble. Dal accidentally leaves a blaster on the ground. It wasn’t there before. Chakotay picks it up, it gives him the defensive posture he needs, and he gets on the ship. They never got on the ship the first time around. The kids have now messed with time.

That runs through the entire season, because if the ship isn’t where it’s supposed to be, then Gwyn is never born. And if she’s never born, Dal’s heartbroken, the world ends, I don’t know. Paradoxes, the whole thing. That’s when they start having different incidents to do with time, and eventually you find out there are these parasite creatures, pretty scary actually, that fix a paradox by erasing it. It’s very discount TVA in how it’s executed, not in what it is, because these are creatures. The Doctor makes Gwyn a device to keep her from phasing out, so she doesn’t disappear while time’s trying to fix itself.

Nova Squadron, Maj’el, and Callbacks Done With Respect

We’re introduced to some new characters. Nova Squadron is all by the rules, and those of you who know the history of Nova Squadron understand why. It’s a complete callback to the one where Wesley Crusher and his crew are in Nova Squadron, they lie about some things, and a young cadet is killed as a result. So this Nova Squadron doesn’t play around. They think the kids are trying to get into some kind of trouble.

We’re also introduced to a brand new Vulcan named Maj’el. I don’t have to tell those of you who are Star Trek fans what that is: a send-up of Majel Barrett, the first lady of Star Trek. Seeing that name continue to live on is a wonderful tradition.

And there’s a lot of that. This entire show is full of memberberries and nostalgia. If you thought Picard was ham-fisted, this isn’t that. And if you think Lower Decks is a little goofy at times, this isn’t that either. This was very respectful of the history and the heritage of Star Trek in a way that I really appreciated.

Wesley Crusher is back as his Traveler self, with Wil Wheaton returning as the voice of his own character. The other Travelers have left this universe, so he’s the only one sitting around able to fix things, and he’s the one who’s been trying to tell them stuff. I love that we get a deeper, more full version of him. At one point he’s hiding from these creatures, and his hiding place is a 1960s office. He calls back to the original series episode where we first met the supervisors. Those aren’t the supervisors from Picard, though that’s part of the same storyline. I mean the supervisor from back in the 60s, in what was originally a backdoor pilot. So good at keeping everything together.

The art style on anybody who isn’t one of our main characters is a lot of fun too. When you see people we know, because you also get Beverly Crusher, they almost remind me of that game Disney had where everybody from all of their universes could interact. That’s how these people are drawn.

Woven Into the 25th Century

The other thing this show does is intertwine with everything happening in that era, and it does it so harmoniously.

Throughout the season they’re continually trying to get help from Starfleet, and Starfleet can’t help them, because it’s hip-deep in the Romulan evacuation. For those of you who remember, the Romulan evacuation is a key point in time. Admiral Picard is leading the charge, and it’s one of the largest full-scale evacuations ever done. That’s one of the reasons the kids and the new Voyager aren’t intermingling much with other Starfleet ships. There’s no other Starfleet ship available. Admiral Jellico is back too, which is great.

That’s why, when I compare this to certain things going on right now in Star Wars land, like The Acolyte, I’ll say this. I’m not necessarily a canon freak, but seeing this show stay as faithful to Star Trek and its ethos as it does is amazing to me. It’s like that meme: here’s the crew of The Next Generation on the bridge of their ship, this is what Star Trek fans got, and then this is what Star Wars fans got. Exactly that.

Asencia Gets There First

Each character goes through their learning curve, their arc if you will. Gwyn is voiced by the young lady who starred in Fallout, and she does an amazing job. And of course we get Asencia, played by Jameela Jamil. Asencia is rough.

For those of you playing at home: when Gwyn gets home, Asencia is already there. Asencia is from the future, and there’s a young version of her right there, so she can say, I’m from the future, and it solidifies who she is. She tells them she’s the one who’s seen how this goes. These people are bad, this is all going to go down bad, and this other person who’s going to show up isn’t real. You can’t find her history or her lineage. Of course you can’t, because Gwyn is a child of the future.

So Gwyn goes to find her own past, and eventually she finds the man who’d become the Diviner. He isn’t the Diviner in this one. That whole storyline picks up from there, and it’s very interesting the way Asencia takes over that society.

It Never Forgot to Be Star Trek

As the season goes on you keep getting Star Trek, its highs, its lows, its ups and downs. They have a mirror episode, because of course you have a mirror episode, and there’s this wonderful scene where they literally use motor oil for a goatee. Even Murf does it. It’s great.

You also get great callbacks to the movies, and you finally get to see Cetacean Ops. Those of you who are deep-dive Star Trek fans know there’s always been this half-joking idea that there are dolphin officers down there somewhere. Lower Decks actually did it pretty well too. Well, guess what they have on the new Voyager. Cetacean Ops, with a whale named Gracie. There’s a whale Starfleet officer working in this watery environment, and at one point she pilots the ship, because Cetacean Ops still has a control area. It’s stupid cool.

There are too many people who say, oh, we don’t have time for this, we don’t have time for that. This show never ran out of time to be Star Trek. There’s a part where they have to go to a certain place and get a certain thing, and there’s a whole sidebar where you get to see them racing. In that race is where Dal genuinely proves to Maj’el that he’s got what it takes to be Nova Squadron, or at least a heck of a pilot. I love that it felt like old Star Trek, and by old Star Trek I mean the episodic kind. It felt like Voyager.

The name drops are all over the place. Tom Paris designed their new fighter shuttles, which are great. There’s so much this show does to stay faithful and true to the spirit of Star Trek, and I can’t help it, I loved it. I think you will too.

An Ending on a Bright, High Note

At the very end of this thing you think they’re going to get in trouble. They end up saving everything, and everything happens the way it’s supposed to happen. As Star Trek does best, it’s a predestination paradox. They’re the ones who send the ship where it’s supposed to go. And they back up Hologram Janeway, so you’re going to get her back.

And then they do something beautiful. At the very end of the show you see the synth attack on Mars, and they marry the storylines so well. Janeway is brought back from retirement. Chakotay picks her up, and she stands there and argues with Admiral Jellico, and you get the idea that Admiral Picard has already made these same objections, which ties right into Picard.

That’s when they switch uniforms. Janeway gets permission to keep one ship exploring, because they’re about to literally decommission the newly commissioned Protostar. And she tells the kids, no, you’re going to go out, you’re going to explore, you’re going to seek out new life, do the whole thing, and find us new allies. Remember, this is a really rough time for the Federation.

The series ends on the kind of bright, high note that I believe Star Trek should. And you get those nudges from Wesley Crusher that this isn’t the end. This group will be together, and the universe is going to have reasons to thank them later.

The Verdict

Star Trek: Prodigy season 2 is a 10 out of 10 on the Know-It-All Index. Come on. I didn’t even have to think about it too much.

I really enjoyed this show. I thought it was the epitome of Star Trek in a way that I genuinely enjoy. I’m looking forward to Strange New Worlds, and I can’t wait for Section 31. And based just on this show, I’m excited for Starfleet Academy. It’s not going to be the same era, obviously, but at the Starfleet Academy level there are adventures to be had, and I really do look forward to seeing what they come up with.

Watch it, please. Everyone’s hoping Netflix will greenlight a third season, and there’s a hashtag campaign going for season 3. Do yourself a favor and use it. Let Netflix know you really do want one. And take the opportunity to rewatch the show. I’m on my second rewatch right now, taking my time with each episode where I rushed it the first time.

You can thank Mrs. Know-It-All for me having done this one at all.

I didn’t go through every single thing, so jump in. What were your favorite episodes, and which moments cemented this season for you? The conversation lives in the comments on the video above.