Spoilers Star Trek: Prodigy 1x15 - "Masquerade"

[eschaton]

Finally got to see the episode. I completely forgot about the Thursday drops what with all the Thanksgiving work today.

My feelings were it's better than last week, but it's still not what I would call a great episode.

I guess I'll start with the biggest element of this episode from a character standpoint - the mystery of Dal's parentage being solved. The entire character arc of the episode was more or less set around this issue, and Dal's resentment about (believing he was) upstaged by Okana. I don't necessarily think the idea that he was a genetic experiment by the followers of Arik Soong is a bad choice, but there was absolutely no foreshadowing of this, which makes it very much underwritten. Maybe writing this element properly just isn't possible, given it's an ensemble half-hour kids show, but I felt the reveal just came across as a bit random, rather than the gut-punch it was supposed to be to both us and the character. With what was supposed to be the emotional core of the episode just a bit underbaked, it was hard to land the rest.

I though the action plot machinations with the Tal Shiar worked well, and there was a genuine sense of tension that has been missing from a lot of the action scenes in the last few episodes. There absolutely was a kind of Star Wars vibe to much of this episode though, from the smuggler station to the combat suits worn by the Romulans, to the musical choices.

The big "twist" at the end didn't really surprise me, because it was spoiled in casting calls prior to the first episode even dropping that one member of Janeway's crew was going to be an imposter. I thought it worked fine enough, but the editing just seemed...wrong. Like there should have been a few extra seconds of scene, or even just a black screen with a musical note falling, rather than a super-quick cut to credits.

 

[AnimationAdmiral]

Finally got to see the episode. I completely forgot about the Thursday drops what with all the Thanksgiving work today.

My feelings were it's better than last week, but it's still not what I would call a great episode.

I guess I'll start with the biggest element of this episode from a character standpoint - the mystery of Dal's parentage being solved. The entire character arc of the episode was more or less set around this issue, and Dal's resentment about (believing he was) upstaged by Okana. I don't necessarily think the idea that he was a genetic experiment by the followers of Arik Soong is a bad choice, but there was absolutely no foreshadowing of this, which makes it very much underwritten. Maybe writing this element properly just isn't possible, given it's an ensemble half-hour kids show, but I felt the reveal just came across as a bit random, rather than the gut-punch it was supposed to be to both us and the character. With what was supposed to be the emotional core of the episode just a bit underbaked, it was hard to land the rest.

I though the action plot machinations with the Tal Shiar worked well, and there was a genuine sense of tension that has been missing from a lot of the action scenes in the last few episodes. There absolutely was a kind of Star Wars vibe to much of this episode though, from the smuggler station to the combat suits worn by the Romulans, to the musical choices.

The big "twist" at the end didn't really surprise me, because it was spoiled in casting calls prior to the first episode even dropping that one member of Janeway's crew was going to be an imposter. I thought it worked fine enough, but the editing just seemed...wrong. Like there should have been a few extra seconds of scene, or even just a black screen with a musical note falling, rather than a super-quick cut to credits.

They did set it up with the alarms going off in episode 11. That’s all that was needed it seems, given a lot of people correctly guessed it.

Seems like your enjoyment of the episode was diminished by reading spoilers.

 

[Amaris]

So Dal is the culmination of 26 different species, mostly via their recessive traits, and it has something to do with students of Arik Soong's augment experiments. Hm. Not to hot on that one, but I can live with it, though how they pulled some of those samples together considering they're all over the Alpha, Delta, and Beta quadrant and how Dal ended up on Tars Lamorra by the time he's a teenager seems to be really stretching things. Hopefully there's a reasonable explanation outside of "we wanted to make him 26 different species just because."

* A surprising reveal at the end with Ensign Asencia, curious to see where that goes, too.

* Okona running away when the kids needed his help most? Seems more cowardly than he used to be.

* Murf gets to use his new form to kick some Romulan Tal-Shiar back to where the Sun don't shine. Neat.

Some rough spots but, all in all, a good episode.

 

[NCC-73515]

I didn't like how the Romulan weapons, and we're talking Tal Shiar here, were mere laser pointers that only very slowly kinda damaged some glass... the only thing I liked was how adding all these things to Dal's face somehow made him cuter

Thats the Xindi symbol, so he could have any or all of them.

It's the insectoid one in Disco S4.

I’m not seeing what’s wrong? Is it because they forgot the S? Harmless mistake.

one many non-biologists, but no geneticist would make

Anyone here having a problem with the Skip Intro feature? Seems like that it no longer properly skips the intro, it either skips too early in the middle of the opening, or about 30 seconds into the episode already. That plus the forward and rewind features with the preview thumbnails no longer is accurate ether. I'm on a Roku, so not sure if its just a problem on my end.

it's because they put the ads into the video itself a while ago, which messed everything up, but at least lets you skip the ads now

Dal says he feels like he is growing a third arm, so there is probably some Edosian in there too.

or 8472!

Wow.

Bottom right picture.
The symvol between Romulan and Cardassian is Orion (Orion Colonies, specifically).
To the right of the Orions you have Gorn.
Symbol left of Orion could be another Xindi logo.

Ah, I did remember the Gorn one but couldn't find it on EAS.

https://twitter.com/gaghyogi49/status/1595854770987679745?s=46&t=NRRc3YaPyRttghHorUfAEA

Yeah we do the same things, like labeling the PIC S2 fleet, but time zones give me a head start
I don't tweet my analysis pictures though to not rain on his parade.
Btw, I'm not sure I buy the existence of Q DNA

 

[Lord Garth]

Nice to see that Jellico hasn't changed a bit.

I also enjoyed getting to see Janeway deal with a situation where she has to tip-toe around The Neutral Zone and how she deals with that. Something we never got to see during VOY since they were stuck in the Delta Quadrant. So it's good seeing Janeway in situations here that she couldn't have been in with the other series.

 

[Borgminister]

A better episode than last week for certain, in fact I loved the rendition of the Romulans and reveal of another baddie at the end. The airlock Okona scene was amusing, and the message about being who you are vintage Trek. I'm less enthralled by the evolution of the blob creature, but it is a children's show. Nice scoring with the Romulans as well... the inclusion of Jelico was cool, but yeah Okona ditching the kids felt a little off... Animation was top notch, guess I'd give the episode a high 8. This team could do a good job on the Section 31 series I think.

 

[AnimationAdmiral]

I don’t think we can take all of the symbols on the chart as being the exact species Dal is made from — it might be a comparative genetic chart, and Dr. Jago only name checked a couple from the Alpha Quadrant to read aloud as likely matches. Just because she has a scan of Species 8472 and Q on a monitor doesn’t automatically mean Dal’s DNA includes it. The computer may have just had it open for comparison.

 

[Seven of Five]

Go Murf, our new security chief!

Finding more about Dal's past was intriguing, even if it left him with a lack of actual parents. Of course, the Protostar crew is slowly becoming his stand-in family anyway.

I loved the twist at the end with the mole on the Dauntless. Looking forward to seeing how this plays out.

8 out of 10.

 

[Deks]

Maybe Ascenia is the Diviner's real daughter (who he assumed was killed during the original fall of Vau N'Akat) , and Gwyn is a clone of her, which the Diviner grew in a test tube after going back in time? It might explain why the Diviner gives Gwyn such an unusual title ("my Progeny") and how we never see her mother.

It would also create a bond between Gwyn and Dal, i.e. that they're both test tube babies.

This is all pure speculation, of course.

Well, we know Gwyn was also made in a similar way like Dal was, so they already share that in common.
As for whether Asencia is Diviner's actual/original daughter... like I said, its possible. Given the visual similarties between her and Gwyn (and even the voice change - which can be accounted for the fact Asencia is older) its a possibility.
But for now, its more likely she is just another operative who shares the same goals.

 

[Deks]

Another exciting episode, I’m going with an 8 as I found the genetic subplot a bit too convenient.

Trek has a history of assuring 'convenience' for the purposes of a given episode.
But, its possible Dr. Jago is the only prominent scientist on that planet that does genetic modifications and is more 'advertised' than anyone else.

Also, yet another alien masquerading for years as a Starfleet officer, like commodore Oh, and who manages to be on the right ship at the right time somehow?

This too.
It annoys the heck out of me that SF has so many security breaches of this type despite the fact that crews of ENT-D and VOY managed to quickly uncover those through simple medical scans that existed for 20 odd years.

In fairness, with commodore Oh, its a bit more complicated since she's a Romulan (who are close relatives of Vulcans), so its possible she underwent some genetic modifications to masquerade any genetic or bio markers that would have made her flag up on medical scans as a Romulan by that time... and as she rose through the ranks, she might be able to further mask her origins by altering records or injecting piece of software to make her identify as 100% Vulcan.

In case of Vau'Na'Kat... since UFP doesn't have any record of this species (yet), it would be difficult to tell. Plus Asencia was using a genetic modification implant which altered her genetic structure. Its possible she acquired the implant in her own future from Dr. Jago or a similar geneticist where the technology was perfected and more custom made so it can convincingly fool any sensors and has limited or no setbacks like the one Dal used.

But still, there would need to be something remaining of the original host DNA which SF would be able to detect (like the EMH did on VOY when examining the member of species 8472 in disguise before he triggered a genetic reversion)... but its possible that this kind of deep level of medical scans is not employed unless SF suspects something... but it doesn't seem to be particularly invasive to begin with, so it might be prudent for SF to implement this measure in their health check-ups of people who enlist in SF at the very least and those who are in higher up positions.

The new Murf surely kicks ass and for the first time they seem to actually intentionally do something to help the crew.

Well, Murf is more mature now, but it seemed like they already had a level of understanding for when the kids and holo-Janeway spoke to them (just had no real way to be of practical use in their slime stage or to communicate back to them).

Good that Janeway isn’t totally buying the “savages” story, but the kids overpowering the Tal Shiar may lead her to reconsider.
Okona is definitely going to help the kids by explaining their plea to Janeway.

Loved the Voyager model in her ready room, by the way!

Janeway seems to be also concerned about them too. She referrs to them as kids and was concerned about their chances against the Tal Shiar.
Plus, it wouldn't be a stretch for SOMEONE to suggest to her (or even if Janeway realizes this possibility on her own) that the kids are running away BECAUSE they want to keep the weapon from being used against SF ships... and her initial discussion with Dal might have her reflect on his intentions, etc.

As for Tal Shiar failing... for all she knew there could be a number of reasons for that...we'll see from upcoming episodes if any more ideas will come from this.

As for Okona helping the kids by making a plea to Janeway... possible, and for all intense and purposes he disappeared on that planet (so he might not make another appearance)... but similar to Frex, he might pop up again an episode or two down the line (before the final few episodes) to explain things to Janeway and the Dauntless crew (I just hope he doesn't run into Asencia and Drednok - that usually puts a damper on things and darkens the outlook on the Proto crew chances of communicating their intentions).

At least there is a consensus onboard the Dauntless that there is a weapon onboard the Protostar which could be used against the UFP.
The problem is the Dauntless doesn't know HOW this weapon got onboard, who placed it there or how it activates (nor that it was designed to infect SF technology only).

 

[Search4]

Possible plot hole. Thoughts?

Last episode Janeway did not know about the weapon. I recall her concerned about the ship’s tech not specifically the weapon.

This week she seems to re keeping it from the Romulans.

When did she learn this?

 

[Deks]

Possible plot hole. Thoughts?

Last episode Janeway did not know about the weapon. I recall her concerned about the ship’s tech not specifically the weapon.

This week she seems to re keeping it from the Romulans.

When did she learn this?

Based off what Frex mentioned, Janeway is now concerned about both the ship (the Protostar) AND this weapon from falling into Romulan hands.

The Protostar contains highly advanced Transwarp drive technology and unique power core (protostar) onboard... the Romulans would LOVE to tear it apart and use it themselves and gain far superior insight into other Federation technology such as shielding systems, weapons, etc. (they ALWAYS expressed interest in doing this dating back to TNG - I remember how one Romulan commander famously boasted how he wants to tear the ENT-D apart, discover all its secrets and display its hull proudly on Romulus).

And remember, the Romulans almost managed to succeed in stealing the USS Prometheus (a highly experimental prototype) in 2374 or 2375 - and they managed to kill the crew of the Prometheus too.
I find it odd the UFP allowed the Romulans to get away with this 'incident' (if you can call it that)... but it WAS during the Dominion war, and its likely the Romulan governmnet completely denied involvment in this mission (which they likely attributed to an act of rogue elements in their military - always having an excuse), and of course the UFP didn't have the means to openly call out the Romulans on it probably.
VOY's EMH managed to pull through though and recapture the ship for Starfleet... and he was sent from 60 000 Ly's away at the time. Sheesh... sometimes I think SF was a bit ungrateful for what VOY did back then (especially in its treatment of Seven per ST: Picard).

If you watch Janeway's interaction with Jellico, you will have noticed that she mentioned Frex told them there is a weapon onboard a Protostar ('some kind of tech that made the station turn on itself') - he did this in the previous episode on the depot planet.

Janeway simply told Jellico: 'If officer Frex is right, we can't let this unknown weapon onboard the Protostar fall into Romulan hands'.

Since the weapon is onboard the Protostar, the problem is two fold: if the Romulans capture the ship, they'd get their hands on UFP state of the art experimental technoloy AND the unknown weapon.

She simply emphasizes the graveness of the situation by mentioning BOTH to Jellico in this episode as she was trying to persuade him to go into the Neutral Zone and retrieve the Protostar... but he prevented her from doing that on the ground that Romulans can be trigger happy and it would kill the treaty they currently have (in addition to saying that because she knows Chakotay, her personal feelings might be interfering in her professional judgment).

What bugs me is that the Romulans can so easily covertly enter the N.Z. and yet the UFP can't.

To be fair, technically, the UFP did go into the N.Z already.... the Protostar is a Federation ship after all (even if it is run by non-Starfleet people for the time being) - but if the Romulans knew the Protostar is UFP ship, why didn't they declare war against the UFP right then and there like they would have if the Dauntless got into the N.Z.?

Possibly because they monitored UFP sub-channels (like the Dauntless monitored the Romulans here) and knew the Protostar was stolen by someone else, so they may have seen this as a 'loophole' - aka not SF's fault for breaching the N.Z. technically - and an opportunity to comandeer the ship for themselves (which is what they tried and failed in this episode).

 

[Tuskin38]

It's the insectoid one in Disco S4.

and a general Xindi symbol in Enterprise.

Possible plot hole. Thoughts?

Last episode Janeway did not know about the weapon. I recall her concerned about the ship’s tech not specifically the weapon.

This week she seems to re keeping it from the Romulans.

When did she learn this?

She knows something turned the station's weapons against itself.

 

[Jag2112]

Screencaps gallery now online:

https://www.cygnus-x1.net/links/lcars/sc-PRO1-15.php

 

[Paul755]

another…fine…episode. But I dunno, feels like this show needs to be closer to 35 minutes than 24. At least for the streaming version, trim it down for broadcast. Everything just seems so rushed.

like there is zero build up to the twist so for me it’s just **shrug**

fun to see Jellico again though.

 

[Akiraprise]

9/10

This show aimed at kids continues to surprise me with some of it's deeper plot points. It is trying to introduce the younger audience to some aspects of science and in particular genetics. A very noble goal and one that the producers should be commended on. The theme of just be your best self with Dal, and you do not need to try to impress anyone, is very Trek like. The Romulans were great. It was a really good episode and this ranks up there with the best shows of all the new Treks week after week.

The plot is moving along at a brisk pace. I feel like we need at least 45 minutes a week time wise, the less than 30 we get just doesn't seem like enough. Jellico was great at keeping Adm Janeway in check. Her little Voyager model! We're starting to wrap up some threads with traitor Seska err...Ascenia and the Diviner now. Dreadnok is back which is gonna spell bad news for Dauntless. Okana will return, I don't think he was planning to abandon the kids but was buying some time to try and help, they were just more efficient themselves at getting out of the jam thanks to Dal. Speaking of Dal I'm calling it: he is Chakotay's son via stolen DNA. They even emphasized that his primary base DNA is human. I'm happy that Murf is useful and has a knack for security.

Some minor knit picks that keep it from a 10 for me are the fact that the Romulans did in fact find the Protostar so quickly (apparently so did the Dauntless) and then abandoned it after boarding because the captain was not on board, even though they really had no way of knowing that. Janeway able to launch a couple of torpedoes into the Neutral Zone long range at an unaligned space port in an attempt to destroy the Protostar. I'm sure the warbirds on station nearby were thrilled.

 

[AnimationAdmiral]

Possible plot hole. Thoughts?

Last episode Janeway did not know about the weapon. I recall her concerned about the ship’s tech not specifically the weapon.

This week she seems to re keeping it from the Romulans.

When did she learn this?

Barniss Frex directly told Janeway that they had some kind of weapon aboard the Protostar that caused the station to tear itself apart. Between that and the proto-drive, it makes for a dangerous combo against Starfleet.

 

[Weyoun 251]

Loved the Romulans in this. Would like to see the sleeker, elite Romulans in live action sometime.
The episode had some nice revelations too without really giving anything away.

I wonder if Diviner coming back in time and planting the virus in the Protostar is what leads to the destruction of his homeworld.

They reminded me very much of the operatives from Episode 1 of Picard

 

[Deks]

9/10

This show aimed at kids continues to surprise me with some of it's deeper plot points. It is trying to introduce the younger audience to some aspects of science and in particular genetics. A very noble goal and one that the producers should be commended on. The theme of just be your best self with Dal, and you do not need to try to impress anyone, is very Trek like. The Romulans were great. It was a really good episode and this ranks up there with the best shows of all the new Treks week after week.

The plot is moving along at a brisk pace. I feel like we need at least 45 minutes a week time wise, the less than 30 we get just doesn't seem like enough. Jellico was great at keeping Adm Janeway in check. Her little Voyager model! We're starting to wrap up some threads with traitor Seska err...Ascenia and the Diviner now. Dreadnok is back which is gonna spell bad news for Dauntless. Okana will return, I don't think he was planning to abandon the kids but was buying some time to try and help, they were just more efficient themselves at getting out of the jam thanks to Dal. Speaking of Dal I'm calling it: he is Chakotay's son via stolen DNA. They even emphasized that his primary base DNA is human. I'm happy that Murf is useful and has a knack for security.

Some minor knit picks that keep it from a 10 for me are the fact that the Romulans did in fact find the Protostar so quickly (apparently so did the Dauntless) and then abandoned it after boarding because the captain was not on board, even though they really had no way of knowing that. Janeway able to launch a couple of torpedoes into the Neutral Zone long range at an unaligned space port in an attempt to destroy the Protostar. I'm sure the warbirds on station nearby were thrilled.

People seem amazed at how 'complex' the show is given that its primarily aimed at kids... but here's the thing... kids aren't stupid.
They ARE capable at following and even resolving complex plots on their own... especially if things are explained to them (which they are).

If anything, this kind of storytelling is more likely to keep the kids engaged beyond regular plots that Trek presents its audiences with in live action a lot of the times.

I think people might be underestimating kids and because they are used to seeing 'cheap and low brow' entertainment from animated shows, they might not be that well accustomed to animated shows that do incorporate more 'rich' and 'complex' storytelling to keep things interesting.

This is the kind of Trek that actually sits well with me. Prodigy dared to push things forward in terms of technology (finally) and is building on what came before and it has a solid story which is stretching over longer period of time along with character development for everyone - and it manages to do this in 20 odd mins (I still think this is too short - I'd prefer something like 30 mins instead... would definitely give each episode more 'development').

This is what VOY could have had too if UPN and Berman (or Braga - one of the two) weren't so adamant about keeping the show to the same format as TNG.

 

[Deks]

They reminded me very much of the operatives from Episode 1 of Picard

I'm not surprised because these events are occuring only 16 years before ST: PIC episode 1.

We already have an indication that the Borg cube the kids encountered a few episodes back is the Artifact we saw in ST: Picard (or at least will pave the way for the Artifact).

It stands to reason Prodigy will provide other tie ins to historical events that are supposed to occur not too long from now (like the Romulan star going supernova) or later in Picard.
Lower Decks I think did the same in Season 2 when they used that older Romulan Warbird for a covert mission.

Its not a bad thing... it just further solidifies Prodigy into canon (but we already know its canon).