Spoilers Star Trek: Prodigy 1x17 - "Ghost in the Machine"

Discussion in 'Star Trek: Prodigy' started by Commander Richard, Dec 6, 2022.

?

Rate the episode...

  1. 10 - Excellent!

    10.0%
  2. 9

    23.3%
  3. 8

    30.0%
  4. 7

    23.3%
  5. 6

    6.7%
  6. 5

    6.7%
  7. 4

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
  8. 3

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
  9. 2

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
  10. 1 - Terrible!

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
  1. Timofnine

    Timofnine Saintly henchman of Santa Premium Member

    Joined:
    Feb 25, 2001
    Location:
    North Pole
    Well the writer’s were quite ambiguous about the situation, we would only find out if there was a Seven of Nine and Janeway reunion either on Prodigy or a spin-off.

    **EDIT**
    Or Picard season 3. They may have already written such a scene.
     
  2. Markonian

    Markonian Fleet Admiral Moderator

    Joined:
    Jun 2, 2012
    Location:
    Derbyshire, UK
    PIC - Stargazer comic spoiler:
    Seven talks with Admiral Janeway over subspace and they're on good terms.

    In a Trekmovie interview last months, the Hagemans said that Prodigy could be open ended and see the crew grow up. It may evolve naturally into a Starfleet Academy show. I don't think the Protostar will go kaboom - if the Unwanted leave it for good, then Chakotay and Adreek-Hu could get the Protostar back and resume their original mission.

    In terms of seeing more of the VOY crew down the line, I see Commander Kim as a reasonable authority figure who is overall still young enough to experience fun alongside the kids instead of mere adult annoyance.
    *cue eternal ensign jokes*cycle in witty reply*

    I couldn't help but notice that Dal doesn't have Chakotay's life-sized Janeway plushie in his bed anymore. (Supernova game).
     
  3. Timofnine

    Timofnine Saintly henchman of Santa Premium Member

    Joined:
    Feb 25, 2001
    Location:
    North Pole
    Dal would definitely need to go the Academy if he wanted a place on the Enterprise F bridge one day. I’m not sure what his rank would be though. They could not possibly give him a higher rank than Harry Kim though, it just would not seem fair.
     
    AnimationAdmiral likes this.
  4. eschaton

    eschaton Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

    Joined:
    Oct 2, 2017
    If he's really an augment, wouldn't they have to give him some sort of special dispensation ala Julian Bashir? Otherwise he might be carted off to a camp or something.
     
    AnimationAdmiral likes this.
  5. jackoverfull

    jackoverfull Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

    Joined:
    Jun 22, 2020
    Location:
    Italy
    unless the veto only applies to humans. And Dal isn’t considered human. Or the laws have changed in the past decade.
     
  6. Timofnine

    Timofnine Saintly henchman of Santa Premium Member

    Joined:
    Feb 25, 2001
    Location:
    North Pole
    We will have to find out what the solution to this is in Strange New Worlds with Una as it could have set a Starfleet precedent. Starfleet also did not know about Bashir in advance, he did not even know himself at first.
     
    AnimationAdmiral likes this.
  7. The Wormhole

    The Wormhole Fleet Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Jul 23, 2001
    Location:
    The Wormhole
    As apprehensive as I was when I first heard the plot description for this episode that it would be a holodeck malfunction episode, I got to say I actually ended up enjoying it. They kept it character based with the holodeck programs we see being ones the characters like to run in their spare time, meaning we get to learn something about the cast. Also, it's not technically a "malfunction" since the entire situation was engineered by holo-Janeway, or rather a corrupt code in her programming.
     
  8. Seven of Five

    Seven of Five Stupid Sexy Flanders! Premium Member

    Joined:
    May 1, 2001
    Location:
    Staffordshire, UK
    I will quite happily watch a signing Murf series. Come on Alex Kurtzman.:D

    So I don't think this episode had as much depth as last week's, it felt more like a 7.

    The cliffhanger was good though. Is it next week yet?
     
  9. 137th Gebirg

    137th Gebirg Admiral Premium Member

    Joined:
    Aug 31, 2000
    Location:
    Go Lick The World!
    Trek fans love to complain about something. Especially if there's nothing to complain about.

    It's what they do.
     
  10. 137th Gebirg

    137th Gebirg Admiral Premium Member

    Joined:
    Aug 31, 2000
    Location:
    Go Lick The World!
    Considering he's an augment, and considering the history of animosity the Federation holds towards said-augments, I suspect that's kind of doubtful. However, it is possible that they may use Dal to do a story about genetic engineering in the Federation, leading to a long-needed lift to such a ban, once they get home, of course. Could make for an interesting series finale two-parter.

    I wonder if Bashir's dad is still alive (and in jail)? Update: Nah, his sentence to the New Zealand penal colony was only for two years, but maybe it could lead to a purge of the conviction record.
     
    Commander Troi and Wouter like this.
  11. Oddish

    Oddish Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Sep 7, 2020
    Location:
    Kanto, Poké-World
    That would be cool... it shouldn't get in the kids' way of enjoying the series, and the Trekkies would eat it up.

    Of course, I still maintain that they're afraid to tell us what happened to Harry Kim. Promote him, and you piss off the people who got a sadistic delight at him being stuck at ensign forever. Keep him at ensign, and you piss off the people who felt he deserved better.

    Especially since Icheb wasn't similarly discriminated against.

    Agreed. They don't need a bunch of backstory... just feature the relevant character in their capacity on Prodigy.

    We know Seven's returning, and Kate Mulgrew's certainly available.

    Maybe he's teaching at the Academy or something. Given all the stuff he did on Voyager, it's a safe bet he knows a lot.

    Maybe it needed... cleaning. ;)

    Dal wasn't augmented, he was created from the ground up, mostly from races who regularly join Starfleet. And who even knows why... maybe he wasn't a failed experiment after all. Rather, he might be a successful one.
     
  12. 137th Gebirg

    137th Gebirg Admiral Premium Member

    Joined:
    Aug 31, 2000
    Location:
    Go Lick The World!
    He was genetically engineered by a Soong. That's close enough to earn him the "augment" title. Semantics are irrelevant to the Federations attitude towards them. The Synth attack on Mars didn't help matters any, either.
     
    Markonian and Wouter like this.
  13. Timofnine

    Timofnine Saintly henchman of Santa Premium Member

    Joined:
    Feb 25, 2001
    Location:
    North Pole
    Also, whatever happens to Una next season happened in the 23rd century, not in the early 2500s. Something might have changed. For Una though, all that they would need to do in Strange New Worlds is a ‘Measure of a Man’ style episode with Brian Brophy. They could have called it ‘A Measure of Humanity’ but they cannot, because Una is Illyrian. Or is humanity only limited to humans in Star Trek? :shrug:
     
    137th Gebirg likes this.
  14. Timofnine

    Timofnine Saintly henchman of Santa Premium Member

    Joined:
    Feb 25, 2001
    Location:
    North Pole
    Actually, they could call it ‘A Measure of Humanity’ because I am sure that the episode would say more about the people judging Una than Una herself.
     
  15. 137th Gebirg

    137th Gebirg Admiral Premium Member

    Joined:
    Aug 31, 2000
    Location:
    Go Lick The World!
    It will be an interesting story to tell for SNW, sure, but I'm positive nothing will ultimately come of it. We already know that bigotry against augments (justified or not) lasts well into the 24th century with Bashir and his parents' decision to genetically alter him. One of the many problems with doing prequels is making some attempts at preserving the established canon of "future history". Augment restrictions are a big one in Trek lore.

    I can't remember the specifics of that particular DS9 episode ("Dr. Bashir, I Presume"), but I have a vague recollection that his career as a SF officer may have possibly become in jeopardy because of it. If that was the case, they would have been willing to fire a highly competent doctor and officer (and war hero) for an illegal act that he was not responsible for nor party to the decision to make it happen. Even if I'm mis-remembering that part, the anti-augment policy is still in place, as far as we know, as there has been no on-screen evidence to the contrary. Either way, Dal would likely have no hope of going to the Academy unless a major shift of policy occurred to allow it.
     
    Wouter and jackoverfull like this.
  16. cooleddie74

    cooleddie74 Fleet Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Apr 25, 2001
    Location:
    The Warped Sector of the Demented Quadrant
    Arik was busy after the events seen in ENT. Clearly he didn't totally abandon eugenics and genetic engineering despite the final scene of "The Augments" showing him taking an interest in cybernetics that will someday lead his family to create androids like Data. You can't keep a geneticist away from the petri dish for long.
     
    Commander Troi and 137th Gebirg like this.
  17. Timofnine

    Timofnine Saintly henchman of Santa Premium Member

    Joined:
    Feb 25, 2001
    Location:
    North Pole
    Arik would not be alive during the time of Prodigy, unless he had extended his life or placed himself in to cryostasis. It could just quite simply be another Soong who created Dal. Alternatively, Dal could have been from the 22nd century if Arik did indeed create him. Dal himself might have been the one put in to cryostasis in which case he will never meet the person who created him as it has been well over 200 years. His Ferengi mother might have bought his cryochamber on the black market.
     
    Commander Troi likes this.
  18. AnimationAdmiral

    AnimationAdmiral Lieutenant Commander Red Shirt

    Joined:
    Jan 3, 2022
    When it was discovered that Julian Bashir was secretly augmented, he was nearly kicked out of Starfleet and stripped of his medical license due to the augment ban. He only was allowed to stay because his father did it to him without his consent and agreed to take the punishment of jail for two years in a penal colony on his behalf. “For every Julian Bashir we may also get a Khan Noonien Singh,” the judge said when meting out punishment.

    It’s revealed in a later episode with the Jack Pack, “Statistical Probabilities,” that Bashir’s exemption was very much a one off situation and that all other genetically enhanced humans are highly suspect and even banned from holding most any jobs of importance in the Federation. The ones we meet are kept under strict supervision at a place called the Institute not unlike a mental facility for the dangerous and unsound.

    Strange New Worlds expands on that by showing that the term “augment” and subsequent Federation ban doesn’t just apply to humans, but any alien race that tries to enhance their DNA for the purpose to become smarter or stronger.
     
    Last edited: Dec 9, 2022
  19. Saul

    Saul Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Dec 27, 2002
    Location:
    東京
    Another great episode. My main feeling each week is that each Prodigy episode is fresh and new (even from a long time fan's perspective). I never felt they were just resting on their laurels. It not only serves as an episode of the week but it honors the concepts of previous great Star Trek episodes while also moving the story along. They really nailed it with this series. Hats off time and time again.

    Murf singing = awesome. I almost expected Vic Fontaine to show up.
     
  20. AnimationAdmiral

    AnimationAdmiral Lieutenant Commander Red Shirt

    Joined:
    Jan 3, 2022
    1. They specifically say it was not Arik Soong who created Dal, but one of his “protégés”. That could be someone who knew him at the end of his life, or perhaps took up his work after he abandoned it. But likely not a Soong, given they made that distinction.
     
    Commander Troi and jackoverfull like this.