The crew answers a distress call to find a colony trapped in Starfleet’s past.

What I’m really enjoying about Prodigy is its ongoing threads about Starfleet’s mystery patient, the problems created by the Protostar’s WMD and Murf’s metamorphosis (metamurfosis?) which are weaved into a main narrative that has a direction of its own.

This week, the Star Trek primer introduces its young viewers to the concept of the Prime Directive, in particular where non-interference doesn’t go to plan. After responding to a distress call, the crew find themselves in a society that’s clearly modelled on Starfleet (it’s called Starflight), with locals sharing similar names to legacy Star Trek legends. More concerning is the illness that’s afflicting the population, emanating from the woods.

The story by Aaron J. Waltke is an absolute belter. It has a level of sophistication and ingenuity that would easily serve a ‘grown up’ episode of the franchise. Saying that, it’s not wasted on this animated series, it just goes to show what quality television the show is creating.

Verdict: The best episode yet in a half-season that had already delivered a brace of strong stories. 10/10

Nick Joy

Series one, part two of  Star Trek : Prodigy launched on Nickelodeon and Paramount + in the UK on 28 October, with new episodes weekly every Friday.