Aaron Waltke Teases the End of Star Trek: Prodigy Season 1
Kate Mulgrew as Hologram Janeway, Jason Mantzoukas as Jankom Pog, Angus Imrie as Zero, co-executive producer Aaron Waltke, Ella Purnell as Gwyn, and Brett Gray as Dal. Images: Paramount+ / Fred Hayes/Getty Images.
NOVEMBER 30, 2022 - It’s been a long road, in this case for the crew of the USS Protostar in Star Trek: Prodigy. We are still technically in season one and learning more about our heroes, as well as approaching the point where Prodigy will, well, engage even more than it has already with the larger Star Trek canon.
In the second part of an interview with TrekCore, co-executive producer and Season two co-head writer Aaron Waltke reflects on where the story has gone and where it will go in the near future. If your viewing isn’t current, there are some spoilery bits in the interview, so fair warning.
Waltke talked about what has been revealed about Dal’s backstory, for example, which we won’t mention here. But he said that “there’s this sort of thorniness that I think Star Trek, and our writers, just can’t help but return to and further explore and question and wonder, does it have to be this way, or are there things yet unresolved?”
The Romulans (and their weapons) that appear are an indication that the storyline will tie into Star Trek: Picard at some point, and Waltke said that the rapid pace of the recent episodes and their revelations will continue to the climax of the current 20-episode story arc. He said, “…there’s sort of an adage in screenwriting that we always believe in: if you have a good idea, use it now, don’t save it for later.”
And what about Hologram Janeway? There is more to come for her, too. “For me, the joy of a hologram character in all of Star Trek is them growing beyond their programming and doing sort of the unexpected, just as any humanoid would. There’s going to be some things that happen, and some choices that are made by Hologram Janeway — both good and bad — that will surprise you. She will have a little bit of growth and an arc, and I can’t wait for everybody to see it because these next five episodes are pretty big for her.”
Waltke had much more to say about these and other topics, including Prodigy’s relationship with its video game and the Instagram character logs that also tie into the story on screen. Head over to TrekCore for the full interview.
David is a contributing writer for Daily Star Trek News on the Roddenberry Podcast Network. He is a librarian, baseball fan, and book and movie buff. He has also written for American Libraries and Skeptical Inquirer. David also enjoys diverse music, but leans toward classical and jazz. He plays a mean radio.
