NOVEMBER 30, 2022 - This week kicks off the final five episodes of Star Trek: Prodigy with “Preludes.” I’ve seen the rest of the season and in my opinion, they’re the best ones yet!

This week’s episode is aptly named, revolving, as it does, around the pasts of some of the characters. According to the logline, “a Starfleet Admiral digs into the past of the Protostar crew. Meanwhile, the Diviner recalls his life’s mission.”

This is very much an origin story for the Diviner, but we’ll also learn how several of the Protostar’s crew ended up on Tars Lamora, find out what Asencia’s deal is, and we may even learn the answer to a big mystery, as well.

I sat down to watch the first episode or two of this final batch one night and found myself bingeing through the end of the season without a break. I’m a sucker for an origin story (2002’s Spider-Man is still my favorite film in the Spiderverse and Action Comics #1, in which Superman was introduced, is one of my favorite comics of all time) and “Preludes” scratches that itch. But it does more than simply explain where our favorite characters come from. It picks up a handfull of snow, fashions it into the shape of a ball, and then, with a gentle push, starts it rolling down a hill.

As the snowball continues to roll through the remainder of the episodes, gaining mass as it picks up snow, we begin to see where the season is headed. By the end of the season, when the resultant snow boulder reaches the bottom of the hill, we come to an ending that’s both satisfying and tragic, an ending that suggests new adventures going forward, and gets us excited for season 2.

I had a conversation over email with Rebecca Skipper, one of our loyal readers, this morning. “While I appreciate all the Trek series,” she told me, “I would be proud to show Prodigy to anyone! This just shows that you do not need ‘mature content’ to tell a great story.”

Skipper voiced my sentiments perfectly. Just as Star Trek: The Animated Series, supposedly for children, appealed to adult Trek fans, so too does Prodigy. It’s not simply a good children’s show; it’s good Star Trek.

Click the image below to go directly to Paramount+ and stream every episode of Star Trek: Prodigy.