Star Trek: Prodigy 1×20 Review: “Supernova, Part 2”

Star Trek: Prodigy Season 1 comes to an end with the aptly-titled “Supernova, Part 2”. This show has continually impressed me all throughout its debut season, and the finale is no different. It manages to wrap up the season-long arc while also setting up multiple threads for the next installment. While not my favorite episode of the season, it nonetheless does its job with aplomb.

“Supernova, Part 2” does a fantastic job as a finale. It solves the problem from last week’s episode – you know, that whole ‘Starfleet is gonna destroy itself’ thing – while tying up some other loose ends. Everything is dealt with quickly and efficiently (and emotionally!), and while not wrapped up with a neat little bow, there is a definitive end to the crew’s trek. They’ve saved Starfleet, they’ve arrived on Earth, and now they’re on to the next adventure.

These kids are clever. After realizing the terrible situation they’re in, there is no lingering over their fates. They immediately start trying to come up with a solution, even though the solution is insane. But of course, the only way to save Starfleet from the Protostar is to remove the Protostar from the equation.

Honestly, in all my speculating, this is not how I expected this season to end. I thought for sure that they would escape on the Protostar somehow. After all, what is this crew without their ship? But Prodigy surprised me by actually following through with the plan. Hologram!Janeway stayed behind in order to jettison the proto core at the moment of jump, making sure that the shockwave caused by the ship’s destruction would be filtered.

Saying goodbye to hologram!Janeway was extremely sad. I know that we have real!Janeway now, but I think we can all admit that it isn’t quite the same. While real!Janeway has taken (most of) the kids under her wing on her new mission, she isn’t the same person who has been guiding them along the way. She doesn’t have the shared experiences. And yes, I did cry while the kids were watching hologram!Janeway’s farewell message.

Still, it’s exciting that the kids (minus Gwyn) will be serving under Janeway. Though they haven’t yet been permitted to join Starfleet Academy, serving on a vessel with a true Starfleet crew will teach them so much. And don’t think I’m ignoring the monumental occasion that is Dal’s inclusion on the crew. An augment being Starfleet-adjacent is a huge concession for the Federation, and hopefully, this causes ripples on other Star Trek shows.

I’m excited to see how the kids do in a normal starship environment. It will be interesting to see how they mesh with an established crew after having to operate as their own unit for so long. While they have shown a lot of growth since the beginning of the season, I predict it will still be an adjustment for them. Luckily they still have a version of Janeway to guide them.

Time travel, while not being the solution to the problem, is still a possibility! Hologram!Janeway managed to open up a wormhole to the same general area of space and time where Chakotay was taken. So naturally, I imagine much of season 2 will involve the search for Chakotay. I also anticipate a lot more nods and throwbacks to previous Trek series. Prodigy dug pretty deep for some of the references this season, so I can’t wait to see what this team has in store for us in season 2!

I am sad that the kids are splitting up, particularly when Dal and Gwyn finally found their way to each other. (The. Linked. Pinkies.) But I do believe this makes the most sense for Gwyn. First contact with the Vau N’Akat is still in the future; her people are out there, still whole. Of course, she would want to try to save her people, maybe even save her father. Not to mention, Asencia is also still out there.

“Supernova, Part 2” hit all the emotional beats. Hologram!Janeway’s farewell to the kids, as they huddled in a shuttlecraft without navigation. Gwyn revealing to the others that she would not be joining them in Starfleet. Dal and Gwyn’s tender moment alone (LINKED. PINKIES.) as they promised to see each other again. Star Trek as a franchise has always been about its characters, and Prodigy has some good ones. Even with the tension at the beginning of the episode, they still gave these characters a moment to breathe.

The beauty of the animation in this episode cannot be overstated. I’m not sure which scene took my breath away more – the dramatic light show that was the Protostar exploding or that ending shot with the mood and the exhaust trail of Gwyn’s ship. Truly, this show has some absolutely gorgeous art and animation, and they really outdid themselves in this episode.

I’m so glad that I set time aside every week to watch this show. It’s been such an enjoyable experience. There were no bad episodes in season 1, and I’m so invested in these characters! I hope that the hiatus until season 2 isn’t that long. I can’t wait to see what comes next.

Author: Jamie Sugah

Jamie has a BA in English with a focus in creative writing from The Ohio State University. She self-published her first novel, The Perils of Long Hair on a Windy Day, which is available through Amazon. She is currently an archivist and lives in New York City with her demon ninja vampire cat. She covers television, books, movies, anime, and conventions in the NYC area.

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