Loved this episode, not only a bit of background for Gwynn but also the ship too.
Great to have Dr. Crusher, Chakotay & Uhura back but amazing to hear the voices of great characters from other Treks that have we lost in years gone by.
[6.9/10] I am really conflicted about this episode, particularly its main story with Dal. One of the great things about Star Trek returning to animation over the last couple years is that you return to familiar faces from the franchise across decades more easily. (Hello, fellow Star Wars: The Clone Wars fans!) There’s a thrill to seeing the likes of Uhura, Spock, Scotty, Odo, and Dr. Crusher again, and on a Galaxy Class starship no less! Give how many of that set have passed on or are no longer acting, it’s the type of all-star team you could only put together in animation.
But it also plays like cheap fan service. If you squint, you can kind of glean a point from it. “Dal thinks he’s ready to be a leader, but even with an all-star assemblage of some of the greatest crewmembers in Starfleet history, he comes up short, letting him know that he has more growing to do.” That idea, however, is pretty thin and falls short in practice for a multitude of reasons.
One of them is that he’s taking the frickin’ Kobayashi Maru! The lesson seems jumbled. The moral here seems to be that Dal needs to listen to his crew rather than steamrolling over them. But nothing about delving into a no-win scenario is designed to show him that! There’s a fig leaf there with Jankum Pog trying to tell him to quit the simulation, but this is basically a big heap of miscalibrated fan service without enough of a tie to the actual problem Dal is facing or the character growth he needs.
In brief, It’s not enough to just invoke these familiar faces, put Dal on the Enterprise and have him play the game from TNG’s “The Game”. (Which, yikes, by the way.) You have to do something with them! Something that makes them make sense and have meaning for the characters in the here and now! This episode kinda sorta tries to do that, but spends more time playing the old favorites to align the past characters and iconic test to what Dal is actually going through.
On a technical level, I’m both impressed and repelled by how Prodigy managed to use archival audio to make it seem like Dal was having a conversation with all these classic characters. (I think Gates McFadden lent her voice for original material, but I’m not 100% positive.) The show’s writers did a stellar job of finding words and phrases from prior Star Trek outings that could at least plausibly fit into the moment, to where it this Frankenstein’s monster of dialogue seems halfway natural.
But only halfway. Given the chopped-up nature of the audio used (save for Beverly), the crewmembers can only give Dal generic advice and opposition, which weakens things. Spock’s ultimate lesson to Dal feels like Homer Simpson’s “incriminating” interview on Rock Bottom given how obviously it’s stitched together from other movies and shows. And the differences in audio quality are really jarring. I don’t care about the continuity snarl of it, but hearing Spock have the same conversation with Dal using recordings from the 60s, the 80s, and the 2000s with widely different auditory clarity breaks immersion something fierce.
On the whole, I love the big swing Prodigy is taking by trying to remix multiple eras of the franchise within the context of the Holodeck. But given how misshapen the results turned out, I think they should leave that approach to Lower Decks in the future.
But the other parts of the episode are good! We learn more about Gwyn’s deal, that she and her bastard of a father are the last of the time, that she was a result of some unique cloning process that’s against some vague order, that the Diviner and his line have been hunting for the Protostar for some time. We also learn that none other than Chakotay was formerly the captain of the ship. This is all just lore and backstory, but it adds some form to the mystery, which I appreciate, and it makes the Diviner less of a mustache-twirling bad guy, giving him dimension and vulnerability, which is always a good thing.
I also like the show delving meaningfully into Gwyn’s depression after all that happened. Giving her a purpose and a role on the ship helps to bring her out of it a little, and I appreciate the support and concern Hologram Janeway and the other crewmembers show her. The idea that her role on the ship, as a master of languages isn’t to translate, but to interpret, is a strong one, which recognizes her personal strengths apart from her job. I like it as a way to integrate her into the rest of the group.
And oh, apparently Murf’s indestructible. So that’s something too? I suppose? Sure, why not!
Overall, there’s some good work done here in adding more clarity and intrigue to the show’s mysteries and lore, not to mention making Gwyn a legitimate part of the crew. But the fan service-heavy sections with Dal are a mixed bag at best, with more bad than good.
This is what I call "to boldly go...". A wonderful episode that respects the legends, and builds up upon them to reach for the stars.
Brilliant Episode! This is well written to fill in the gaps between what original Star Trek fans know and this particular situation. Legacy officers on hollodeck provided contextual training that after over 100 attempts at the Kobayashi Maru would teach our new self-appointed captain useful lessons of leadership. In the meantime revelations are being made regarding other crew members, their veiled pasts and abilities. I bet this episode sets the stage for stories with a new and empowered crew to engage in a variety of scenarios.
So The Deviner has been looking for the Protostar since at least 12 years before Voyager even came back to the Alpha Quadrant? Guess there's some time-travel involved then.
Tweet from @Ferd: NuTrek writers finally run out of words for their garbage, turn and steal dialogue right out of real Trek episodes https://youtu.be/hHj9xuyUbvY
Review by Paladin5150BlockedParent2022-01-07T02:59:48Z
And yes, they had me at Kobayashi. I think the point of this episode was to find a way to show Dal that he wasn't as smart as he thought he was, yet show US that he has the grit and determination to indeed lead his "crew". Up to this point, he has been confusing "street smarts", that is survival skills, with leadership ability. No one appoints themselves leader, at least not a genuine one. Those who desire to be led will gravitate toward those who indeed take care of the "needs of the many", and have the confidence to make the hard choices. The troops will follow a great leader into figurative "hell", but, as Hologram Spock correctly opined, if they show trepidation and self doubt, they cannot hold the group together. This is the "spark" that Hologram Janeway sees, and Hologram Spock also saw.
The writers were also very smart to have the scenario conclude the way it did. As Japan learned in WW2, you can win a battle and still lose the war. The unwinnable scenario is exactly that..., UNWINNABLE, but cause enough chaos and anarchy, and, one might do the impossible, or, miss it by "that much".
I have a feeling that the Diviner captured EACH of the various species for abilities he would either find useful to locate the Protostar, or perhaps even useful as some sort of prisoner/crew once it was located. Prolly not, but, just a thought.
@Andrew Bloom, yes, an indestructible, sentient ("smarter than he looks" as per Gwyn) goo being will more than likely come in handy down the road. And yes, giving Gwyn a REAL task (as well as her other training) will make her a definite asset, unless what she discovers causes a conflict with Dal, whose ego at times is as fragile as it is large.
I look forward to the Diviners secret(s) being revealed!