A question I receive every couple of weeks from my seven year old.
It hasn't stopped. Not since Prodigy's first season concluded back in December. Picking Cecily up from the bus? 'When is Prodigy coming back?" Watching Bluey? 'When is Prodigy coming back?" And my answer, up until this past Friday, was, 'sometime this Winter, kiddo." Now, that answer I give her is in limbo, and it's absolutely heartbreaking.
To say that my daughter loves Star Trek Prodigy is an understatement. She fell hard for the rag-tag crew of the Protostar, especially for characters like Murf and Rok-Tahk. And after Prodigy's season finale, when I surprised her with the video game tie-in, Supernova, I'm constantly getting asked if we can play it. While I handle a lot of the boss fights, she loves blasting away spider-bots and collecting crystals from map to map, making it a contest to see who can get more.
Even with her love for Prodigy, the show hasn't been the "I need to go back and watch all of Star Trek" gateway quite yet (these things can't be rushed, even though I desperately want them to be), but a spark has definitely been lit. In the episode "Kobayashi," Dal receives help and advice from none other than Spock. And while my wife and I were hoping for a full Voyager watch-through again with our daughter snuggling with us in the middle, it's been Spock that she has decided to attach herself to.
Spock in Star Trek Prodigy episode 106, "Kobayashi"
Now, whenever I'm researching for the podcast or just randomly putting on an episode of Trek, which I do...a lot, and Spock shows up on the screen, Cecily sits down and watches it with me. She asks questions, and her focus is entirely on the episode, especially when it's Ethan Peck's latest incarnation of the character on Strange New Worlds. When I share these moments with her, it's everything I was hoping for as a hardcore Trekkie dad. The marathons can come later; these moments are just enough.
And I imagine Prodigy has had the same effect on many other Trekkie parents raising their kids. I know for a fact our co-host Erik's seven year old got into STEM because of Prodigy. That's the thing here; Prodigy isn't just a gateway into Star Trek. It's a gateway into science and astronomy and asking questions about equality and diversity.
As a lifelong Trekkie, taking the kid equation out of the story here for a second, Prodigy's first season was some of the best Trek I've had the pleasure to watch. Each story crafted by the almost overly talented writer's room gave us something new and exciting every week, exploring more strange new worlds than the show that is literally named that. There's a reason this podcast named Prodigy the best Trek series of 2022.
Ella Purnell as Gwyn, Brett Gray as Dal, Rylee Alazraqui as Rok-Tahk, Angus Imrie as Zero, and Jason Mantzoukas as Jankom Pog - Photo: Nickelodeon/Paramount+
Now there's a chance that can all be taken away. A decision by the executives at Paramount that is so baffling I'm still having to wrap my head around it. The entire first season is being removed from the Paramount+ streaming service, which has always been flaunted as 'The Home of All Trek' despite all the films being curiously missing for months, but that's another story.
Why is Paramount removing the series and shopping the show's second season to a new network? All for a tax write-off, a practice many of the big streaming services like Disney+ and MAX have practiced recently. Batgirl? Never going to see the light of day. Snowpiercer season four? Completed and totally finished, but also put in cold storage, all so the rich can get richer.
Prodigy is now one of those write-off victims, a move by Paramount that goes against everything Star Trek stands for. When I broke the news to Cecily, the look of disappointment and sadness broke my heart. And while she can go back and watch the first ten episodes on Blu-ray, not everyone can purchase them, and the ability to watch the first season may be lost for some time--maybe forever if you're only option is streaming.
Speaking of the Blu-ray set. At the time of this writing, fans have bought almost every copy from retailers, selling out on Amazon, Target, etc. If that isn't a super clear message to Paramount to reverse course, we're not sure what is.
And Paramount should reverse course. The amount of outcry and support the show has received from the community has blown me away. And while I think many of us want to see Prodigy remain on Paramount Plus, which is once again supposed to be the 'home of all Trek,' I'd be more than happy to see it find a home elsewhere. That would be enough. Just let me be able to give my kid a clear answer the next time I get asked, "Daddy, when is Prodigy coming back on?
