1x14 Crossroads

[7.5/10] Let’s start with the lowest stakes element of this episode. When our young heroes ditched the Protostar underground and sought out transport at a depot Gwyn practically described as “a hive of scum a villainy”, I thought to myself, “Gee, Prodigy is doing their best Star Wars homage again.” Imagine my surprise when they should run into none other than the Outrageous Okona, Star Trek’s “original” Han Solo ripoff from the TNG days!

I didn’t even like Okona in his original episode, and yet, there’s something so fun about him popping up as a potential ally for Dal, Gwyn, and the gang. I appreciate the little touches, like the fact that he’s in the same design from his brief cameo in Lower Decks and that they were able to get William O. Campbell to reprise the role. But this also fits the type of continuity nod I like, one that’s low stakes, with plenty of room to sketch out new things, used mainly to enhance what’s happening in this story rather than just remind fans of the old one. Okona is, if anything, better here than he was in this 1980s jaunt through the franchise, making more sense as an aging, semi-bumbling smuggler who gets caught up in the Prodigies’ even bigger trouble.

(And hey, speaking of unlikely homages, between Barniss Frex being a Denobulan, and the Protostar crew being chased by some Xindi-Reptilian, this is the most a Star Trek show has referenced Star Trek: Enterprise since at least Star Trek: Beyond.)

But that’s all just window dressing. The bigger deal here is that Dal and company try to do the noble thing here: set the Protostar aside and aim to get a transport to a Starfleet base so they can warn the Federation of the danger the ship poses. It’s mildly coincidental, but I appreciate the electricity in the air when the kid heroes are searching for Starfleet, and Vice Admiral Janeway is, unbeknownst to her, searching for the kid heroes, with them both ending up at the same place at the same time.

The episode mainly teases the audience on that front. Gwyn runs into Ensign Ascencia, with the two seeming to have a concordance until Ascencia reveals that the Diviner is still alive searching for her, something that obviously makes the hair on the back of Gwyn’s neck stand up. Jankom Pog runs into grumpy Dr. Noam, and feels diminished from his delusions of royalty when Noam explains that “Pog” is a surname that’s all but synonymous with “runt.” Most notably, Dal crosses paths with the real Janeway, understandably flummoxed to meet the flesh and blood version of his mentor and hesitant to explain their unique circumstance, despite the Vice Admiral’s sound advice that fear of failure stops too many dreams.

It’s neat to see the young adults cross pollinating with the seasoned officers, with each running into the other by accident and not quite getting the significance of what’s happened. Here’s my problem -- it turns into a big chase and bigger conflict, and the whole thing feels like it could be solved with a conversation. Yes, the show puts a fig leaf on it when Dal says that Janeway wouldn’t believe them since she has good reason to think they’re fugitives. But I’m always leery of stories that rest on everything being one big misunderstanding. The show has a big bill to pay in justifying stringing this along without letting both sides in on the truth of the situation after bringing them so close.

We at least get the two groups’ motivations here. Dal is nervous around someone he admires but hasn't really met before, and is worried that they’ll be seen as thieves or rogues rather than aspiring members of Starfleet. The fact that even hailing Vice Admiral Janeway’s Dauntless class vessel (replete with a quantum slipstream drive for old school Voyager fans) could unleash the Living Construct on Starfleet justifies some hesitance.

For her part, Janeway seems a little out of character here. She takes Frex at his word despite some mild skepticism that a science vessel could destroy a relay station and calls the people who did it savages. But even then, Commander Tysess points out that she may be acting on emotion thanks to her connection to Chakotay, which helps account for it. Even she relents somewhat when she realizes these “marauders” are actually children.

The closing chase is a little rote, but still solid. The kids returning to the Protostar and diving into the Neutral Zone to shake Vice Admiral Janeway is a hell of a ploy. The stand-off between Janeway and her first officer feels like classic Star Trek stuff. And Okona’s disbelief at the whole thing is a fun side dish.

Plus hey, Murf is a toddler now! I don’t know why we need that, but Ruk-Tohk’s devotion to him is sweet, and I guess it’s good for the show’s mascot to keep evolving.

Overall, I have some frustration with how the show strains to justify this whole thing not being resolved with a simple conversation, but I appreciate the character elements in the episode, and the well-harnessed callbacks to comparatively obscure parts of Star Trek lore are almost worth the price of admission on their own.