Star Trek: Prodigy 2×07 “The Fast and the Curious” demonstrates how our crew handles a little friendly competition. There’s action and excitement, plus some thoughts on the merits of competition. Hop in so we can go fast in my review of Star Trek: Prodigy 2×07 “The Fast and the Curious.”
For the Kids
There’s some good humor in Star Trek: Prodigy 2×07 “The Fast and the Curious.” I think it’s fun that we see our young crew doing the things they would normally do during their downtime. Murf is doing burpees! Apropos for a security officer. Dal is pretending he’s the captain. Gwyn is putting Dal in his place. Rok is trying to do some work, and Jankom, well, let’s just say that I’m glad they haven’t invented “Smell-O-Vision” yet. As Zero would say, “The virtues of being non-corporeal.”
We also get a nice callback in Star Trek: Prodigy 2×07 “The Fast and the Curious,” to their encounter with the Borg. (See my review of Star Trek: Prodigy 1×12 “Let Sleeping Borg Lie” for a refresher). I’m surprised our crew decided to head toward the Borg transwarp conduit, but desperate times call for desperate measures. This definitely puts a bit of uneasiness in the episode. The Ekthi of the Kazon surprise is a nice touch, alleviating some of the tension, but still giving the episode some excitement with a race. There’s more to dig into here regarding the race, but I’ll save that for my final thoughts.
For the Adults
Star Trek: Prodigy 2×07 “The Fast and the Curious” has good usage of Trek tropes as well. An evil AI (what a cautionary tale)! A crew member getting taken over by an outside force has definitely happened in many iterations of Star Trek, but it is so much worse when it’s SCARY MURF! Murf is always cute, and should never be scary, which makes it all that more effective. Also, watching Zero letting loose on that AI is definitely scary too. Zero, learning to be a doctor, obviously wants to “do no harm,” but they are forced to act to save their friends. It’s bold and heightens the drama and excitement of the episode. When our doctor characters are forced to act in this manner, it always makes for a good story. See also Star Trek: Strange New Worlds 2×08 “Under the Cloak of War”.
Final Thoughts
The real crux of Star Trek: Prodigy 2×07 “The Fast and the Curious” is the competition. Dal always feels like he has something to prove, that he must be the best. His competitiveness can sometimes turn him into a real jerk like he is in this episode. One can be competitive without being a jerk. His competitiveness almost lost him Gwyn and it took him realizing what the race truly was before he got over himself. As frustrating as it is to watch him behave this way, I think it is incredibly important for the kids in the audience, especially for young boys, to see that there’s a right and wrong way to be competitive. There’s a difference between healthy competition vs. being overly competitive.
Star Trek: Prodigy 2×07 “The Fast and the Curious” is a situation where competition isn’t needed; teamwork is. That’s an important nuance that kids, and heck, even some adults I know need to understand. When you work together as a team, everyone wins. We should all remember that.
Finally, we have a bit of a cliffhanger mystery at the end of Star Trek: Prodigy 2×07 “The Fast and the Curious.” What the heck are these creepy tentacles going after holo-Gwyn?! They definitely gave me the creeps, so I hope we shed some light on them in the next episode.
What did you think of Star Trek: Prodigy 2×07 “The Fast and the Curious?” Leave me a comment, and let’s talk Trek.
All episodes of Star Trek: Prodigy season 2 are streaming now on Netflix.
THIS SEASONS REVIEWS
- ‘Star Trek: Prodigy’ 2×01 Review: “Into the Breach, Part 1”
- ‘Star Trek: Prodigy’ 2×02 Review: “Into the Breach, Part 2”
- ‘Star Trek: Prodigy’ 2×03 Review: “Who Saves the Saviors”
- ‘Star Trek: Prodigy’ 2×04 Review: “Temporal Mechanics 101”
- ‘Star Trek: Prodigy’ 2×05 Review: “Observer’s Paradox”
- ‘Star Trek: Prodigy’ 2×06 Review: “Imposter Syndrome”
- ‘Star Trek: Prodigy’ 2×07 Review: “The Fast and the Curious”
- Star Trek: Prodigy’ 2×08 Review: “Is There in Beauty No Truth?”
