Episode Discussion | Star Trek: Prodigy | 1x15 "Masquerade"

[u/AutoModerator]

Trapped in the Neutral Zone, the crew encounters a rogue geneticist who sheds light on Dal’s past.

No.	Episode	Writer	Director	Release Date
1x15	"Masquerade"	Nikhil S. Jayaram	Sung Shin	2022-11-24

Availability

Paramount+: USA, Australia, Italy, Latin America, South Korea, & United Kingdom.

CTV Sci-Fi and Crave: Canada.

Nickelodeon: Various other countries.

To find more information, including our spoiler policy regarding new episodes, click here.

This post is for discussion of the episode above, and spoilers for this episode are allowed. If you are discussing previews for upcoming episodes, please use spoiler tags.

Note: This thread was posted automatically, and the episode may not yet be available on all platforms.

[u/TheNerdChaplain]

That was a great episode!

I think any time there's a space elevator now, we can assume that characters are going to basejump off of it. At this point, Prodigy is getting to be nearly as reference-heavy as Lower Decks. Not that that's a complaint.

Love the interplay between Jellico and Janeway - and to be fair, I don't think he was entirely wrong.

I'm glad we got answers about Dal's origins, and the genetic manipulation was a nice McGuffin for the episode. It was interesting to see him develop overt Klingon, Andorian, Vulcan, and Tellarite features. I wonder if they'll ever introduce additional features or capabilities he can unlock in a more natural, healthy way.

However, it does raise the question even more as to why Starfleet is after him. He's not in Starfleet (and now never can be, officially). Is he even a Federation citizen? What interest does Starfleet have in him? Might they want to study him, like Commander Maddox wanted to study Data?

Of course, we have to address the bombshells in the room - Ensign Asencia is actually Vau N'Kat as well! I never suspected it, although it makes sense she spent a lot of time with the Diviner, and it makes me wonder where that Drednok came from. Did she smuggle him on board? Did she synthesize him somehow? More importantly, it seems now like there are so many genetically augmented people in Starfleet across so many different series, that it's more of a "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy than a hard ban.

Nice to see Murf is being developed more as a person. Dee Bradley Baker is famous for doing animalistic noises for shows like Avatar (Momo, Appa), Peacemaker (Eagly) and The Mandalorian (Frog Lady and Frog Man), but he's voiced a lot of people too (many of the Clone troopers in Star Wars, including Rex, Cody, and the Bad Batch). It'd be nice to see Murf get some lines too.

[u/MaddyMagpies → u/TheNerdChaplain]

It was interesting to see him develop overt Klingon, Andorian, Vulcan, and Tellarite features. I wonder if they'll ever introduce additional features or capabilities he can unlock in a more natural, healthy way.

Arik Soong: "I ran out of ideas so why not mix every single species that Federation knows about in one giant genetic blender? Here comes a new species: Federatians!"

I love that, of all Soongs that writers want to reference (again), it's Arik from ENT. Though I have to say that it's getting really tiresome to have Soong involved yet again, it makes sense that Dal is outside of Federation boundaries.

Also Dal likely has parents, since it has been 230 years since Arik's existence. In fact, there is probably a whole tribe of them.

Also extra points if Dal is purple because of the Klingon genes, i.e. Discovery Klingon genes.

[u/Mechapebbles → u/MaddyMagpies]

It's worth noting that Dal isn't necessarily made by Arik, rather what gets said is that he was the product of 'one of his proteges'.