Summary
Star Trek: Prodigyseason 2 fulfills the animated series' mission of bringingStar Trekto a new, younger audience. Led by Kate Mulgrew, Brett Gray, and executive producers Kevin and Dan Hageman, all 20Star Trek: Prodigyseason 2 episodes premiered on Netflix on July 1st andboast a 100% Fresh score on Rotten Tomatoes.
InStar Trek: Prodigyseason 2, the young Starfleet hopefuls of the USS Protostar launch intoan adventure that touches every aspect ofStar Trek’s vast canon and multiverse. Along with Admiral Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) and Captain Chakotay (Robert Beltran), Star Trek legacy characters likeWesley Crusher (Wil Wheaton)return to help Dal R’El (Brett Gray), Gwyndala (Ella Purnell), and their friends, face old enemies and new in a journey that spans space and time.
Star Trek: Prodigy Season 2 Ending & Shocking Season 3 Set Up Explained
Star Trek: Prodigy season 2 brings the time travel saga of the USS Protostar full circle. Here’s what happened and what it all means for season 3.
Screen Ranthad the pleasure of chatting with Kate Mulgrew, Brett Gray, Kevin Hageman, and Dan Hageman at San Diego Comic-Con about all aspects ofStar Trek: Prodigy, and why season 2 is so deeply satisfying.
Star Trek: Prodigy Season 2 Is One Of The Best Seasons Of Star Trek Ever Produced
Screen Rant:Star Trek: Prodigyseason 2 is streaming now on Netflix. All 20 episodes dropped on July 1. Everyone should see it. I’ve already seen the whole thing three times.
Kate Mulgrew: Have you really? What do you think?
Screen Rant: It is, honestly, one of the best seasons ofStar TrekI have ever seen. That is also the consensus. I’ve sure you’ve seen the love online. Please, all of you, tell me how you feel about the love and the validation. Especially after everything it took to get it on Netflix.
Kate Mulgrew: Well, we’re feeling that. So it should go forward, right? That would be the supposition. Netflix has grabbed it, thankfully, Now we’re waiting to see if it will have a future. Which it must have. Because not only deservedly so, but wouldn’t it be a terrific loss if it didn’t? You said it was some of the best Star Trek television you’ve seen. So, tell us why?
Screen Rant: Well, first of all, it not only evoked the vast canon ofStar Trekand did it in a way that was very respectful but also forward-looking, but it also told an amazing story of growth, and change, and heroism. It was emotionally satisfying. It was beautifully rendered and animated. So I could go on, but this is not about me.
Dan Hageman: The music, too. Nami [Melumad]’s score.
Screen Rant; Yes, Nami’s score.
Kate Mulgrew: Deeply satisfying. That’s a wonderful way to put it.
The Hagemeans Share How They Brought Star Trek: Prodigy To Netflix
“We were paused at the moment right before Chakotay and Janeway got together.”
Kevin Hageman: And let me just say, imagine we were in the middle of season 2. The show… we were given a call that it was just gonna stop. There’d be no more, it would never get released. So going from that point to all of a sudden, the fans, the plane flying over Netflix, the support, the love, being able to finish it. And we’re like sitting behind the scenes making this thing going, ‘This needs to be seen. What if this just gets erased?’
Dan Hageman: I also think we were stopped… we were paused at the moment right before Chakotay and Janeway got together. So I like to believe that this cosmic energy of Janeway and Chakotay…
Kevin Hageman: Shippers…
Dan Hageman: Brought ti together, finished the show, and brought it to the screen on Netflix.
Kate Mulgrew: I said, let’s talk about sex. Are we’re talking about it.
How Kate Mulgrew Joined Star Trek: Prodigy Season 1
The actor said, “You’ll have to give me a minute with this.”
Screen Rant: I’d like to go back a few years, actually.
Kate Mulgrew: Let’s go way back! (laughs)
Screen Rant: Out of the blue a few years ago, you get a call from these two gentlemen and they ask you to bring back Janeway, play Janeway again in a cartoon. Tell me how you felt about that?
Kate Mulgrew: I didn’t get a call from these guys. Regrettably. I would’ve loved that. But I did get a call from Alex Kurtzman, who as you know holds mantle, and he said, ‘What would you feel about voicing the return of Janeway in an animated series called Prodigy?’ And I actually said I was a little… on my back foot about it, because I said, “You’ll have to give me a minute with this.”
You know, playing Janeway in Voyager, was life-changing for me. Huge. And she has resonated. She has never for one second diminished in my imagination or in my practical life. So the thought of doing this now, a cartoon, I thought, I don’t know. Is this the right step? Will this be good? And then he gave me the story, and I talked to some of my friends who were very much in the know, and they said, ‘You’re out of your mind.’ To be able to bring this to [the] young, to children, and to carry it on trans-generationally. What an opportunity. And then I met the Hagemans and I fell in love. And then I met this dingle dangle.
Brett Gray: (laughs) Hey, that’s me.
Kate Mulgrew: And I’m so glad I did. It’s been, to use your words, deeply satisfying—the entire journey.
Screen Rant: Well, we’re all grateful that you did. We’re all so grateful.
Kate Mulgrew and Brett Gray Playing Admiral Janeway and Dal Switching Bodies
Screen Rant; I’m glad Brett and you are both here together. Ever since season 1, I’ve been dying to ask you about the episode when you guys switched bodies and played each other. Please tell me about playing Brett, and Brett playing Kate.
Kate Mulgrew: That was fun, wasn’t it?
Kate Mulgrew: That must have been hard. (laughs)
Brett Gray: It was deeply satisfying.
Kate Mulgrew: But you did, guys. You were good. You were kind. In the booth, you kept saying, ‘Why don’t we do that again? Let’s just try that again.’
Brett Gray: And I will say I totally tried to really throw you for a loop. I was going for it, really. I was like, oh, if Kate is gonna have to do Dal, I’m gonna give the most Dal, because I just wanted to hear you do it. (laughs)
Dan Hageman: When we recorded their lines, we had them record their lines so the other one could hear how they said the lines.
Screen Rant: Was there ever a point for either of you where you’re like, ‘You’re going too far’?
Brett Gray: No, I was ready. I was so excited to do it. Because it’s such a mind—
Kate Mulgrew: Fantastic idea, right?
Brett Gray: I was like, so I’m playing myself in the Admiral’s body with the Admiral’s voice, but I’m Dal? I was such a– I was like, wait, what’s going on? How do I even do that?
Kate Mulgrew: Star Trek at its best.
Brett Gray: Yeah, totally.
Kate Mulgrew: I dug that. That was really fun. And you know what it means to say ‘I dug that?’ Or is that old school.
Kate Mulgrew: What do you say?
Dan Hageman: Cap.
Brett Gray: Oh, we definitely say cap. Cap is like when you think I’m lying.
Brett Gray: Oh bet. Yeah, bet too.
Dan Hageman: My bad. My bad.
Kate Mulgrew: Now wait a minute. I just said I dug it. And you’re giving me what you would say. Your generation.
Brett Gray: We don’t say dug, but we understand.
Kate Mulgrew: I think you should just say excuse me.
Brett Gray: Yeah, that’s cool. That’s dope.
Kevin Hageman: Don’t they deserve… We think they should have some live-action buddy cop show. They’re paired up together, and just comedy ensues.
Kate Mulgrew: Buddy cops? Cops?
Brett Gray: Not cops. We’ve seen that a lot, right?
Kate Mulgrew: Yeah, too many cops. Too many cops. Too many robbers. What are we gonna be?
Brett Gray: I feel like, I don’t know. It has to be something that no one would ever even think about. Like, it has to be the weirdest way we would even know each other.
Brett Gray: Do it. Let’s do it.
Would Janeway Adopt Dal? Inquiring Minds Want To Know.
Screen Rant: That’s so funny because I was gonna ask if Janeway could adopt any of the Protostar kids so they could live in your farmhouse, why would it be Dal? And it turns out, here it is.
Kate Mulgrew: In my farmhouse?
Screen Rant: Yeah, when Janeway retires at the end, she moves into a farmhouse, briefly.
Kate Mulgrew: I don’t know about Dal on a farm.
Brett Gray: I don’t know if I’d wanna do that either.
Kate Mulgrew: With the little cows and the little sheep. You might get lost.
Brett Gray: There is that one episode where Holo Janeway has us doing the team-building exercise. And we’re chasing the chicken and trying to get it. So I just don’t think that would go well. (laughs)
Kate Mulgrew On Janeway & Chakotay In Star Trek: Prodigy Season 2
Screen Rant: Kate, I’ve got to ask you aboutJaneway and Chakotay. I love their reunion and the portrayal of their relationship in season 2. There are JC fans who have waited for them to be a couple forever.
Kate Mulgrew: Why? I’m asking you because you know your stuff, and everybody told me you know your stuff. Why?
Screen Rant: Okay. Because they are two people who were thrown into an incredibly unique situation, and they brought out the best in each other. And together, they shepherded, what was it? 200-300 people back home over seven years.
Kate Mulgrew: 165 complement.
Screen Rant: Thank you. Thank you, Admiral.
Kate Mulgrew: He was the Maquis. He was my enemy. And you wanted us to become not just friends – lovers.
Kate Mulgrew: But why?
Screen Rant: Because you deserve it.
Kate Mulgrew: I deserve what?
Screen Rant: Janeway deserves romance. She deserves a happy life outside of…
Kate Mulgrew: Okay. I’m lost in the Delta Quadrant ‘cause I skipped the gas station, with 165 people, right? 175,000 light years from home. And I’m gonna say, “Chakotay, in my ready room. You know what I’m talking about.’ As the first female Captain? No no, Nanette. Big big mistake. Don’t you think? I was still of childbearing years. You know what that means.
Screen Rant: But now.
Kate Mulgrew: But now what? Now, I’m not. (laughs) Yes, now I’m not.
Screen Rant: But now, Admiral Janeway and Captain Chakotay, reunited in season 2.
Kate Mulgrew: In an animated series. (laughs) We could reunite. What do you think, guys?
Dan Hageman: We can’t ever answer that. That has to be a thing. We saw Moonlighing.
Kate Mulgrew: Here’s what I think. I think tension is the word. Always maintain the tension, Will they or won’t they?
Brett Gray: Or have they already?
Kate Mulgrew: Only their hairdresser knows for sure.
Brett Gray Gets Into Gwyn & Dal’s Relationship
Screen Rant: Brett, I also really like Dal and Gwyn’s relationship. Let’s talk about that.
Brett Gray: Same. Yeah, I’m rooting for that. I hope that happens. I think that they would be great together. And I think that for both of them to experience love in this way, with such opposite upbringings and lifestyles, for them to have come together in this way, I think that it would bring out the best in both of them.
Kate Mulgrew: But then, where do you go? Where do you go, really, with that idea? How long could that be sustained?
Brett Gray: That’s for you guys. (laughs)
Screen Rant: It’s a good problem to have.
Kate Mulgrew On Star Trek: Prodigy’s Mirror Universe Episode
Screen Rant: I personally love the Mirror Universe, and the Mirror Universe episode that’s going to be screened at your panel. Kate, you got to play evil Mirror Janeway. Tell me about that.
Kate Mulgrew: Heaven! Bliss. Because Janeway’s very good, right? She’s eminently decent. Courageous woman. I mean, she’s got her flaws, but she’s a fine person. To be able to flip that, as an actor, is sheer pleasure. Especially in a booth where you can get away with murder, and have done many times. (laughs) And they’re going, ‘Yeah! More murder!’ Yeah, really satisfying to do that.
Screen Rant: Deeply satisfying.
Kate Mulgrew: Because, of course, it resides within me, doesn’t it?
Screen Rant: I think we’re seeing some of it now.
Wesley Crusher’s Comeback In Star Trek: Prodigy Season 2
Screen Rant: Another home run in season 2 was Wesley Crusher. Wil Wheaton coming back, which was just fantastic. And the best version of Wesley we’ve ever seen inStar Trek. Plus as a side benefit, we got the first meeting ever ofAdmiral Janeway and Dr. Beverly Crusher, his mom. Let’s talk about that because this is allStar Trekhistory being made by your show.
Kevin Hageman: Oh, it’s a joy. I mean, we had a writer, Jen Muro, in our room, and when she grew up, she had a Wesley Crusher poster on her wall. She had the biggest crush on him. And she brought up in the room, what if we brought him back?
Dan Hageman: She had also become friends with Wil by that time. And she is one of his greatest fans.
Kevin Hageman: But he is the original prodigy kid of Trek.
Kate Mulgrew: He is. That’s right.
Kevin Hageman: He is. And he disappears, sort of, in TNG. And you’re kind of left with this great grand mystery of who he is. I imagine a lot of writers might have been scared to touch that character, ‘cause he’s like this Time Lord. What are the rules there? What can he do? Is he too powerful? And we just had a blast in the room cleverly using him, bringing him back, finding what the next chapter of Wesley Crusher is.
Dan Hageman: We love the idea of a Time Lord who didn’t have time to see his mother. That’s where it is.
Kate Mulgrew: Story of every mother and son, isn’t it?
The Team Reveals Their Star Trek: Prodigy Season 3 Hopes
Screen Rant: I’ve got to ask you all what we’re all waiting to hear about, which isStar Trek: Prodigyseason 3? Do you know anything? Can you tell us anything? Besides that we all want it?
Dan Hageman: Kate, go ahead. Unleash Kate.
Kate Mulgrew: We are fully expecting it. And to many thereafter. It’s superb animated television. I don’t think there’s anything that can compare to it on TV. And the fact that - we’re not waiting - but I think that this period needs to come to an end, and it needs to be picked up.
Screen Rant: Kevin and Dan, is this a case where you’re able to’t begin any work on season 3 until you know, or do you have like a bunch of ideas that are just sitting there waiting to go?
Kevin Hageman: Oh, we’ve got a lot of ideas. I think the hardest part, and this is just the state of television today, is our production. Everyone’s gone. They’ve been gone for about a year now. So we hope that there is a new season, but it’s almost like starting from scratch.
Dan Hageman: They’re ready to run back, though. We’ve got a great crew, and we’re all…
Kate Mulgrew: Will they come back?
Kevin Hageman: Oh yes.
Kate Mulgrew: Can you reclaim them? Aren’t they off to other things?
Kevin Hageman: They’re off, but they loved working with everyone on our show. They love this show. We love the response that it’s getting from people.
Kate Mulgrew: You see what it does? It inspires loyalty. Fierce loyalty. On every level.
Kevin Hageman: We use love, not fear, in our productions. It seems to be working.
About Star Trek: Prodigy Season 2
In Star Trek: Prodigy Season 2, the six young outcasts who make up the Prodigy crew are assigned a new mission aboard the USS Voyager-A to rescue Captain Chakotay (voiced by Robert Beltran) and bring peace to Gwyn’s (voiced by Ella Purnell) home world. However, when their plan goes astray, it creates a time paradox that jeopardizes both their future and past.
The first two seasons ofStar Trek: Prodigyare now available to stream on Netflix.
