Warning: SPOILERS for Star Trek: Prodigy Season 1, Episode 13 – “All The World’s A Stage”Many fans consider Galaxy Quest as one of the best Star Trek movies, and Star Trek: Prodigy finally did their own version that also honors Star Trek: The Original Series. In Star Trek: Prodigy season 1, episode 13, “All the Worlds a Stage,” the teenage crew of the USS Protostar beams down to a planet and meets the Enderprizians, a culture that modeled itself after the heroics of Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) and the Starship Enterprise. Dal R’El (Brett Gray), Gwyn (Ella Purnell), and their friends discover the reason why the Enderprizians worship the USS Enterprise’s crew, and they team up with the aliens to save their planet.
The Enderprizians are a hilarious ode to Star Trek: The Original Series. The Protostar’s crew met Enderprizians named James’T (Dee Bradley Baker), Scott’ee and Sool’u (Eric Bauza), and Sprock and Dr. Boons (Fred Tatasciore), who modeled themselves after Kirk’s Enterprise’s crew. But the Enderprizians are also a spot-on wink at Galaxy Quest where an alien race named the Thermians saw decades-old broadcasts of an old Star Trek-like sci-fi TV series called Galaxy Quest and believed it was all real. When their planet is threatened by reptilian aliens, the Thermians come to Earth to recruit the actors they believed were the heroes from Galaxy Quest. Reluctant and terrified at first, the actors rose to the occasion and saved the Thermians. Indeed, the Enderprizians’ Starfleet fandom helped save the day when Dal recruited them to become the Protostar’s temporary bridge crew, just like Galaxy Quest‘s actors were able to become the real crew of their starship, the NSEA Protector.
Why Fans Consider Galaxy Quest To Be One Of The Best Star Trek Movies
Galaxy Quest’s fame spread as a loving homage to Star Trek and one of the purest expressions of The Original Series‘ spirit. Galaxy Quest took an endearingly meta approach by focusing on the washed-up actors led by Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver, and the late Alan Rickman, whose lives were spent recreating their old TV glory days at sci-fi conventions. Meanwhile, the Thermians were a brilliant stand-in for hardcore Trekkers who know all of the minutia of Star Trek that confounds the actors. The NSEA Protector and the trappings of space adventure are an obvious stand-in for the Starship Enterprise and its five-year mission, while Tim Allen’s Jason Nesmith and Alan Rickman’s Alexander Dane were wry parodies of William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy.
Although it’s not technically a Star Trek movie, Galaxy Quest embodied the cheerful optimism of Gene Roddenberry’s original vision while also skewering it in a loving way. Galaxy Quest was also a throwback to the 1960s Star Trek in a decade where Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and Star Trek: Voyager were all on the air and were the franchise’s focus. Thus, Galaxy Quest captured the nostalgia for the original Star Trek while being an enjoyable and smartly-written space adventure movie in its own right.
Star Trek: Prodigy‘s Perfect TOS & Galaxy Quest Tribute
Star Trek: Prodigy‘s Enderprizians lovingly honored Kirk and the TOS Enterprise while also nodding to how the Thermians worshipped Galaxy Quest’s actors. As kids who want to become Starfleet Officers themselves, the Enderprizians, in turn, became a source of inspiration for the young heroes of the Protostar. Even though Dr. Boons admitted to Dal that the Enderprizians know that they’re not really part of “Starflight,” their love for the real Starship Enterprise still allowed them to rise to the occasion, just like Galaxy Quest‘s actors proved they truly were the heroes they played on TV. The Enderprizans are also a clever nod to the impact the original Star Trek continues to have on pop culture, which is why a movie like Galaxy Quest became beloved, and Star Trek: Prodigy thrives by building upon the universe TOS began.
Star Trek: Prodigy Season 1 streams Thursdays on Paramount+.
