Asylum (episode)

Real world article

(written from a production point of view)

At the edge of Federation space, the crew applies for asylum at a comm relay outpost, only for their starship to reveal its shocking true purpose.

Summary

Act One

Underwater on an alien world, Gwyn, Dal, and Jankom Pog try to save one of the last members of an endangered species from hunters--an aquatic creature known as an aquathawn. Dal reasons that when they present themselves to Starfleet, they can be more than just kids who stole a starship. They'll have their good deeds to commend them. However, Dal reminds that they need to keep from being detected by the hunters in the local pre-warp civilization.

Gwyn, though, is still having flashbacks to her last conversation with her father, and becomes distracted while piloting their aquashuttle. They end up inside the large creature they're trying to save. Luckily, Zero beams the creature, with them inside its mouth, up to the USS Protostar, and they're able to find a new home for the aquatic animal. Gwyn and Zero discuss her strange flashback – her father telling Gwyn that the Protostar is a weapon – but they still can't make sense of it because Gwyn's memories are in shambles.

The crew comes across Federation communications relay outpost CR-721, located on the furthest reaches of Federation space. After changing into Starfleet uniforms, they dock and board the station, and are greeted by its sole occupant, Lieutenant Junior Grade Barniss Frex. The group explains their situation as well as their desire to join Starfleet, and requests asylum . Frex then conducts biometric scans on each of them in order to register their request. As expected, Gwyn's species is unknown, but Dal is surprised to learn that his species is on record. However, the information is classified, and Dal is directed to go to Starfleet Command. Frex welcomes the crew to the station and tells them to enjoy their time at the Final Frontier.

Act Two

Kathryn Janeway, 2384 — Janeway resolves to find Chakotay

On the holodeck aboard the USS Dauntless, Vice Admiral Kathryn Janeway watches a holographic recreation of her goodbye to Chakotay when he departed for the Delta Quadrant. The hologram of Chakotay says that he will call Janeway if he runs into any trouble, and she pauses the program before asking why he didn't. Commander Tysess then enters to inform Janeway that Ensign Asencia has tracked the Protostar's warp signature to a planetoid in the Carina Nebula. Pleased with the good news, Janeway tells Tysess to have Asencia set a course. As she leaves the holodeck, Janeway looks back at Chakotay and says that if he's out there, she'll find him.

Meanwhile, as the Protostar crew explore the outpost, Zero takes Gwyn to sickbay hoping to find a way to retrieve her memories. Gwyn asks what happened to her father, but Zero does not tell her, and only says that he cannot hurt her anymore. At the same time, Jankom and Dal express their excitement to reach the Federation, and Frex uplinks the station with the Protostar. Suddenly, the Living Construct is activated and the station goes to red alert.

Thanks to the Diviner's weapon, the station's systems turn against itself, with multiple systems malfunctioning. Alone in sickbay, since Zero stepped out and was unable to get back in, Gwyn's biobed pins her down and starts filling with water. Zero calls the rest of the Protostar crew for assistance, but they are unable to break Gwyn out of the biobed. Thankfully, after some glimpses of memory, Gwyn is able to cut herself free using her heirloom.

As the relay station's systems go haywire, the Protostar is disconnected from the docking station and set adrift. Unable to beam back to their ship, the crew make it to the outpost's lone escape pod, only to find that Frex has beaten them to it. Frex accuses the crew of sabotage and departs alone, leaving the crew stranded. Dal declares that their only way of survival is to don environmental suits and jump from outside the station to reach the Protostar.

Act Three

The jump has to be timed precisely, otherwise the Protostar crew will miss the ship and float in space forever. Initially unsure of herself, Rok-Tahk calculates the jump inaccurately and they miss the ship, but they still end up close enough for Hologram Janeway to grab them with a tractor beam. When Hologram Janeway wonders what could have caused the station to "tear itself apart", the phrase brings the words of the Diviner to the top of Gwyn's mind, and she announces that her memory has returned.

Meanwhile, the Dauntless arrives at Tars Lamora. Wearing EV suits, Janeway, Tysess, Asencia and Doctor Noum beam down. Seeing the battle-torn remains, Janeway wonders what the Protostar was doing in such a place. Noum then says he's detected a lifeform, but the signature is faint. Janeway believes it may be Chakotay. She then finds the remains of Gwyn's broken combadge, believing it to be Chakotay's, when Tysess has Janeway look up to see the Diviner floating in low-gravity--alive but in a form of stasis. Unaware of who he is, Janeway is glad that he's alive and is hopeful that he has the answers they're looking for.

Log entries

"Captain's log, 61209.5. It's been weeks since leaving Tars Lamora for good. Saving the Unwanted from the Diviner is something we'll always remember. Except Gwyn. After catching a reflection of Zero's true form, her memories are still a blur. Since then, we've been racking up good deeds, hoping Starfleet will look past the fact that we kinda stole their ship. And who knows? If they're as great as Janeway makes them out to be, maybe they'll accept a bunch of kids who don't know where they're going, which would be good to know, since we're just now approaching the closest Federation comm relay station in hopes they'll take us in. Suddenly, that dream of finding a place where we all can be accepted is actually becoming real. Even I'm starting to believe."

Memorable quotes

"You know, Jankom swore he'd never been eaten alive… again."

- Jankom Pog

"We're approaching safe waters for her relocation."
"Oh boy, something else is about to relocate. Here comes the chum!"

- Hologram Janeway and Jankom (who has motion sickness from their rough ride)

"Guys, guys, guys! She has babies!"
"Then let's get momma home!"

- Rok scanning the Aquathawn, and an enthusiastic Hologram Janeway

"(sighs) They're gonna see right through me."
"Let them! Because that's how you show them who you truly are."
"And if they don't like who I am?"
"Sometimes the hardest thing is to take a leap of faith. (Dal hugs her) Well, this is a new experience for a hologram."

- Dal and Hologram Janeway, before they reach a Federation comm relay station

"I am Lieutenant Junior Grade Barniss Frex, and welcome to CR-721, the Federation's furthest comm relay outpost, or what I like to call The Final Frontier."
(silence from the Protostar crew)
"Strange, that's usually a guaranteed winner for my fellow Starfleet compatriots."

- Frex tries to wow the crew, but they don't get the reference at all

"You all hear that? Jankom Pog is royalty."

- Jankom upon learning that his species, Tellarite, is one of the Federation's founding members

"You won't find me in your system."
"I wouldn't be so sure. We have an extensive--unregistered species."
"Told ya."
"That was fast. I'd rather not do the paperwork, so we'll just list you as "none of the above". Next?"

- Gwyn is scanned by a surprised and lazy Frex

"You know, on planet Earf, they call this cylindrical meat a hut dog. Food fit for a king."

- Jankom

"Sometimes, the hardest thing is to take a leap of faith."
"You want us to jump? I do not think that option is logically sound."
"In outer space, there is no sound."
"Your rebuttal is correct, but nonsense."

- Dal and Zero

"We're jumping?!"
"Oh, don't worry. If we miss the ship, we won't die. We'll just float forever in the infinity of space until we run out of air."
"We get it!"
"Then, we must not miss our mark."

- Rok-Tahk, Jankom and Zero

"Gwyn? Gywn! Gywn, Gywn, look at me! What is it?"
"…I remember everything."

- Zero and Gwyn

Background information

Title

The title was announced by Paramount+ in mid-October 2022. [1]

Production

Jimmi Simpson is credited in the opening credits but does not appear.
Unlike the official press release, which states "the crew applies for asylum at a comm relay outpost", the Paramount+ and CraveTV episode blurb states "the crew applies for asylum at Deep Space 13." Aaron Waltke explained that this was a residual mistake from an old draft. [2]
According to Dan and Kevin Hageman, the scene with the Protostar crew saving the whale "might have been a little homage to a favorite Star Trek film of ours." (TRR: "LD Season 3 Finale Special")

Continuity

Jankom says he swore he'd never be eaten alive again, probably referring to events in "Dream Catcher".
Despite Dal's rightful insistence on sticking to the Prime Directive, the crew beams an alien creature out of the water within the view of a group of the planet's native Pre-warp civilization. Hologram Janeway still refers to this as "almost" breaking the Prime Directive.
Dal records a Captain's log and states a Stardate, but doesn't identify the number as a stardate like is typically done.
Barniss Frex is the first Denobulan Starfleet officer to be featured.
Frex wears two sets of lieutenant junior grade rank pips, the standard Starfleet version introduced in Star Trek: The Next Generation and the provisional rank pip worn by the Maquis aboard USS Voyager, and T'Lyn wore aboard the USS Cerritos.
Frex refers to his remote location as the "Final Frontier", which could be a reference to the opening credits of both Star Trek: The Original Series and Star Trek: The Next Generation, or also to the film Star Trek V: The Final Frontier.
Frex is briefly worried that he will be transferred to somewhere "even worse" than his current posting, and mentions the Gamma Quadrant and Nimbus III (another reference to Star Trek V: The Final Frontier).
Rok-Tahk is revealed for the first time in dialogue to be a Brikar.
Murf is revealed to be a Mellanoid slime worm, a creature whose name was used by the Zaldan Rondon to insult Wesley Crusher in TNG: "Coming of Age".
Frex exclaims that he'll be a Horta's uncle when he recognizes Murf's species. It's unclear what relationship Denobulans have with the Horta.
Frex guesses Dal's species as either Sakari or Talaxian, neither of which are correct.
The Protostar was christened with a bottle of Chateau Picard wine, bearing the same label styling seen in Season 1 of Star Trek: Picard.
The situation where Rok-Tahk needs to calculate the precise vector and timing to propel the crew through open space to reach a small target is similar to a situation encountered by Spock in Star Trek: The Motion Picture.
Vice Admiral Janeway finds Gwyn's broken combadge that the Diviner made her take off and then stepped on back in "A Moral Star, Part 1". It is the same style of combadge that Chakotay was wearing in Janeway's holo-recording of the christening of the Protostar.
Commander Tysess and Doctor Noum are identified and given speaking roles following their background appearance in "A Moral Star, Part 2".

Links and references

Cast

Rylee Alazraqui as Rok-Tahk
Dee Bradley Baker as Murf
Brett Gray as Dal
Angus Imrie as Zero
Ella Purnell as Gwyn
Jason Mantzoukas as Jankom Pog
John Noble as The Diviner (hallucination)

And

Kate Mulgrew as
- "Hologram Janeway/Vice Admiral Janeway"
- Kathryn Janeway (hologram)
Jason Alexander as Doctor Noum
Robert Beltran as Captain Chakotay (hologram)
Eric Bauza as Barniss Frex
Daveed Diggs as Commander Tysess
Bonnie Gordon as Ship Computer
Jameela Jamil as Asencia

LCARS references

adaptive mode; auto depth; auto horizontal; auto vertical; bridge; brilliance; communicator; contour mode; diagnostic check; lateral array; long range sensor; planet tracker; primary control; RADAR; secondary control; sensor scan analysis; shuttle control; synch; tactical scanner; targeting; wireframe mode

External links

"Asylum" at the Internet Movie Database
"Prodigy "Asylum"" at MissionLogPodcast.com

Previous episode:

"A Moral Star, Part 2"

Star Trek: Prodigy

Season 1

Next episode:

"Let Sleeping Borg Lie"