Crossroads (episode)

Real world article

(written from a production point of view)

When the crew attempts to secure transport to the Federation, they unwittingly cross paths with the vice admiral who is hunting them.

Summary[]

Act One[]

On the USS Dauntless, The Diviner is being helped back to his bed by Ensign Asencia. She tells him not to give up and that there is no obstacle that can stop him, and he responds that there is no barrier he cannot overcome. Vice Admiral Janeway arrives and informs him that the crew of the Dauntless has a new lead - an eyewitness who survived the destruction of the Federation Relay Station. After she promises him that the Dauntless will find his daughter, he suddenly remembers his daughter's name – Gwyndala.

The USS Protostar lands on an ice planet, where the crew hopes to hide their ship and find transport to Starfleet. Murf is still in its cocoon, so Rok-Tahk places it into a carrier and brings it with her to the planet. The crew bids Hologram Janeway farewell and puts the ship into sleep mode before Dal R'El uses his phaser to cause an avalanche to bury it.

After burying the Protostar so it can't be found and used against Starfleet, the crew hikes to the nearby Denaxi Depot where they encounter a man who introduces himself as Thadiun Okona. Okona offers to give the group transport in exchange for some deuterium. Unfortunately, he is suddenly approached by a Xindi-Reptilian security team who accuses him of smuggling. The security team discovers a shipment of Ferengi thought makers in Okona's ship before the depot is placed on an emergency alert due a blizzard, grounding all vessels.

Okona taken custody — Okona is arrested.

Inside the depot, Barniss Frex is explaining the destruction of the relay station and his escape to a Kazon slaver when Vice Admiral Janeway and her crew beam down to search for him.

Once the Protostar crew enters the depot, they separate in hopes of finding Starfleet. Jankom Pog comes face to face with Doctor Noum. The pair of Tellarites trade insults, but Jankom is caught off-guard when Noum disdainfully says that Pog is a name reserved for runts. Noum then says that he is on official business and leaves. Gwyn is saved from an encounter with an aggressive Klingon who tries to steal her heirloom by Ensign Asencia, who realizes that Gwyn must be the Diviner's daughter.

Gwyn hiding, 2384 — Gwyn hides after realizing her father is with Starfleet

When the ensign mentions that Gwyn's father is aboard the Dauntless and that he is searching for her, and asks about the Protostar, Gwyn is spooked and runs off. Meanwhile, Dal is intimidated when he comes face to face with Vice Admiral Janeway. She encourages him to follow his dream of joining Starfleet, but suddenly, Barniss Frex is led to the vice admiral by Commander Tysess, and Dal runs off before Frex can recognize him.

While hiding, Dal overhears Frex describe the "ruthless savages" who destroyed the relay station, and overhears the vice admiral's vow to catch them. Realizing that she intends to arrest them, and concerned that Starfleet might discover the Protostar and accidentally activate the Living Construct weapon, Dal finds the others. Rok can't believe some of them talked to Starfleet but they all forgot to tell them about the weapon on board the Protostar. Hoping to unearth the Protostar and keep Starfleet from accidentally activating the weapon, they race away on a Hover skiff, chased by the Xindi-Reptilian security officers on Hover speeders.

They soon discover that Okona happened to stow away on their skiff, hoping to evade security. When Okona offers them a special fuel (illegal in most parts of the galaxy) to make their skiff faster, they let him accompany them. Outrunning the pursuing security officers, the crew makes it safely back to the Protostar and greets Hologram Janeway, telling her that their mission was over before it started.

Act Two[]

The Xindi-Reptilian security team and the crew of the Dauntless arrive just as the Protostar is taking off, emerging from under the snow. Vice Admiral Janeway calls for the Dauntless to beam her crew up, and they pursue the Protostar. Vice Admiral Janeway attempts to hail the Protostar, but Dal directs his crew not to answer the hail in order to avoid infecting the Dauntless with the Living Construct.

Murf hatched — The crew watch the new Murf after he hatched

As Zero does their best to evade the Dauntless, Murf hatches into a humanoid creature and accidentally fires a torpedo when he sits on a console. Believing they've been deliberately fired upon, Vice Admiral Janeway orders the Dauntless to return fire, careful to disable to the ship, not destroy it. A single torpedo damages the Protostar's third nacelle, causing the ship to drop out of warp.

To escape the Dauntless, Dal orders Pog to initialize the proto-drive, which turns out to be impossible because of the damage to the nacelle. Discovering that they're near the Romulan Neutral Zone, Okona suggests that they cross over since no Starfleet vessel would follow them in, and he can remodulate their shields so the Romulans won't detect their ship. Against Hologram Janeway's advice, Dal takes Okona up on his offer and has the ship enter the Neutral Zone.

When Vice Admiral Janeway seems prepared to follow them in, Commander Tysess refuses to obey her order, warning that she is letting her emotions, specifically her desire to find Chakotay, dictate her actions; actions which could lead to war. Before the vice admiral can decide whether or not to heed her first officer's advice, the Dauntless is greeted by three D'deridex-class warbirds. They are hailed by the Romulan commander, Kaseth, who warns Vice Admiral Janeway not to cross into the zone, as it would be an act of war.

Log entries[]

"Captain's log, Stardate 61302.7. Here's the deal: we want to go to Starfleet, but our ship has a weapon that will turn them against each other, so the plan is to stash it. Keep the weapon safe and out of harm's way while we hitch a ride to warn Starfleet. As for Murf... Turns out he's going through changes of his own."

Memorable quotes[]

"If you get into a pinch, look up the real Janeway. I'm sure she'll find you as promising as I do."

- Hologram Janeway, not knowing how close the real Janeway really is

"We just need a ship that can get us to the nearest Federation starbase."
"A lady doth need transport?"

- Gwyn and Okona

"Jankom Pog is so excited to be meeting a fellow Tellarite! Consider me underwhelmed."
"I consider you under… something. Undersized pauper."
"Hey, you're Starfleet? Pog needs to tell you… WHA? Pauper? We Tellarites are practically royalty!"
"Royalty? HAHAHA! Pog's a name we reserve for runts, short in size and vocabulary.

- Jankom Pog and Dr. Noum

"Janeway to away team. Status report."
"Captain Janeway?"
"I prefer "Vice Admiral Janeway." Is there something I can help you with? Can I help you?"
"I, uh… Whew. Didn't expect… I was on my way to… What's it called? I, uh...'"
"Try stringing a few words together and we'll start from there."

- Vice Admiral Janeway and Dal

"Have you ever wanted something so bad, but you're afraid if you say the wrong thing, you'd mess it up?"
"Often. But fear of failure has killed more dreams than anything else, so I usually go for it."

- Dal and Vice Admiral Janeway

"Uh, I had the impression we were racing toward a starship?"
"Don't worry, we're on top of it."

- Okona' and Dal when the Protostar is literally underneath them

"What did you do while I was sleeping?!"

- Hologram Janeway, to the Protostar crew upon seeing the Dauntless

"You're in more trouble than I am!"

- Okona

"The real me is hunting us with a quantum slipstream Dauntless-class starship? Good luck with that."
"Thanks for your support."

- Hologram Janeway and Dal

"Mr. Pog, pleeease tell me how that proto-jump is coming along."
"Captain, pleeease shut up! Pog's trying to work!"

- Dal and Jankom

Background information[]

Title[]

The title was announced by Paramount+ on 25 October 2022. [1]

Cast and characters[]

Billy Campbell reprises his role of Thadiun Okona after last portraying the character onscreen in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "The Outrageous Okona" in 1988. Okona last made an appearance in the Star Trek: Lower Decks second season episode "An Embarrassment Of Dooplers", albeit in a non-speaking portrayal.

Continuity[]

The Xindi-Reptilians make their first contemporary appearance since Star Trek: Enterprise.
Barniss Frex returns after his introduction in "Asylum" and is shown explaining his story to the Kazon slave trader from "Lost and Found".
Okona tried smuggling Ferengi thought makers, an illegal mind-altering device used by DaiMon Bok to control Captain Jean-Luc Picard in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "The Battle".
Okona's eye patch was first shown in his very brief appearance in LD: "An Embarrassment Of Dooplers", set about three years before this episode, though what exactly happened to his eye has not been explained.
Tysess warns Vice Admiral Janeway of "the negotiations" and a "treaty" as they get close to the Romulan Neutral Zone border. With the season set in 2384, it can be assumed that the Federation and the Romulans were hashing out details on the evacuation of Romulus before its sun went supernova at this time. This intent in confirmed in Star Trek: Prodigy Logs.