Asylum (episode)

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[]

Gwyn, Dal, and Jankom Pog try to save one of the last members of an endangered species, known as the aquathawn, from hunters. Dal reasons that when they present themselves to Starfleet, they can be more than just kids who stole a starship. They'll have their deeds to commend them.

"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."

Gwyn, though, is still having flashbacks to that last conversation with her father and becomes distracted. They end up inside the creature they're trying to save. Luckily, Zero beams them 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 a Federation communications relay outpost CR-721, located on the furthest reaches of Federation space. They board the station and are greeted by its sole occupant, Lieutenant Junior Grade Barniss Frex. The group explain their situation and requests asylum as well as wishing to join Starfleet. Frex then conducts biometric scan on each of them in order to register their request. As expected, Gwyn's species is unknown, however, 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.

Act Two[]

Aboard the USS Dauntless, Vice Admiral Kathryn Janeway watches a holographic recreation of her goodbye to Chakotay when he departed for the Delta Quadrant on the holodeck. Commander Tysess then enters to inform Janeway that Ensign Asencia has tracked the Protostar's warp signature to a planetoid in the Carina Nebula. Please with 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. At the same time, Frex uplinks the station with the Protostar. Suddenly, 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. Thankfully, after some glimpses of memory, Gwyn is able to cut herself loose using her heirloom.

As the station descends into chaos all around them, the crew make it 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 the station to the Protostar.

Act Three[]

However, the jump has to be timed precisely, otherwise they'll miss the ship and float in space forever. Initially unsure of herself, Rok correctly calculates the jump and they end up close enough for Hologram Janeway to grab them with a tractor beam. Back on the ship, Gwyn announces that her memory has returned.

Meanwhile, the Dauntless arrives at Tars Lamora and Janeway beams down with Tysess, Asencia and Dr. Noum in EV suits. Seeing the battle-torn remains, Janeway wondered 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, 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 says he's alive and hopes he has the answers they're looking for.

Log entries[]

• Captain's log, USS Protostar

Memorable quotes[]

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

- Jankom Pog

"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[]

• 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.
• 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".
• The Protostar was christened with a bottle of Chateau Picard wine, bearing the same label styling seen in Season 1 of Star Trek: Picard.
• Janeway finds Gwyn's broken combadge that the Diviner made her take off and then stepped on back in "A Moral Star, Part 1".
• 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

Background characters[]

• Adreek-Hu (hologram)
• The Diviner
• Aqu'ticans
• Bolian command ensign (hologram)
• Human command officer 1 (hologram)
• Human command officer 2 (hologram)
• Human command officer 3 (hologram)
• Human operations lieutenant 1 (hologram)
• Human operations officer 1 (hologram)
• Human operations officer 2 (hologram)
• Human sciences officer 1 (hologram)
• Orion sciences ensign (hologram)
• Vulcan command lieutenant (hologram)

References[]

Andorian; Aquathawn; Aqu'tica; Aqu'tican; asylum; biometric scanner; Bolian; Brikar; captain; Carina Nebula; chum; commissioning; communication relay station (aka comm relay outpost, comm relay station); CR-721; CR-721 type; CR-721 type escape pod; Dal R'El's species; Dauntless, USS; Dauntless-class; Delta Quadrant; Denobulan; DNA; "Earf"; ecosystem; escape pod; Federation; "Final Frontier, The"; Gamma Quadrant; hot dog; holodeck; Medusan; memory; Mellanoid slime worm; Nimbus III; orbit; Orion; phaser; planetoid; poacher; Prime Directive; Protostar, USS; Protostar-class; Protostar-type aquashuttle; royalty; Sakari; science; science officer; Shuttle 07; space whale; Starfleet; Starfleet Command; Starfleet uniform; starship; stasis; Talaxian; Tars Lamora; Tellarite; tractor beam; United Federation of Planets; Vau N'Akat; Vulcan; warp signature; weapon; wine

Branches of science[]

aerodynamics; archaeology; astronomy; astrophysics; chemistry; geology; gerontology; gynaecology; haematology; hepatology; horticulture; iconography; kalology; lexicography; marine biology; mathematics; medicine; meteorology; microbiology; mineralogy; molecular biology; neurology; nephrology; nuclear physics; oceanic chemistry; oceanography; orbital mechanics; physics; taxonomy; telepathy communication; thermodynamics; toxicology; virology; zoology

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