How Quantum Leap Inspired Body Swapping Moments In Star Trek: Prodigy
In the "Star Trek: Prodigy" episode "Mindwalk" (December 15, 2022), the crew of the U.S.S. Protostar has learned that their ship is infected with an insidious computer virus planted by the evil Diviner (John Noble). It seems that the virus can be spread through mere communications channels, meaning Dal (Brett Gray), Gwyn (Ella Purnell), and the rest of the Protostar teens can't explain who they are to the grumpy Admiral Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) pursuing them in a massive vessel called the U.S.S. Dauntless. If the virus infects a ship, its systems will be rewired to automatically attack other Federation vessels. The Diviner aims to destroy the Federation before a cataclysmic future event occurs; the Diviner, naturally, is a time traveler.
With the Dauntless on their tail, Dal realizes that he can communicate with Janeway. Dal, it seems, has some mild and latent telepathic abilities, and reaches out to communicate directly to Janeway's brain. Sadly, Dal isn't very good at telepathy, and accidentally shunts his entire consciousness into her body. Janeway, in placed into Dal's body in exchange. Janeway gets all the information she needs about the virus from Dal's crewmates, but Dal is in a lurch, having to pretend to be Janeway on board the Dauntless. Both Gray and Mulgrew had a wonderful time swapping roles for a spell. "Mindwalk" was the third-to-last episode of the season, so there was a lot at stake.
In a 2022 interview with TrekMovie, writers Julie Benson and Shawna Benson talked about their script for "Mindwalk," and how they were inspired by the 1989 sci-fi series "Quantum Leap." They also acknowledge that "Star Trek" has had its share of body-swap episodes, and that they were well aware of them.
Mindwalk
To reiterate, "Mindwalk" isn't the first body-occupied-by-another-consciousness episode of "Star Trek." To cite a few examples: in the original series, the evil Dr. Janice Lester (Sandra Smith) took over the body of Captain Kirk (William Shatner). Data (Brent Spiner) was taken over in an episode of "Next Generation," the previous host bodies of Jadzia Dax (Terry Ferrell) occupied her crewmates on "Deep Space Nine," and, most recently, Spock (Ethan Peck) and T'Pring (Gia Sandhu) swapped bodies on "Strange New Worlds." The Bensons noted that Vulcan mind-melds can also allow characters to swap consciousnesses for a little bit, as demonstrated in a third-season episode of "Next Generation." The Bensons, given written answers, explained:
"There have been very few 'Freaky Friday'-style body swap episodes in Trek lore as most are a variation of mind melds (like in TNG's 'Sarek') or possession by an entity, but not an actual body swap. The closest version we could name was 'Turnabout Intruder,' when one of Kirk's exes takes over his body and tries to kill him in her body."
Indeed, when it comes to full-on "Freaky Friday"-style body swaps, the "Strange New Worlds" example is the only one that counts. Instead of relying on "Trek" precedents, the Bensons looked to "Quantum Leap" for ideas, writing:
"[W]e were more inspired by our love for the TV series 'Quantum Leap' which has been rebooted since we wrote the episode. In fact, our original title for this episode was 'Quantum Leap!' But beyond 'Star Trek,' the trope comes up often because it is rich for humor and gives actors a chance to do something a little different with their characters."
Mulgrew especially seemed to be having a ball playing a teenage boy, while Gray got to stretch playing an adult woman.
Janeway meets Janeway
One of the conceits of "Prodigy" is that the U.S.S. Protostar has been equipped with an emergency command hologram that activates in case anything happens to its captain. The hologram also happens to look just like Janeway and is also voiced by Mulgrew. Of course, the holographic Janeway and the real Admiral Janeway are very different characters, so it's easy for Mulgrew to play the two parts (something she admitted in a /Film interview). "Mindwalk," however, was the first time the two Janeways met face-to-face (even if one of those faces was Dal's). It's also worth noting that the holographic Janeway hadm until recently, been acting under the influence of the Diviner's computer virus, causing her to doubt her capabilities as a command module. Admiral Janeway will essentially have to give a command pep talk to herself.
The Bensons talked a little bit about writing the two Janeways for their face-to-face scene, and how they — while both essentially the same person — have very different command styles. They wrote:
"It's an important moment for both characters. Each Janeway has burning questions for the other, but not much time to catch up. Not to mention, Holo Janeway is questioning a lot after learning she's been under the influence of the Living Construct and needs a confidence boost, so who better to provide it than the one person who knows her better than anyone? Admiral Janeway gets a chance to do something most of us wish we could do: impart wisdom on her younger self."
The second season of "Prodigy" is due on Netflix sometime soon. Readers in France can watch the second season right now on France.TV.