The pairing of Ella Purnell and Star Trek has been wonderful. They struck gold when they cast her to be part of the main cast of the animated series. Playing Gwyndala, aka Gwyn, Purnell brings a life to the character that few could match. She conveys the complexities of the young girl's life perfectly. The daughter of a mad man, and the rising pupil within Starfleet.
Purnell has only seen her star grow since she originally arrived on Star Trek. She's now in four ongoing shows as the lead; Yellowjackets, Prodigy, Sweetpea, Fallout, and has finished up a fifth in Arcane.
Those shows have all helped establish her as a rising star and one that shouldn't be ignored. She's got a lot of drawing power now, and there are some, like Screenrant who believe that her rising star can help Prodigy find a third season on Netflix (or elsewhere). Sadly, I don't share that belief.
Netflix isn't beholden to one star. No matter how impressive or how much potential they have. The streaming service is trying to find ways to cut costs and entice viewers to spend money on their service. A service that, admittedly, is not worth what they're asking for already. With rumors about the direction they want to take the service abound on the internet, it's far more likely that Prodigy gets canceled than renewed at this point.
After all, if the show did so great, why not announce it already? Sadly, part of the issue may be the outdated way Netflix not only tracks viewers but how they release their shows. Unlike many other outlets, Netflix drops the whole season of a show at once. This surge of viewers gives Netflix the marketing ability to promote their shows as one-of-a-kind offerings that everyone is watching. But it also hurts them in the back end as customers are far more likely to cancel their subscription after the big drop of a show occurs.
A show like Prodigy, or any Star Trek show in general, works best when viewed week to week. Netflix isn't interested in that format. Especially not when there are items like live sports on the table. With WWE's Monday Night Raw and the NFL's recently debuting on the service, expensive animated shows like Prodigy are becoming less and less likely to stick around.
If money needs to be found to pay for new avenues, you better rest assured that Netflix won't hesitate to throw out a show that stars Purnell in favor of luring in more NFL games.