Fans are giving Star Trek: Prodigy a lot of praise for 'fixing' a classic character

Star Trek: Prodigy is currently going through its second season, having moved from Paramount+ to Netflix. The switch caused them to change up the release format, no longer releasing episodes every week. Instead, they drop the entire season at one time. It's made for a lackluster release window, as fans aren't following along together as we've done in the past with other Star Trek shows.

With all the episodes out, it seems not everyone is at the same point and has engaged in the release schedule a bit differently. So the conversations are now all over the place. Yet, one of the recurring points that I keep seeing is how the show made Chakotay a more likable character. The commander for the USS Voyager during the events of Star Trek: Voyager, is now a captain lost in time.

Without going into spoilers, the trailer set up the search for Chakotay as the centerpiece of the season; at least to start. Fans liked what they got when it comes to the character and the fandom is giving the character and his actor, Robert Beltran, rave reviews.

This is shocking to me, as I never felt that Chakotay was anything but a core reason to watch Voyager. The stoic, calm demeanor often gets overlooked by fans, but his personality and his code of ethics were a huge point for me in the show. It featured a man who, while different than Captain Kathryn Janeway in many ways, what made him so good was his ethics. He was a man of dignity and duty. His words meant something and while he didn't always agree with Janeway, he seemed to always talk to her in a way that both sides felt respected and heard.

He was the perfect point of interest for bringing the two crews to the start of the show; the Maquis and the Federation. He was a calming presence when the show needed one. Sadly, a calming presence doesn't always make for compelling television, but that's ok. Chakotay was a character with honor and rarely did he behave in a manner that would be unbecoming.

Characters with that level of integrity, in my opinion, don't need to be "saved" by another show. That said, I'm still very excited that he's on the new Star Trek series, I just don't think the show saved him. As what was to save? He was already a great character.