I know it’s been quite some time since I’ve been here to share thoughts or opinions on much of anything. Well, I say it’s about time to change that here today.
Paramount+ has debuted a new Star Trek series titled “Starfleet Academy”. Now normally, I’d be on top of new releases in this genre the day the first episode drops, however knowing that this new series is set in the WAY distant future that Discovery last left us in (the 32nd century), where I’ve previously noted that technology is so ridiculously advanced that they might as well be performing magic tricks, I’m not so pumped for this series. In fact, the first two episodes of the first season dropped on P+ on Thursday, January 15th, and I didn’t get around to watching it until Saturday, the 17th — and that was only because a few people online had posted their thoughts and were asking for opinions, of which, I did not have one yet!
So let’s get right to it here…who is associated with this series so far? The most notable name to start things off here would be Paul Giamatti, who plays the main antagonist: Nus Braka. Braka is as he called himself, a “Klingarite” – I’m assuming that makes him a Klingon-Tellarite hybrid who seems to be a pirate of sorts, who we learn is currently in trouble for raiding a Federation cargo ship. This raid, however resulted in the death of one of her crewmen, and now he’s been caught and is on trial for said offense.
Presiding over the trial is Captain Nahla Ake, who will be assigned the position of Chancellor of Starfleet Academy, played by Holly Hunter, who I’m guessing is the same species as Pelia on Strange New Worlds, or something like that since we’re told she’s several hundred years’ old. She also has a very unique way of ‘sitting’ in her Captain’s chair (pictured) aboard the USS Athena, which I suppose is meant to express her comfort level of Captaining a starship for multiple decades, if not centuries. I can tell you right off the bat that I’m not a fan of this lax style. You’re still the Captain and are supposed to be setting an example for your crew, which in this case are Starfleet Academy CADETS!?! Also, I’m not sure if she has some sort of mouth prosthetics like alien teeth like Armin Shimerman had as Quark on DS9 or if the actress has a speach impediment, but when she speaks, it sounds like she’s got marbles in her mouth. Very odd.
Also, just as Paul Giamatti’s character is a hybrid species, the Academy’s first officer happens to be a Klingon-Jem’Hadar hybrid. And though they don’t mention the Dominion or the Founders at all, one can assume that by the 32nd century, the addiction to Ketrecel White has been squashed and is no longer used as a way to enslave the Jem’Hadar.
Robert Picardo is back, reprising his character of the Emergency Medical Holographic Program, Mark I, a.k.a. “The Doctor” from Star Trek: Voyager. I’ve always been a fan of Picardo’s work as Voyager’s EMH. The nature of his character does lend itself to the possibility of essentially being immortal since he is a computer program that can constantly be upgraded to keep up with the times. Unfortunately, the writers of these new Star Trek series seem to think it looks cool to have uneven collars or bottom hems on their uniform tops, thus making the actors appear as though they don’t know how to get themselves dressed properly by mis-buttoning their shirts. (pictured) Also, the call back to his introduction on Voyager was a nice little easter egg with him asking for a tricorder, then correcting the person giving it to him that he needs a medical tricorder.
Jett Reno is back from Star Trek: Discovery, played by Tig Notaro. Her character on Discovery was actually a favorite of mine, unfortunately they tended to use her rather sparingly – which may or may not have had something to do with the show being produced during the COVID-19 pandemic. Though this time, it would appear that she & her engineering capabilities will be called upon quite a bit more on this show as she plays one of the Academy’s professors. I look forward to her quirky personality giving lectures on all sorts of interesting topics and using every bit of technobabble we’ve gotten used to hearing over the years on all of the various Star Trek shows & movies.
Another character back from Discovery is Admiral Vance, played by Oded Fehr. Vance is the Starfleet Fleet Admiral who was in charge when Discovery arrived in the 32nd Century. Vance is tasked with putting the United Federation of Planets back together following the events of “The Burn”, when all dilithium galaxy-wide was destroyed, which made faster-than-light speed space travel an impossibility. Naturally, as part of returning the United Federation of Planets to what it used to be, it’s also his job to get Starfleet Academy back up and churning out the next generation of Starfleet personnel.
Lieutenant Ya is played by current WWE Superstar, multi-time WWE Womens’ Champion, Becky Lynch (Rebecca Quin-Lopez), who just as a number of the characters on Discovery, is easily overlooked since she has surprisingly few lines and as of this writing, has not been an important part of this show yet. In fact, I almost forgot to even mention her because she’s been such a non-factor thus far in this show! However, she is a notable person who is to be featured on this show, so she gets a mention here.
The rest of the characters are all cadets from various worlds within the United Federation of Planets. We have a Klingon, a few humans, a hologram, and several new alien species, however a centerpiece of the group of cadets is Caleb. Caleb is the child whom the Captain ruled to be taken from his mother, who was an accomplice of Nus Braka in the raid that resulted in the murder of a Starfleet officer. Caleb was to be raised by the UFP, however had escaped, lived a life of repeated trouble with various authorities and was eventually caught by Starfleet once again. His imprisoned mother was recently released from her detention center, and it’s his goal to meet back up with her.
As I stated before, the timeframe of which this new series is set continues on a portion of the Trek canon of which I’m not very fond of. So while it certainly has potential to hold on to those who were fans of Discovery, for those of us who weren’t big fans of Michael Burnham, this series also has the potential to fall flat. And while speaking of Discovery, after the ship had reached the 32nd century and the crew had acclimated themselves with the ins & outs of what life would be like for them, Sylvia Tilly, (who just so happened to be one of my favorite new characters from that show) who decided she wanted to help to start up Starfleet Academy again…is seemingly not a part of this show, which is all about the one thing she left Discovery to help to restart. I really don’t understand how you don’t address that point at all. Also, since we’re again in the 32nd century, where warp nacelles are now not directly attached to ships, the USS Athena’s saucer section appears to land in San Francisco, where it becomes a part of the Starfleet Command & Starfleet Academy buildings (pictured), which is certainly an interesting design choice!
Also, it should be noted – and I haven’t seen anyone else mention this online yet – that a male member of the Brikar species, can be seen passing through the halls of Starfleet Academy in one of the first two episodes. For those who are unfamiliar with the Brikar species, their first appearance occurred on Star Trek: Prodigy, the animated series that first aired on Nickelodeon and eventually made its way over to Netflix.
So while I think I’ll continue to watch this new series, it certainly is not a priority for me. I think it has promise as far as attempting to appeal to a new, younger audience, but for me, it just kind of misses the mark as it pertains to my Trek watching preferences. So we’ll see where this goes, but for now, this series gets an “Incomplete” in my grading book.
Thanks for reading!
Marcs Two Cents 