Starfleet Acadamy- A Real Next Generation

At the very opening of this show I worried it would fall into the Star Treks that I'm not a fan of, because it seemed it was showing the Federation in a bad light, and appearing to ignore the normal hopeful future message that is the core of Star Trek. That worry faded quickly, and my opinion changed to, "This is clearly not targeted at me, but it is truly Star Trek, and fantastic that it's goal is to bring in new, young fans, while still having the awesome teaching staff as an identification point for us old Trekkies."

It is kind of startling how quickly my thoughts while watching shifted to:

"IF ANYONE HURTS MY KIDS THEY'RE GOING TO HAVE TO DEAL WITH ME!!!!"

However, I still do find the Starfleet Academy Staff the most relatable part of the show, with Commander Jett Reno being my favorite. (I know: the engineering and science instructor who comes from a much earlier time than her young charges, and who employs a huge amount of dry wit and smartassery is my favorite, everyone is stunned.)

Having given up and Discovery early, I had to look up what "The Burn" they referenced in this series was...

Making me happier that I had given up on Discovery early. 

This is why there are so many Star Treks, so everyone can have theirs.

Except the clueless who review bombed Starfleet Academy because "Star Trek is woke now." 

Frankly, anyone who has missed the main point of Star Trek that badly since it was created does not deserve their own idealistic future.

Star Trek has been promising me a show about Starfleet Academy since shortly after The Search For Spock. It's about time.

On with my first real time enjoyment of a Star Trek series since the animated one when I was only three years old!

"Kids These Days"

As I said, the opening worried me, but once we got into the far future that is the present (I think that is correct) I was happy to be here. That short flashback intro also set up that Caleb will be the "main character." What that ended up meaning is him being tied to a few key narrative points that carried through the season while maintaining the show as an overall ensemble peice, normally telling a complete story in each episode. He is undeclared, has a horrible past giving him skills that would apply better elsewhere, and there are other cadets that seem a lot more Command Track bound than Caleb. Having acknowledged all that, there is definitely quite a bit of Jim Kirk in that boy. Allowing us to meet the cadets and crew on the USS Athena for the kick off story shifted the focus more onto characters than setting for the beginning. Nus Braka seemed more like an entertaining, Harry Mudd type blowhard antagonist in this first appearance, but there were some hints he would be a larger threat. The cadets were all given moments in the spotlight to show how they are destined to grow into top Starfleet officers. The teachers also demonstrated both their educational style, and the fact that they already are top Starfleet Officers. As for the USS Athena herself, I love the bridge design and interiors. Not sure if I'm sold on the external look, but I am an Original Series and Movies fan at my core. At least it doesn't look like a giant space suppository.

"Beta Test"

We learn there is both steel and intelligence under Captain Ake's goofy, shoeless and relaxed leadership style. She's half Lanthanite and has a similar world view and the same painting in her quarters as Pelia did. Relatives, prehaps? With most of the character introductions in the last episode, this one has the time to show off the environment of the Academy. It's weird seeing a full sized ship land in Star Trek, but it works having the whole university be mobile. They are learning to explore space after all. Watching them restore the Academy based on the principals other shows have extolled and talked about Starfleet and The Federation being founded on was a nice touch. This is especially true following a couple of in story accusations throughout different shows of the Federation being overly Earth-Centric. (Which honestly is more a by product of of the planet Star Trek is filmed on.) Nice nod to George and Gracie's descendants still thriving too!

"Vitus Reflux"
This is a show about students and having an episode devoted to a prank war and a sports competition fits the genre. That doesn't mean the episode isn't important. It is key to the character development arcs of the kids we're following along their paths This is a journey of young students. We also get to see important differences between the War College which replaced it and the newly returned Starfleet Academy, plus some necessary first steps to placing them on the path they must travel together. Big shout out to the War College Mascot being a Mugato. Somehow it seems appropriate that they chose a creature from a planet that the Federation helped to remain in what was likely a generations long war. Another shout out to Lura Thok for being my second favorite, because not only do kids need examples of true honor and courage, but sometimes they also need to be yelled at for doing stupid things. The pairing of her and Reno is a perfect balance to guide the cadets. The sheer number of mixed races in this show is a fantastic idea. First, because melting pots do continue to melt further over time. Second because they can use "new" alien designs as mixtures instead of having them be supposedly "new" but looking too much like previous ideas and models. The opener of Strange New Worlds showed Christine Chapel changing crew members DNA to be another race with injections. I'm sure between that, and the Founders many centuries after that, giving Lura's Dad and the other Jem'hadar the ability to have families was a minor issue.

"Vox in Excelso"

World building time! We learn what has happened to the Klingon empire here in the more distant future. It ain't good. (Really. It makes Praxis look like a firecracker.) However, the remaining few are still Klingons. It's one of several character focus stories. (With a bonus of some of the Captain's history.) This time the focus is on Jay-Den Kraag, the latest of a very long line of Klingons who do not fit their cultural stereotypes. We've had Klingons who were scientists, diplomats, dishonest accountants, operatic chefs and human leaning, so why not a healer? It's a powerful tale that shows there are many types and forms of battles individuals can take on, as well as multiple ways of showing honor.  For those folks lacking vision and complaining that traditional Klingons would be furious over Jay-Den's school uniform featuring a skirt- clearly ignoring the many and various robe and kilt looking uniforms armors and outfits Klingons have sported over the years. Have we forgotten that this race first appeared in thigh high leather boots, gold lame shirts and sparkly pants? I'm sure they'd say he looks "Glorious!" Of course there are gay Klingons... because gay people do exist and have always done so. Adjust. 

Also out of respect for "Our Foremothers" as Anabelle calls the housewives who invented slash fiction in the days of the Original Series, stop complaining about the various love triangles and other geometric shapes that are being hinted at. Once again, this is a show about young adults out on their own for the first time. Romance and bad decisions live here.

"Series Acclimation Mil"

A character focus episode on SAM, our resident hard light hologram that is additionally a love letter to Deep Space Nine. Woo! This was a fun look back at that fantastic series but also great character growth for SAM. Little Jake is all grown up and a successful author. *sniff* (And sadly dead, because of time jumps in the franchise, but even in hologram form it is great to see him.) I took his speech about knowing his father was "always there" for important events to confirm that Ben returned to his family regularly from the Prophets even if it wasn't officially logged by Starfleet. There is NO WAY the Ultimate Space Dad abandoned his family no matter what he transcended. The notion of a Cardassian/ Trill hybrid was a cool one. Speaking of alien races, stop complaining about the student from Charon. It is a cool design and would be a shame to waste it. Yes, Lokai and Bele found everyone on their world dead... but they were both idiots. However, they were idiots who could steer the Enterprise at Warp Ten with their minds. Maybe the student's ancestors flew across the galaxy for a pack of cigarettes and weren't back yet for those two's extremely padded chase scenes? While SAM's adventures happened Commander Reno was becoming my favoriter as she add high levels of snark while helping the Doctor and Captain Ake practice a fancy dinner ritual the War College Headmaster Kelrec needed to attend. (Yes, I fell off the couch when the fish farted. Yes, I often have the sense of humor of a seven year old.)

"Come, Let's Away"

Hey, guess what? Even though his full name is "Nustopher," (which almost made me fall off the couch again) Nus Braka is in NO WAY a likeable, if annoying, Harry Mudd type opponent. He is a deadly serious threat with two separate and equally lethal and effective, military grade groups working under him That was a hell of a reveal and upped the stakes for the entire season as a combined Starfleet Academy and War College training exercise turned deadly serious. Yes, this is a school story, but it is also pure Star Trek, with intense and far reaching consequences of the outcomes of the various conflicts. With all of that going on, they still managed to work in a character focus on Tarima's history and personal struggles, maintaining the core of the show concerning the growth of these cadets from where they came from. This turning point was featured another way. Up until now, the War College students and their headmaster were depicted as pompous opposition to the main characters. Yet, in a true crisis situation, they were shown to be as competent and brave as the Starfleet crew. Kinda wish we got to see more of them (or any of them, really except Kyle, one vertex of many a complex ship) in the later episodes. Yet another down side of the limited number of episodes in streaming land.

"Ko'zeine"

"Amok Time"... with fish!  One nit pick I do have with the show is Darem's race, the Khionians, are fish people. (Who vomit glitter WEEEEEEEEE!!! Is that stupid? Yes. Did I fall off the couch laughing again? Also yes.)  However, they only look that way in the water. (Or in the vacuum of space, I guess.) On dry land, which they always are on this show, including their special "desert wedding moon" (whatever) they look human. I have no idea if its a Splash thing where he transforms when wet, or he's wearing some kind of image inducer. Neither one is free from issues even I, in my Captain Continuity persona, can fix. Look, I get it... make up is expensive. That's probably why Lura Thok and Jay-Den vanish for several episodes at a time. It just feels like a cheesy excuse. (Plus he looks really cool in fish mode.) Having said that, this was an excellent recovery episode after the last one, with two separate and highly character driven plots. Both "over the break" stories are centered around living up to expectations, which for a show focused on student aged characters is a crucial driver to their identities. Darem comes to terms with his desire to help others in Starfleet now outweighing both the chip on his shoulder due to being royalty and the expectations of his home world, with help from how Jay-Den sees him. (So many ships...) Meanwhile, Genesis (legally required to point out she's the daughter of an admiral here) learns that even though she does excel in the areas she is expected to, those expectations carry more weight than she's ready for at this point in her life. The friendship between her and Caleb helps with both her journey, and his- both alone and with Tarima. Since I can't help mentioning it while watching almost once per episode, Caleb is A TANK! Dude is HUGE! This observation is helped by the fact that nearly everyone else in this show is waif-like. (Even Jay-Den, while towering, is a lot more wiry and lithe than many previous Klingons of the bumpy headed variety. Maybe Koloth is an ancestor?)

"The Life of the Stars"

This continues the tradition of new Star Trek actually dealing with the repercussions and traumas of past events. And similar to the Deep Space Nine references, it includes both past episodes of this show and an older series. (Coincidentally SAM is the focus of both of the call outs to Nineties' Trek.) We learn why the holographic Doctor refused to bond with SAM, because of happenings on an episode of Voyager. Honestly, if I didn't try (and fail) Discovery already, between Commander Reno and Lieutenant Tilly, I would have watched some. And if I hadn't already given Voyager a shot, the Doctor would have made me do that as well. The Doctor helps ... basically make a new SAM with a proper childhood but also her old memories, which will affect some plot threads for the future. The two of them have been an interesting juxtaposition of a Hard Light Hologram being the classic Trek "outsider" that is centuries old with one only weeks old. Both of their past issues are addressed on yet another Star Trek world with non-corporeal beings and time passage rate issues. Meanwhile back at the Academy, Lieutenant Tilly uses Our Town to help everyone else come to grips with their own issues, stemming from the life threatening (and taking for some, RIP B'Avi) to the mind altering (Tarima) to the standard college interpersonal issues (literally everyone). The key to this story is not that starting to work through the issues is a complete cure and all will be forgotten next week. It's that it is a step in the healing journey process that all the cadets are now going on together. And, boy will they need it to finish out the season.

"300th Night"

With the smaller number of episodes seasons have now, they handled various time jumps to have this first season cover the entire first year at Starfleet Academy well. The school is located in San Francisco as it has always been, but the establishment of the new capital of the Federation on Betazed provided an in story reason why the whole kit and kaboodle is flying through space for the close out of the year. And again, this is Starfleet, warping through space is what they do. Questioning it would be like questioning why we have to drive to the stadium near the college campus for a graduation here on Earth. Caleb as the "main character" comes to the forefront again as the plot that has been lurking through the season about finding his mother drives him and his friends into real danger. Jay-Den's ritual cements them all as the found family they are, whether or not they chose to participate, to kick the story off, combining various versions of showing not telling. Nus Braka also returns for the finale, now that that his true level of danger has been fully established. Captain Ake puts one over on him before the cliffhanger by quoting literature, because even though he's evil and dangerous, he's still uncultured and stupid. The cadets are in a true worst case situation, but with how far they've come, the suspense is how they will succeed, not if.

"Rubincon"

I love me a courtroom drama (which this was) set in a fantasy world that tries to apply regular legal proceedings to a bunch of stuff that doesn't really exist. I was, however, concerned that they were spending far too much time in that court, as the finale should be the time for the cadets to shine. This is because I am a doofus, read the episode length wrong and didn't realize how much more time than usual they had. Having three Emmy winners in that court made for some amazing television. Outside of that portion of the story, Commander Reno became my even more favoriterer by teaching through her command role in this episode. It cracks me up that people called that happening in a life or death situation unrealistic when The Pitt is over there winning awards for accurately depicting how a teaching hospital works by doing the same thing in life or death situations. Because they are on character arcs to become Starfleet Officers and "the best of the best," my kids naturally meet the challenges placed in front of them to save the day. I am convinced that, exactly like Genesis, the first thing I would say if given the authority to sit in the command chair is, "I have to pee." Seeing Tarima not pigeon holed into the Marvel Standard "powerful woman who is too emotional to control her powers" was great. Yeah, she did unfortunately need a guy to remind her of that, but it is progress. Nus Braka's kangaroo court was hugely important, especially considering how I felt about the opening of the series showing the negative side of Starfleet. The trial pointed out that Starfleet and the Federation are exactly the heroic beacon of hope they have been presented as since the Original Series. No it isn't perfect, but for all his bluster and tragic back story, Nus Braka's problems all came from himself. Also, having him captured, and Caleb and his Mom (She Hulk's loss is Star Trek's gain for that one, to mention another fantasy courtroom setting) reconnected effectively ended the main continuing story, leaving next season open for brand new adventures.

The second season has already been filmed, so Woo! I was hopeful we'd get to see these characters evolve into Starfleet's best and brightest through all four years at the Academy. 

Along the way they'd keep learning from characters who are all about showing how older people can be awesome- a nice nod for those of us Trekkies who are older and endeavor to be awesome. By graduation point we'd be ready for a new series. I thought maybe they, and their War College allies, might get a ship of their own?

But no.

It's already been announced that it is ending after season two. Dammit. I hate people.

At least the folks making it are smart enough to understand things like this, and may have given us good closure at the end of season two. Is a time jump to graduation too much to hope for?

Click for season two... in a year or so.

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