Additional Academy Assessment

I finished watching the first season of Starfleet Academy for the second time. Aside from being angry again that it got cancelled before season two aired, here's some short notes that crossed my mind, during, between episodes and after the run.

Man, those kids can act. The instructors are all accomplished and award winning, meaning their skills were expected, but the young ones kept up with them. The start of college is a hyper-emotional time for people and the performers playing students brought out those emotions in multiple raw, powerful, wild and wholly authentic ways.

It was really interesting how they chose to show the aspects of Caleb in the first episode. His physical prowess was demonstrated via him taking out violent, bully prison guards while he was handcuffed, his intelligence was demonstrated via his ability to form and execute a complex engineering and computer system hacking plan, yet his humanity was demonstrated via an outer space version of Mitch's phone call home in Real Genius.

I thought it was cool that the group of teachers we saw all had very different instructional methods, however they were all effective, and more importantly all adaptable. A key one would be Lura Thok's usual barking and demanding demeanor shifting in tone but not in toughness when she took on the role of a Klingon elder with Jay-Den. Reno behaved similarly, dropping much of her trademark sarcasm when fixing the engines and Caleb's self worth, in the final episode. Even War College Chancellor Kelrec, who (rightfully) gets set up as the butt of a great many jokes, proves he knows what he's doing when it comes to inspiring, leading and training his students. He is SO insecure though. Dude really needs a hug. Many times the student's point out what the audience could imagine are deficiencies in teaching style (and content such as the theater class taught by Lieutenant Tilly). However, the methods are shown working in practice.

While Starfleet has always been a military organization, the show's division between the War College and Starfleet Academy illustrates why it is so much more than that. The difference between being prepared to win a fight, and being prepared to amass and employ the required information to not need to fight, and also how best to handle the aftermath of a successful fight comes through in Chancellor Ake's (and the others') lessons. This is, in fact, how they save the day in the season finale.

Captain Ake's goofy way of draping herself over whatever peice of furniture she is on is ALWAYS done with a purpose. Whether to claim a location before someone else can, to deliberately get into their personal space to cause uncomfortableness and give her an advantage, or to relax a tense situation. There is much forethought in these (and all of her) wacky, shoeless decisions.

It may be the vibe of Starfleet and the Federation returning to what it once was, or it may be the 60th Anniversary, but this series had the most call backs to The Original Series. Not just in style or storytelling, but a lot of little references including various musical stings, alien races, and sound effects. As a lifelong fan of the Original, it was nice to be acknowledged while the franchise was boldly going in new directions.

Nus Braka is an excellent villain for several reasons. He initially comes off as one of the "charming rogue" types often seen in Trek. That facade drops fairly quickly, but even when he is exposed, he seems more like a justified extremist, pointing out real problems with the systems the Federation has in place. Because Starfleet is more than a military operation, its focus on research, diplomacy and negotiation provides Braka's adversaries the tools to pick apart his entire argument, exposing his claims as only the self centered power grabs of an angry man-child completely built on lies. The cadets' and instructors' actions and technical skills stopped his planned destruction, but their training in exploration, diplomacy and, yes, THE THEATER, led to the removal of all of his support before that point was reached. 

One of the explanations that spoke to me the most about the appeal of Star Trek is still from cartoonist Scott Kurtz watching the 2009 film with his Dad who got choked up over the similarities to the Original Series, "Because they're friends."  That feeling is what has defined which versions of Star Trek are my favorites. It definitely applies here. As with any student gathering, yes there is romance, but there is also the strong bonds of friendship that always develop as part of the "first time away from home" scenario. That was strongly and accurately demonstrated in this show. The fact that Jay-Den and Caleb have basically become brothers is handled really well, from both sides. They clearly have bonded, meaning what might be seen as a small slight against a casual acquaintance can generate huge "brotherly' levels of offence and arguments. However, in the end, they always have each other's backs. "A warrior does not let a friend face danger alone."

I find Nog, (and to a slightly lesser extent Jake), from Deep Space Nine to have the greatest character arc in Star Trek. Ending this show early robs us of seeing that kind of character growth as the cadets progress through the Academy. They've all shown us glimpses of their potential to become the best of the best of Starfleet as we have seen with the the adult characters in the other Star Trek series. It is quite a loss of missing the full potential realized of all those individuals. Therefore, I'll do it myself. Here's how I see them serving together a chunk of time after graduation- Genesis: Captain (Obvious), Caleb: Chief Engineer and XO (Great technical "miracle worker" skills and Genesis needs out of the box thinking from her Number One to enhance her natural leadership) Jay-Den: Chief Medical Officer (Will be like Bones, the voice of compassion and emotional considerations to he Captain), Darem: Helmsman (Much like Sulu, he would also be command track, but we've seen him come to understand when he knows he has much to learn. He'll be a top notch pilot and pick up Captaining skills along the way to his own ship.) Tarima: Head of Security (Work with me here- her best fit was at the War College, she was the only one who caught Caleb sneaking in wearing the Mugato costume, and has shown herself to be a terrifying opponent), SAM: Science Officer (All stored information at her fingertips, and she has learned how to "humanize" her assessments already),  Kyle: Communications (Builds bridges instantly, and gets along with everyone), Dzolo - Navigator (STrikes me a someone with a plan, plotting courses, and handling the weapons is a darn good fit, would have fantastic insights for novel and repeated scenarios. However, If SAM takes Engineering and Caleb is full time First Officer, I think she could be a crack Science Officer, I feel she's a closet nerd like her best friend, the Vulcan comic book geek. RIP B'avi, you got done dirty), Occam- Ship's Counselor (Yeah, he's kind of a goof, but showed he really understands both individuals and groups in multiple situations).

Star Trek has a way of enduring. Even though this excellent show was cut short and will only have one other season, people will continue to find it. There will be kids and teens who stumble upon it and identify with Caleb, or Jay-Den, or SAM, or Genesis, or Tarima, or Darem, or the less frequently appearing Kyle, Dzolo, Occam or others. The series and the stories will have great meaning to them and like the other shows of the franchise will end up live forever due to how they see themselves in the cast.

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