"Star Trek Starfleet Academy" Feels Undeclared

And that’s not a bad thing.

Starfleet Academy, in its first six episodes, much like Sandro Rosta’s Caleb Mir, hasn’t quite decided what kind of show it wants to be. This isn’t anything abnormal when it comes to Star Trek, as first seasons generally take some time to find their footing. One episode, you have what could be a gritty teen drama as predicted by all the memes and jokes about Starfleet Academy 90210. Then, in the following episode, a traditional trek (much pun intended) in space where everything that can go wrong, does go wrong, making Bones’ line from Star Trek, “space is a disease wrapped in darkness and silence,” feel very on point. Along the way, you might have a couple of character-focused episodes that will be sure to have fans grabbing for tissues and talking about the finer details for a very long time.

If that paragraph gave you a bit of whiplash, that’s okay. That’s how I felt watching these episodes. And I’m sure at this point, some of you might be thinking, ‘this is going to be a negative review, isn’t it?’ And the answer to that, I honestly believe, is no. Starfleet Academy is a good show, and I enjoyed the episodes I watched. Still, I couldn’t help but leave a few of these episodes wondering if the show does indeed have an identity crisis at the current moment.

Leaving that all behind for a second, Starfleet Academy is at its best when this cast and crew all come together, whether that’s through legitimate ensemble episodes where they are all working together to solve a problem, whether it’s rallying behind Klingon cadet Jay-Den (Karim Diane), or helping SAM (Kerrice Brooks) work through what it means to be a photonic in a flesh & blood world as well as a representative for her people, the Kasqians. When Starfleet Academy was first announced, I know that a lot of us were expecting the show to be exactly this; an ensemble piece that gives a focus on the daily life of what it means to be a cadet at Starfleet Academy in a galaxy that is still in the process of rebuilding.

George Hawkins, Bella Shepard, and Kerrice Brooks in season 1, episode 5 of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy streaming on Paramount+. Photo Credit: Brooke Palmer Paramount+

And this cast….this cast. From the moment they all stepped on stage together at San Diego Comic Con, watching the trailer for the first time, Kerrice so excited that she cried tears of joy at being a part of the Star Trek Universe, there was a feeling that this crew, or class, was going to be something special. I’ve already mentioned her once, but I won’t look for an excuse to do it again. Kerrice Brooks as SAM brings such energy to Academy that I don’t think we’ve seen for a very long time. Almost Data-like in nature, but with pure joy and emotion. I wish I could go into details about an episode of hers, but you’ll just have to wait. Just make sure you have some tissues. You’ll know the one pretty early on.

Bella Shepard is another standout of this cast for me. She plays the Dar-Sha, Genesis Lythe, and also happens to be the nepo-baby of this class of cadets, the well-connected daughter of a Starfleet Admiral is 100% a military brat. She’s moved from base to base to base her whole life, but Genesis owns it, and instead of demanding her peers’ respect, she earns it through friendship and a willingness to support and lift her fellow cadets, even though she does seem determined to sit in that captain’s chair one day. Talking with Giraffe at the premiere last night (yes, of course, I waited until the last minute to write this, as I always do), she put it wonderfully: She’s a character out of Mean Girls without any of the Mean Girls baggage. By far, Genesis in my opinion, is the most interesting character on the show next to SAM.

Bella Shepard as Genesis Lythe in season 1, episode 1 of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy streaming on Paramount+. Photo Credit: Brooke Palmer Paramount+

Moving from the Academy kids to the senior staff, everything in my body and brain is asking me why the hell I love Holly Hunter as Captain Ake so much. There’s never been a Captain like her. She sits in the Captain’s chair like its in a reading room, she walks around barefoot, she turns everything into a lesson, she makes everything fun. Surely this isn’t the tone and feel the Chancellor of Starfleet Academy and a Captain with literally hundreds of years of service in her resume should be presenting with…right? WRONG. Cause then I think of myself and I how I would want to present myself in that situation. I would walk around with my crocs every day and every hour if I could…I already do. Cross-legged in the Captain’s chair? Would 100% be my vibe. Much like SAM and Kerrice Brooks, Holly Hunter barrels into Academy with a fresh take on the center seat not seen since Benjamin Sisko on Deep Space Nine.

Let’s talk about Gina Yeshare’s Half-Klingon, Half-Jem-Hadar Lura Thok. There was an opportunity here to play this role straight (that may or may not be a play on words, you’ll have to find out) and serious. The typical warrior. All business, lots of brawn. But no. Noga Landau, Tawny Newsome, and Kirsten Beyer know who they hired to play this role, and maximizing on Gina’s comedy background was the 100% right play for Lura Thok. She is my favorite instructor on the show, and her energy and scenes shared with fellow Comedian Tig Notaro (returning as Jett Reno) are pure gold.

Gina Yashere as Lura Thok in season 1, episode 2 of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy streaming on Paramount+. Photo Credit: Brooke Palmer Paramount+

The last member of the staff I want to spotlight is Robert Picardo. There’s always a chance that you can fumble to play with a returning legacy character, but no. Picardo returns as the Doctor in a way so familiar, yet new. His energy with both the cadets and staff at the Academy is unparalleled, yet we see more than a few times that something is certainly haunting him. Is it the fact that he continued on hundreds of years later as his families from both Voyager and the Protostar long since left this mortal coil? It remains to be seen, but I love that it is something that’s being explored.

I’m going to take it to yellow alert for just a moment. Where Starfleet Academy sometimes stumbles, and stumbles hard, is when it puts its focus solely on Caleb Mir. Going into Star Trek Discovery, it was widely known the focus would be on Michael Burnham, and the show was better off for it, shitty internet trolls on X be damned for whatever they thought about her. But when you have a show called Starfleet Academy, the going theory is that we’re going to tell an ensemble story. And I don’t want to throw any shade at Caleb and actor Sandro Rosta, because I truly like the character and how Sandro has played him, but as much as it pains me to say it, when he’s featured heavily on the show, he has a tendency to come off as a Gary Sue. For someone who has spent his entire life on the run, going from prison to prison, scraping by while looking for his mom, he often seems to be the smartest person in the room, always with the solution. While I’m not vehemently against this, it seems a bit Jekyll & Hyde-like for a character like Caleb to one second be wanting to jump the walls and run away to having more scientific data on a subject that would maybe stump a Tilly or Stamets.

Starfleet Academy also makes some questionable choices when it comes to having a ship also function as the school. I get that this is a post-burn world and the galaxy isn’t the safe and cozy place it was in days of old (but was it ever really?). But on one or more occasions, these kids get put in a level of danger that makes me question where the senior staff is at times? Star Trek needs action every now and then, and I’m here for it, but I also wish I wasn’t walking away thinking, “WHY ARE THE KIDS ON THE BRIDGE?”

There's also the addition of the War College to the Academy, something Starfleet implemented post-burn when they had to deal with threats like the Emerald Chain, lack of dilithium, etc. While the concept definitely leads to some tense moments that make the show more interesting, I think the idea takes away a little bit from the whole reason Starfleet has reopened the Academy in the first place. I can’t really dive into much more detail about this, but I’m curious what the War College endgame is.

Zoë Steiner as Tarima Sadal and Sandro Rosta as Caleb Mir in season 1, episode 8 of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy streaming on Paramount+. Photo Credit: Michael Gibson Paramount+

Let’s address Starfleet Academy 90210. This is a show about kids at school. Yes, there’s romance, because of course there is. Did you expect a show about kids at school on Star Trek and think they weren’t going to fuck? Jean-Luc Picard showed us exactly what was going on at Starfleet Academy 35 years ago. The romance complements the drama and the show, and that’s the way it should be.

Finally, let’s talk about Paul Giamatti’s Nus Braka, a Klingarite, which, in concept, is pretty awesome. I love Paul Giamatti. I’m a huge fan of his work on Billions. And maybe that's the problem. He seems like almost a cartoonish version of his character, Chuck Rhoads from that series, and doesn’t come off as either Klingon or Tellarite. I don’t hate the performance, but the jury is still out for me on whether he’s a compelling villain or not. Once again, this is a situation where, as you’ll see in the premiere, all roads lead to Caleb when it comes to Braka.

So as we circle all the way back to Caleb Mir being undeclared. That’s me. I’m undeclared as well. Starfleet Academy is a fun show. It’s even a good show, but it also has a couple of episodes where it really stumbles. And as I said all the way at the top, that’s okay, because as it stumbles, it also picks itself back up for a handful of incredible episodes that left me crying, joyful, and wanting more. 

Star Trek Starfleet Academy premieres Thursday, January 15th on Paramount+. Make sure to tune in to our Wants and Don’t Wants LIVE show tonight, live on YouTube at 9:30 PM ET, and our weekly reviews of Starfleet Academy beginning next Thursday.