So, this is a review of the first season of Starfleet Academy.
And if I had to sum it up in a sentence, it would be something like ‘entertaining, but maybe still needs to find its feet’.
Or, perhaps less politely, ‘nothing like as bad as I was expecting’.
I mean, some of it is precisely problematic in the ways I was entirely expecting. Yet somehow I’ve found myself staying engaged with each episode: sometimes smiling pleasantly, and sure, sometimes wincing.
Like most modern franchise-based shows, this latest Star Trek endeavour was already the subject of intense online hate and culture-war back-and-forth long before the show debuted.
Unfortunately, that’s just part and parcel of how things work these days.
When White House psychopath Stephen Miller starts commenting on a sci-fi TV show, you’re sharply reminded that the modern media environment is an absolute shit-show in general.
It didn’t help that the series had a very poorly judged marketing campaign that made it look like an off-putting teen drama in space. The teasers and especially the main poster seemed to go out of their way to make me not want to watch this show.
It also doesn’t help that modern Star Trek has had a seriously problematic track record, and has permanently alienated much of what would’ve been its main audience had the shows been better written.
And really, the whole ‘wokeness’ debate isn’t even the issue: that’s the obsession of a loud minority of trolls and alt-right clickbait merchants (and arguably also a parallel obsession of writers and showrunners who often actively sabotage their own products by prioritising social optics over quality and substance).
For most people, it’s just about the weak writing and tired modern tropes.
I still haven’t watched the Section 31 movie. And I just about managed to get through Discovery’s fifth and final season, which despite having some promise and some interesting ideas, was still a predictably disappointing and inconsequential affair in the end.
The point being this: for a lifelong Trek enthusiast like me to have been this unexcited and this ambivalent about multiple modern Star Trek shows means something has gone very wrong with the franchise.
But that’s stating the obvious.
I’m the guy who used to rush to the store on the very release date of new Deep Space Nine VHS tapes and then go over to my friends’ house to ceremonially watch the new episodes on his VCR.
The point being: Star Trek should not be losing people like me. But it has lost a lot of people.
And Starfleet Academy is definitely not a show that’s going to win those people back.
The Star Wars franchise is in exactly the same place, by the way: lots of product, most of it poor, and severely diminished enthusiasm.
So then we come to Starfleet Academy. A show that, from its very earliest discussions, seemed like it was absolutely going to be more of the same either bland or wildly misjudged fare.
What surprises me is that I actually genuinely enjoyed most of this season. And even things that I initially didn’t like I was able to get comfortable with as the season went on.
It’s tricky to explain why exactly, but Starfleet Academy is a fun show.
Am I going crazy? Have I simply been worn down at this point? Or is Starfleet Academy actually nothing like as bad as I was expecting?
Maybe having low expectations actually helped in this instance.
And sure, it suffers some of the same ill-judged dialogue and questionable writing as the other modern Trek shows – but I was wholly expecting that anyway.
So, yes, some truly bad dialogue choices here – as per usual. Makes me long for a Tuvok monologue or a back and forth between Garak and Dr Bashir.
But sorry, let me get positive again here.
First, the obvious: the show looks great, as all these contemporary Trek shows do. The visuals, the production, it’s all first rate.
Everything’s also well staged, beautifully lit, well directed, etc.
As for the characters, I’ve always liked Holly Hunter as an actor: and she is an interesting casting choice for the series lead, bringing her own very unique energy to the role.
Which can be fun. It can also become irritating. I mean I was finding her style relatively charming in the first two episodes; but by the third episode it was already starting to wear thin. Five episodes in to the series and her perpetually laconic behaviour and inability to take things seriously was becoming a problem.
Having the lead and senior character constantly trying to be funny – especially in a show otherwise populated by actual juveniles – isn’t good for the show’s storytelling or dynamics.
But then as the season progressed, I came back around again, finding her enjoyable to watch.
And honestly, she’s more interesting to watch than Michael Burnham or Christopher Pike. Or modern Jean Luc Picard, for that matter.
As for the young characters, they tend to work well as a collective of personalities, as opposed to any one sticking out as individually interesting.
But this is an ensemble show, so that makes sense.
One of the major strengths of this season is how character driven this show is: it’s much more character driven than plot driven.
I was worried after the first episode that Caleb Mir was going to become this series’ principal focus in a Michael Burnham sort of way: but that doesn’t appear to have happened.
Which is good, because the ensemble format works better.
Their general antics are proving less annoying to me as I was expecting. Accepting that this is a sort of resurrected Starfleet Academy far removed from the golden ages of the Federation and populated by inexperienced young people thrust together, a certain level of hijinks makes perfect sense.
You can’t really come to this series expecting different.
That’s not going to be to everyone’s tastes. But I’ve been surprised at how tolerable I’ve found it.
Again, the first half of the season needs an element of adjustment, just trying to get used to the tone, style and feel. Some might be put off by it: but patience is rewarded.
By the second half of the season, all the characters and their interplay have grown on me. I liked Genesis (played by Bella Shepard) a lot. I like Caleb. Jay’den is an interesting take on a Klingon. I even find the Betazoid Tarima alright – though I wish the romance between her and Caleb had been ditched entirely, as it took up way too much time that could’ve been spent on more interesting things.
There was an exception for a while: the one character I really struggled with is the holographic (or ‘photonic’) character, Sam (S.A.M: ‘Series Acclamation Mill’). I just didn’t think she worked at all. Kerrice Brooks‘ over-exhuberant performance really wasn’t helping.
And I didn’t even like the premise of this character – but the excessively cutesy and loud performance only exacerbated the problem.
This was most evident in the fifth episode (the love letter to Deep Space Nine): which could’ve been really great, but was somewhat undermined by the clichéd teen comedy antics.
However, as the season progressed further, I found my attitude changing: and the eighth episode especially (centered on Sam) helped me to understand the character a lot better: and to understand what both the writers and the actor were trying to do.
I suspect that if I go back and rewatch earlier episodes now I might find Sam less problematic.
Though I still think she was just too much for a while.
But that’s a key lesson here: allowing a character (and a show, more broadly speaking) some time to develop and ripen before making a snap judgement.
I had a bad knee jerk reaction to Sam, but was able to adjust my perception of her as the storytelling progressed: and I think that’s a microcosm for the whole show. Too many people write it off too quickly, without giving it a fair airing.
Elsewhere, it’s nice to see Robert Picardo back as an evolved version of his classic Voyager character. It really took the eighth episode (‘The Life of Stars’) for the Doctor’s presence to meaningfully pay off – which is a bit late.
But the emotional resolution for the Doctor is tied up with the development of the Sam character (or even the redemption of the Sam character, in my view), which works quite nicely.
More broadly speaking, Strange New Worlds arguably had a better cast than this from the outset. But these characters grow on you. By the halfway point, I was finding them all rather endearing.
Again, that’s not what I was expecting: it’s a pleasant surprise.
Character wise, we should just mention the female Jem’Hadar character, Lura Thok (Gina Yashere). This was a character I was probably dreading.
But, you know, although she’s played for comedic effect too often, I found the character less problematic than I was expecting to. I mean, yes, she’s maybe a bit much at times (which seems to be the recurring theme of this review). But, as with Sam, I got used to her.
I expect the explanation for how a Jem’Hadar ended up in Starfleet may come in a later episode (or for how a Jem’Hadar female even exists at all).
I’m not sure playing a Jem’Hadar for laughs is something that works in the long term. Though I suppose the centuries of time separating this show from the DS9 time period can justify the species evolving into some kind of tame, Federation-domesticated race.
I can understand why some people hate this character. But I think she’s less problematic than she first appears.
In general, this show feels like it needs to find a better balance with its tone.
A bit less comedy, a bit more seriousness in its characters more of the time, and we might have a show that balances a bit better.
But, in fairness, they do seem to manage effective drama when they need to: the final few episodes demonstrate that effectively.
In summary, I think this first season of Starfleet Academy is generally solidly entertaining. It’s no kind of masterpiece, but no one’s looking for that anymore.
‘Kids These Days’ is a particularly strong opening entry, establishing a decent premise and laying a good foundation for stories to be built on. Possibly the best ‘pilot’ since Voyager’s ‘The Caretaker’ thirty years ago.
I’d say it’s probably a better opening run of episodes than the other modern Trek shows gave us.
The third and fourth episodes are pretty good: I particularly enjoyed the Klingon story.
And the fifth episode, despite being tonally jarring and frustratingly silly at times, did at least make me smile at the end – even if this episode’s real strength is it’s loving homage to the great Ben Sisko (a character from thirty years ago – and therefore not really a strength of *this* series).
I’m fully aware that this fifth episode was just manipulating me and playing to my nostalgia.
But, damn, hearing Avery Brooks‘ unmistakable voice at the end really did get me in the feels in a big way.
Episode eight (‘The Life of Stars’) is an emotionally satisfying story and kind of a reward for sticking with the show long enough to see some initial gripes remedied.
The closing episodes are just good, solid action/adventure with good stakes, effective tension, well written character moments, and quality overall execution.
For whatever erratic quality might characterise some of the season, we finish strong.
What I really notice in the finale (‘Rubincon’) is how, despite being heavy on plot, the episode really takes time to give multiple characters their resolution in terms of the themes established earlier in the season.
In other words, all the characters have undergone a clear journey of development across the episodes and this finale gives space to each of them. That’s good writing: and it again highlights how character driven this series has been.
That’s a big plus for me.
Season One of Starfleet Academy had enough likeability overall from the outset that I had to let go of my scepticism and just allow myself to exist in this space: and that ended up feeling rewarded.
This is an entertaining show. I think people were just unfair on this show and didn’t give it a chance.
Which I can sort of understand: when things like Star Trek: Picard were as atrociously bad as they were (notwithstanding the much better third season), it’s hard to retain good will towards a franchise.
But it’s a shame that this show has paid such a price for the overall disenfranchisement.
I actually think there’s a chance this show could end up being the best of the modern Trek shows so far. If it develops in some more interesting ways and – crucially – outgrows some initial tonal problems.
Of course, we now already know that the second season will be the last: the rest of the show has already been cancelled. Which is a real shame.
This series, more than any other modern Trek show, was all about the potential for growth: with young characters still developing and learning, both as individuals and as a collective. That set-up lends itself to long term storytelling over many years.
Instead, it’s being cut off at the knees.
Whether it’s a victim of the culture wars bullshit and organised trolling or whether it was just doing bad numbers, the result is that a genuinely entertaining and promising series is cut short before it could even peak.
That’s a real problem with the modern media environment. Nothing is really invested in as a long term commitment: everything’s just treated as a disposable product.
Think of how awful the first season of TNG was back in the day: imagine if they’d scrapped it after just that first season.
The cancellation of this series could really warrant a whole separate article to discuss: so I’ll refrain from talking about it any more here.
So yeah, in conclusion: I like this show. I like these characters and their dynamics.
This season of stories has high points, and some mediocre points, but never outright low points. And I was never bored.
All I can really think of right now is the sense of lost potential that comes with its cancellation.
