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Posted in: Paramount+, Review, Star Trek, TV | Tagged: star trek, Starfleet Academy
Starfleet Academy Review: A Wonderful New Gateway Series to Star Trek
Starfleet Academy boldly goes where few Star Trek series have gone, blending youthful exuberance, character focus, and strong storytelling.
If there's one thing that's consistent about the way Star Trek has carried itself as a franchise after 60 years, it's that they're always "boldly going" even if not everything fires off with all cylinders. That's not to say that every single project from TV and film isn't without its flaws, but in the current era of social media, those criticisms often overshadow many of the strides. One of the reasons Star Trek has persevered through the generations is that its storytelling and contemporary subject matter remain remarkably relevant. With the ongoing changes in sensibilities in the streaming era, we have Starfleet Academy, which, at its core, is an opportunity for fans to reunite at a gateway level, one that is strongly character-driven. As previous attempts of exploring the Federation institution were made at the scrapped sixth Star Trek film following the 1989 disaster of The Final Frontier, the 2009 J.J. Abrams soft reboot film explores that idea with Kirk and Spock in an alternate timeline that spawned its own trilogy, and now the Paramount+ series set in the 32nd century. The Gaia Violo-created series with showrunners Alex Kurtzman and Noga Landau achieves this at the most basic level, with its original crop of characters.
Star Trek: Starfleet Academy Soars With Its Latest Class
When you think about what most of the Starfleet Academy series predecessors have done in accomplishing Gene Roddenberry's dream of "wagon train to the stars," most of them had one thing in common: a starship to go on weekly adventures while we get to know its crew in the process. While that formula has worked for the better part of the franchise's existence, you also had less dedicated time to develop the ensemble, which you must hope fans will acclimate to over time. I believe this is the reason why a show like Deep Space Nine, which took place between The Next Generation and Voyager, succeeded the way it did and stood out among its more ship-focused series. Starfleet Academy has that grounded nature, the way Deep Space Nine had, where you don't necessarily have the obligation to focus on a space-faring crisis from week to week.
When we begin the series, we meet Caleb Mir, who finds himself in the midst of a crisis where the Federation is assisting with its resolution. We get our primary protagonist, the half-Lathanite Captain Nahla Ake (Holly Hunter), and the primary antagonist, Nus Braga (Paul Giamatti), who has nothing but contempt for the Federation. Caleb and his mother, played by Tatiana Maslany, get caught in the middle. Fostering that resentment, we see Caleb (Sandro Rosta) in the present day still trying to find his mother after getting separated from her and harboring a profound distrust. As we find out as a result of that incident, Ake has a falling out with the Federation when an old friend re-emerges in Fleet Admiral Charles Vance (Oded Fehr), reprising his role from Discovery, and tells her how far along Starfleet has come in a post-Burn galaxy. There's much more work to be done with a new generation of cadets awaiting. Solidifying her decision to return to Starfleet is a second chance to make amends with Caleb, whom she failed to support previously, as well as his mother.
As we're introduced to the institution in the 32nd century, it feels like a world within a world. We have Jay-Den Kraag (Karim Diané), a Klingon cadet who, like TNG/DS9/Picard Michael Dorn's Worf, finds himself living between the traditional Klingon world and the more progressive Federation world. Darem Reymi (George Hawkins), a Khionian cadet and aspiring captain, is from a well-to-do family. Genesis Lythe (Bella Shepard) is a Dar-Sha cadet and the daughter of an admiral with similar leadership ambitions, trying to make a name for herself. Kerrice Brooks plays Sam (Series Acclimation Mil), the first Kasqian, a type of hologram, to attend Starfleet Academy. Zoë Steiner, who plays Tarima Sadal, the daughter of the president of Betazed, brings a new dynamic to the empathic race introduced in TNG.
As far as instructors and leaders, we have Gina Yashere, who plays Lura Thok, the Klingon-Jem'Hadar first officer of the USS Athena and cadet master of Starfleet Academy; Robert Picardo, who reprises his role as the Doctor from Voyager; and Tig Notaro, who reprises her role as Jett Reno from Discovery. Hunter's Ake serves not only as Captain of the USS Athena, but also as Chancellor of the institution. As far as performances go, the writing plays to everyone's strengths. Not only does Hunter play the empathetic role perfectly, but she also leans hard on embracing that sandbox with matching confidence and charisma in her James Kirk-ian approach to the captain's chair.
On the other end of that spectrum, you have a Klingon-Tellarite villain in Nus Braka, and Giamatti delivering in Shakespearean proportions. While he's only in a few episodes, he easily earns a spot in anyone's top 10, much less top 5 Star Trek villains of all time. As much as I wish we had Ake and Braka butting heads every single episode, it would be counterproductive to the series. Hunter and Giamatti put on clinics every time they share the screen, which reminded me of the times when William Shatner's Kirk and Ricardo Montalban's Khan, or Patrick Stewart's Picard and John de Lancie's Q, would spar on screen.
As for the episodes, we have some of the most balanced among the first seasons of Star Trek shows; we have more than enough introductory and interpersonal-themed ones to go around. Sandro and Steiner are the standout new leads as their characters emerge from their respective shells. Brooks playing up her character's childlike innocence is reminiscent of other AI characters from Trek's past, such as Brent Spiner's Data and Robert Picardo's Doctor, who never lost his sarcastic wit and bite, considering the character is now 900 years old.
We also get training-centric episodes, ship-wide threats, and more culturally themed content, which I feel other Paramount+ Trek shows didn't explore enough. Do I wish we could get to know the Athena's bridge crew better? That's true, but it's not a deal breaker since the series is primarily about the cadets. My personal favorite is the DS9 tribute episode, which provides the kind of closure and 32nd-century epilogue that complements the series, much like "Unification III" did for Discovery. The two-episode premiere of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy premieres January 15th on Paramount+ with new episodes on Thursdays through March 12th.
Star Trek: Starfleet Academy
9/10
Starfleet Academy thrived in building its characters and institution in ways that J. J. Abrams' efforts failed in the 2009 soft reboot of Star Trek, making the case once again for why Star Trek works best on television. Without relying heavily on existing legacy characters, showrunners Alex Kurtzman and Noga Landau demonstrate how they didn't have to reinvent the wheel for fans old and new to enjoy the franchise as a fresh gateway series. Not only does the series focus on building the show's universe with its narratives and characters, but it also finds ways to honor the franchise's past in profound ways.
Credits
Creator
Gaia Violo
Showrunners
Alex Kurtzman and Noga Landau
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