Posted in: Paramount+, Star Trek, TV | Tagged: Deep Space Nine, star trek, Starfleet Academy

Starfleet Academy: Tawny Newsome on Co-Writing DS9 Tribute Episode

Tawny Newsome breaks down the latest Star Trek: Starfleet Academy episode and how it was a love letter to Benjamin Sisko and Deep Space Nine.

When it comes to the grand scheme of things in terms of Star Trek during the Paramount+ era, Deep Space Nine feels a little underrepresented in terms of revisiting canon in the live-action front, but Lower Decks star and writer Tawny Newsome wanted to make sure the franchise's second live-action spinoff got the love it deserved, not only having as much of the original surviving cast and recurring stars involved as possible with Nana Visitor (Kira), Armin Shimerman (Quark), Alexander Siddig (Bashir), Andrew Robinson (Garek), Chase Materston (Leeta), and Max Grodénchik (Rom) in the Mike McMahan animated series. The journey didn't end there, as we have Discovery's first 32nd-century spinoff, Starfleet Academy, which provided the kind of epilogue DS9 never had in its latest episode, "Series Acclimation Mil," with SAM (Kerrice Brooks) set on her journey to find out what happened to Capt. Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks), since his ascension as the Emissary of the Prophets following the DS9 finale. Newsome spoke to TrekMovie.com about the lore-heavy episode, recruiting Cirroc Lofton to reprise his role as Ben's son, Jake Sisko, and the origins of Brooks' episode-closing voiceover.

Starfleet Academy: Tawny Newsome on Working with Writer Kirsten Beyer on "Series Acclimation Mil" and Bringing DS9-Lore Heavy Episode to Life

Newsome not only co-wrote the Starfleet Academy episode with Beyer, but also appeared as Professor Illa Dax, the current host of the same Dax symbiote who was lifelong friends with Ben, originally as Curzon (Frank Owen Smith), then Jadzia (Terry Farrell), and at DS9's end, Ezri (Nicole de Boer). When asked about whether she received any pushback for the lore-heavy episode, "No one said those words to my face. Whether they said them about the episode, I think they knew better than to say it to me, because I was pretty adamant that for this episode, it was our job to make this an homage, a celebration, and really a bit of a correction for what I feel has been an oversight in a lot of modern Trek," Newsome said. "We haven't talked nearly enough about the Siskos, about Benjamin Sisko, or about the show Deep Space Nine at all, despite it being a massive addition to our canon. So I was pretty adamant. I'll say I was frothing at the mouth some days about how important this was. So if anyone thought it was too much canon, they shared those details among themselves."

When Jake appears near the end of the episode, he appears as a hologram at the Sisko Museum in New Orleans, sharing words of wisdom with Sam. "[Cirroc]'s amazing. He is incredible… And yeah, Cirroc and I were on the phone and at lunches for months and months and months and months trying to figure out how we could get this done. Getting the episode made was such a gargantuan feat, and I have had so many partners locked arm in arm in battle. Between [co-showrunners] Noga Landau and Alex [Kurtzman], Cirroc, [executive producer] Aaron Baiers. My co-writer, Kirsten Beyer, who has been such a fierce advocate from the jump. So many people came to my aid to help me push this thing through," Newsome said. "I don't even know where to start, but all I can tell you is that it was seemingly so impossible to be able to address the hugeness of the Sisko story with some of the limitations that we have because of canon, some of the limitations that we have because of available actors. And we really just wanted to honor the man, Avery Brooks. We wanted to honor the character, Sisko. We wanted to honor that show, which in the franchise has had the least rebooting. It's my absolute favorite, and I just wanted to celebrate it and not put a close to his story, but just put a little feeling of completion for one part of it, to just give some of us some resolution."

As far as Brooks' voiceover, Newsome reveals, "It is not from Deep Space Nine. That is a private recording that belonged to Mr. Brooks [from his self-published 2006 spoken-word album Here], that he very graciously allowed us to use. And I still get chills thinking about how it came to be, because I was very anxious asking him for anything. Because this man has given so much of his artistry, his life, and himself to this franchise. [Newsome starts to tear up a little] And I was very conscious of not wanting to ask him for another thing. But we needed some sign at the end that he had heard [SAM]. And he very graciously allowed us to have this. And then the full force of thanks to the studio, to Noga and Alex, and Aaron Baiers, they all moved heaven and earth to make it happen. I couldn't be more grateful."

For more, including whether Brooks provided any feedback, tapping into the unanswered questions about Ben's legacy, the origins of Illa Dax, Easter Eggs, and more, you can check out the entire interview. New episodes of Starfleet Academy stream on Paramount+ every Thursday through March 12th.

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