NCC-90210 aka Star Fleet Academy

To boldly go where no school has gone before.

Being a trekkie, last night I reactivated my subscription to Paramount+ so I could catch the first two episodes of Starfleet Academy. The new hip Star Trek series hoping to engage that wonderful demographic that everyone seems to want (young people). At least that’s what the majority of critics have been saying before it aired.

Let me say that I was against initially having Star Trek behind a paywall when they first announced Star Trek: Discovery. I even didn’t watch it for the first season, because I just couldn’t understand how watching television would be changing. Then again now we pay for subscriptions and get commercials like old broadcast TV unless we want to pay a premium, which I can’t justify. Heck, I can barely justify paying for channels.

Last year before we went on our super Whimventure to Europe I decided to cancel all subscription services and bring them back slowly once we returned. So far we added Paramount+ and then dropped it after Strange New Worlds ended its season. We recently added back Netflix. We have yet to add back Disney+.

My history with Star Trek is long. I remember going to a Star Trek Fan Club meeting when I was in second or third grade. My dad had been asked to present about astronomy, or astronomy photography and my brother and I tagged along. If I remember correctly I fell asleep while they were screening Arena. I was a kid and it was late. In high school a local station used to have a Star Trek weekend in which they aired back to back every episode. I was glued to the TV the entire time. Even moved things around so I could sit outside in the sun and watch. I ended up with a 2nd degree sunburn that I still have scars from.

With any fandom there are haters and I’m not one of them. IDIC has been my viewpoint when it comes to Trek. Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations, all is fair and good. That has been my view with every series and every episode, including this latest incarnation. It’s one persons take on a beloved universe- even when they are singing (especially when they are singing- which I loved). I’m not one lost in canon - even if I spent elementary school carrying around the Star Fleet Technical Manual.

“Canon is only important to certain people because they have to cling to their knowledge of the minutiae. Open your mind! Be a 'Star Trek' fan and open your mind and say, 'Where does Star Trek want to take me now’.” - Leonard Nimoy

The First Two Episodes

This seems to be a thing- instead of having a premiere episode release the first two on the same night to hook the audience… Whatever. The first episode like the first issue in a comic book tends to set the groundwork for the universe the characters will inhabit. Introduces many of the characters and basically sets things up. After that you have to decide as a viewer if you want to return. By showing two episodes either they want to hook you into a story, or they still have more exposition to deliver. For Starfleet Academy it was a bit from column A and a bit from Column B.

The story takes place in the future which was part of the last seasons of Star Trek: Discovery. So if you didn’t know in order to save the universe the Discovery went into the future, a future in which the United Federation of Planets had collapsed due to a tragic event called “The Burn.” I’m not going to get into details, a lot of Star Trek: Discovery’s story dealt with this and trying to fix it. The comic “The Last Starship” also deals with the initial ramifications of this event. So in Star Trek’s future it’s kind of a big deal. Although The show starts off on a starship, actually it starts off introducing the main character or in the viewpoint of most teen angst dramas - the bad boy with a heart of gold.

I had to look this up because stardates can be confusing. This is taking place around season 3-5 of Discovery as Starfeet and the United Federation of Planets are resetablishing themselves in 3190 Earth rejoins (Discovery Season: 4 Episode: 13), the Academy is reestablished in 3191.

Like most of my reviews I will keep it a spoiler free as possible. The first episode sets up the main members of the cast and the main conflict. Genius kid (who is the bad boy with the heart of gold) is trying to find his mother, they were separated when he was six. He’s been on the run since. He hates the Federation and is using his place at the Academy as a way to figure out where his mother is and to reunite with her… I fugure this will be a subplot the entire season.

Episode 1:

Basically we are introduced to the Federation and the Academy through the eyes of Caleb Mir - the bad boy with a heart of gold. The rest of cast is also introduced including their species and whatever makes them special. They carry with them the independece and angst appropriate for a teenager/young adult show. The Klingon who wants to be a medic (similar to Alexander from TNG in the comic Sons of Star Trek), The daughter of a Starfleet Admiral; the stuck up guy who learns about working together; the hologram (photonic being) who wants to belong and understand humanity (c’mon you know we needed a Data- except this one has emotions). Add the faculty including a Jem Hadar/Klingon hybrid Cadetmaster, and a Chancellor who is a Lanthanite and doesn’t necessarily go by the book (anymore); along with (to ground things for the fans) the Doctor from Voyager. I’m sure we will learn more about each character as the series continues.

The first episode is basically getting to Earth from Bajor and the mishap that occurs thanks to our bad boy with a heart of gold. The Badlands are still bad even after 1,000 years. The bad guy is a pirate who caused all the problems with Caleb back when the character was introduced as a six year old.

For the short term that episode was available on YouTube. It looks like it no longer is.

Episode 2:

We have landed the USS Athena on Earth and it has become part of the Academy. Sue and I had to note that it seems the Academy that used to be at the Presidio is now across the Bay. Right about where the scenic overlook is when you get off the Golden Gate Bridge. Then again it could be that Sausalito has grown and now has skyscrapers.

Cecil back in 2014 at the future location of Starfleet Academy. They should put a historical marker here like in Bloomington, Indiana or Riverside, Iowa.

We meet a few more cast members as Jett Reno from Discovery shows up as an instructor. We get to see a few more cadets in the background in order to tie in other series. A Brikar from Prodigy, and an Exocomp from TNG and Lower Decks make their appearance along with a number of red headed Orions and many other unidentified species.

It seems that after the burn Betazed (home to Deanna Troy) not only left the Federation but also built a psychic wall around their space. Other planets joined their alliance to help keep safe from pirates and other bad guys. With things coming back to normal the youth of Betazed are pushing for the planet to rejoin the Federation and the talks are happening at the Academy. Discussions go well, they break down, drama, teen angst… and of course wuv, twue wuv…or something.

Now, we wait until episode three with an overarching theme (Caleb wants to find his mom) and then the specific drama and life lessons that will transpire the remainder of the season.

My mind to your mind. Your thoughts to my thoughts

So what did I think? I always have to go back to the excitement I felt when I saw The Next Generation for the first time. It was amazing, it brought tears to my eyes and looking at it now… it was awful. It took the actors at least a full season to figure out what was going on and to really understand and build their characters. So will I give Academy a few episodes to figure things out? Of course. Am I ready for Star Trek’s version of Dawson’s Creek… I’m hoping it will be more than that. So far it has some interesting bits. I’ll watch the entire season before I make a final judgement and probably won’t complain about each individual episode until I can see how it all fits in the whole story.

IDIC- or basically don’t act like Star Wars fans.