After being on the run since age six, 21-year-old Caleb, a brilliant criminal hacker, is offered the chance of a lifetime: to join the first new Starfleet Academy class in San Francisco in over a century. There's just one problem – the person offering him the spot is newly-minted Chancellor Nahla Ake, the Starfleet captain who sentenced his mother to Federation prison fifteen years ago.
Summary
- "Long ago, Starfleet Academy took the finest minds, hearts and spirits of every generation and taught them to be lifelong explorers of space... our final frontier. Then, one day, fate handed us an unimaginable loss. The Burn. And it all went away." – Nahla Ake
At the Federation outpost Pikaru on stardate 853724.6, Anisha Mir and her young son Caleb Mir wait in a holding cell while a sandstorm brews outside. She has Caleb recite a secret code for the two to memorize, quizzes him on the name of the local moon, Ishaani, and recounts her dream for the two of them to see Earth when they one day have a ship of their own. Caleb asks why they are there, and Anisha explains the man they came with, Nus Braka, is a pirate who aided her by stealing food.
Anisha and Caleb are taken to a hearing, along with an unrepentant, mocking and heavily restrained Braka. Captain Nahla Ake enters and reviews the facts – that Braka brought down a Federation supply vessel and murdered the pilot to steal food rations. Braka argues that Mir was starving and he had a solution. In reality, the officer's death was one of twelve caused by the Venari Ral and Braka has made Mir an accomplice to it. He is sentenced to life in a Federation penal colony. Mir, charged with felony theft, is sentenced to a rehabilitation camp with visitation rights to see her son, who is to become a ward of the Federation. When she attacks a cackling Braka, Mir is dragged away, shouting for Caleb to not trust the Federation but only her and their moon. Braka tells Caleb to hold on to his hate for him; "It will keep you warm at night. While you sleep with their boot on your neck!"
Ake visits Caleb in holding to tell him of a school called Little Blooms on Bajor he may attend, and promises to make sure he sees his mother again. Caleb hugs her, then realizes he forgot his toy bear, Scrap, in the hearing room. As Ake goes to retrieve the bear, she realizes her tricom badge is gone, taken by Caleb, who uses it to access a wall panel and open a portal to the outside. Ake returns to the holding room, but only finds her tricom badge. She places the facility on lock-down and orders a search, but Caleb has successfully fled the grasp of the Federation. For now...
Fifteen years later, a 21-year-old Caleb Mir is in custody aboard the shuttle Teracaq en route to the V'Rilik Penal Colony on Toroth. His captors scan him, revealing he is wanted for a litany of crimes committed throughout his adolescence. Two then begin to assault Mir, sardonically being impressed by his criminal "resumé," eventually attacking him with a shock stick. Mumbling when asked if he has more bright ideas, Caleb bites the ear of one of his attackers when they bring him close. Mir overpowers them both, pressing one of their thumbs into his cuffs to unlock them, and pushing the other into the force field surrounding the cockpit until it deactivates. He then beats the pilot unconscious and takes control of the shuttle. Caleb has the computer locate a subspace relay and search rehabilitation centers for his mother. One of the captors regains consciousness, choking Mir from behind. In the struggle, Mir kicks the controls, destabilizing the shuttle's flight path. The Teracaq enters the atmosphere on Toroth spinning wildly out of control and sending everyone flying violently around the cabin. His attacker subdued, Mir regains control of the shuttle, narrowly avoiding an impact with a mountain range, though at the cost of putting the engine temporarily offline. The computer completes its search, not having found Anisha Mir in any known database. Before he can attempt another search, the shuttle is tractored into a massive ship for Mir to be remanded to a detention facility for work rehabilitation. Mir screams in protest that he is not their prisoner, in vain.
Act One
At the Little Blooms early education center on Bajor, Nahla Ake now works as a teacher. She reprimands two children for "purloining" ice cream until both confess. Fleet Admiral Charles Vance greets her, complimenting her diplomacy in the matter. Sharing some ice cream, Vance informs Ake they are recommissioning Starfleet Academy and he wants to fully reinstate her to serve as Chancellor. Ake had resigned feeling disgraced over separating Mir from his mother, but Vance argues there is no one better suited to teach the kids who will have to clean up their broken world since she is part Lanthanite and remembers Starfleet at its best from centuries ago. Vance reminds her building a future is why she became a teacher, but Ake refuses to make more promises to children that she cannot keep, until she is told they have found Caleb Mir.
Ake arrives at the Torothan prison where Mir is being held. She orders his restraints removed and guesses that he hacked the imperial security system using programmable matter; he has a one-of-a-kind mind but is wasting away in prison. Mir blames her for that, but doesn't plan to be imprisoned long anyways. She explains regretting the decision that took his mother away, quitting Starfleet afterwards and looking for him ever since. A Torothan treaty allows Mir to commute his rehabilitation sentence into service, and Ake wants him to join her at Starfleet Academy. Mir recalls the warning his mother gave him to not trust Starfleet. His resistance wavers when informed by Ake that his mother escaped from prison a year ago, and he agrees when Ake offers to help him find her.
On their way aboard Starfleet Shuttle Six, Mir refuses the thought of getting a regulation haircut while Ake reviews personnel files. As Mir views the shuttle dock with the USS Athena, he asks in awe, "That thing is taking us to the school?" Ake corrects him; "That is the school."
Entering the main atrium of the Athena, Mir and Ake are welcomed by Lieutenant Commander Lura Thok. Thok informs the new Chancellor the final group of cadets is being processed, the Athena is ready to set course for San Francisco and her library has been transferred to her rebuilt quarters. Mir suddenly throws his gear to the ground and protests that he will not wear a uniform. Thok immediately dresses down the first year, and further assigns him lower deck latrine duty, six months as intraspecies vomit monitor and two hundred push-ups for his lack of decorum in not addressing her as "Cadet Master." She then orders a Klingon cadet, Jay-Den Kraag, to drop his gear on Mir's back as he does them. Kraag is studying molecular biology and regenerative therapies. Questioned by the half-Klingon Thok, Kraag explain he yearns for a valiant life rather than a valiant death. Once Mir collapses, Thok orders both cadets upstairs.
The cadets are sorted by division, Kraag to sciences and Mir undeclared. Unwittingly stepping through a Regulation Appearance Arch, Mir is surprised to come through the other side with his hair cut and a cadet uniform materialized in lieu of his civilian clothes. Reporting to medical, Mir is treated by The Doctor for Orillian lung maggots in his lower bowel. Followed by a cadet who has swallowed her combadge, whom The Doctor treats after asking for a tricorder then specifying "medical tricorder."
Captain Ake arrives on the bridge and takes command. She reviews the crew, including: Lieutenants Thelonious Dandrid, Hayden Thriss, Astrid Atlee, Haile, and Mackenzie Ya, and Ensign Weldu. She introduces Lieutenant Rork, who serves as academic liaison. Dandrid reports a fifteen hour ETA to Earth and Ake orders the crew back to work. After confirming her command station comfort settings, Ake addresses the crew and cadets shipwide, introducing herself and admitting surprise at her new position. She continues, stating their mission, "Ad astera per aspera. "Through struggle, the stars." Your generation, more than any other, knows how true that is." The cadets of the class, the first to return to the San Francisco campus in more than 120 years, all take in her words. The Athena will not just be where they live and train, it will become a vital part of the campus in San Fransisco, and carry them to the stars when called. Ake promises they will ask more of the students than they knew they had to give, but is sure of one thing, "Whatever challenges came before today led you to this moment. And now you decide if they define you. It's time to build the future."
The Doctor enters the bridge, reporting all cadets' physicals complete. On Ake's order, the Athena departs for San Francisco.
Act Two
In the Athena halls, a cadet, SAM, awkwardly attempts to greet passing cadets until she meets Genesis Lythe. The two share Tamza as a favorite dead language. Sam offers her friendship, and, after some sarcastic questioning on the price of it, Genesis takes her free offer. Genesis, a Dar-Sha on her father's side, has never been to a planet before, having moved from starbase to starbase her whole life.
The two bump into Kraag, causing him to drop a pair of binoculars. A cadet named Darem Reymi snatches them from the floor and refuses to return them. Mir intervenes, catching the binoculars and confronting Darem, the first Khionian in Starfleet. As Mir threatens to be the first person to make a Khionian cry, The Doctor transports to the scene due to reports of spiking catecholamine levels. He requests all cadets disperse and report to Sato Atrium for club activities registration, particularly the Opera Club.
Mir returns Kraag's binoculars. Kraag says he uses them to watch birds; his mother taught him to see the beauty in things. Mir, affected by the mention of a mother, begins to leave. A grateful Kraag tells him in Klingonese "A warrior does not let a friend face danger alone", raising Mir's spirits.
In the Sato Atrium, The Doctor tries, rather unsuccessfully, to recruit students into joining the Opera Society. Sam identifies him as the Emergency Medical Holographic program Mark I and introduces herself along with her full name, Series Acclimation Mil, the Academy's first holographic student. The Doctor, though excited to meet another hologram at first, quickly looks uncomfortable and packs his things. Sam follows; though programmed to feel 17, she has only existed for four months on Kasq, a colony of holograms. They continue and The Doctor explains he added an aging program to his matrix five hundred years ago to put organics at ease when Sam notices his mature appearance. Informing her that the only way out of her awkward adolescence is through it, The Doctor protests that he is no one's mentor when Sam refers to him as such, and increases his pace. Sam reminds him that he was just that to the crew of the USS Voyager and the children of the USS Protostar. The Doctor stops in his tracks and turns to Sam as though she said something affecting his sensitivities, though he denies this and encourages her to join the Opera Club before bidding her a curt adieu.
Hacking an instructor's console, Mir overrides the communication subsystem and uses the code his mother taught him, "Nah-ru, Xela, Bhak, Cali, Squill", but finds no messages from her. He records one for her, questioning if she is receiving them, and informing her he is going to Earth. He stops when interrupted by Genesis, who "blackmails" him into teaching her how to kill a man with a toothbrush, among other servile acts, in exchange for her silence. Actually, she wants nothing... for now, other than to tell Mir she is impressed with how he helped Kraag earlier.
Act Three
On the bridge, the crew detects an anomaly ahead as they near the Badlands, possibly an ion storm from the high gravimetric shear. Ake orders the ship drop out of warp to scan it. They instead detect tachyon interference. Twelve drones then break out of the debris. Realizing someone has tricked their sensors, Ake orders Thok to secure the students while the Athena comes under attack.
Thok and The Doctor order the cadets upstairs into their dorms, then look out a window with Mir and Kraag to observe the attack. An unknown variant of programmable matter is engulfing the ship.
Out of a cloud, disguised as debris, a Venari Ral ship assembles. Ake orders fire at full spread, but the programmable matter has disabled their turrets. The Venari Ral attack, launching a volley of tethers on the Athena, penetrating the hull at multiple points. The Athena's systems begin to overload and power drops. The Doctor reports multiple injuries to cadets and officers, but no casualties.
Genesis regains consciousness in a hall near a fracturing bulkhead, having been knocked out by the explosion, while DOTs extinguish fires. Darem and Kraag join her in lifting hull debris off of an injured Thok, while Mir comforts a shocked cadet repeating "red alert." Thok has been pierced in the abdomen by shrapnel the cadets cannot remove for fear of killing her. With transporters offline, Kraag and Darem assist her to a bio training classroom for treatment. Mir recognizes the frequency on which the programmable matter is resonating; he can stop it with a link to the bridge. Emergency lights fail. Just as Mir asks for a flashlight, Sam arrives and illuminates the bulkhead for everyone by touching it.
In the medical bay, with Thok's computer authorization and instructions, the cadets begin to assist her. Meanwhile, the bridge crew patches through a holo-transmission from Nus Braka. Braka's hologram struts around the bridge and gloats to Captain Ake what he has waited fifteen years to say: "Time, with its infinite sense of humor, will always fold upon itself like an origami chicken." "This moment," he continues, "is that chicken." Finally translating his meaning with "Payback's a bitch."
Act Four
Patching into the bridge, Mir and the cadets overhear Braka explain that he managed to track them because someone on the Athena sent a message on an old Venari frequency. He plays back Mir's message to his mother, then accuses Ake of sadism for taking Mir from her only to put him in the uniform of those responsible. The cadets realize it was Mir's fault they were attacked. Darem assaults him, but the fight is broken up by Genesis. Braka continues that he is there to steal the Athena's warp drive piece by piece. He requires Ake clear the personnel in engineering so he can transport a team there to dismantle it in exchange for his leaving the Athena. Ake attempts to stall for time, but Braka is unconvinced, reminding her any aid from Starfleet is far away and threatening to turn the Athena into a tomb if she does not comply.
Braka's transmission terminates and Lieutenant Atlee confirms no assistance can arrive in time, with USS Discovery undergoing a retrofit. Further, the matter on the hull cannot be removed in time either. Mir contacts Ake an explains the programmable matter's integration with the ship's system is overriding its functions, but he can stop it by using one of the disseminators on the hull to get the matter's atomic coefficient to setup a mirror primary key and neutralize the integration actuators. Though corrupted programmable matter is volatile, no one at Starfleet Academy survives by playing it safe. Ake gives him one chance, then orders the ship to academy mode and sets course for Ramcon Six to buy Mir time.
Sam gives Thok a vaso-suppressant to reduce blood flow, and Kraag extracts the shrapnel. Thok still bleeds profusely and implores Kraag that he will have to be the one to repair her internal damage.
As Mir tries to break the frequency isolation coefficient of the programmable matter, Sam and Genesis try to assist, though Mir is used to working alone. The work would go faster with a scan of active matter from the hull. Genesis offers to do just that but is told by Thok that she cannot activate an EV suit alone as a cadet, so Darem offers to go EVA without a suit as his species can survive the pressure and temperature of space for eight minutes.
Genesis helps Darem prepare with gravity boots and a communications device. He drops his human visage to reveal his true Khionian face before exiting the airlock. Genesis informs him of a disseminator 250 meters to port near the shield emitter. She has been trained since she was two by her father, a Starfleet admiral. Darem jokes that he's glad she told him that before he asked her out. Meanwhile, Braka has beamed aboard the Athena with a cadre of soldiers and enters the now-cleared engineering. Ake would like to eject them into space, but transporters are still offline and Starfleet support is still forty-five minutes away.
Back in the medical classroom, Sam has found the frequency coefficient, but they will need to use the main deflector to send Mir's modification to all programmable matter at once. Darem's body temperature begins to drop, but Genesis cannot transport him back. He makes it to the emitter and begins the scan. After hailing anyone over comms, The Doctor appears to respond to Genesis' emergency, giving her command access to the tactical systems at the nearest functional relay station, which she then starts running to. Darem completes the scan but is nearly too frozen to speak, until he is reminded of his Khionian heritage and manages to blurt out the atomic coefficient of the matter. Mir completes the algorithm and begrudgingly compliments Darem.
Mir needs to get the program to the auxiliary deflector controls near the airlock outside engineering, where the Venari Ral are, which Ake has a plan for. Mir is reluctant to follow her orders, preferring to do things his own way, but she reminds him that she is trusting him and he has to trust her too. Mir leaves Kraag and Sam to tend to Thok, Sam cheerfully guiding Kraag as he sutures Thok inches from her heart, to Thok's annoyance. Darem heads to the center of the ship's saucer on Genesis' instruction and she manages to tractor him back inside. Kraag completes the suture and Thok seemingly dies for a moment, only to awaken and punch Kraag in celebration, sending him flying to the floor.
The computer announces an imminent warp core detonation, Ake claiming to Braka that his men triggered a breach. Braka doubts her veracity, but nevertheless beams away at the last moment. Instead of a breach, the "Ramcon Six" simulation ends, Ake having fooled Braka and cleared engineering for Mir.
Mir rushes to load his program into a console, but Braka returns with a disruptor to Mir's head. Mir admits that hating Braka did keep him warm at night, but Braka still detects he has resentment for Ake as well. Braka claims Mir's mother would be disappointed in him, and implies she met with some misfortune on Goja V after the two broke out of prison. The algorithm initializes, and Mir uses the distraction to knock the disruptor from Braka's hands. The two engage in a fistfight until Braka delivers a kick sending Mir into the bulkhead, chiding him to "Never pick a fight with a Klingarite, kid." Mir manages to his feet and, ripping equipment from the ceiling, beats Braka while asking what happened to his mother. With the upper hand, he slams Braka's head into the console to execute the algorithm. An enraged Braka tosses Mir, but the program successfully clears the programmable matter, restoring the Athena's shields and weapons. Ake orders a volley of quantum torpedoes and destroys the Venari Ral ship. Braka flees the Athena via an escape pod, while Mir screams at the door in despair, his only lead to his mother gone.
The Athena arrives at Earth a short time later, landing at the San Francisco campus.
Ake informs Mir that a hearing committee knows Braka found the Athena because he hacked the ship's comms, grounds for expulsion. Ake cut him a deal though, because he took initiative in the crisis, demonstrating command potential. Mir can stay with a ninety day restriction to campus and one hundred hours of menial labor, or leave. Ake tells him of her son, also a cadet, who died on a ship when the Burn hit. If she could have done things differently, she would have listened to her child. Mir, acknowledging that he is not her son, agrees to stay, for now. Ake tells him not to screw it up, and the two smile while looking out at the city.
Memorable quotes
"That... thing is taking us to the school?"
"That is the school."
- - Caleb and Ake, getting their first glimpse of the Athena
(speaking Klingon) "It means: 'A warrior does not let a friend face danger alone'."
- - Jay-den, making friends with Caleb
"As you see, I'm no one's mentor."
"But you were. To Voyager's crew, to the children of the Protostar, to Dal and Murf and Captain Gwyndala and..."
"Uh..."
"Your sensitivity calibrations are spiking. Have I said something inappropriate or, uh, frightening?"
"My interactive subroutines are functioning perfectly. And I fear nothing."
- - The Doctor, reminded of his past by SAM
"Hello? Is anyone listening to me? This is an emergency."
"Please state the nature of the medical emergency."
"I... I need command level access to the primary tactical systems."
"That's not a medical emergency."
"It's about to be. I am trying to save Cadet Reymi's life."
"You should have said that first."
- - Genesis, enlisting The Doctor for a not-yet medical emergency
Background information
Title
- This episode features an alternate title sequence at the end of the episode instead of the series' usual opening credits.
Story and script
Preproduction
Production
Postproduction
Cast and characters
- Robert Picardo reprises his role of The Doctor. He is the first actor to be credited as a main cast member on three different Star Trek series, following his performances on Star Trek: Voyager and Star Trek: Prodigy. He joins the ranks of actors who have appeared on four different series in the franchise (with a guest appearance on DS9: "Doctor Bashir, I Presume") in addition to a cameo in the film Star Trek: First Contact.
- Oded Fehr reprises his role of Charles Vance, which he originated on the third season of Star Trek: Discovery.
- Sandro Rosta is introduced as Caleb Mir. A younger version of the character is portrayed by Luciano Fernandez in the episode's prologue.
- Other members of the cast of main characters introduced in this episode include a few notable representatives of alien species:
- Nahla Ake (Holly Hunter) is the first main character who is a Lanthanite hybrid, and the second major Lanthanite character after Pelia.
- Jay-Den Kraag (Karim Diané) is the third Klingon main character (following Ash Tyler and Worf).
- SAM (Kerrice Brooks) is the third photonic main character (following The Doctor and Hologram Janeway).
- Lura Thok (Gina Yashere) is the second Klingon hybrid main character (following B'Elanna Torres) and the first with Jem'Hadar ancestry.
- Darem Reymi (George Hawkins) is the first Khionian main character and Genesis Lythe (Bella Shepard) is the first Dar-Sha main character. Both are also the first representatives of their respective species featured on a Star Trek series.
- Brit Marling and Stephen Colbert are credited for their voiceover performances as the main computer and the Academy's Digital Dean of Students. This marks the first time that actors who primarily voice the computer join the main cast of a Star Trek series. They follow in the footsteps of notable computer performances by Majel Barrett Roddenberry, Judi Durand, and Julianne Grossman.
- Main cast members Zoë Steiner and Tig Notaro are not credited and do not appear in this episode.
Sets and props
- The set for the atrium of USS Athena is the largest ever built for a Star Trek series and covers the entirety of Pinewood Toronto's 45,900 square foot soundstage, which is also the largest in Canada. [2]
- The set for the “Little Blooms” school on Bajor was filmed on location at the “Rock Garden” site of the Royal Botanical Gardens in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The building seen in the background is the visitor center. [3]
Costumes
Soundtrack
- The episode features a rare instance of non-diegetic popular music on Star Trek: Scott McKenzie's 1967 song "San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair)" plays over a montage of USS Athena approaching San Francisco Bay and arriving at Starfleet Academy near the end of the episode. The song is closely associated with 1960s hippie culture and the era's civil rights and anti-war movements, which are often thematically linked to Gene Roddenberry's concurrent optimistic vision of the future in Star Trek: The Original Series. The scene uses a new arrangement by Jeff Russo with vocals by Rufus Wainwright. On 16 January 2026, the track was released on streaming platforms with the Star Trek: Starfleet Academy Season One soundtrack, which also includes an alternate version with reduced instrumentation.
Special effects
Continuity
- The opening narration by Nahla Ake recaps the Burn which occurred around the year 3069. During the Burn, dilithium across the Milky Way briefly went inert, which caused every active warp core to detonate, destroying most active starships. With political and economic crises already at hand, the disaster hastened the Federation's decline: member worlds, including founding members Earth, Andoria, and Ni'Var, seceded, leaving only 38 worlds by 3189. The arrival of USS Discovery in the 32nd century led to the Burn's cause being identified and to the development of new interstellar propulsion options. Several worlds had rejoined the Federation by 3191 in a renewed push for galactic unity. The Burn and its aftermath are primarily explored in season 3 of Star Trek: Discovery.
- The prologue is set on stardate 853724.6. Extrapolation from the Star Trek: The Next Generation stardate system places Anisha Mir's imprisonment around 3176 to 3177, with the reestablishment of Starfleet Academy in San Francisco about fifteen years later (circa 3191 or 3192). However, Paramount+ promotional material instead describes the series as set 125 years after the Burn, implying a main setting around 3194. [4] On screen, the personnel file of Lura Thok lists her birth year as 3145 and her age as 50, suggesting an episode date of 3195. [5] Stardates have been unreliable in this era since Star Trek: Discovery remained in the 866xxx range as late as 3191, rather than moving up to 868xxx.
- Bajor is implied to be either a member world or otherwise have retained tight relations with the Federation: in the prologue Nahla Ake suggests that Caleb Mir might be brought to the Little Blooms education center on Bajor after he is taken into Federation custody. Ake herself works there fifteen years later, following her resignation from Starfleet. Although Bajorans have appeared throughout multiple series, this episode marks the planet's first appearance outside of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, where it was last seen in the series finale "What You Leave Behind".
- Bajor's status as a Federation member was previously confirmed by a Federation star chart in "Lagrange Point".
- A first post-Burn class of new Starfleet Academy cadets was already ceremonially welcomed by Captain Michael Burnham, Admiral Vance, and Federation President Laira Rillak in 3190 while celebrating the opening of Archer Spacedock. (DIS: "Kobayashi Maru") The reopening of Starfleet Academy, as described throughout this episode, can be implied to refer specifically to the reestablishment of the Academy campus in San Francisco.
- With his appearance in this episode, The Doctor is the longest-living confirmed main character on Star Trek, with over 820 years having passed since his first activation in 2371 aboard the USS Voyager. (VOY: "Caretaker", "Relativity") Yet his lifespan is greatly surpassed by other major recurring characters, such as Q, Pelia, and possibly Guinan. In addition to The Doctor, Nahla Ake also lived in the Federation before the Burn, due to the longevity of the Lanthanites. Both characters knew the Federation at the height of its expansion and influence, and witnessed its decline before and following the Burn.
- The Doctor has retained his fondness for opera, a passion he had already entertained in the 24th century. (VOY: "The Swarm", "Tinker Tenor Doctor Spy", "Virtuoso", "Renaissance Man")
- SAM's usage of the word photonic instead of hologram brings to mind the Lokirrim, specifically how they refer to holograms as photonics.
- As SAM gets excited about meeting The Doctor for the first time, she mentions his early Starfleet career aboard USS Voyager and his experiences with the wayward crew of the USS Protostar, including Dal R'El, Murf, and Gwyndala.
- USS Discovery is mentioned to be undergoing a refit, ruling it out as an option to aid the trapped USS Athena.
- Monitors in the Academy's classrooms feature inspirational quotes by famous Starfleet officers:
- "It is possible to commit no mistakes and still lose. That is not a weakness. That is life." - Jean-Luc Picard (TNG: "Peak Performance")
- "There are three things to remember about being a starship captain: keep your shirt tucked, go down with the ship, and never abandon a member of your crew." - Kathryn Janeway (VOY: "Dark Frontier"; PRO: "The Devourer of All Things, Part I")
- "A stranger is a friend you just haven't met yet." - Kathryn Janeway (VOY: "Fair Haven")
Apocrypha
Reception
- Following the debut of its first two episodes, Star Trek: Starfleet Academy and its premiere episode received generally very positive reviews, with a 87% "certified fresh" score on Rotten Tomatoes. Many outlets, including the Los Angeles Times, Globe and Mail, and The Guardian highlighted the show's acting (both from veteran actors and the young cast of Academy cadets), as well as its set design, the series' storylines, and the way the show contemplates current real-world issues. [6]
- The release of the premiere received notable negative commentary from the right side of the US political spectrum. In a comment on X, Elon Musk shared a 14 second clip of this episode, featuring several female characters, commenting disparagingly on their body weight and on Nahla Ake wearing glasses. Similarly, a Fox News segment called out the show for featuring "ugly" people, among other insulting remarks. Deputy White House Chief of Staff Stephen Miller shared the same clip as Musk via an account called "End Wokeness", calling it "tragic" and imploring Paramount+ to save the Star Trek franchise by giving its reins to William Shatner. [7] [8] [9] Shatner responded with obvious irony, pretending to agree with Miller by declaring "shame on the producers", then teasing Miller with a winking question about Ake's "hyperopia", signalling that he understood Miller's real complaint while playfully contradicting it.[10]
Awards
Releases
Links and references
Starring
- Holly Hunter as Nahla Ake
- Sandro Rosta as Caleb Mir
- Karim Diané as Jay-Den Kraag
- Kerrice Brooks as SAM
- George Hawkins as Darem Reymi
- Bella Shepard as Genesis Lythe
- Oded Fehr as Charles Vance
- Gina Yashere as Lura Thok
- Brit Marling as Main computer (voice)
- With
- Stephen Colbert as Digital Dean of Students (voice)
- And
Special guest stars
Guest stars
- Rebecca Quin as Lt. Mackenzie Ya
- Ken Barnett as Lt. Hayden Thriss
Co-stars
- Michael Brown as Lt. Thelonious Dandrid
- Nicole Dickinson as Lt. Astrid Atlee
- Tricia Black as Lt. Rork
- Avaah Blackwell as Haile
- Joseph Chiu as Ensign Weldu
- Raffa Virago as Cadet Pickford
- David Benjamin Tomlinson as Starfleet officer
- Scott Gemmell as Darem's posse member
- Mia Yaguchi-Chow as Darem's posse member
- Ritchie Lawrence as Darem's posse member
- Luciano Fernandez as Young Caleb
- Atlas Blu Klamer as Scrap (voice)
- Solen Morales as Little Orion
- Kenzyn Hoffman as Little Suliban
- Ian Busher as Torothan senior guard
- Lynn Anne Zager as Detention center computer (voice)
- Darren Richardson as Torothan shuttle computer (voice)
- Brian David Gilbert as DoT (voice)
- Jeremy Culhane as DoT (voice)
Uncredited co-stars
- Scott Blachar as Sullivan
Stunt doubles
- Steven Clarke as stunt double for Sandro Rosta
- Josslyn Farrow as stunt double for Holly Hunter
- Jack Sansone as stunt double for Paul Giamatti
References
2695; 2773; 3145; 3164; 3174; 3180; 3182; 3186; 3188; 3192; 3194; academic liaison; Academy Mode; Academy-class; Academy-class decks; accomplice; act of war; admiral; adolescent; adult; age; airlock; Ake's son; Ake's son's class; Ake's son's class ship; algorithm; Almond Basket; alpha shift; alto; anagram; anatomy; answering; appendicitis; artery; Asmaret; ass; asshole; Association of Cardassian Cadets; Athena; Athena, USS; Athena carrier drone; Athena cleaning drone; Athena emergency drone; atomic coefficient; attack dog; authority; B'hava'el; baby; back; Badlands; bag; Bajor; Bajor Club; bastard; bat'leth; bathing; battle; beauty; betrayal; bio-training classroom; binoculars; biometrics; bird; birdwatching; bite stick; biting; bleeding; blood; body temperature; bog; bone fracture; books (paper book); boot; booth; "bow wow"; bowel movements; bowels; bouncy house; Braka's ship; breach containment; breathing; bridge; Burn, The; burn injury; businessman; cadet; cadet master; Calica; campus; captain; catecholamine; Celsius; centuries; challenge; chancellor (Chancellor of Starfleet Academy); cheekbones; cheerfulness; Cheron native; Chess Masters; chicken; chief medical officer; child (daughter; son); classroom; Colt's species; comandante; combadge (tricom badge); commander (title); commission; comms array; computer; Constitution-class; conversation; Conversational Klingon; crying; damage report; danger; Dar-Sha; Dar-Sha Starfleet admiral; database; day; Deakohn; death; death wish; Defiant-class; deflector; deflector array; "Di Quella Pira"; diplomacy; disseminator; distress call; Discovery, USS; DNA sequencing; dorms; DOT; Drekol; drone; duty; duty roster; ear; Earth (aka Sol III); Eisenberg-class; elective; Emergency Medical Hologram (Emergency Medical Hologram, Mark I); engine; Enok; Enterprise-D, USS; escape pod; etiology; EV suit; evacuation shuttle; Excelsior-class; exocomp; expulsion; eye; father; fear; Federation; Federation supply ship; felony; Ferengi; fingers; flashlight; fleet admiral; flight path; floor; food; food rations; French language; frequency isolation coefficient; friend; friendship; Friendship-class; g-bit; Galaxy-class; Goja V; Golden Gate Bridge; gravity boot; Gwyndala; haircut; hands; handcuffs; hate; head; hearing committee; heart; helmet; holding room; holo-comms interface; holo-transmission; hologram (aka photonic); homeschooling; honor; hours; House of Dak'Hatas; House of Kraag; hull; Human; humor; hybrid; hydrogen; hypospray; ice cream; idea; idiot; Il trovatore; impact; inch; induction; inflammatory bowels; integration actuator; internal sensor; Intrepid-class; ion storm; Ishaani; isomorphogenic chip panel; Italian language; Janeway, Kathryn; Jem'Hadar; justice; Kah-Baj; Kasq; Kasqian; Kelpien; Khionian; kilometer; Klingarite; Klingon; Klingon Bat'leth Club; Klingonese; L'vanna; lab mode; landmass; Lanthanite; lapling; Latin language; latrine; Lee, Akamu; legal ward; library; lie; lieutenant commander; lieutenant junior grade; life; lineage; Little Blooms; "Little Fish"; Locherer, USS; lockdown; lorgnette; Luna; lying; ma'am; main deflector; malnutrition; manual override; Mars-class; menial labor; mentor; Merian-class; mess hall; meter; mezzo-soprano; mind; minutes; Model Federation Diplomacy Club; molecular biology; month; mood; moorings; morning; mother (aka mama, mommy); moon; murder; Murf; name; neck; nerve; night; Noble, USS; number one; NX-class; Oberth-class; observation room; officer; Opera Club (Starfleet Opera Society); orders; Orientation Day; origami; Orillian lung maggot; Orion; Osnullus; overload; "Pa-Pa-Pa-Papageno"; PADD; pain (inflammation pain; neuropathic pain; nociceptive pain; Nog, USS; psychogenic pain); parasite; Parrises squares; passenger; Pax-class; penal colony; peripheral neuropathy; person; personal space; personnel file; Philosophy Society; physician; Picard, Jean-Luc; Pikaru; Pikaru planet; Pikaru planet's moons; Pikaru planet's sun; pirate; playing field; port; portal; postherpetic neuralgia; pound; primary key; principles; prison (aka detention center); prisoner; programmable matter; programmable matter frequency; promise; Protostar, USS; public address system; push-ups; quantum entanglement checksum; quarters; R'El, Dal; radius; Ramcon Six Simulation Program; red alert; regenerative therapies; regulation; Regulation Appearance Arch; rehabilitation camp (aka rehabilitation center); resentment; resignation; restaurant; resumé; retina recognition; rheumatoid arthritis; Rigel Cup; San Francisco; sandstorm; Sato Atrium; Saurian; scanner; school; sciences division; security breach; semester; sensors; serial number; servants; sheep; shield; shield emitter; ship (aka vessel); "shit"; shock stick; shuttlebay; sickbay (aka medical bay); singing; sir; skills; skin lesion; sleep; solution; soprano; soup; space; spatial harmonics lab; species; stairs; standing; starbase; stardate; Starfleet; Starfleet Academy; Starfleet Command; Starfleet Six; Starfleet Six-type; Starfleet uniform; stress hormone; stress management; student; subspace frequency; subspace messaging; subspace relays; suicide; Suliban; suture; swallowing; tachyon; tagging; talking; Tamza; teacher (aka instructor); teddy bear; teenager; Tellarite; temperature; Teracaq; Teracaq-type; tether; theft (aka purloining, stealing); thieves; thing; time; tomb; toothbrush; Toroth; Torothan; Torothan drone; tractor beam; training; Transcendence, USS; transway; TRAPPIST 1; TRAPPIST 1e; treaty; triage; tricorder (medical tricorder); trust; tunnels; turret; uniform; United Federation of Planets; V'Rilik Penal Colony; vaccination; vandalism; vaso-suppressant; Venari Ral; Venari Ral ship (unnamed); ventricle; visitation rights; vocal cords; volcano; vomit monitor (intraspecies vomit monitor); Voyager, USS; War College; warning; warp bubble; warp drive; warrior; wind; woman; wound; wrists; year; Zobral's species; zygotes
Commemoration wall references
Albert, Joshua; ambassador; Airhart, Harrison; Ballo, Avi; Bashir, Julian; Beyer, Kirsten; Bridges, Lois; Chakotay; Chapel, Christine; Cheeks, George; Chekov, Pavel A.; Collins, Dorian; commander (rank); Cornwell, Katrina; Crusher, Beverly C.; Crusher, Wesley R.; Das, Nino; Data; Drake; Farris, Karen; Freeman, Alonzo; Georgiou, Philippa; Glover, Eric Anthony; Gomez, Sonya; Hormuth, Beth; Jerome, Mike; Johnson, Bonnie; Kim, Harry S.L.; Kirk, James T.; Landau, Safta; Landry, Ellen; Lumet, Jenny; M'Benga, Joseph; MacDonald, Erin; Mariner, Beckett; McCoy, Leonard; midshipman; Newsome, Tawny; Nguyen, Minh; Nog; Paris, Tom; Pearce, Sara M.; Permenter, Ruby; Pike, Christopher; Preston, Peter; Rand, Janice; Riker, William T.; Roth, Trevor; Sato, Hoshi; Scott, Montgomery; Shepard, Riley A.; Sito Jaxa; Spock; Stamets, Paul; Stapf, David; Sulu, Demora; T'Lara; Till, David; Torres, B'Elanna; Troi, Deanna; Tucker, Charles III; Uhura, Nyota; vice admiral; Whitley, Sally; Wildman, Samantha; Yar, Natasha; Zero the Third
Caleb Mir's criminal record references
Ajilon Prime; Andorian; Andorian language; Cardassian; Cardassian language; Cardassian Union; Ckaptir; breaking and entering; destruction of property; disturbing the peace; drunk and disorderly; Ferengi Alliance; illegal gambling; illegal trading; New Melona; peddling stolen goods; piloting without a license; possession of illicit substances; Orion language; petty theft; shuttle theft; transport of illegal materials; Trill (species)
Federation members video wall references
Aaamazzara; Aldebaran III; Alpha Centauri: Alpha Leonis; Altair IV; Andoria; Angosia III; Antos IV; Arbazan; Archanis IV; Arcturus; Ardana; Ariannus; Arvada III; Astral V; Barisa Prime; Benecia Colony; Beta Agni II; Beta Antares IV; Betazed; Betelgeuse; Bilaren; Blue Horizon; Bolarus IX; Bre'el IV; Cairn; Campor III; Canopus III; Cardassia Prime; Carema III; Casperia Prime; Catulla; Cerberus; Cestus III; Commonwealth of Denebia; Cygnia Minor; Cygnet XIV; Daliwaka; Delb II; Delos IV; Delta IV; Delta Rana IV; Deneb IV; Dulisian IV; Earth; Elaysia; Epsilon Canaris III; Gallima; Gideon; Grazer; Hekaras II; Iadara colony; Icor IX; Illyria; Ivor Prime; Jouret IV; K'Normia; Kaldra IV; Kaleb IV; Korat; Lunar Colonies; Lyshan; Makus III; Marcos XII; Mariposa; Mars; Melona IV; Midos V; Minos Korva; Moab IV; Modean; New France; New Gaul; New Paris; Nivoch; Norkan outposts; Norpin; O'Ryan's Planet; Oceanus IV; Omicron Ceti III; Omicron Theta; Ophiucus III; Pallas XIV; Peliar Zel; Penthara IV; Pentarus III; Persephone V; Planet Q; Rhaandar; Risa; Ronara; Sauria; Sherman's Planet; Sirius IX; Solarion IV; Spica; Taranko colony; Tarchannen III; Tavela Minor; Tellun; Terrellia; Tessen III; Trill (planet); Tyrellia; Umoth VIII; Vico V; Yridia; Zadar IV; Zakdorn; Zytchin III
Athena dedication plaque references
Advanced Technologies; Aloum, H.; Andrews, M.; Bellemore, A.; Blair, R.; Bradford, K.; Butt, M.; Campbell, S.; Casement, A.; Choi, N.; Colucci, M.; Command Unit; Comeau, J.; Companion, C.; Cooper, K.; Curtin, K.; Davies, G.; Decker, G.; Definney, H.; Denver, N.; Drdakova, M.; Dziwik, A.; Dziwik, M.; Edgson, J.; Elliott, S.; Engineering Division; Ferczak, A.; Forbes, N.; Fleet Operations; Gilbert, B.; Grayson, A.; Guitard, C.; Hartley, D.; Higgins, P.; Holmberg, S.; Holton, P.; Howes, S.; Howes, T.; Jefferson, C.; Jefferson, F.; Jefferson, J.; Jefferson, P.; Karpf, M.: Kirk, S.; Kuitenbrouwer, J.; Kuntz, J.; LaMarre, J.: Lariani, B.; Lee, D. R.; Leighbinger, S.; Lilley, K.; Lima, K.; Lindell, A.; Lingard, D.; Maddox, T.; Manco, T.; Martin, D.; McCabe, B.; McCullagh, D.; McCullagh, K.; McStay, O.; McStay, R.; Mealia, N.; Metzlar, D.; Monteforte, A.; Montgomerie, H.; Munro, O.; Nemeth, G.; O'Brien, M.; O'Neill, O.; Office of Science Ops; Oldey, J.T.; Orton, J.; Orton, L.; Orton, Z.; Paton, A.; Paton, J.; Patterson, A.; Perrier, L. Thomas; Perrier, O.; Pierce, R.; Plagg, I.; Robinson, S.; Rodgers, A.; Rogers, A.; Roulston, C.; Sagias, J.; Salema, G.; Saxby, D.; Sterling, J.; Singh, A.; Singh, S.; Smith, A.; Tactical Unit; Tadjik, A.; Taylor, K.; Thaysen, E.; TRAPPIST 1e Ship Yards; Watt, R.; Welsby, T.: Whitworth, A.; Williams, B.; Zorn, D.
Meta references
intertitle; "San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair)"
Lyrical references
flowers; hair; nation (United States of America); vibration
Unreferenced materials
External links
- "Kids These Days" at the Internet Movie Database
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