Star Trek

[andersonh1]

Re: Starfleet Academy - it doesn't look like a show where anything interests me, other than Robert Picardo being in it. I'm assuming he's playing the holographic Doctor, because of course that character could easily survive into the far future. Maybe I can find some clips of his scenes once the show starts.

[Sparky Prime]

Yeah, I'm not sure what they're going for with this Starfleet Academy series based on this trailer. The way they present the students makes it feel more like Starfleet's school for misfit special kids. Star Trek isn't the X-Men. I love seeing Robert Picardo in it, but... Nothing else really grabbed me about this trailer.

[Sparky Prime]

The Kelvin timeline is dead. After numerous directors and writers have been attached to and gone over the past decade, Skydance/Paramount CEO David Ellison says they've "moved on" from the idea of doing a 4th film with the JJ Abrams Star Trek cast.

Frankly, I think it's for the best to leave the JJ Abrams films behind. Sure it helped relaunch the franchise, but they were not well written movies.

[andersonh1]

The Kelvin timeline is dead. After numerous directors and writers have been attached to and gone over the past decade, Skydance/Paramount CEO David Ellison says they've "moved on" from the idea of doing a 4th film with the JJ Abrams Star Trek cast.

Frankly, I think it's for the best to leave the JJ Abrams films behind. Sure it helped relaunch the franchise, but they were not well written movies.

I agree, and I think it's better to just end it than keep floating the idea of a sequel that isn't going to happen.

I'm not a big fan of recasting... to me Shatner is Kirk, and Nimoy is Spock, etc. That being said, they did cast some good actors who could certainly have done a good job of recreating the characters if they'd been given better material to work with. I enjoyed the movies for what they were, despite some major gripes, but they really should have been a lot better than they were.

[Sparky Prime]

Thomas Jane and Kai Murakami have been reportedly cast to play Dr. McCoy and Sulu in the series finale of Strange New Worlds.

Which means all of Kirk's senior staff, save for Chekov, will be represented in the series. I've been expecting this. It has been pretty clear the creators of SNW have been building towards Kirk's era as the Enterprise captain. Which, to me, is a mistake. This show should have focused on Pike and his crew of the Enterprise, and any references to TOS crew (save for Spock as the only established member of both crews) should have been used sparingly. Honestly, I'm a little surprised they're apparently not going to shoehorn Chekov in somehow, or just ignore his age like the 2009 film did.

[Sparky Prime]

The newest Star Trek series is here. Nice new ship flyby intro for the 60th anniversary showcases the Enterprise, Enterprise A, Enterprise D, Defiant, Voyager, NX-01, Discovery, SNW Enterprise and finally the Athena.

Starfleet Academy

"Kids These Days"

Spoiler

In the post-Burn 32nd century era, Nus Braka and Anisha Mir are put on trial for killing a Starfleet officer and stealing food rations. Captain Nahla Ake had promised to help Anisha so that she could stay with her son, Caleb, but the Federation ended up sentencing her to a rehabilitation center. Caleb steals Ake's comm badge and is able to use it to run away. Skipping ahead 15 years (post season 5 of Discovery), Caleb is still looking for his mom, having racked up a substantial rap sheet and is apprehended for his crimes. Ake, having quit Starfleet for forcing her to separate Caleb from his mom, is offered the role of Starfleet Academy Chancellor and she gets to recruit Caleb to help him locate his mom to fix what she considers her biggest mistake.

They arrive at the USS Athena, the new headquarters of Starfleet Academy where we get introduced to several cadets and crew. They depart for Earth but come across an anomaly near the Badlands the crew decide would be a good learning experience for the cadets. This turns out to be a trap set by the Venari Ral who easily disable the Athena with hostile programmable matter. Nus tracked them thanks to the messages Caleb sent to his mother on a special frequency. The crew stall while the pirates attempt to take parts of their warp drive. Caleb, with the help of the other main cast cadets are able to reprogram the hostile programmable matter and free the ship. But Nus gets away in an escape pod. The Athena continues to Earth, where it lands at the traditional Academy headquarters.

I'm confused about what happened with Caleb's mother. She's sentenced to a rehabilitation center, where she'd have visitation rights. So... why does Caleb spend the next 15 years looking for her? Shouldn't it be relatively easy for him to find which facility they put her in? Later on in the episode, Nus Braka says they broke out of prison together. But Ake said Anisha wouldn't be sent to prison. Which is it? Also, find it hard to believe a 6 year old, even if he's a genius with access to 32nd century technology, could survive 15 years on his own.

I'm liking the characters for the most part. Great to see the EMH. He added aging to his program 500 years ago, explaining Robert Picardo's real life aging, but is explained in-universe that he wanted to put the organics at ease. He apparently never chose a name. Still don't understand how there is a Jem'Hadar/Klingon hybrid, when the Jem'Hadar were created in a lab by the Founders and as far as we know aren't capable of reproducing. All she says is that she's from a Klingon house, and a Jem'Hadar lineage. But she is a fun character. Nahla Ake is not what you'd expect for a Starfleet captain, but I really like Holly Hunter's portrayal.

For the main cadets of the series, we have Genesis Lythe, a Dar-Sha (a new alien species to us), Darem Reymi, a Khionian (another new alien species to us) who can look human, Sam, a hologram from a holographic society, and Jay-Den Kraag, a Klingon that wants to be a doctor. I really like the inclusion of a Klingon that doesn't want to be a warrior. But, it sounds like they dubbed over his voice and modulated it lower.

For some reason, cadets are not allowed to check out an EVA suit with out an instructor, but they can still get a pair of magnetic boots and just walk out of an air lock. Obviously, this was just an excuse to show off Darem's abilities as a Khionian, but it was a little convoluted.

I don't understand why they just let Nus Braka escape. With his ship destroyed and their systems back online, they could have beamed him to the brig, or at least put a tractor beam on his escape pod.

When the Athena arrives at Earth, they drop off the warp nacelles with an orbital space dock. Cool visual, but I would have thought programmable matter and whatever would have allowed them to just melt the nacelles into the saucer, like how Book's ship could reconfigure itself. Also not sure why the cadets had to gather... You know, I have no idea what planet the Athena departed from. Anyway, I don't see any reason why they couldn't have just gathered at Earth directly, or why the main building is a starship.

"Beta Test"

Spoiler

Starfleet is in negotiations with the Betazed about rejoining the Federation, but their current leadership is dead-set against it, having isolated themselves to protect themselves following the Burn and aren't convinced the Federation can protect them. So it's decided to invite them to the newly re-established Academy, hoping the kids of the future might sway them. Meanwhile, Caleb is still having a hard time adjusting to the academic life and is frustrated Starfleet has no records of the planet his mother was last reported to be on. Trying to get off campus, he meets Tarima and they instantly bond, as both feel trapped. She's one of the children of the Betazoid president. Turns out, the Betazed stellar cartography records have the planet Caleb is looking for. Their fledgling friendship is tested when Tarima doesn't understand why he wants this information so badly, and the negotiations break down. Finally telling Tarima about his mother, she convinces President Sadal to give the talks one more chance. Chancellor Ake admits to shortcomings, but offers to make Betazed the new headquarters of the Federation to guarantee their protection. He agrees, and Tarima joins the Starfleet War college, while her brother becomes one of Caleb's roommates.

This episode messed up the Betazoids. They're described as being empathic, and at no point mentions they are supposed to be telepathic. Granted, Deanna Troi was empathic, as a result of her being half human. But she could still telepathically talk to her mother, and Riker, and some other telepathic aliens. There's no explanation why these characters aren't telepathic.

Tarima is somewhat like Tam Elbrun from the episode "Tin Man". Her powers apparently are so powerful that, without the inhibiter she wears, she's a danger to those around her. Not sure how, since Tam's abilities only caused problems for himself.

I liked President Sadal is a deaf character, played by a deaf actor. Reminded me a little of Riva from "Loud as a Whisper". And it was neat that he had a device on his collar that could speak for him. But... again, being a Betazoid, he should have been able to talk to others telepathically.

Not sure why they hold the negotiations in public. I get the whole, the kids are our future angle they're going for in this episode, but the actual talks should have been in private. And why is Starfleet conducting the negotiations rather than the Federation Council?

Cool to see a Brikar. Unfortunately, it looks like they just pulled the CGI model directly from Star Trek Prodigy. It looked like a cartoon character rather than adapted to live action. We also see an Exocomp... Which I find hard to believe still looks like an Exocomp from TNG after 800 years. Don't know how there is a Cheronian cadet, considering they wiped themselves out in TOS, save for the two males that were on the Enterprise.

The characters get their dorm assignments in this episode... despite being ordered to their dorms when the ship was attacked in the previous episode.

Why does Starfleet have a separate "war college" now? I mean, Starfleet is, in part, a military organization so shouldn't military training be part of their curriculum? And they actually call it "war college"?

Are the cadets not allowed to leave campus grounds? Or is it just Caleb? Either way, seems odd. We know from DS9, Sisko and Nog were able to go New Orleans all the time.

It's interesting they are establishing the new headquarters of the Federation on Betazed.

[andersonh1]

I'm definitely curious to read your reviews. I'm not seeing a lot of positive talk about this series. I'd have very little interest in it, but I do like seeing the EMH and would at least enjoy seeing him again.

[Sparky Prime]

I'm definitely curious to read your reviews. I'm not seeing a lot of positive talk about this series. I'd have very little interest in it, but I do like seeing the EMH and would at least enjoy seeing him again.

I actually forgot this series was coming out this month, until I saw an ad while rewatching TNG the other day. Really odd going from TNG to this by the way. I have to admit I enjoyed these first two episodes of Starfleet Academy more than I thought I would... But my expectations were pretty low going in, and well, it could still be a lot better.

[Ursus mellifera]

I'm definitely curious to read your reviews. I'm not seeing a lot of positive talk about this series. I'd have very little interest in it, but I do like seeing the EMH and would at least enjoy seeing him again.

I actually forgot this series was coming out this month, until I saw an ad while rewatching TNG the other day. Really odd going from TNG to this by the way. I have to admit I enjoyed these first two episodes of Starfleet Academy more than I thought I would... But my expectations were pretty low going in, and well, it could still be a lot better.

I kind of feel the same way. I've only watched the first episode so far, and I enjoyed it more than I expected, but my expectations going in were in the toilet. I expected the worst kind of CW teen drama.

[Sparky Prime]

Vitus Reflux

Spoiler

Starfleet Academy and the War College are working out together, and the two groups nearly comes to blows after a war college student hits Caleb in the head with a basketball. In the locker room, the Starfleet cadets are beamed to various locations around campus as a prank by the War College. The Starfleet cadets want to prank them back, but Chancellor Ake decides to give them a lesson in herbology using the vitus reflux instead. The cadets then start Calica, a battle simulation game, as a means to pick their group captain. It's quickly evident Reymi and Lythe are the front runners, but during a tie breaking shoot-out, Reymi throws off Lythe by brining up her family troubles, allowing him to get the final two targets. The War College once again pranks Starfleet by airing a commercial of their lackluster Calica performances. Ake confronts Kelrec (the head of the War College), as they only way his cadets could have gotten that footage is with the help of an instructor. But he dismisses it as a lesson in life not being fair.

Starfleet and the War College have a late night Calica match, but when Reymi is penalized for punching another cadet, Lythe comes up with a strategy getting them their first point, shortly before the game is broken up by Thok. Ake chews out the cadets for their behavior, but Lythe realizes she was secretly giving them a strategy for a prank of their own. Breaking into the War College dorms, they spread the vitus reflux spores with some miracle grow. The War College cadets are forced out of their building, and because the vitus reflux cannot be removed until it reaches maturity, they wont be getting back in anytime soon. With the oversight committee arriving, Kelrec is forced to concede the pranks. The Starfleet Cadet team gets fancy lettermen type jackets and Lythe officially becomes their captain.

I had to look up what exactly this "War College" is supposed to be. The reactions online about it seem confused as well, since these episodes didn't take time to actually explain it. I mean, there was a throwaway line about it training new Starfleet officers during the Burn era, with there being no Starfleet Academy. So... I guess it basically was the Academy for the last 100 years? Why wouldn't they have incorporated it into the re-established Academy then? And why have two schools with the same purpose of training Starfleet officers running concurrently in the exact same location? I think the writers just wanted to have a rival school. But, I don't think this makes sense as two separate schools. I think it would have been better if they were competing squads within the Academy. Like, say, Red Squad vs. Nova Squad.

The mascot for the Military College is the Mugato introduced in TOS. Starfleet Academy is the Lapling from TNG. I get the feeling this was meant to be a joke from the writers. The 'jock school' having a badass mascot, while the 'geek school' has an extinct creature because it was harmless. It's the sort of joke I'd expect for a comedy/parody, but I don't think Starfleet Academy would realistically choose a Lapling as their mascot.

Yet another nuTrek series with a severed eyeball... sort of. In order to get past the War College security, they needed Kelrec's retina scan and DNA, so they got a DNA sample and used it to make a clone of his eyeball. The characters joke about actually cutting one of his eyes out. I have to wonder if that may have been another writer's joke, given the criticisms of how often nuTrek shows have had eyeball gore. Disappointed that the writers made 32nd century scanners this easy to fool. Would have thought it should be able to decern something cloned with bio-mimetic gel. This is a problem I had with Discovery jumping to this century in the first place. The technology doesn't feel advanced enough to me.

I felt the episode spent too much time on developing the Calica game, it made the episode drag and took away from the plot. I don't get why they had them learning it in stages. It's not that complex. They compare it to laser tag but you don't learn to play laser tag in stages, starting with just running through a battle field unarmed. You just play the game.

I would have liked to see more of the Reymi/Lythe competition to become captain, and maybe base it off of more than physical performance of an incomplete game, given strategy is ultimately what gets Lythe the role. We learn they both have complicated family lives, causing them both strive to be the best at whatever they do. It would have been nice to see more of that as well, as it gets overshadowed with everything else going on in this episode.

I also think they could have done more with the pranks between the two schools and had a lot more fun with it, maybe not be so aggressive with them. Take it from a rivalry to mutual respect. Kinda feels like the episode leaves off on the wrong message, with Kelrec conceding and the War College students still angry.

Robert Picardo does not appear in this episode.