Starfleet Academy Pays Less Than Star Trek’s Grand Captain, With Help From Dax
By Chris Snellgrove | Published
At first, a preview of the latest episode of Starfleet Academy I was nervous because it was obvious that the story would focus on Benjamin Sisko, the famous captain of Deep Space Nine. DS9 remains my favorite Trek, but the writing of SFA was so inconsistent that I fear the writers will do something to tarnish the legacy of this amazing game and its most powerful player: Avery Brooks. I was surprised, Starfleet Academy gave Sisko a wonderfully sweet shadow, though his unexpected triumph is almost undermined by the game’s forced feel and cryptic humor.
A framing device for this Starfleet Academy The plot is that the holographic character Series Acclimation Mil (SAM) is told by his people to enroll in a course on alien consciousness. They realize that this will help SAM with his mission, which is to understand humanity and ultimately decide if they are ready to exist with the rest of the hologram race. In order to enter this course so long ago, however, SAM must impress his teacher by answering a question that is centuries old, which seems impossible: what happened to Benjamin Sisko, the man who died in the fiery caves of Bajor or who lived without the time to live with godlike prophets.
Sisko Did More Than a Uniform
While the introduction of SAM’s story is so full, it’s distracting (more on this soon), the central question is a great hook for long-time fans. We have spent decades want to know more about Sisko’s fate, so it’s easy to invest in Quixotic’s hologram plucky quest to learn more about him. When it comes to delivering the goods (and watch out for major spoilers from here on out!). Starfleet Academy in the end it shows that it knows the meaning of self-control.
You see, SAM doesn’t get a straight answer, which really relieved me. I was really afraid that the show would bring back Sisko as some kind of AI monstrosity, or maybe misplace him in franchise lore by having him leave the Temple of Heaven to end the Interim Cold War or something equally contrived. Instead, SAM’s investigation reveals what Star Trek fans already knew: that Sisko was an amazing Starfleet officer, a world-class father, and a killer chef in addition to being a Jesus figure on a planet full of strange aliens.
More than Jake
In this way, Starfleet Academy pulls a successful bait and switch, teasing an investigation into the franchise’s beloved character before settling on a nostalgic tribute. The gift goes to really unexpected places, like going Lower Decks icon Tawny Newsome plays the latest unknown host of the Dax symbiote. The real show-stopping cameo, however, comes from Cirroc Lofton returning as Jake Sisko, who speaks to SAM through a collective hologram (or perhaps a prophet-like vision). Anslemhis first novel which he finished in secret but never published.
Lofton is as good as ever, and his presence helps solidify this sweet, romantic take on Avery Brooks’ famous character, never I’m back in the franchise. Brooks gets the final say in an old recording that the show passes on as narration from Benjamin Sisko. While that’s a little weird (hey, at least they got Brooks’ approval… maybe), it worked as a sensitive capper to the awesome tribute, which usually goes to the coolest captain in Star Trek history.
When Star Trek Talks Down to Its Audience
While it gets the Sisko charge right, everything else about it Starfleet Academy The episode remains a hot mess. The episode is about SAM, and they lean on this with a long opening where he talks to the camera while cartoon goons helpfully label things (like “me” and “my makers”) to the audience. That might sound good on paper, but when the show monosyllabically defined “messenger” as “big job,” I realized this was clear evidence (clear=big deal!) that the writers think everyone watching is a complete idiot.
Speaking of absolute stupidity, this Starfleet Academy the episode is interrupted by a nasty subplot where Chancellor Ake helps Commander Kelrec prepare to host a visiting dignitary. They end up having a rehearsal dinner attended by the Doctor and Jett Reno, but things immediately get off track, and the characters make goofy banter and use table objects as ersatz speakers. The 800-year-old Doctor mysteriously gives everyone spoons with holes in them, and all this creates for everyone but Kelrec laughing at a melting fish that makes popping noises (no, really).
Open Wide, Here Comes the “Comics”
This is part of the Starfleet AcademyOverly broad jokes that don’t really last. It’s not like a show I won’t do comedy writing: Caleb’s one-liners are often funny, and if you can’t get past all the profanity and 21st century slang, the cadets’ constant teasing will make you laugh more than once. But the show usually tries way very hard on comedy, as evidenced by the show’s digital director (voiced by Stephen Colbert) using the word “morning wood” before laughing in delight at his boner joke.
The broad humor reminded me of a sad irony: ten years ago, a Star Trek podcast The Greatest Generation it was successful because its hosts (Ben Harrison and Adam Pranica) adopted low-key humor to talk about a franchise that some podcasters considered dead. In their words, it was a “d*ck and fart joke” Trek podcast, made for fans who just wanted a few laughs rather than serious discussion. For fans of the franchise looking for a consistent chuckle, this is still the best podcast in every quadrant.
Now, however, the latter Starfleet Academy The episode proved that this is id*ck and fart Star Trek the showbut these writers will never be able to do comedy the way Ben and Adam do. Also, the constant barrage of dirty jokes and foul language always undermines the show’s attempts to discuss anything more serious. Like, ask yourself: is this a Sisko episode stronger or weak having a weird boner joke straight out of a Judd Apatow movie?
Go Home, Star Trek, Drunk
That doesn’t help Starfleet Academy is still trying to straddle the line between being a show about Trek’s legacy (look, they just did an entire episode on The Sisko!) and a show that wants to channel every teen movie ever made. Like, SAM’s revelations about Sisko happen a bit while he’s drunk in a shop, and his antics lead to a fight between the Academy types and their rival cadets at the War College. This doesn’t really move the story forward (other than speeding up Caleb and Tarima’s inevitable relationship), and it felt like the writers wanted to explore some of the tropes in the lineup.
All in all, this latest episode of Starfleet Academy good, but not good: it lives almost as shockingly as a gift to Sisko, and as a lifetime. Deep Space Nine superfan, I found most of this (especially the cameo from Cirroc Lofton) really moving. The episode also works well as an extended introduction to SAM, but her character development is stymied by the writers trying to make her a dreamy photonic pixie girl with the personality log beauty of a straight-to-video Nickelodeon movie. Strip away the ed*ck and fart jokes, and you’re left with a Star Trek show that still doesn’t know if its core audience is old-school fans or modern teenagers who watch nothing but ’80s boner comedies.
