TV Review: ‘Star Trek: Starfleet Academy’ Season 1

Arriving on Paramount+ on January 15 with its first two episodes (followed by one episode weekly) is the first season of ‘Star Trek: Starfleet Academy,’ the latest attempt to extend the venerable sci-fi franchise to places where no one has gone before.

​Arriving on Paramount+ on January 15 with its first two episodes (followed by one episode weekly) is the first season of ‘Star Trek: Starfleet Academy,’ the latest attempt to extend the venerable sci-fi franchise to places where no one has gone before.   

Arriving on Paramount+ on January 15 with its first two episodes (followed by one episode weekly) is the first season of ‘Star Trek: Starfleet Academy,’ the latest attempt to extend the venerable sci-fi franchise to places where no one has gone before.

The cast for the show includes Holly Hunter (‘Broadcast News’), Paul Giamatti (‘The Holdovers’), Sandro Rosta (‘Snitches Get Stitches’), Kerrice Brooks (‘My Old Ass’), Karim Diané (‘One of Us is Lying’) and Robert Picardo (‘Star Trek: Voyager’).

Related Article: Paul Giamatti to be the Villain in the New ‘Starfleet Academy’ Series

Initial Thoughts

Exploring student lives at Starfleet Academy has been a project mooted for years but which never quite came about.

Now, Alex Kurtzman and the current TV ‘Star Trek’ team (Gaia Violo created the series alongside Noga Landau and Kurtzman) have finally managed it, setting the show in the far, far future as explored by ‘Star Trek: Discovery’s later seasons, in a time when the Federation and other space-going organizations are still recovering after the “Burn”, which killed billions and all but ended warp drive travel.

It’s designed as a blend of YA archetypes, with younger characters still finding themselves and a healthy dollop of ‘Star Trek’s moral philosophy, albeit with the harder edge of the Paramount+ series.

Script and Direction

Kurtzman, Viola and Landau have pulled off quite the trick here –– the combination of fairly different approaches could have been as problematic as mixing matter and antimatter, but here it largely works.

Yes, some of the storylines are burdened with cliches (the bitter loner with a tough past who finds a family among his fellow students! The non-human character learning about humanity! The hard-charging jock/rich boy who seems smug and annoying but has some depth!) and the show’s deep dive into ‘Trek’ history can come across as pandering in a way that ‘Lower Decks’ never did, but once the series starts to find its feet, it turns into something watchable, and one episode early in the run that explores the potential fate of a familiar character from a previous series (no spoilers here), is even effective and affecting.

Cast and Performances

While the main focus is on the younger characters, it’s the veterans who really impress. Hunter’s fantastic as the long-lived chancellor/captain, forever curling up in command chairs or padding around the Academy barefoot.

When she’s facing off against Giamatti’s half-Klingon/half Tellurite piratical troublemaker, the air crackles with energy.

As for the younger cast, they’re good –– Kerrice Brooks brings truly fun energy as SAM, the “photonic” (read: holographic being) who was created four months before the series starts but is designed to act as a 17-year-old, hoovering up knowledge and interactions.

Meanwhile, Robert Picardo is still supremely fastidious and officious as The Doctor, but has found new levels of humanity to play.

Final Thoughts

Like any youngster finding its way in the world, the new show stumbles a little before it really takes off, but should find a home with both those who enjoy the current ‘Trek’ output (there are humor levels that sometimes rival ‘Strange New Worlds’) and even fans of the various older series.

Plus, with Season 2 in the works, at least you know it’s worth heading back to the final frontier…

‘Star Trek: Starfleet Academy’ Season 1 receives 78 out of 100.

What’s the plot of ‘Star Trek: Starfleet Academy’ Season 1?

The new series introduces viewers to a young group of cadets who come together to pursue a common dream of hope and optimism.

Under the watchful and demanding eyes of their instructors, they discover what it takes to become Starfleet officers as they navigate blossoming friendships, explosive rivalries, first loves and a new enemy that threatens both the Academy and the Federation itself.

Who stars in ‘Star Trek: Starfleet Academy’ Season 1?

Holly Hunter as Nahla Ake
Sandro Rosta as Caleb Mir
Karim Diané as Jay-Den Kraag
Kerrice Brooks as SAM (Series Acclimation Mil)
George Hawkins as Darem Reymi
Bella Shepard as Genesis Lythe
Zoë Steiner as Tarima Sadal
Robert Picardo as the Doctor
Tig Notaro as Jett Reno
Oded Fehr as Charles Vance
Gina Yashere as Lura Thok
Paul Giamatti as Nus Braka
Stephen Colbert as the voice of Starfleet Academy’s Digital Dean of Students

Other ‘Star Trek’ Movies and TV Series:

Buy ‘Star Trek’ Movies On Amazon

 Movie Reviews RSS Feed