Star Trek: Starfleet Academy Finally Released A Great Episode, But Is Anyone Still Watching It?
By Chris Snellgrove | Published
Like many critics, I felt the same way Starfleet Academy had a rough start, presenting the show as a broad, lowbrow comedy for young (in both senses of the word) audiences. To my surprise, the show got progressively better as it transitioned into Season 1: the profanity (mostly) disappeared, the minor characters disappeared, and the comedy was toned down. Too bad, it’s still early Starfleet Academy he felt Beavis and Butt-Head meets Doctor Who. Now, each adventure feels like one VoyagerThe worst episodes, although one with melodrama and fan service went up to 200 percent.
The most recent episode, “300th Night,” is a new high for the series, in large part because it builds on the mythology set by the very first episode. In this story, Caleb finds his mother while the Federation finds itself at the mercy of Nus Braka’s worst attack yet. All of this sets up what should be a satisfying season finale Starfleet Academy next week, but unless that episode can win back the viewers we’ve already lost, the show could be completely doomed.
Mother Problems? More Like Mom Subscriptions
The first episode of Starfleet Academy is tied to the main character Caleb by a very sad tale: his mother was unjustly tortured by Starfleet, which forced Caleb to grow up on the run from Federation authorities. After learning that she escaped from prison, Caleb used Starfleet resources to try to reach Mother Dear. He didn’t find him, but in “300th Night,” he’s on a planet about to be attacked by Nus Braka’s merry band of pirates.
As all of Starfleet is returned to Betazed, Caleb is forced to become a shuttle to rescue his mother. However, most of his fellow space students invite them, and the brightest and best youth in the galaxy descends into a veritable den of trash and bullying. There, they discover Caleb’s mother has a bigger problem than they can handle, and Chancellor Ake must decide between saving the students he swore to protect and risking an incident between the gangs.
Starfleet Academy at its Best
I was very strict with the first episodes of Starfleet Academyand for good reason: the show consistently used humor as a form of defense, and the humor was often as fresh as the episode Jackass. Additionally, the show took some major changes when it came to the Star Trek story, but the bad didn’t always connect. With all the successful respect of previous episodes of Deep Space Nine or Voyagerwe might get something contradictory, like the episode revealing that most of the Klingons in the galaxy died (off screen, no less) in their sleep, meaning their souls went straight to hell (it turns out not good day to die).
However, recently, Starfleet Academy he has learned to walk and sometimes even run without crutches: many jokes are replaced by dramatic beats, resulting in characters who feel like important cadets and younger than their siblings. The show stopped making major changes to the franchise’s lore, instead relying on episodes that followed up on previous adventures Deep Space Nine again Voyager. The best thing about this is that the show finally seems to have learned to move in the right direction, leading to intense episodes that are truly rewarding to watch.
In my ever humble opinion, “300th Night” is the best Starfleet episode to date. It continues the recent trend of following up old stories, this time, filming a new story VoyagerThe famous Omega particle. The episode reunites Caleb with his mother, deepens his relationship with Tamira, and establishes Nus Braka as one of the most successful villains in Star Trek history. The result is an episode that you can enjoy as an episode of serial mythology, as an episode of Caleb’s character, or simply as a taut thriller in its own right.
Talaxian Furfly in Oil
Don’t pour the Saurian Brandy too soon, kids: “300th Night” still has a few disturbing flaws in it. The first is SAM, whose child-like character has just had a 17-year-old experience, with a holographic Doctor acting as his adoptive father. The previous episode revealed that he will be very different, and SAM in “300th Night” says that he didn’t like his old self. However, his new persona is very different: between giving long, unfunny chunks of word salad and screaming half his lines, the new SAM seems inexplicably more annoying than the old one.
SAM’s most infuriating moments are reminders of a depressing truth: when Starfleet Academy relies less on comedy than before, the comedy efforts we get are still stagnant extremely subpar. Other less-than-satisfying bits of humor include the return of the shiny cleaner and Jet Reno getting a few “well, that’s what just happened”-style moves. However, due to the popularity of the show, these pieces of bad humor are few and far between, and “300th Night” is mainly focused on the high drama of Caleb and his friends breaking all the rules so that the most unlikely family reunion in the galaxy can finally happen.
Late Day And Latinum Short Bar
Like Starfleet Academy hating from the beginning, I was surprised by the thought that kept going around my head during “300th Night”: “Why did the game wait so long to be this good?” This latest episode builds on the plot elements laid out in the first episode, but this latest show is much more polished, led by actors and writers who have more confidence in these characters. Finally, Starfleet Academy achieved the impossible: it’s now a good enough Star Trek show that I’d have no problem recommending to a friend.
However, the show now finds itself in a quandary: it has not been renewed beyond Season 2, and major changes at Paramount have made it more likely that it will be renewed. This is funny, but I’m sure the show would have been revived if its early episodes had focused more on the “300th Night” storytelling and less on broad jokes and lame attempts to appeal to a younger audience. Now, Starfleet Academy it may have eventually evolved into a decent Star Trek show, but it won’t survive or thrive because disappointing early attempts to attract new fans kept driving everyone away.
Are you too busy chasing new followers to satisfy any old ones? That’s Alex Kurtzman at his best, baby.
