Blog #61 STAR FLEET ACADEMY Series Review

Genre – Drama, Science Fiction

Created by Gaia Violo

Based on Star Trek by Gene Roddenberry

Showrunners – Alex Kurtzman, Noga Laundau

Starring

Image 2 Holly Hunter voicing Elastigirl in *The Incredibles* 2005

Holly Hunter plays Captain Nahla Ake. Ms. Hunter also played Penny in O Brother, Where Art Thou 2000 (I know not SciFi but it’s what I know her from), also the voice of Helen Parr in The Incredibles 2005, and Madeline Vance in Electric State 2025,

Sandro Rosta plays Caleb Mir.

Karim Diane’plays Jay-Den Kraug

Kerrice Brooks plays SAM

George Hawkins plays Darem Reymi

Image 3 George Hawkins, Kerrice Brooks, another cadet, and Caleb Mir

Bella Shepard plays Genesis Lythe

Oded Fehr plays Charles Vance. Mr. Fehr also played Ardith Bay in The Mummy 1999, Ankou in Charmed series 7 episodes 2004 to 2005, Eli Cohn (or Cohen) in 3 episodes of V series 2011, Leslie Turner in Stitchers series 7 episodes 2015 -2016, and Charles Vance in Star Trek Discovery series 21 episode 2020-2024.

Gina Yashere plays Lara Thok

Brit Marling plays the Computer

Stephen Colbert plays the Digital Dean

Robert Picardo plays The Doctor, Mr. Picardo also played The Cowboy in Innerspace 1987, Johnny Cab voice in Total Recall 1990, Richard Woolsey in Stargate SG-1 series 7 episodes 2004-2007, General Magowan in Age of Tomorrow 2014, The Doctor in Star Trek Discovery series 21 episode 2020-2024

Image 5 Robert Picardo as Johnny Cab in *Total Recall* 1990

Tig Notaro plays Jett Reno. Ms. Notaro also played Jett Reno in Star Trek Discovery series 19 episodes 2020-2024.

Zoe Steiner plays Tarima Sadal.

Paul Giamatti plays Nus Braka. Mr. Giamatti also played the Control Room Director- Christoph’s World The Truman Show 1998, Limbo in Planet of the Apes 2001, Tim the Gate Guard voice in Robots 2005, Cleveland Heep in Lady in the Water 2006, and Dr. Barker in The Congress 2013.

Image 6 Paul Giamatti in Planet of the Apes 2001

Compser – Jeff Russo

Country of Origin – United States

Original Language -English

No. of Seasons – 1

No. of Episodes – 6

Original Release

Network – Paramount+

Release – January 15, 2026 – Present

Where to Stream – Paramount+

Synopsis

This Star Trek series is set in the 23rd Century, where Starfleet and the United Federation of Planets are recovering from a cataclysmic event called The Burn, as depicted in Star Trek: Discovery (2017-2024). Starfleet Academy follows the first new class of cadets in over a century. They are aboard the USS Athena, docked at the Academy in San Francisco, California, but can also be deployed with the rest of the fleet.

Positives

The characters are interesting:

Nahla Ake, a woman with a dark past that includes something that looks like abandoning Starfleet sometime in her past. Nahla is unconventional, very relaxed. She is both teacher and captain of USS Athena.

Caleb Mir, a cadet who was orphaned and becomes a thief and a felon. He has ties to Nahla Ake, who was instrumental in sending his mother to prison, leaving the relationship with Nahla strained.

Jay-Den Kraag, a Klingon cadet and aspiring medical officer. Jay-Den comes from a polyandrous (one woman with two or more husbands) Klingon family. It is incorrectly called polygamous (one man, two or more wives). Jay-Den does not want to fight.

Sam (Series Acclimation Mil), the first Kasqian (one kind of hologram) to attend Starfleet Academy. Sam is only weeks old, but was programmed to be a young adult.

Darem Reymi, a very wealthy Khionian cadet and aspiring captain.

Genesis Lythe, a Dar-Sha cadet who is the daughter of an admiral. She is determined to make her own name in Starfleet.

Charles Vance, a regular human and admiral who is the commander-in-chief of Starfleet, as he was in Discovery (2017-2024).

Lura Thok, part Klingon, part Jem’Hadar, is the first officer of the Athena and the cadet master at Starfleet Academy.

Starfleet Academy‘s Digital Dean of Students delivers daily announcements and important alerts to the cadets.

The Doctor, a 900-year-old holographic teacher at Starfleet Academy, also appeared in Star Trek: Discovery (1995-2001).

Jett Reno is an instructor at Starfleet Academy. Also played in Star Trek Discovery (2017-2024).

Tarima Sadal, the daughter of Betazed’s president, a planet and species featured in Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987-1994).

Nus Braka, a part-Klingon, part-Tellarite. This is the villain who played a large role in getting Caleb Mir’s mother put in prison and Caleb’s subsequent path into criminality.

These characters are pretty wild for Star Trek. The different life paths of some of the species that come to the Academy, along with their parents breeding outside of their species, lead to very different people. In practice, though, at least here on Earth today, the offspring tend to be sterile. In the original series, the characters were model officers and crew members, with the people they encountered mainly the rough or downright bad characters. Now, everyone has a bad streak, which makes it hard to root for them. People are a mixture, but the discipline of the service helps to contain that and work toward the best outcome. In this series, there is little emphasis on that idea. I understand this takes place much after most of the previous series, so that the rules can change, but it’s not wise to throw so much of that history out. Why call it Star Trek?

The setting is good. I read some criticism of this, and I don’t know if you would call it up to Star Trek standards, but it does feel like it is in the future, both in the school setting and on the bridge of the starship. Something that is, of course, necessary for a Star Trek show.

Negatives

I decided to write this review because I had seen so many negative comments that mostly involved political themes. As you may know, I am trying to get my novel in order and am interested more in how this would affect the quality of the series. Why is it so unlike the original ideas? This series will not see a second season, and that saddens me. Science Fiction is cherished by Star Trek fans and enthusiasts alike. Having a SciFi series pulled is a travesty.

I was able to sit down and watch the first season up until this point. I had tried the first episode before and didn’t like it, but I decided to give it a full look before I made up my mind. Maybe I could learn something, or maybe even enjoy something despite the naysayers.

First of all, I do like the diversity of characters, after all, it is SciFi! Quirkiness is greatly appreciated, and I would love to dive into a new world. So, here we go.

I like the setup: the first class of cadets at the Starfleet Academy after what appears to be the fall of most of civilization (The Burn). The young ones who come in would be very different from their predecessors, so I kept that in mind.

What I found were more or less three problems:

First- the plot is poor. As in all stories, first there is an introduction of the setting, situation, and characters. Both the focus and goals of the piece are explained. Then there is a ‘problem’, and we find a solution that takes into account all that has been presented. In this series, the transition from problem to solution happens very quickly. Crisis to resolution with little explanation of the aforementioned setting, situation, and characters. Then another crisis and resolution, and then another, all with the same issue. I have read one book in this style and found it exhausting. While that book did develop the characters, and I therefore had more at stake in the problems it presented, in this series, I found that the lack of development meant I had little feeling for what was at stake in the problems or their resolution. I didn’t care much.

Second – The characters are not very well developed. They are put in front of you, from which point they react to each ‘problem’ and quickly get to a resolution. The result is that I don’t care about the people portrayed, mainly because I don’t know them or what would lead them to the resolution.

Third- There doesn’t seem to be much of Star Trek’s original values. The values explained and demonstrated in the first group of TV series and movies were extremely important to the Star Trek idea. Star Trek was all about duty and compassion. Captain Kirk once said, “If I can accomplish my mission by turning tail and running, I’ll gladly do that.” (A quote from the Elaan of Troyius S3- Ep 13 Star Trek Original series.) The background of these previous series is the source of these values and general facts. This is what is called the lore. I don’t want to get into this aspect too much; I’m more into the rules and practice of writing for this piece, but the fans are furious, and the reaction from those in charge of this new series is confusion and an impulse to denigrate the fan base and their issues. That is wild.

Fourth- The lack of much teaching in the classroom. The first time I noticed this missing element was at the beginning, when the cadets arrived to start at the academy. They came in from the outside without any training. They were in the academy to learn how to be officers- HUH? Star Trek was first a military organization. This series doesn’t seem to be interested in the actual learning of the cadets in terms of military training. It is just the cadets interactions and high jinks. Kids will be kids. Oh, and then we fight. GOOD LUCK KIDS.

Conclusion

I do not know the people who wrote this, but it feels like they don’t know how to structure, develop, and deliver an enjoyable piece. There is more worry about telling one or two facts about each character or situation and just running off to fix issues.

I am sorry, but this series really needs help. It is a good idea, but it really needs development of the characters and setting, and a bit more focus on what it is all about, the background- an academy to train young people that hopefully will bring back sanity and relief to the planets that have been suffering. Showing the teaching of these cadets would be the vehicle to show us how it is done: some of the old ways, some of the new. After all, it is StarFleet Academy. How the cadets take this training and use it is, of course, the focus, but we need some discussion on how to do it without putting these kids out in combat immediately. GOODNESS! This reeks of irresponsibility.

The End

Sources

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Trek%3A_Starfleet_Academy_(TV_series)

2. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8622160/

3. https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000456/?ref_=tt_cst_i_3

4. https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0004912/?ref_=tt_cst_i_12

5. https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000585/?ref_=tt_cst_i_10

6. https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0449299/?ref_=tt_cst_i_15

7. https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0316079/

Images

1. Starfleet Academy Poster https://mlpnk72yciwc.i.optimole.com/cqhiHLc.IIZS~2ef73/w:auto/h:auto/q:75/https://bleedingcool.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/ststarfleetacademyposter-1.jpg

2. Holly Hunter in The Incredibles https://rare-gallery.com/uploads/posts/255895-elastigirl-2850×1800.jpg