In the nearly sixty years since what would later become known as Star Trek: The Original Series first premiered, much of the massive franchise has focused on exploring the vastness of space on either short-term missions or long-term expeditions, with character development second to story but still substantially emphasized. The latest series, Starfleet Academy, doesn’t have a particular destination or endgame in mind but rather stays centered on a class of cadets looking to become the next great adventurers who still have plenty to learn about themselves before they go out to find and protect the next new frontier.
The core cadets featured in this show come from a diversity of backgrounds and species, each bringing with them very specific baggage that makes them either extremely well-suited for success or always on the defensive, battling uphill odds in a world that suggests they shouldn’t be able to achieve what it is they’re so set on doing. Fortunately, nothing is simple and everyone encounters adversity of some sort, and there’s more than enough drama, fun, and immature antics along the way as those with too much confidence get a dressing down and those who don’t think they’re enough get surprising boosts to their egos that come both from hard work and pure luck.
While its young cast – Sandro Rosta, Karim Diané, Kerrice Brooks, George Hawkins, and Bella Shepard – is key to its effectiveness, and they are all very good, this show smartly provides adult anchors to keep things managed and organized, even if they don’t necessarily make choices all that much evolved and thought-through than the newbies. Holly Hunter, whose most recent series regular TV gigs were Mr. Mayor and Saving Grace, is clearly having a blast as Starfleet Academy chancellor Nahla Ake, sitting on her feet while in the captain’s chair on the USS Athena or wearing pajamas while talking students through their missteps and often encouraging them more than she probably should as the presumably mature one in the room. She’s a fantastic lead for this show who’s considerably more relaxed than previous captains but still just as capable of headlining a series.
Each new show within this ever-expanding universe has its own voice, but it’s natural for audiences to want to latch on to something familiar. While Benjamin Sisko does factor heavily into one of the early episodes’ storylines, there’s one character who gets an even bigger and more formidable showcase. It’s a true gift to have Robert Picardo back as the Doctor, also known as the Emergency Medical Hologram from Star Trek: Voyager. His dry sense of humor and fidelity to rules and regulations makes for very entertaining scenes with both cadets and fellow faculty alike, and it’s nice to see him in a completely new playground without his fellow Voyager crew, who lived a good eight hundred years before the events of this show.
Rounding out the adult cast are Gina Yashere, Tig Notaro, and Oded Fehr, each lending a mix of gravitas and entertaining personality to their roles. Paul Giamatti and Tatiana Maslany also have key roles in the pilot that are memorable enough to suggest that they should and will return later on in the season to dive more fully into their parts. The show’s entire ensemble is well-assembled, tapping into years of lore about particular species and adding a good deal of new fodder for exploration. This will surely be a launching pad for the careers of some of its young stars, who, if all goes well, will spend formative years getting to portray these same characters.
Classic Trekkies should find more than enough to enjoy here, and placing the Academy aboard a starship means that there’s still opportunity for movement and action on a regular basis, not dependent entirely on classroom activity to enthrall audiences. In theory, it’s a setup that could last indefinitely if the cadets rotate out as they graduate, and having Hunter in the captain and chancellor’s chair should make that worthwhile for any number of years given how comfortable she seems leading the charge. While it doesn’t always have the same dramatic imperative as some of its predecessors, this show is fun and mines considerable material for continued interrogation.
Series grade: 8/10
