With help from Dax, Starfleet Academy narrowly wins tribute to Star Trek’s greatest captain
Author: Chris Snelgrove Published
It turns out to be a preview of the latest episode starfleet academy It makes me very nervous because it’s clear that this story will focus on Deep Space Nine’s legendary captain Benjamin Sisko. DS9 Still my favorite Star Trek, but SFA’s writing is so inconsistent that I worry the writers will do something to tarnish the legacy of this amazing show and its most powerful performer: Avery Brooks. To my surprise, starfleet academy Surprisingly, “Sisko” pays homage to Sisko, even if its nostalgic triumph is almost undermined by the show’s forced whimsy and clunky humor.
Framing device for this starfleet academy The plot is a series of holographic character adaptations where Mir (SAM) is told by her people to take a course on learning about the unknown. They believe this will help SAM in her mission to understand humanity and ultimately decide if they are ready to coexist with an entire race of holograms. However, in order to get into the course so long after it began, Sam must impress the teacher by answering a centuries-old, seemingly impossible question: What happened to Benjamin Sisko, who either died in the fire caves of Bajor or still lives outside of physical time with the Holy Prophet.
Sisko isn’t just for uniforms
While SAM’s story presents an overwhelming, distracting contrivance (more on that later), the central issue is a big draw for long-time fans. we have spent decades Want to know more about Cisco’s fate, so it’s easy to dive into this plucky hologram’s quixotic quest to learn more about him. When it comes to delivering the goods (beware of some major spoilers from here on out!), starfleet academy Finally showing that it knows the meaning of restraint.
You see, SAM didn’t get any clear answers, which was a relief. I’m really afraid the show will bring Sisko back as some sort of AI monster, or maybe awkwardly integrate him into series lore by saying he left Tiangong to end the Space-Time Cold War or something equally contrived. Instead, SAM’s investigation mostly revealed what Star Trek fans already knew: Sisko was an incredible Starfleet officer, a world-class father, and a killer chef, in addition to being the reluctant space Jesus of an entire planet filled with strange aliens.
not just jack
so, starfleet academy pulls off a fairly successful bait-and-switch, investigating a beloved series character before launching into a nostalgic homage. The tribute went to some truly unexpected places, like lower deck Iconic Tawny Newsome plays the latest alien host of the Dax symbiote. The truly amazing cameo, however, comes from the return of Cirroc Lofton as Jake Sisko, who talks to SAM via an interactive hologram (or perhaps a prophet-like vision). Anslema first novel he completed in secret but never published.
Lofton is as great as ever and his presence helps solidify that, a sweet and loving tribute to the character made famous by Avery Brooks who will no way Back to the franchise. Brooks got his final words via an older recording, which the show passed off as Benjamin Sisko’s narration. While it’s certainly a bit weird (hey, at least they had Brooks’ permission…probably), it serves as a sentimental capper to a surprisingly deft, often touching tribute to one of the coolest captains in Star Trek history.
When Star Trek Treated Its Audiences Condescendingly
While it pays homage to Sisko just right, everything else starfleet academy This episode is still a mess. This episode is mostly about SAM, and they show that off with a long opening scene where she talks to the camera while cartoon pop-ups help the audience label things (like “me” and “my maker”). This might be cute on paper, but when the show monosyllabically defined “envoy” as “big job,” I realized it was clear evidence (clear = big deal!) that the writers think everyone watching is an idiot.
Speaking of complete idiots, this starfleet academy The episode is bogged down by a horrific subplot in which Chancellor Ark is helping Commander Kyle Lake prepare to receive a visiting dignitary. They end up attending a rehearsal dinner attended by Doc and Jet Leno, but things immediately Going off the rails, the characters make silly jokes and use desktop tools as knockoff speakers. The 800-year-old doctor inexplicably gives everyone spoons with holes in them, which all works out to everyone’s benefit, except for Kyle Lake who laughs at a deflated fish making a fart noise (no, really).
Open your heart, here come the “jokes”
this is part starfleet academyThe overly broad humor never really lands. This isn’t like a show cannot Writing Comedy: Caleb’s quips are often hilarious, and if you can get past all the vulgarity and 21st century slang, the cadets’ constant banter of each other will have you laughing frequently. But the show often tries Way Comedy is so hard, as evidenced by the show’s digital dean (voiced by Stephen Colbert) using the term “morning woods” before gleefully laughing at his own silly jokes.
This broad humor reminds me of a cruel irony: More than a decade ago, the Star Trek podcast the greatest generation It works because its hosts (Ben Harrison and Adam Planika) use cheesy humor to talk about a franchise that other podcasts take extremely seriously. They’re, in their own words, “jerk jokes” on the Trek podcast, made for fans who just want a laugh rather than a deep discussion. This remains the best podcast in the entire quadrant for franchise fans looking for constant laughter.
But now, this latest starfleet academy This episode has proven that this is Star Trek exhibitbut these writers could never really achieve the lowbrow humor that Ben and Adam did. Additionally, a constant influx of off-color jokes and crude language continually undermines the show’s attempts to discuss more serious issues. Like, ask yourself: Is this an episode of Cisco? stronger or weaker An embarrassingly stupid joke straight out of a Judd Apatow movie?
Go home, Star Trek, you’re drunk
this doesn’t help starfleet academy Still trying to straddle the line between a show that ties into the Trek legacy (look, they just did an entire episode on Sisko!) and a show that wants to channel every teen movie ever made. For example, part of Sam’s revelation about Cisco occurred while she was drunk at a bar, and her antics led to a bar fight between 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 feels like the writers are just trying to check more tropes off a list.
All in all, the latest episode starfleet academy Good, but not great: it almost shockingly succeeds in paying homage to Sisko and serving as a lifelong deep space nine As a huge fan, I found much of it (especially Sirocco Lofton’s cameo) to be very touching. The episode also works well as an extended introduction to SAM, but her character development is hampered by the writers’ attempts to make her a photon elf dream girl with the personal journal aesthetic of a Nickelodeon movie straight-to-video. Throw in those assholes and fart jokes, and you’re left with a Star Trek show that still can’t figure out whether its core audience is old-school fans or modern teenagers who inexplicably only watch silly comedies from the ’80s.
