Kids These Days
Years after “The Burn” that caused massive destruction in Star Trek: Discovery, Starfleet Academy is set to reopen with its first new class in more than a century. But a space pirate intercepts the ship as it delivers the first cadets to Earth for training.
Warning: Spoilers Below
Mother on Trial
The series starts with a mother and son staring at the stars and her promising the pair will go to Earth together. It’s then revealed the mother is on trial after linking up with a space pirate, while desperate for food. The pirate was on a mission to bring down a Starfleet vessel and their actions led to the death of a Starfleet officer. The pirate is sentenced to life in a penal colony, while the mother is sent to a rehabilitation camp while her son is put in Federation foster care. The mother tells her son not to trust the Federation.
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Nahla ake, the Starfleet officer in charge of delivering the punishment, tells the young boy, Caleb, that she’ll make sure he gets to see his mother. Instead, he listens and capitulates until Nahla leaves the room. Then he escapes and is on his own having to try to survive and on a mission to find his mother.
15 Years Later
Admiral Vance, first introduced in Discovery, approaches nahla about taking over as the new Admiral in charge of Starfleet Academy. After Caleb’s escape, nahla left Starfleet, but now they want her back to help lead a new generation of cadets. She initially rejects the opportunity until Vance tells her that Starfleet has captured Caleb. Nahla goes to the prison transport where Caleb is being held to address the young man whose life was upended by her punishment.
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Caleb is angry at Nahla for having to spend the last 15 years on the run while trying to find his mother. He’s prepared for prison when Nahla offers him an alternative, enroll in Starfleet and he can serve out his sentence while learning valuable skills and building a future of his own. She also lets him know that his mother escaped her prison colony the previous year and she’ll help him find her. Caleb reluctantly agrees and heads to the ship to join the first new class of cadets since “The Burn.”
Meet the New Class
The new cadets head to the ship. Joining Caleb are JAY-DEN Kraag, a meek Klingon; Sam, a bubbly hologram; Genesis LYTHE, the daughter of an admiral; and Darem REYMI, who looks like he’ll be a bully when he starts taunting Kraag. Caleb sticks up for Kraag despite not knowing the Klingon, showing a sense of justice that makes sense for someone who has lost loved ones due to injustice. It’s also great for what Starfleet aspires to be, although many times organizations like the Federation fail to live up to the standards they claim.
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Caleb also meets the cadet master, a stern half-Klingon, half-Jem’Hadar (this raises some questions about the lore), and the return of The Doctor (Robert Picardo’s hologram character from Voyager.) It looks like it’s a fun trip to Earth, but some of Caleb’s actions are about to cause massive issues for the ship.
Space Pirate Returns
Caleb sneaks away and breaks into the ship’s computer to send a message to his mother. Genesis catches him but promises not to rat him out. Later, the ship is attacked by red projectiles that form a web around it and start draining the ship’s energy. The cadets run for cover when Lura, the cadet master, is trapped under a large chunk of debris. Caleb, Genesis, Sam, Kraag and Darem work together to get her to a medical bay and try to save her life. The enemy ship sends a transmission and the attacker is revealed to be Nus Braka, the space pirate whose actions led to Caleb and his mother being separated anyway.
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Nus wants the ship’s warp drive to sell it for parts. He reveals he intercepted Caleb’s message to his mother and plays it for the entire ship to hear, making many not trust him. The cadets step up to help save themselves from the pirates. Nahla simulates a warp core detonation to get the pirates off her ship. Darem gets a physical scan of the web, so they can figure out how to get rid of it. He goes out because his species can survive in space without a suit longer than the others. Genesis uses a tractor beam to save Darem since he was stuck in a position where even he wouldn’t be able to survive much longer.
Caleb get to the computer to try to disable the web when Nus returns. The pair fight and Nus taunts Caleb about his mother. The computer clears the web, and the bridge destroys Nus’ ship. He’s still able to get to a shuttle to escape. The crew survives and continues on to Earth.
Caleb’s Punishment
Nahla addresses Caleb in her quarters about what happened. She dresses him down for his message that got the ship and his fellow cadets into danger. Still, she commends his leadership skills which helped save them. She cuts him a new deal. He’ll have to work off 100 hours of labor for his sentence. He’ll also have to stay at the Academy. He agrees and is grateful to not be sent to prison. Nahla also talks about her son who died in “The Burn.” It’s clear the pair are set to have a mother-son relationship given the actions that cost them their relationships with their own mother and son.
The Good and the Bad
This episode has a lot of good but some bad. First off, there’s some heavyweight talent among the actors. Tatiana Maslany plays Caleb’s mother, Paul Giamatti plays Nus and Holly Hunter plays Nahla. All three of these actors shined in their roles. It’s clear we’ll see more of Nus in the future and Nahla is clearly set to be a big part of the series. I hope we get more of Caleb’s mother going forward. Also, the references to Discovery and Voyager help the series be connected to the overall franchise. Plus, the new Academy mentions that Ensign Kim finally got promoted after the events of Voyager and became an Admiral.
But there’s some questions surrounding the series. The Jem’Hadar were an all-male species that was created in birthing chambers. Obviously, some of the books and other materials may have explained how there is a female half Jem’Hadar, half-Klingon. It’s not objectively bad, but some explanation probably needs to be given for people who aren’t able to keep up with all the other material. I don’t hate it, but it raises questions about lore in a very expansive franchise that may be difficult for some to keep pace. Also, this series has the potential to be Beverly Hills 90210 in space. I hope it avoids that. The bad is mostly minor quibbles right now, and I hope that’s all the bad stays.
Brooke Palmer/Paramount+
Still, I liked this pilot better than the pilots for Discovery and Picard. Plus, it’s lightyears better than the Section 31 film. Still, it’s not on par with Prodigy, Lower Decks or Strange New Worlds in the straight to streaming shows. It was fine, but I hope it improves.
Check out Star Trek: Starfleet Academy exclusively on Paramount Plus.
Article Written By: Jeremy Brown for Stelmach Brown Media 2026
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