Logline
When an existential crisis threatens to wipe out a beloved but infamous Star Trek species, a cadet is forced to confront his past and strained relationship with his family. As he pursues an unexpected method of coping, Nahla races against time to save this species from extinction.
Written by: Gaia Violo & Eric Anthony Glover
Directed by: Doug Aarniokoski
This episode was what I was hoping for out of this show. The first episode was such whiplash that I’m glad it is settling down. This episode we got a cool character study that had actual impact. Cool lore that made sense. Characters had long one on one conversations. Parallel storytelling with the debate. Maybe even the hint of a natural progressing gay romance? All storylines mattered. Good job Modern Trek!
I’m a little late to the party, but this episode is everything I wanted from modern Trek.
I’m loving that the cadets are competitive but ultimately supportive of each other. I love that we spent an entire episode focused on Jay’den’s backstory and the Klingons, without any tedious martial arts or (real) space battles but the stakes were still plenty high. I found the resolution, and the message (not letting go of the past, but letting the present in) to be excellent Trek.
Caleb is also proving to be a bit more of an academy-era-Picard style character (great at a lot of stuff, but arrogant) rather than the sort of troubled genius vibe in the first bit of the show. I am looking forward to seeing him, and the other cadets, developed further.
Holly Hunter is doing great, bringing her own style. Loved she had a history with the Klingon guy and advocated for her student. I get why she’s rubbing some the wrong way, but she is masterfully handling the people around her, leading with empathy, and has been very effective.
Also love we got some classic Klingon music from the movies, it was a nice nod.
Overall, I think this show is finally taking real advantage of the far future timeline. It is a little silly that major diplomacy is being effected at the Academy but because the Federation is still finding its feet again and the fact that the world has been mixed up from 90s Trek, it makes the Academy a much more interesting lens on the world than it would have been if it was set in the TNG-VOY timeframe.
The way I see it, each of the cadet main characters could be a Wesley Crusher but isn’t.
That was a fantastic episode altogether. Loved it.
I agree that the resolution should be obvious, and after the Betazed episode, it is again ridiculous that political problems are solved at a school, but then again, it was ridiculous that Picard solved all problems in the galaxy.
I also like how this episode resolves why Klingons played no role in Discovery after the time jump.
I thought the contrivance of involving Starfleet Academy was done very well.
From an upper decks perspective, a tragedy happened, and Starfleet was compelled to act. No need to involve the Academy, but it just so happens that the highest ranking official in Starfleet with close ties to a member of the Klingon house is the current chancellor of Starfleet Academy. (That she’s 400 years old is going to be a pretty handy plot device for getting her involved in all sorts of things… but it hasn’t hit the point of being annoying yet.)
Separately, it also tracks that the chancellor needs to see their only Klingon cadet privately to offer support. That’s a good school administration right there. No need to involve him in the diplomatic negotiations that are going on behind the scenes.
The only reason why these converged was because of the debate class, which makes total sense that it would be a required course at the Academy, and then only because the students debated the Doctor into allowing it because they were already talking about it.
I think this would be ridiculous if it was literally every episode, but this actually worked.
I just think the show needs to be careful. I like that the stakes at the moment are low and personal, and there’s not galaxy threatening desaster (yet). I think the show would profit if they kept ist that way.
Everything else in this episode on what it means to be a Klingon was probably top 10 Trek for me.
Yeah, I thought both this and the “youth movement” angle of episode two worked well.
As the cadets start venturing out into fieldwork more, they shouldn’t have to make excuses quite so often. They can go find their own trouble, and Discovery will be undergoing a perpetual refit!
But Star Trek writers should come up with new ideas other than “our favourite alien race” diasporas. Will we have a Frengi diaspora next season?
It’s a bit weird that losing Qonos somehow wiped out the whole Klingon empire.
They did say they had been using “dilithium reactors” on multiple worlds.
Well, plus the Burn that made it difficult to traverse space. The “Klingon Zone” that was hinted at in Discovery probably meant that the apparatus of empire was no longer in place, but that only individual houses remained, scattered wherever they were across the region of the empire.
I agree that the resolution should be obvious, and after the Betazed episode, it is again ridiculous that political problems are solved at a school, but then again, it was ridiculous that Picard solved all problems in the galaxy.
Eh, that’s just how shows work. Just imagine that there are a slew of other problems being solved off-screen by characters we never met.
Obviously, you need some disbelief for this kind of show. It’s also always the main group of people solving the problems, not that random dude in the third row.
The show just needs to be cautious with not overdoing it. This is the second major federation “crisis” solved at the school in just four episodes, while they should actually study that nebular or learn temporal mechanics
I really didn’t care for this one.
The premise of the debate was flawed from the start. The Federation has an obligation to offer help, but there’s no requirement anywhere that it must compel another race to accept that help. Indeed many, many episodes have gone out of their way to point this out. So the whole idea of a “debate” was pointless. Of course they should offer the help, but that’s the end of any moral or legal responsibility. Doing anything more would itself be unethical.
Interestingly as an aside, I found this whole prospect very American at its root. Not only should we accept that we must offer help, but of course we must compel these people to accept our idea of help. It stinks of regime change from without and I find the idea that the Federation would ever work this way ridiculous.
On top of that, we’re somehow supposed to pretend we didn’t all watch Esri Dax’s excellent critique of the Klingon Empire back on DS9 and instead accept that this lie of “conquest” is supposed to prop up the Klingon culture. Are we to believe that it’s been hundreds of years and the Empire is still built in lies they tell each other about honour and battle? Instead of showing any hint of evolution (and potentially stoking internal conflict at the idea of accepting charity from an enemy), we just had a 5 minute “battle” and it’s all ok now.
This wasn’t even a respectful battle. No blood was spilt by either side, no sacrifices made. Where is the honour in that? It was a mock battle to preserve a lie. Esri would not be amused.
I think that arrogant, quasi-imperialistic has always been simmering in the background of the Federation, so I wasn’t too surprised to see them arguing over this - and, to be clear, the actual debate was always amongst the students. Vance was determined to convince the Klingons to accept asylum, but “compelling” them did not seem to be seriously on the table.
Esri Dax’s excellent critique of the Klingon Empire
That’s an interesting point. If I were to come up with a counter-argument, I suppose it would be that the Klingons’ readiness to do this ritualistic faux combat shows some growth - they’re willing to settle for performing their culture and feeling respected, rather than endure actual warfare. A smarter person than me could probably find parallels in many modern cultural practices.
the actual debate was always amongst the students. Vance was determined to convince the Klingons to accept asylum, but “compelling” them did not seem to be seriously on the table.
That was my read of it, too. The cadets were debating the course of action with various shades of compulsion in their arguments. I thought that the debate device was great for fleshing out the overriding question of forcing help on people.
I suppose it would be that the Klingons’ readiness to do this ritualistic faux combat shows some growth
This is a great point, and I hadn’t thought of that. I could definitely see 24th century Klingons demand real bloodshed. Though, perhaps the growth is born of a certain pragmatism that must develop when a species is near extinction; they simply do not have the luxury of losing any individuals.
Just to your point about the debate being pointless, it wasn’t even meant to be in the curriculum until the students fought for it.
We could mince words about whether or not the writers forced the debate plot, but what really matters is whether they sold that it was within the characters’ motivation to hold one. And for me it did.
The short and bloodless battle could have been sold better. In a TNG episode someone (Worf) would have mentioned some ancient Klingon marital ritual of ritual combat. Even better when it’s a story from Klingon mythology. Then they could call a P‘Qouth and duke it out for a symbolic minute.
Helping people by force to save them from death is something that’s often done IRL, e.g. evacuations, suicide watch. Saving endangered species is a goal of many people and countries today. Saving an extraterrestrial sapient species and culture against their will is an easy case to make.
I disliked the episode visually. It was mostly short close up shots with blurry backgrounds in poorly illuminated areas, even the exterior scenes.
Then there was those weird shaky shots that felt so fake.
If someone tells me that it was made with AI I could believe it. Were they going for AI slop aesthetics?
Loved the episode, no notes.
shit, should I be watching Academy!?
If you haven’t been, at least try this episode (or everything up to this episode if you want to go all-in). If this episode doesn’t move you in some way, then I don’t know. Maybe it’s not actually a show for you.
Honestly, yes. I went in pretty skeptical because I don’t really like the 32nd century setting and find teenage drama tiresome. SFA is actually pretty good. I really liked this episode: classic Trek storytelling and excellent world-building. The teenage drama stuff is annoying (to me personally), but that’s kinda the price of having a show about cadets.
There are some great characters, too. Jay-den (the Klingon and focus of this episode) is great, and Lura Thok, the Cadet Master, is an absolute gem of a character.
6 days later I’m caught up! loving the show, thanks!!
Don’t expect too much. It’s corny with very simple preachy messaging. The writing is cheesy and filled with sloppy humor. The show plays everything very safe.
I do have to say though, that episode 3 was okay and 4 approaching good. The first two were a boring pandering fest.
I like to think that the pepperoni pizza was a tribute to the 30th anniversary of “Threshold” on the same day, but the true tribute to “Threshold” was depicting parents stranding their offspring on a planet and then justifying that it was fine.
This episode’s ending was very soulist. Battle is a social construct, and if everyone agrees, then it can be used however people want it to be used.
Ritual combat is a thing.
Dialog exchange spoiler—do not read before viewing the episode
“I have been reading your file for the last seven years. It’s longer than War and Peace. And the plot twists…”
I haven’t laughed this much in months, I don’t know who writes these humorous bits, but thank you!!
This episode was a close miss for me, it’s like it had the framework to be a good episode but they just didn’t finish it up correctly.
so this episode...
The whole debate thing with Jay-Den saying Klingons must be Klingons, yeah duh, everyone knows that, weak! And the thing with the fake battle, really no one else thought of it? Honestly ST always had problems portraying Klingons consistently, they usually make them appear so dumb you wonder how they can manage to keep their fricking starships operational.
Speaking of inconsistency, Darem was introduced in E01 being an asshole for no reason, then five minutes after changed completely, now he’s even a wannabe-counsellor? I’m all for character growth, but there was none, it was more like character switch.
Loved the quote from The Drumhead, loved hearing the Klingon theme once again, I would have loved to hear it a bit longer.
Picardo is killing it as usual.
I’m seeing a slight improvement. I’m still hopeful this show can sediment into something good. I’m worried how they seem to have picked a protagonist once again, a thing I hated from Discovery.
I think Darem’s biggest issue was his drive to be the best, and he pretty much got over that last week. Other than that…IDK, he’s a bro, and I think he behaved as a bro this week.
(no need for spoiler tags in the discussion threads!)
Yeah, he always thought he had to put everyone else down to be a leader, because that’s how it is on Khionia. So his first move is picking a fight with the Klingon to show who’s boss.
And as you say, last week he realised “Wait, greatness in Starfleet comes from helping others be their best selves? Well let’s get started then, I understand the assignment now!”
While I love a good debate episode of start trek, this one was a missed opportunity to make parallel to some current event. Good otherwise and agree with others that the end was eh, but I’ll take it.
I very much enjoyed this one. I’ve always loved Klingon culture and Worf was always my favourite main cast member. In TNG/DS9 we often saw a juxtaposition between Klingon honour and victory/power at any cost that often took over. I really found it heartening that Klingons post burn are willing to risk extinction for their culture when 800 years ago many wouldn’t think twice to using dishonourable means to get a seat on the council.
I’m enjoying the show so far, my only gripe is that there is too much lens flare.
🥹 Yes, I am crying.
EDIT:
Major Spoiler
I teared up hearing the rendition of the TMP score.
Me too.
Thok moving of the piece of clothing to the side had me really chuckling.
I see they decided to address the more foul Language in this show compared to other Star Treks. I would have liked if it was addressed as a cultural shift regarding the evolution of language over centuries but instead they “Effed it up.”
I never really took debate in school, but is that really how it goes? One student winner debating everyone for practice until they “lose?” Constant citations of things like they were called out anime punches? It seemed more like it school debate as written by someone who never did a debate club/class, but I never took one neither so I felt I should ask.
I also wondered about the debate. As a German I know nothing about debate culture, and this episode did not help lol
