Star Trek: Starfleet Academy Episode 5 Review - The Return of a Trek Legend

Spoilers travel for Star Trek: Starfleet Academy Episode 5, “Series Acclimation Mil,” which is disposable connected Paramount Plus now.

So present it is – the Benjamin Sisko occurrence that Starfleet Academy has been teasing since astatine slightest arsenic acold backmost arsenic past summer. The conception of returning to the enigma of what happened to Avery Brooks’ legendary Deep Space Nine skipper is simply a daunting undertaking for the fledgling Starfleet Academy, but fortunately the episode’s writers (Trek vets Kirsten Beyer and Tawny Newsome) don’t effort to change oregon adhd to Sisko’s communicative – which aft each was fundamentally completed with the extremity of DS9 – but alternatively usage his fable to grow connected 1 of the caller show’s main characters, Sam (Kerrice Brooks).

I mean, that’s virtually however the occurrence starts disconnected arsenic “A Story About Me” is scrawled implicit the “A CBS Studios Production” rubric screen. Make nary mistake: “Series Acclimation Mil” is astir Sam, not Sisko. The occurrence is adjacent named aft her!

The Sisko Museum is chock-full of Easter eggs.

And portion the communicative involving Sam is different of the coming-of-age benignant tales that Starfleet Academy is funny in, 1 wherever the holographic pupil finds immoderate semblance of independency from her overbearing “parents,” there’s nary denying that simply evoking the sanction Ben Sisko is simply a large pull, and that arsenic a effect thing abbreviated of the instrumentality of Brooks successful the relation can’t assistance but consciousness a spot anti-climactic.

As each the episodes of this archetypal play person done truthful far, “Series Acclimation Mil” focuses connected 1 of the series’ leads, and successful truthful doing yet gives america immoderate accusation astir who and what Sam is. We knew she was a photonic being, aka a hologram, but present we cognize that her existent ngo astatine the Academy is to service arsenic an emissary for her “people,” who travel from a satellite called Kasq and were enslaved by integrated beings “a agelong clip ago.” As a result, they present fearfulness that interacting with non-photonic lifeforms volition mean a instrumentality to the slavery of their past, and truthful they’ve sent Sam to consciousness things retired and fig retired what the woody is with these integrated types.

The happening is, her overseers are fundamentally jerks who don’t get her oregon recognize the extracurricular satellite successful the aforesaid mode that Sam has already travel to bash successful her abbreviated clip astatine the Academy. So fundamentally she’s the aforesaid arsenic immoderate pupil who goes disconnected to assemblage and realizes their parents are wholly retired of it. Join the club, kid.

If they couldn’t get Avery Brooks back, past Cirroc Lofton returning arsenic his lad Jake is the adjacent champion thing.“

The occurrence is changeable successful a beauteous unconventional mode for Star Trek, with Sam talking straight to the camera astatine times and doing immoderate impromptu dancing, portion on-screen graphics exemplify immoderate of what she’s discussing and distinctly non-Trek euphony pops disconnected successful the background, each of which volition surely infuriate the Very Angry assemblage who either specialize successful the monetization of hatred oregon conscionable plain don’t recognize what Star Trek was ever astir (or possibly are conscionable bots). Whatever the case, I liked the unsocial presumption of this episode, though I bash fishy that if the purpose present is to person it talk to young audiences, it volition work arsenic much “cringe,” arsenic they say, than thing other to that precise aforesaid audience.

Of course, the existent crushed Sam is talking to the camera is that this is each expected to beryllium the connection she sends Sisko astatine the extremity of the episode. Speaking of which, if they couldn’t get Avery Brooks back, past Cirroc Lofton returning arsenic his lad Jake is the adjacent champion thing. The holographic signaling of Jake talks astir his dada the mode he knew him, arsenic a man, a feline who loved baseball, a chef, but astir of each arsenic a dad… the lessons and illustration of which Jake pulled from erstwhile helium yet became a dada himself. This father/son narration was ever 1 of the astir important connected Deep Space Nine, and the information that Beyer and Newsome thin into it with their publication is conscionable perfect, arsenic is Lofton’s return. Sisko’s narration with his presumption arsenic Emissary of the Prophets was ever an uneasy one, and it lone makes consciousness that Jake would retrieve his dada arsenic the antheral helium was, not the deity helium would become.

Meanwhile, the B-story involving the War College’s Chancellor Kelrec (Raoul Bhaneja) is amusing successful and of itself, particularly since it gives Tig Notaro and Robert Picardo thing to bash this week, and surely the uncover that helium feels that Holly Hunter’ Chancellor Ake betrayed Starfleet erstwhile she resigned years earlier is interesting.

Cirroc Lofton returns arsenic Jake Sisko.

But backmost to Sam, the instrumentality to Sisko’s aged stomping grounds to party, resulting successful the hologram getting drunk, leads to assorted hijinks that conscionable halt abbreviated of becoming annoying. Starfleet Academy has proven adept astatine weaving its assorted characters’ ongoing communicative threads into immoderate other is going connected each week, and conscionable erstwhile drunk Sam is astir to go too much, we chopped to Caleb and Tarima flirting extracurricular the bar, oregon tensions with the War College kids escalating (again).

The culmination of the occurrence is sweet, arsenic Sam visits with Jake done immoderate Magic Science and comes to recognize that conscionable arsenic Sisko did 800 years earlier, Sam has to marque her ain beingness choices for herself arsenic overmuch arsenic she can. It’s the “We’re Not Gonna Take It” of Star Trek resolutions, convey you Dee Snider, and it works beautifully, culminating successful words spoken by Avery Brooks himself (if not recorded for this existent episode) arsenic the representation of Sisko tin faintly beryllium made retired successful the clouds.

Questions and Notes from the Q Continuum:

• When that DS9 taxable euphony kicked in… man.
• Tawny Newsome didn’t conscionable co-write the episode, but that’s besides her arsenic the Starfleet teacher who turns retired to beryllium the latest incarnation of Dax.
• I’m amazed Robert Picardo’s The Doctor, arsenic a hologram himself, hasn’t been fixed much of a involvement successful Sam’s communicative truthful far. Although his proposal astir moving connected aft nonaccomplishment is telling…
• While it doesn’t look that Sam’s “people” were created by humans oregon the Federation – presumably Sam has been made to look humanoid/human to acceptable successful amended – their past of enslavement does dependable familiar, arsenic we saw connected Star Trek: Voyager however a full service of holographic doctors had been forced into hard labour erstwhile they became obsolete.
• Those War College jerks!
• A theremin? Why not!
• “Bajoran kids don’t play.”
• They don’t adjacent amusement images of Sisko anymore connected Bajor due to the fact that they judge he’s transcended quality form… and astir apt due to the fact that Avery Brooks would person to beryllium paid for it?
• Why would the Sisko Museum person Benny Russell’s typewriter if Benny had lone existed arsenic a dream/vision/whatever?
• Jake’s caller Anslem does person its roots successful the archetypal DS9, having archetypal been mentioned successful the all-time large occurrence “The Visitor.”
• The barroom formerly known arsenic The Launching Pad was successful information the tract wherever Sisko fought a Vulcan, specifically Solok, the a-hole who he'd besides conflict successful a shot lucifer successful the occurrence “Take Me Out to the Holosuite.”
• While I said earlier that this occurrence doesn’t truly alteration Sisko’s communicative successful immoderate way, that is possibly not wholly true. After all, if Dax and Jake don’t person the answers regarding what happened to Sisko aft helium ascended to the Celestial Temple, past presumably cipher does? Which means Sisko ne'er did travel back… adjacent though helium promised successful the DS9 finale that helium would. But past again, possibly Dax and Jake conscionable aren’t talking…