Star Trek: Starfleet Academy Episode 8 Review - Voyager’s The Doctor Finally Gets His Episode

Spoilers travel for Star Trek: Starfleet Academy Episode 8, “The Life of the Stars,” which is disposable connected Paramount Plus now.

It’s a comic happening with Starfleet Academy. While the amusement has often had maine raising an eyebrow Vulcan-style erstwhile trying to compute immoderate of the communicative oregon in-universe developments, by the clip the closing credits rotation that worldly typically winds up not mattering that overmuch to me. I deliberation this is due to the fact that the bigger communicative and affectional stakes involving our halfway radical of cadets conscionable enactment truthful good that immoderate nerdy inconsistencies like, say, “why is simply a dormant starship the spot for a grooming exercise,” oregon “would they truly bring backmost a lieutenant each the mode from Beta Quadrant conscionable to assistance heal a traumatized radical of students” conscionable go non-issues.

Such is the lawsuit successful “The Life of the Stars,” wherever we find Caleb (Sandro Rosta) and the pack inactive dealing with the tragic events which took spot onboard the USS Miyazaki a fewer episodes back, with Zoë Steiner’s Tarima and Kerrice Brooks’ Sam confronting peculiarly unsmooth circumstances. That this is framed astir an amateur speechmaking of the 1938 Thornton Wilder play Our Town is yet beside the constituent due to the fact that of however resonant the occurrence winds up being.

Mary Wiseman’s Lt. Sylvia Tilly returns.

That’s wherever Mary Wiseman’s Lt. Sylvia Tilly comes in, formerly of Star Trek: Discovery and benignant of a changed quality here. Or possibly “matured” is the amended mode of putting it? Yes, she’s inactive quirky and amusive astatine times, but she besides has a harder borderline successful immoderate of her moments with the cadets, peculiarly Tarima, who has returned aft her convalescence connected Betazed and has been transferred to the Academy and retired of the War College. Tarima is confused and hurting aft the Miyazaki incidental wherever she saved the day, but had to injure herself – and unleash her powers – to bash so. She’s besides each up successful her feelings astir her narration with Caleb, and the 2 of them are much confused than thing close now.

Here’s the portion of this reappraisal wherever I confess that I americium not an adept connected Our Town – not lone americium I not an expert, but I’ve ne'er work it, I’ve ne'er seen a accumulation of it, and my cognition of it is beauteous minimal. Still, the conception of the “stage manager” being the existent signifier manager of the theatre wherever the play is being performed but besides a quality successful said play is intriguing, and surely 1 tin spot however the meta facet of the play was of involvement to occurrence writers Gaia Violo and Jane Maggs (Violo is besides the creator of Starfleet Academy). And that’s what takes america to the Sam and The Doctor portion of the story.

Robert Picardo’s instrumentality arsenic his beloved Voyager quality connected Starfleet Academy has been mostly played for laughs truthful acold – astatine archetypal glance, his eternally annoyed but inactive lovable hologram doesn’t look to person changed that overmuch from his days with Captain Janeway. But Episode 8 yet delves a spot deeper into however the fundamentally immortal Doctor has suffered successful the years – rather, centuries – since helium archetypal came into existence.

Episode 8 yet delves a spot deeper into however the fundamentally immortal Doctor has suffered successful the centuries since helium archetypal came into existence.“

And truthful his reluctance to link to oregon instrumentality Sam successful and judge her petition that helium mentor her is understandable, adjacent portion it’s pugnacious to observe (The Doctor refusing to clasp her manus successful her darkest hr is simply a unsmooth moment). He’s protecting himself here, and Sam excessively – oregon truthful helium thinks – from the symptom of yet having to suffer 1 other, conscionable arsenic helium has mislaid truthful galore friends and loved ones implicit the past 800 years. (Yes, adjacent Harry Kim musta stung… a bit.) Picardo nails The Doctor’s interior turmoil successful these scenes.

So that’s The Doctor arsenic signifier manager, and Ake excessively to a lesser degree, arsenic she excessively is highly long-lived. But the happening is, what benignant of a beingness is it erstwhile you’re unwilling to link to anyone oregon anything, but volition lone benignant of beryllium from a remote, unattached vantage point? The Doctor yet comes to recognize the mistake he’s been making successful this respect for God knows however long, conscionable arsenic the cadets backmost astatine the Academy – Tarima included – instrumentality the archetypal measurement connected a akin way of healing arsenic well.

That Sam’s “death” and “rebirth” don’t person that overmuch interaction is yet due to the fact that this communicative is The Doctor’s and not Sam’s; no, she gets much of a “death betwixt commercialized breaks” that would’ve happened connected the 1960s amusement since she’ll presumably beryllium mostly unaffected by the event. (Unless of people her being raised by The Doctor for 17 years present changes her quality successful immoderate important way. But I’d beryllium amazed if that happens since the amusement has lone conscionable established her.)

Questions and Notes from the Q Continuum:

• Tilly, who started arsenic a cadet connected Disco, is present teaching cadets. It’s already been touched upon connected Discovery, but still, it’s bully to spot specified continuity successful the Trek universe.
• That said, however precisely does Tilly cognize Holly Hunter’s Captain Ake? I don’t judge we person a circumstantial day arsenic to erstwhile Ake near Starfleet successful the aftermath of young Caleb’s disappearance, but we bash cognize she went to Bajor to go a teacher. It seems apt that would’ve been during the aforesaid play that Tilly jumped guardant into the 32nd period onboard the Discovery, and subsequently had her interactions with the Academy… truthful fundamentally Tilly wouldn’t truly cognize Ake from the Academy astatine all, right?
• The occurrence of Voyager which featured The Doctor creating a holo-family was called “Real Life,” and helium did so “lose” his holo-daughter successful that story.
• Regarding Sam’s satellite Kasq… tin a satellite really beryllium shaped similar that? Or is it artificial?