Starfleet Academy failed most of its students

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy aimed to shake up the Star Trek formula for the franchise’s 60th anniversary by focusing on a group of young adults studying to be Starfleet cadets. After a rough pilot that was overstuffed with exposition and character introductions, showrunners Alex Kurtzman and Noga Landau settled into a compelling formula of using classes on everything from debate to the mysteries of the universe to frame character-driven episodes. But in the back half of the season, their work started sliding in quality like they were students with senioritis.

Episode 6, “Come, Let’s Away,” brought a major tone shift and emphasis on the schemes of series villain Nus Braka (Paul Giamatti). But focusing on a big threat to the United Federation of Planets left much less time for character development, causing many plotlines to feel rushed or underdeveloped. Now that the season is over, we’re grading the storylines for the show’s six main characters — and hoping they get better treatment when they return to school for season 2.

[Ed. note: This article contains major spoilers for Starfleet Academy season 1]

Caleb Mir (Sandro Rosta)

Caleb’s story was central to this season’s plot, so he got the most screen time of any of the show’s characters. His mother, Anisha (Tatiana Maslany), worked with Nus Braka when Caleb was a child, and she was sentenced to life in prison for her role in the death of a Starfleet officer. That gives Caleb a personal connection to Nus, who, in the grand tradition of Star Trek trial episodes, uses Anisha as his key witness to question the Federation’s benevolence.

Captain Nahla Ake (Holly Hunter) was the judge who sentenced Anisha, but since then she’s worked to make things right. When Caleb is arrested for trying to break his mom out of prison (he doesn’t know she actually broke out years ago), Nahla rescues him, brings him to Starfleet Academy, and promises her full support in finding Caleb’s mom. Caleb’s skepticism about Starfleet inevitably breaks down as he excels in class and makes friends. By the end of the season, he reunites with his mom but decides to stay in school.

This plot arc checks all the boxes. Caleb ends the season in a very different place than where he started and his story fits into the themes of the show. But it’s also very predictable. The best moments are when his friends call him out on his mommy issues and relentless need to push everyone away. They’re still endlessly forgiving, so he never faces any real consequences for his selfishness and recklessness. Now that Caleb’s story is largely resolved, I’m hoping someone else gets the spotlight next season.

Grade: B

Series Acclimation Mil aka SAM (Kerrice Brooks)

SAM (Kerrice Brooks) looks concerned while standing in a crowded marketplace in Starfleet Academy

SAM has the strangest backstory of the main cast as a recently created holographic emissary for the Kasquians, a species trying to determine if they can trust the Federation. She was a ray of sunshine amidst the show’s brooding teens because of her childlike enthusiasm for meeting people and learning new things. Her arc initially focused on setting boundaries with her creators, learning to accept her own limitations, and using her bubbly personality to get even the most taciturn characters to open up.

SAM instantly connected with Starfleet Academy’s sole holographic instructor, The Doctor (Robert Picardo), and spent most of the season trying to get him to be her mentor. In episode 8, “The Life of the Stars,” The Doctor has to choose between letting SAM die or taking full responsibility for her and spending 17 years of relative time raising her as his daughter. The slow push and pull of their relationship was undermined so that Starfleet Academy could imitate the seminal Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “The Inner Light.”

What’s even worse is the personality transplant SAM receives from this treatment. She returns to Starfleet Academy as just another brooding teenager, viewing her past self as embarrassingly naive. She’s literally sapped of color, trading the striking gold makeup and hair accents she wore in the first half of the season for a more subdued look. Besides being cranky, SAM doesn’t show any new interests or depth from her new childhood. Maybe next season we can at least see how she feels about her dad’s passion for opera.

Grade: C

Jay-Den Kraag (Karim Diané)

The Klingon medical student Jay-Den had by far the best episode of Starfleet Academy season 1. “Vox in Excelso” showed what being an iconoclast cost him, even as he demonstrates his reverence and understanding of his people’s way of life by advocating for their autonomy from the Federation. He also got the best relationship plot: a love triangle where he was put in the position of weighing his romantic preferences against supporting a grieving partner.

Then Jay-Den practically disappeared from the show. In episode eight, the character has a cold, so misses a big cathartic emotional arc. He’s one of two main students left behind when the other protagonists go on a mission to find Caleb’s mom. The love triangle never progresses. His story isn’t the worst, but it’s the most disappointing because of how much potential was squandered.

Grade: D

Genesis Lythe (Bella Shepard)

Genesis is pretty much a one-note character: an overachiever desperately trying to live up to the reputation of her admiral father. The one compelling wrinkle is that she’s so obsessed with how she’s perceived that she edited her letters of recommendation to remove notes about those very insecurities. That scandal gets her pulled from a program for aspiring captains, but she faces no meaningful consequences. Three episodes later, Genesis winds up in the captain’s chair anyway.

Grade: D

Darem Reymi (George Hawkins)

Jay-Den Kraag (Karim Diané) sits on the bridge of the Athena looking worried in Starfleet Academy

Darem is basically the same character as Genesis, but his development is even weaker. He and Genesis are quickly framed as competitors, but Genesis is better at everything. Darem explains his drive comes from being a Khionian noble with extremely demanding parents. But when Darem goes home to marry his planet’s crown princess, his parents aren’t even present. When he walks away from the arranged marriage because he’d rather be in Starfleet and with Jay-Den, the only person he has to explain himself to is his fiancée. There’s no reason given for his parents’ absence. That feels like a wasted opportunity to show Darem standing up for himself and build further kinship with Jay-Den, who also abandoned the path his parents wanted him to take. Professor Jett Reno (Tig Notaro) says the cocky Darem will probably wind up becoming a pilot instead of a captain. Maybe a change in focus will help him distinguish himself next season.

Grade: F

Tarima Sadal (Zoë Steiner)

Tarima’s biggest distinguishing trait in the early episodes was choosing to enroll in the War College rather than Starfleet Academy because she wanted more discipline and focus in her life. But after she winds up in a coma from using her Betazoid psychic powers to rescue the Starfleet cadets in episode 6, she’s forced to change schools because Starfleet Academy can offer more trauma support. Why wouldn’t War College have programs to deal with the trauma of being in battle? This just feels like a lazy way to wedge her into the classroom.

In the season finale Tarima uses her psychic connection with Caleb to find his mother. It would have been far more compelling if that bond just let her talk to Anisha and try to get her to help Starfleet. Instead it lets Tarima perfectly locate Anisha’s position in space like she’s a psychic navigation computer. Tarima wound up feeling more like a plot device (and romantic accessory for Caleb) than a real character.

Grade: F

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy is streaming on Paramount Plus.