By: Dr. Michael Robinson | Communications Studies Professor
Over the weekend, Starfleet Academy debuted. The new series was clearly positioned as the bold opening for the venerable franchise’s sixtieth anniversary year. An impressive graphic celebrated the milestone by showing the various important Trek starships rushing forward, morphing from one version to the next in chronological order from the original boldly going USS Enterprise to the all-new USS Athena, a ship that also has the double duty of being the new series’ signature school.
“Kids These Days,” the Academy pilot, was solid. It introduced its cast of wise instructors who will no doubt impart their knowledge to youthful cadets while all involved learn things important about themselves. The pilot also established some personal and political plotlines that will no doubt simmer across the season. Without spoiling, the pilot also demonstrated that the series had found an effective way to deliver the kind of starship in space action that is a signature of the series.
The second episode, “Beta Test,” leaned more into the school narrative, quickly joining the likes of the X-Men’s Xavier’s School, Harry Potter’s Hogwarts, and Wednesday’s Nevermore Academy. These kinds of learning centers are very popular today, particularly in YA fiction. Starfleet Academy did mercifully avoid sorting its new students into competing houses though. With all the franchise’s usual directness on such matters, this episode made it clear that everyone was working to create a better Starfleet in a far future setting where the institution needs to make a comeback. While the plot did focus on the cadets, it did so within the familiar context of a Trek diplomatic mission.
I suspect that this will be the real test for the show. Trek has largely avoided having a large number of youthful protagonists in its main cast. Star Trek: The Next Generation’s Wesley Crusher became a polarizing character that was never quite able to consistently pull away from his “boy genius” stereotype. Wesley was supposed to be the symbol of youthful enthusiasm, but too often he became a frustrating character who somehow knew how to do everything but at times could not do anything. The show struggled to work him into its narratives until he left the series as a regular character. Interestingly, it was a tense, fifth season Next Gen episode called “The First Duty” that really showed how Wesley could work best when he became involved in the cover up of a flight team accident while at the academy (of his era).
Starfleet Academy will have to negotiate similar ground. Sure, these cadets can go to class, establish rivalries, learn about each other and even flirt/fall in love as young people do. But these new students will have to mess up from time to time. Otherwise they will not be learning the lessons that make the school context necessary.
What is clear already though is that this new show will strive to do this all in a very Trek context. For sixty years now, the Star Trek franchise has consistently delivered the most optimistic view of humanity possible. During the social challenges of the 1960s, Trek was one of the few television voices that showed a future without racism, sexism, or any of the other prejudices that have plagued humanity. That message remains crucial today.
One should not feed the trolls, but also just before the debut of the new series, a prominent government official tried to dunk a bit on Trek. Before the pilot episode even aired, this particular individual argued that this new Trek was too diverse and that it should return to its original roots. Trek fans quickly pointed out that this was a case of “tell us you never watched Star Trek without telling us you never watched Star Trek.”
Like all television shows, Starfleet Academy will have to work hard in order to live long and prosper. The show will thrive or perish by its ability to intrigue and entertain an audience. Some fans will love it. Some fans will not. But I believe that no matter what, it will continue to embrace the optimism about human potential that has guided this franchise for a long time.
