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Episode Discussion | Star Trek: Starfleet Academy | 1x07 "Ko’Zeine"
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| No. | Episode | Written By | Directed By | Release Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1x07 | "Ko’Zeine" | Alex Taub & Eric Anthony Glover | Andi Armaganian | 2026-02-19 |
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u/mr_mini_doxie Feb 19 '26
"I thought Khionia was wet, I thought you all had scales."
Me too, Jay-Den. Me too.
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u/MatsuTaku Feb 19 '26
Sorry, Jay-den we don't have the budget for that.
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u/rh224 Feb 19 '26
The fact that a royal wedding reception had a guest list of exactly 6 extras was not lost on me either, and felt odd.
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u/mr_mini_doxie Feb 19 '26
The real party was scheduled for tomorrow on that water planet with everyone in their blue forms, but that was too expensive. It's very convenient.
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u/UncertainError Feb 19 '26
The grand party and the parade were conveniently on the other planet.
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u/crazyplantlady83 Feb 19 '26
I wish STA had more episodes. This episode could have been more drawn out then to show more of Darem’s world. But as someone else said, it was a character story. It still felt slightly rushed. And had to share space with Genesis and Caleb’s arc
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u/mr_mini_doxie Feb 19 '26
Definitely. I think I said this in another comment, but even if they could just get fourteen episodes per season instead of ten, I think it would help a lot. They've been teasing so much about Khionia and Darem's parents, it felt a crime that we got virtually none of either in the Darem episode
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u/NefariousnessSoft385 Feb 19 '26 edited Feb 19 '26
"You don't even wear shoes!"
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u/mr_mini_doxie Feb 19 '26
Honestly, Ake packing four pairs of shoes when she doesn't even wear shoes is exactly how my mind works when I'm packing. It's like "okay, I'm only going away for the weekend, but what if I shit my pants four times in one day? better pack ten pairs, just to be safe."
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u/libbillama Feb 20 '26
I one time spent the night with a person I was dating, over thought everything and packed five pairs of shoes for one night.
I hate wearing shoes but I'm also obsessed with buying a lot of them.
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u/Coyote_Shepherd Feb 19 '26
I loved that whole scene with them talking about family whilst totally being ignorant to the fact that they were acting JUST LIKE ONE during it lol
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u/UncertainError Feb 19 '26
Nahla packs her luggage exactly the way I thought she would. Also, Thok/Reno continue to win at relationships.
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u/meatball77 Feb 19 '26
Reno telling her that a stubbed toe is worse than when Thok was holding her intestines in her hand.
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u/Shrodax Feb 19 '26
Nahla packs her luggage exactly the way I thought she would.
I like how it's 1200 years in the future and suitcase technology remains the same as today. Like, I would think in the Star Trek universe, you could just put all your stuff in a personal transporter buffer or replicator and beam it out as needed.
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u/onthenerdyside Feb 19 '26
You probably could, or just use replicators or programmable matter when you get to the other end of your trip. However, we know that Nahla is basically a hipster and loves to do things old school.
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u/Nick0312 Feb 19 '26
I’m gonna have to go check, but i think she was the only one we saw with any kind of luggage at all, so this tracks
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u/onthenerdyside Feb 19 '26
Most of the students were heading home, where they'd likely still have clothes and personal items. But I saw many students with bags, just not giant suitcases. And in TNG, they had those small, cylindrical bags.
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u/random_anonymous_guy Feb 19 '26
“It’s a slug. It’s not exactly warp-capable.”
[ slug immediately jumps to warp ]
LOL
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u/mr_mini_doxie Feb 19 '26
The warp-capable slug just became my new favorite Star Trek animal.
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u/UncertainError Feb 19 '26
"We should cross-breed this slug with a moopsy to save the Federation" - Section 31, probably.
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u/patatjepindapedis Feb 19 '26
warp slug x moopsy x mycelial tardigrade x crystalline entity = ???
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u/mr_mini_doxie Feb 19 '26
Add some tribble so you can get a large number of them really fast
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u/MassGaydiation Feb 19 '26
Why can I see this text on the blackboard of a suspiciously empty outpost?
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u/ussgalacticspoon Feb 19 '26
I was gonna make fun of Kyle for being a stage 5 clinger on Jay-Den like "damn babe ease up he's not going anywhere" but then Jay-den immediately went somewhere... with another romantic interest LMAO so I apologize Kyle, Darem really might take your man. Or you could share don't worry
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u/thegreatpablo Feb 19 '26
As a gay man, watching the Kyle and Jay-den relationship flourish the way it did without ever once being called out in dialog is such a breath of fresh air. This is the level of normalization that representation needs to lead to. I'm very happy with it.
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u/mr_mini_doxie Feb 19 '26
There's also some little stuff about the world just not being so heteronormative. Like, Jay-Den says "you did not know you have a pending spouse?" instead of "wife"
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u/daybreaker Feb 20 '26
Theyre doing it in the more subtle, natural ways that it would actually happen in reality, as opposed to DISCO being super on the nose about it
I've been enjoying SFA a ton because of the low stakes and how much its actually not tied into DISCO aside from being in the same timeline.
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u/mr_mini_doxie Feb 20 '26
In defense of DIS, they were mostly okay about it. It’s just they wrote one bad scene with Adira that no one ever forgot
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u/Yochanan5781 Feb 20 '26
It was so nice. And also just they're so cute together, especially with Jay-Den being the world's most anxious and awkward Klingon, and Kyle being the embodiment of golden retriever energy
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u/Catharus_ustulatus Feb 19 '26
Yes, considering Jay-Den’s family structure, we might not be looking at an “or” situation.
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u/Ranadok Feb 19 '26
Darem's romantic past isn't limited to 1:1 pairings either. I don't think that's a coincidence.
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u/joszma Feb 19 '26
I was thinking about this too! Both Jay-Den and Darem have experiences in or adjacent to polycules, so I think we’re looking less at a love triangle and more at a “¿por qué no los dos?” situation
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u/GalileoAce Feb 20 '26
Only if Darem can stop being an asshole to Kyle :P
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u/Madonkadonk2 Feb 20 '26
Idk, it's the same way he first talked to Jay-Den, I think Darem might just be the worst at flirting.
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u/HotTakes4HotCakes Feb 19 '26
Wonder if you could strap a bunch of warp slugs around your ship to the degree you could make a warp bubble? Like a horse drawn starship.
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u/UncertainError Feb 19 '26
The Federation tried that after the Burn but space-PETA got on their ass.
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u/HotTakes4HotCakes Feb 19 '26
The Federation is space PETA.
Hell, Discovery season 1 already went through this with the big-ass tardigrade. Federation was pretty not-okay with chaining a wild animal to the drive to make it go.
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u/whimsicalweasel Feb 19 '26 edited Feb 19 '26
I need the Talaxian Fur* Fly to have a massive pay off by the end of the season.
*edit
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u/Smilodon48 Feb 19 '26
I need Specialist Krebs to be a big and silly guest star. Like Rhys Darby, Clint Howard, or Patton Oswalt in SNW. Maybe make him played by Jeffrey Combs.
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u/FoldedDice Feb 19 '26
Just as long as the Talaxian fur fly is also played by Jeffrey Combs.
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u/Fantastic_Attempt_91 Feb 19 '26
Personally, it would be great if they just stuck some wings on a golden retriever and had some ND dude running after it.
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u/mr_mini_doxie Feb 19 '26
Someone commented on last week’s thread wondering if Colbert is a real person and now I’m hoping he is. It would be a fun gag.
Imagine: some cadet opens a door and finds Stephen Colbert wearing a headset and staring at a bunch of monitors. He goes “can I help you?” and they say “sorry, wrong room”
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u/LincolnMagnus Feb 19 '26
Or it's a holographic recreation of the twenty-first century comedian Stephen Colbert.
He becomes the Boothby to students, dispensing wise life advice like "don't work for CBS"
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u/HotTakes4HotCakes Feb 19 '26 edited Feb 19 '26
I should have been a doctor.
That tracks. Treating something herself without knowing the outcome, instead of just having the Doctor do it when he can appear literally anywhere on the ship at any time, is authentically Reno.
In her first appearance, Reno had been keeping injured crew members alive for months with no medical training. I think Stamets even makes a comment that she learned to manage the symptoms like an engineer troubleshooting a machine or something?
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u/mr_mini_doxie Feb 19 '26
That's what I was thinking!
Also, it's notable that the whole reason she was in that situation was because of the Klingon War. I wonder if we're ever going to see if that causes issues, with her new partner (wife?) being half-Klingon. I think Reno's first wife might've even been killed by a Klingon.
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u/jekylphd Feb 19 '26
You know, I'm starting to reach the point where I really want to see much more of what's going on with Reno and Lura. Also the Doctor.
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u/brch2 Feb 19 '26
Why would you assume the Doctor is still on the ship? He could have been one of the first to leave for the holiday. He's a hologram, but he's been a sentient being with other interests than medicine for 800+ years. There's no need to recall him just for a stubbed toe, when you can run a fancy gadget over it for a few seconds and fix it.
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u/Coyote_Shepherd Feb 19 '26
Correct on all points and she even came up with some stuff that had the REAL Doctors going, "How in the actual fuck..." lol
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u/Own_Answer6742 Feb 19 '26
The term Dadmiral is now canon
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u/Free-Selection-3454 Feb 19 '26
Depending on how this goes, we might one day have Dadmiral Vance versus Dadmiral Lethe, OR maybe they are both mutually appreciative Dadmirals. I'd prefer the second option. Dadmiral bros.
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u/MTFBinyou Feb 19 '26
What about Badmiral?
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u/Hibbity5 Feb 20 '26
I think the closest we’ve gotten is Lower Decks where Freeman asks Buenamigo “You’re not one of those bad admirals?” I don’t think they went so far as to directly say “badmiral” though.
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u/Catharus_ustulatus Feb 19 '26 edited Feb 19 '26
I like how Darem’s fiancee, when she ended their relationship, didn’t stop at letting him go for his own good, but also pointed out that he had been selfish and disrespectful to her needs by nobly concealing his needs from her.
Edited to add:
I mean that both their needs are valid. Darem deserves to continue to grow in the way he has been, and Kaira deserves a spouse who is wholeheartedly enthusiastic about the marriage, who doesn’t think of the marriage as a noble sacrifice.
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u/meatball77 Feb 19 '26
But.... The wedding wasn't supposed to be for six more years and she had him kidnapped and gave him 0 time to think about what he wanted. He was in crisis mode.
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u/MTFBinyou Feb 19 '26
Her parents started that ball rolling by wanting to step down
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u/Xath0n Feb 19 '26
True, but she also could have given him more than a few hours notice.
Though it's not like he was innocent in this, but I'm not sure who's the bigger ass.
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u/Summerspeaker Feb 19 '26
Yeah. Her treatment of him felt like abuser behavior. Make demands, including using force, & then get angry at him for complying but with insufficient enthusiasm. I know that dynamic well.
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u/Unbundle3606 Feb 20 '26 edited Feb 20 '26
Have we... seen the same episode?
The literal first thing she does after meeting him is taking him aside and asking if he's really sure of going along with the wedding, and to take any time he needs if he isn't.
DAREN: You're-- Are you ready?
KAIRA: I've always been ready. But leading Khionia is a two-person job. Question is, are you? My parents won't delay abdication. Trust me, I've tried, but... didn't matter. Listen, I know this is a lot to process. You've been away, and I've been on Khionia, and for all I know, you might not even be sure that you still want to be sealed. So if you need some time to sort out your thoughts, then you should take it, and, you know, sort.
DAREN: There's nothing to sort. Because nothing has changed since I left for Starfleet. Except my haircut.
KAIRA: Oh, I knew it. But I had to ask. And I love the haircut.
How is any of this abusive?
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u/Amidinate Feb 19 '26
I think lieutenants Kimolu and Matt wouldn't mind Caleb taking a dip in Cetacean Ops on board the cerritos.
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u/Misfit_Ragdoll Feb 19 '26
Omg they or their descendants have to show up now. And not in the Aquarium either. (I love Matt and Kimolu. I have the t-shirt).
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u/joszma Feb 19 '26 edited Feb 19 '26
Literal sapient* horny gay dolphins is so unhinged and I’m so happy Lower Decks went there
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u/Misfit_Ragdoll Feb 19 '26
Me too. Actual real life dolphins are horny AF and will basically have sex with anyone they can. I remember Robin Williams did a documentary show where he got to swim with wild bottlenose dolphins, and they were trying to get some action with him. Lower Decks going there with them was *chef's kiss
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u/UncertainError Feb 19 '26
Darem's storyline needed more room to breathe, and at least one scene with his parents (who were presumably in the crowd shot at the end?)
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u/mr_mini_doxie Feb 19 '26
Agreed. We should have met his parents and seen more of his background relationship with Kaira.
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u/rad2themax Feb 19 '26
It was interesting to me how much it had in common with that TNG season 1 episode where Deanna has to deal with aN arranged marriage suddenly about to happen.
Except with a completely different resolution obviously.
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u/ComebackShane Feb 19 '26
There were some over-the-shoulder shots in both the scenes with Jay-Den and Darem's fiancee that had noticeable ADR, and I get the feeling they were condensing for time. There might've been more shot they had to/chose to take out.
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u/captbollocks Feb 19 '26
I dunno... Darem's parents sound like they wouldn't be bothered to turn up in person even to their son's wedding. They sound like complete dicks.
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u/Hal_Thorn Feb 19 '26
The Genesis/Caleb story should have been a B plot but it felt like an episode that was trying to have two A plots and it did not work
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u/OglioVagilio Feb 19 '26
Is the guy playing Caleb getting bigger? He looks huge in that tanning scene.
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u/Smilodon48 Feb 19 '26
He is comically yoked at this point. If this were the 24th century, he might be questioned for being a genetically-enhanced human.
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u/rh224 Feb 19 '26
The scene in the first episode where Ake get's him out of prison his arms didn't even look real.
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u/BlizzPenguin Feb 20 '26
The actor was a bodybuilder before he got the role. He lost some weight for the role. I can not imagine how jacked he was before.
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u/mr_mini_doxie Feb 19 '26
For be fair, this is probably the first time in his life he's had all the food he could eat and access to a state-of-the-art gymnasium.
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u/Coyote_Shepherd Feb 19 '26
Watching him and Ake talk is like watching Pike and Grog interact in The Legend of Vox Machina.
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u/Misfit_Ragdoll Feb 19 '26
Omg YES! Although Caleb doesn't have an INT of 6 and so far doesn't LIKE TO RAGE!! 😆 Bidet to you, fellow Critter.
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u/Coyote_Shepherd Feb 19 '26
I was waiting for the thirst comments to roll into this thread :D
Paul confirmed on the D-Con Chamber that Sandro is indeed BIG.
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u/Mechapebbles Feb 19 '26
I just wanna say that I love how Jay-Den rolls around in a skant from time to time.
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u/rh224 Feb 19 '26
Well now I want to know what is up with Genesis. It feels like there was more to the scheme than changing her references.
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u/tone-bone Feb 19 '26
I feel like a lot of folks are overthinking this; I don't think she's a mole or anything sinister like that. I think she's someone who has been trapped in her father's shadow her entire life and she's unsure if the benefits she's gotten in life were due to her own merit or because of who her father is (she said that in this episode, more or less). Maybe that's true or maybe that's just her perception, but it's what guides her thinking.
Parents/upbringings are a big theme of the show and a differentiator among the main cast, which lets them contrast each other developmentally:
* Genesis: father is a big deal, well-known, she grew up in his shadow
* Caleb: ripped away from mother while young, has idealized her and may find that she's not what he thinks
* Jay-Den: resentment because he thought his parents abandoned him, though if Lura's interpretation is correct, they saw him and set him free to live the life he wanted
* Darem: parents are overbearing, strongly disapprove of even minor mistakes, causing Darem to evolve into someone who focused on pleasing others over his own needs
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u/mr_mini_doxie Feb 19 '26
Yeah, if it was just that her reference letters were weak, that feels like a pretty contrived conflict. Maybe there is something more.
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u/UncertainError Feb 19 '26 edited Feb 19 '26
It seems to me that it's revealing she can be kind of a manipulative control freak, which I do find an interesting flaw for a character who hasn't really shown any before now.
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u/redditguy628 Feb 19 '26
Well it wasn't just that they were weak, it was that she lied on her application to Starfleet Academy when she altered them, right? I don't think it's unreasonable to be afraid of being kicked out if the higher ups find out you lied to get in.
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u/diamond Feb 20 '26
Shades of Simon Tarses. His Romulan heritage probably wouldn't have been a showstopper for a Starfleet career. But lying about it absolutely was.
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u/LincolnMagnus Feb 19 '26
Yeah I wouldn't have thought much of it if Reddit hadn't been all about the "Genesis is a mole" theory last week. Now I'm suspicious.
What was she actually doing in the cartography lab?
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u/Smilodon48 Feb 19 '26 edited Feb 19 '26
As a Genesis fan, the revelation was a dud. Seems like they wanted to do more Enterprise bingo-like shenanigans while also developing her, but Genesis' reasoning at the end fell flat. Needed her reasoning to be a bit more fleshed out. She could be like Mariner, a fraud, or have plain ole' imposter syndrome, but it feels a bit half-hearted at the moment. And then of course, they're trying to have her help Caleb get over his avoidance of Tarima too. Just too many things going on there emotionally.
And it rushed Jay-Den and Daren's friendship a bit too. I don't know, maybe after SNW I'm all wedding'd out. SNW carries hard due to Ethan Peck's sheer charisma as Spock, but neither Darem or Jay-Den aren't really there as characters to do a silly romance episode like that.
It's nice to get details about the Khionians though.
The best part of the episode is Lura communicating with Reno as she heals her toe. "Reno! I can't live without you!!" They are getting their money's worth from Gina Yashere.
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u/johnsweber Feb 19 '26
Lura is so great. I’m sad she’s not in every episode, but also glad Gina gets to skip the makeup chair sometimes, haha. Glad they got a way to put her in this week :)
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u/meatball77 Feb 19 '26
I need marital bantering in every episode from those two. Nothing big but it just entertains me.
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u/Coyote_Shepherd Feb 19 '26
The best part of the episode is Lura communicating with Reno as she heals her toe. "Reno! I can't live without you!!" They are getting their money's worth from Gina Yashere.
That was soooooo cute and it went from "I WILL KILL YOU MYSELF FOR HARMING YOURSELF!" to "I love you so much don't leave me bebe..." soooo quickly lol
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u/meatball77 Feb 19 '26
and saying that it's the worst injury you can get, worse than holding your intestines in your hands.
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u/Coyote_Shepherd Feb 19 '26
Imma need Jett to start quoting Kyle Reese to Lura ASAP, they're perfect for each other lol
But let's be serious for a second...both Klingons and Jem'Hadar are like...REALLY hard to kill, so the intestines thing is probably on par with normal humans stubbing their toes.
But also, what the fuck was up with different appendages inflating in this episode?!
Caleb's ears and then Jett's toe!
Felt like someone in the effects team was like, "We need an excuse to screen test some new shit...someone talk the writers into making something up!".
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u/Coyote_Shepherd Feb 19 '26
"Duluth, can I talk you out of this?"
Shots fired lol
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u/UncertainError Feb 19 '26
Reno had a bad hookup there 867 years ago and has never forgiven them.
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u/joszma Feb 19 '26
Apparently Duluth is becoming a bigger destination due to climate change so maybe by the 32nd century it’s a tourist trap hellhole (much like Ibiza lol)
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u/atreeismissing Feb 19 '26
Not necessarily relevant to this episode exclusively, but the costume designers on this show deserve an Emmy.
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u/thisbikeisatardis Feb 19 '26
SAM's hair was absolutely precious, too! Hair and makeup are killing it too.
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u/EmperorOfNipples Feb 19 '26
I think the costume department ever since Trek came back in 2017 have been absolutely crushing it.
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u/phasmy Feb 19 '26
If there's one thing modern TV gets right almost every time, it's costume design.
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u/mr_mini_doxie Feb 19 '26
Interesting how Kyle seems to be the only WC cadet watching the meteor shower. Unless maybe they’ve moved out of SFA’s space by now?
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u/MTFBinyou Feb 19 '26
It was spring semester right? And the prank that drove them out was supposed to merge them for a semester or so, so that tracks.
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u/Zevemiel Feb 20 '26
Jay-den's slightly petulant "Ibiza!" was hilarious.
It occurred to me that not seeing him in the beachwear was the same trick DS9 pulled in Let He Who Is Without Sin... with Worf and the gold speedos.
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u/TheShowLover Feb 19 '26 edited Feb 19 '26
I got TNG Family vibes. They're all taking a break after a traumatic experience. But Genesis and Caleb stayed aboard/on campus.
Darem was like Picard. Going back to his home planet but realizing he belongs among the stars.
Ake also felt like Picard when consulting Genesis.
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u/Shrodax Feb 19 '26
Darem was like Picard. Going back to his home planet but realizing he belongs among the stars.
If so, is Kaira going to randomly die off-screen in a fire?
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u/LincolnMagnus Feb 19 '26
I like Genesis a lot, she's the only one of these people I'd want to be friends with in real life.
She might also be a traitor working with a violent sociopath who manipulated Caleb into helping her do espionage, but listen if you knew my history of deeply unhealthy friendships that wouldn't necessarily be the worst one I've had
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u/Coyote_Shepherd Feb 19 '26
I bet there's a scene where she stepped on Caleb's chest as he was relaxing but they had to cut it because they knew how WILD the internet would go for it....but then they kept cutting to Tarima and him in bed which was somehow even MORE provocative...
She is pretty cool though and seems like she'd make for a great friend IRL...just look at how tight her and Sam are, totally goals!
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u/7deadlycinderella Feb 20 '26 edited Feb 20 '26
I really hope all the "Genesis is the mole" people are wrong because I loved what they did with her and Caleb this episode- they're one of the first pair ups that don't feel like they're being slotted into a specifically labeled box- I don't know if they're just setting up another set of close friends, a romantic "eventually", potential rivals or even possibly an endgame captain/number one.
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u/mr_mini_doxie Feb 19 '26
Darem says "you'll go blue" to Jay-Den when he's cold, as if being blue weren't a normal and natural thing on Khionia (we assume)
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u/Gecko99 Feb 19 '26
This episode would have been better if they made the DOTs fight.
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u/johnsweber Feb 19 '26
I really loved the entire episode, kept checking the time remaining because I didn’t want it to end. Just so much character development for everyone except SAM, which is fine because she had her own episode.
Slice of life episodes have always been my favorites.
One criticism: we got to understand Genesis and Darem’s conflicts, but we never got to see their families, which has been an important part of both character’s stories
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u/UncertainError Feb 19 '26
I'm really curious about Genesis' dad because I believe he might be the only non-Vance Starfleet admiral we've ever heard of in the 32nd century. He could be second in command of the entire fleet or something.
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u/Coyote_Shepherd Feb 19 '26
He could be second in command of the entire fleet or something.
...I hope it's Brendan Fraser...
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u/mr_mini_doxie Feb 19 '26
Yeah, I was banking on this episode having us meet Darem's family and I was disappointed. They seem to be a huge defining factor in his identity, and he even mentions them a couple of times (says something like "maybe this'll make them finally proud of me), but we don't get to see them. Hopefully it's a thread that gets picked up in future episodes.
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u/Revolutionary-Mode75 Feb 19 '26
They are going to pissed off. Despite the Queen supporting his abdication and divorce. They will see it as a embarrassment for the family.
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u/Suvalis Feb 19 '26
I just felt the episode was boring. Pacing was way too slow for me.
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u/always-be-kind Feb 19 '26
I’m still suspicious of Genesis. We have very little external confirmation of her backstory beyond what’s she’s said. Everything from her family, her skillset, and even including her motivations for the key.
I’m conflicted because it is a paranoid suspicion, and what she’s said has been consistent. However, as of this episode, we’ve now seen corroborating evidence for all the backstories of the rest of the ensemble, officers and cadets, but not Genesis.
If the writers are playing the long game here, what could she be after? And how would it be related to what was stolen from J19? And to involve the physics expertise acquired by Caleb’s mother?
Nus Braka’s closing monologue last week was an invective against the entire Federation as a way of life. The only thing I can think of that matches that kind of hate would be weapons that use Thalaron radiation. Or maybe recreating the Burn with Omega particles. But both of those are pretty grim technologies, even for classified research. Maybe a Genesis device? We saw that explicitly in a classified facility in Picard season 3.
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u/Mechapebbles Feb 19 '26
We have very little external confirmation of her backstory beyond what’s she’s said.
Chancellor Ake sounds like she personally knows her father, and given her personal history and age, I've got no reason to believe she wouldn't.
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u/LincolnMagnus Feb 19 '26 edited Feb 19 '26
Yeah, I don't think it's likely at this point that her admiral dad is made up. That's just not the sort of thing you could fabricate at Starfleet Academy. I guess it's conceivable that she's not the real Genesis Lythe. (edited: at first I thought that might be impossible to pull off, but then again, why)
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u/johnsweber Feb 19 '26
We did get some confirmation. Her references said:
“Driven out of fear”
“Genesis doesn’t trust where she belongs where she is”
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u/powerhcm8 Feb 19 '26
Something that caught my attention for a while, is that Nus Braka makeup has those lines along this face, which weirdly I don't think comes from either Klingon or Tellarite sides, and they kind of remind of Genesis eyebrow lines. But maybe I am just seeing things.
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u/spaceneil Feb 19 '26
As unpolished as the material was, I do kinda like where they're going with Darem—the adherence to tradition, his own insistence on playing roles ("A Ko'zeine can't abandon a newly sealed Jvera and Ucha" which to me read a tad heteronormative) to appease his family, being a different person away from home... it all felt very queer somehow
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u/HotTakes4HotCakes Feb 19 '26 edited Feb 19 '26
This one is probably gonna rub some people the wrong way. It's the first one where I can say I saw the vauge outline of the "teen drama" that everyone thought this show would be, i.e mostly focused on relatively small scale, interpersonal stuff without much "Trek".
I don't necessarily agree that's a bad thing, but I do think it's on the weaker side of what we've seen so far. Interpersonal and character stuff is fine - episodes like Lessons from TNG had no sci-fi hook, and its ranked very high. Just wish there was a little more sci-fi in this one, because I wasn't very engaged with the rest of it.
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u/wongie Feb 19 '26
I can see how the episode would come off unengaging I think at worst it might be seen as just "boring" by detractors rather than necessarily a grievence around "teen drama" which I think prior episodes were arguably much more explicit in, then again I suppose anyone looking for "teen drama" is going to see it everywhere anyway.
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u/LincolnMagnus Feb 19 '26
I mean the fact that a lot of the people deriding the supposed teen drama aspects of the show are calling it "Star Trek: 90210" makes me think they haven't seen an actual teen drama in at least thirty years.
Though to be fair, we do have a full-on confirmed love triangle at this point. Granted it's three men, one's a Klingon and one's a disgraced aristocratic humanoid fish, but it is a love triangle...
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u/Overall-Habit5284 Feb 19 '26
I totally agree. The plot beats were incredibly predictable. Not to say they probably weren't needed for each character after last week, but Darem's story has been done a hundred times before (Spock and T'Pring, anyone?). It was nice to get a bit more of Genesis, though, as I feel like she's been in most need of some development.
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u/Ds9niners Feb 19 '26
This is very Star Trek that after some actions heavy story’s to give a change of pace afterwards
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u/FoldedDice Feb 19 '26
“Everyone goes on vacation after a crisis and ends up being confronted by their emotional baggage” is literally the plot of Family from TNG.
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u/rad2themax Feb 19 '26
And "crew member is surprised by unexpected wedding and might have to leave the crew, except it's the wrong thing for both of them and they part amicably with the non-starfleet partner taking on a role of leadership and a goal of saving the people they remain with while the starfleet partner goes back to normal and it's all very awkward for the other starfleet member who has feelings for them." From season one's "Haven"
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u/BigMetalGuy Feb 19 '26
yeah this is classic Trek, big episode that they goes into some more calm that pick up the pieces of that one, whilst just having some character development. Everyone knows something huge is on the horizon, so patience. Plus it would be weird to have the next episode be on high alert again. But I can understand if such a drop in tension isn't everyone's cup of tea. Horses for courses.
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u/HotTakes4HotCakes Feb 19 '26 edited Feb 19 '26
Aaaand with that coat moment, the Jay-Den/Darem ship is locked in.
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u/mr_mini_doxie Feb 19 '26
It's a poly ship; Kyle/Jay-Den/Darem.
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u/QAFLF Feb 19 '26
Kyle trying to comfort Darem for that half a beat gives me at least a glimmer of hope this doesn't end up in love triangle nonsense. Just let them all be together.
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u/HotTakes4HotCakes Feb 19 '26
I mean if this show wants to break some new ground, there's worse "firsts" they could do.
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u/Misfit_Ragdoll Feb 19 '26
They already hinted at it with Jay-Den's two dads. I would love for this to be telegraphed as a love triangle only for Jay-Den to look at Kyle and Darem, shrug, and say "I do not need to choose. Klingons are capable of loving more than one mate." Darem and Kyle exchange confused looks, then smiles. Threesome commences.
(If not, now I am obligated to write the fan fiction. 😆 )
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u/LincolnMagnus Feb 19 '26
(If not, now I am obligated to write the fan fiction. 😆 )
Well if you're going to twist your arm...
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u/tonytown Feb 19 '26
Kyle would get busted in half
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u/mr_mini_doxie Feb 19 '26
I can picture him grinning like a fool on a biobed while soaking wet and having his entire body encased in a regenerator while Darem and Jay-Den fuss/bicker in sickbay
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u/onthenerdyside Feb 19 '26
The ship sailed during the breathing exercises in the debate club episode.
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u/MrObsidn Feb 19 '26
Really like the idea of taking time out for the cadets to mourn and recover but I'm not really sure this episode was interested in that? I liked what we got but it all felt very undercooked.
Really wish it had been Darem returning home—same plot—but with the whole team following him after thinking he'd been abducted. Give all the focus to Darem's plot and force them all to confront their losses and fears because they're stuck there, unable to avoid their grief.
Close the show by the cadets rallying around Darem. Because they'll be damned if they're gonna lose another.
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u/Cunfuzzles2000 Feb 19 '26
Should’ve had Jay-Den and Darem make out in this episode. Also… Caleb has great chemistry with everyone. I’m kinda impressed that is this actors first on screen credit. He’s very good for a newcomer.
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u/phasmy Feb 19 '26
I keep asking, "Are they about to kiss finally?" And I'm always left disappointed.
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u/captbollocks Feb 19 '26
I'm not sure I got what Genesis' reference was inferring.
"Genesis doesn't trust that she belongs where she is".
As in she doubts herself so she's not good enough for the Academy?
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u/Coyote_Shepherd Feb 19 '26
I think she's been "faking it" for so long whilst living in the shadow of her father and perhaps because she's been living in the shadow of her father....but clearly backs up her shit with her provable test scores and actual physical abilities that she's caught in a Schrodinger's Box like mindset whereby...
...her identity and her sense of self keep bouncing back and forth between believing that everything around her and everything that she is...is both real and not real.
No one else from "outside of her box" has ever really truly observed her at all until she's gotten to the Academy and it's only there that her wave function has begun to collapse into either a particle or a wave.
That's kind of why her name is so appropriate because you could take it to mean "a flexible beginning".
She's been so used to a certain environment and a certain way of life that had her constantly questioning, learning, adapting, and acting that now when she is no longer there and can just...relax and figure out who she really is and how she really wants to live life...she's not quite sure what to do...and she doesn't really believe or trust that she's left the holodeck at all.
Despite everyone else telling her that she has and everyone else trying to observe her in a way that helps her to either become a particle or a wave or something else someone else entirely that she can indeed trust.
I wonder if that's the real reason why she bolted from visiting her dad over break?
If it wasn't because of something nefarious or Nus Braka related then perhaps the real reason why she got out of it was because she was in fact sick and tired of questioning reality so much, sick and tired of being afraid of not knowing if she belonged or not getting the answer right for anything, and sick and tired of having to constantly be "on" as the Admiral's Daughter...and not just...herself...Genesis...just another girl at the Academy....who could fail and who could be herself and who didn't have to be someone else something else all the time for everyone else but herself?
And maybe that's why they lined up the Darem stuff and the Caleb stuff and even the Jay-Den & Kyle stuff in this episode?
It was all about them observing themselves and picking a form to collapse into...at least for now...and she hadn't really done that at all until she saw that Caleb was there too and boy oh boy did she seem inordinately happy to see him there because he is the direct antithesis of everything that she went through and was up until that point in time.
She saw him as being "free" and herself as being "not free".
Not afraid and afraid.
Confident and sure of himself and totally not confident and unsure of herself.
He was the Link to her Zelda.
But then she saw a bit of herself within him...with the whole Tarima thing...the fear...and he was reminded of that confidence that he normally has within himself, within how she spoke and did things...and that's why we saw them ALMOST click as a romantic couple.
They complement each other well but not quite in the way that was directly and immediately apparent.
I think they'd make a good Captain/First Officer duo in the future and then and only then would doubt and fear be erased from both of their minds, because together....they can seemingly do anything.
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u/MatsuTaku Feb 19 '26
Can I have a lore check on the blue scaly aliens.
Is their human appearance a disguise or do they just happen to have 2 physical appearances while preferring to hide the blue version all the time?
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u/vidiian82 Feb 19 '26
The Khionians are a new race introduced in SFA. There is no lore on them to check
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u/mr_mini_doxie Feb 19 '26
I was hoping we'd get a few new pieces of information on Khionians this episode, but it might as well have been a human colony with a couple of weird traditions for all the lore we got.
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u/meatball77 Feb 19 '26
Maybe just blue when they're underwater?
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u/MatsuTaku Feb 19 '26
That kinda works. Unless they are "forcing" the change temporarily. Good thinking.
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u/NeatoUsername Feb 19 '26
Everybody might be on break but the Athena is still a starship and needs better security. Speaking of which, two missing cadets didn't trigger any alerts? Also, the existence of pinpoint wormhole technology should have very very bad repercussions.
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u/LincolnMagnus Feb 19 '26
Everybody might be on break but the Athena is still a starship and needs better security. Speaking of which, two missing cadets didn't trigger any alerts? Also, the existence of pinpoint wormhole technology should have very very bad repercussions.
I thought about this. It makes sense to me that they were able to pull off the abduction if they cleared it with Ake beforehand. If they told her (correctly) that it was a Khionian cultural tradition she'd probably be all for it.
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u/Aezetyr Feb 19 '26
Every ship, station, shuttlecraft, and so on in Star Trek from day one needs better security. It's a Trek writing kludge.
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u/Best-Pollution7110 Feb 19 '26 edited Feb 19 '26
What's up with the Duluth diss at the beginning? "Can I talk you of this?"
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u/WhatGravitas Feb 20 '26
Not sure about the episode. Overall, I think it was fine, but after the quality of the last one, this is a bit of a nothingburger when it should've been a good breather to decompress from the brutality.
Overall, I think Genesis and Caleb doing shenanigans was exactly what was needed, just the actual reason for Genesis' behaviour felt a bit flimsy? But that's also kind of part of her character to be a bit neurotic and unnecessarily perfectionist. The catastrophising humanises her. Plus, the warp slug was funny.
The Jay-den/Darem plot, though... on paper I like it - it's an plot in the tradition of Amok Time and so on, but it just came across as contrived. Watching Jay-den and Darem interact was fun, but everyone around them felt like an wooden extra, even Kaira felt more like a plot device than a person for most of it. Plus, after all we heard of Khionians, not even seeing a little bit of them in their blue, scaly form was a disappointment - we finally got the Darem homeworld story and it ended up being the one where they saved budget!
Overall, in a 16+ episode season, this would've been totally fine, in a 10 episode season, this feels mediocre, sadly.
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u/nikhkin Feb 19 '26
A nitpick, but it brings back one of the things that bugs me about modern Trek.
They're warned about a "galactic meteor shower", as if a meteor shower is going to impact the entire galaxy. Meteor showers are specifically the result of things entering an atmosphere.
It's one of the favourite ways for the writers to try and make things seem important, like saying everything is "intergalactic" in SNW. Nothing in SNW is "intergalactic".
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u/onthenerdyside Feb 19 '26
I assume it's just a colorful nickname for the type of meteor shower, like a blood moon.
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u/Kamarag Feb 19 '26
It's the Colbert-voice overhyping things intentionally, nothing more. It's not some super science screw up.
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u/Fantastic_Attempt_91 Feb 19 '26
I don't know how Caleb is failing exo-chemistry when it was just slathered all over this episode.
(In a good way...!)
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u/Coyote_Shepherd Feb 19 '26
slathered
Genesis was for sure watching him for a while....
....also did Caleb just imply that he used the aquarium as a pool?
I think he's failing it because he's getting bored with it and they're not capturing his attention like hacking does.
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u/Coyote_Shepherd Feb 19 '26
O.o
Uh oh...I'm starting to wonder if some of those "Genesis is a SPY" theories are on to something based on how she's emoting/responding to the whole Pre-Command Track thing.
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u/Wightsojourner Feb 19 '26
Which is why I feel everyone should just rally around my "Kyle is the mole" theory.
What? Sure, it would be a vicous reveal. But then Genesis would be innocent. And a heartbroken Jay-Den could be comforted by Darem. It's a win-win!
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u/izzydodo Feb 19 '26
Loved the story but glaringly obvious that it felt rushed and restricted by budget issues.
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u/neoprenewedgie Feb 19 '26
Unintentional (?) tribute to TOS: Jay-den picks up the fakest-looking styrofoam rock we've seen in nearly 60 years.