Rebuilding after being torn down by ‘The Burn’, Starfleet and the Federation are getting back on mission, rekindling old alliances, developing new technologies and now ready to re-open Starfleet Academy to raise the next generation of explorers…
Writers: Noga Landau & Jane Maggs
Director: Alex Kurtzman
Whether it’s seeing hios potential, or just sheer guilt, Captain Ake is bending over backwards to integrate Caleb into the Academy. Trouble is, he’s not putting in the same effort. Fighting against his own inflated ego and distracted with his quest to find his mother coming to a dead end. Spiralling following an argument with instructor Jet Reno, Caleb tries to run, but instead he runs into Tarima; a visiting Betazoid who can see right through his bravado.
Following the Burn, Betazed isolated itself from the Federation and now their president has an invitation tot he Academy to see their work and make a show of rejecting Vance’s offer of reconciliation. But the presidents daughter, Tarima herself, finds enough of a bond with Caleb to push for change leading to Betazed rejoining the Federation on the condition that they host the new headquarters.
Coming in after the fast paced adventure of the first episode, this one slows that pace down to focus on ‘the mission’ of rebuilding Starfleet. Vance is pushing early on to have Ake showcase the Academy while the War College – the institution that kept Starfleet’s population running through the harsher times post-Burn – feels the conflict of their strict order and regulations against Ake’s more bohemian style as she shapes the new Starfleet.
Whats more blunt is the message of everyone being stuck in their ways. Betazed voted in a president who’s firm in his isolationist views and only submitting to Vance’s request due to the younger generations pushing for change. Of course it’s all wrapped up in romance and teenage rebellion. Caleb isn’t a model cadet, and is starting to hit Ake’s last nerve already, but his honesty over his situation helps build a story with Tarima who, much like Caleb, is trapped in her own institution, but one thats much less hopeful.
On the small scale, their not so subtle courting leads to a sharing of information. There’s no record of the prison Calebs mother was held within Starfleet records. But Tarima finds it seeing as it’s on their side of the border and Starfleet have been blocked out from staying up to date. A simple message; together we know more. Of course there’s higher stakes involved and it does all lead to the big climax of young love (or lust, perhaps?) revealing that truth just enough to convince Betazed to drop it’s position and for the Federation to finally stop relying on Earth as a base by default.
It wasn’t an exciting or thrilling episode. But it wasn’t bad by any stretch. If the first episode was there to grab our attention, Beta Test was there to tell us what the shows about. Yep, there’s young adult drama. Yep there’s conflict between the Academy and the War college. But beyond what we’d expect form the setting, it firmly established that when Vance said the universe was a mess that needed cleaned up, we see how fractured things have become and where the show intends to go to reset the template in a positive way and shine a light on the importance of everyone coming together.
If the episode left me with anything, the theme of the episode felt like a mission statement. You’ve had your action, and there’ll be more later. But at it’s heart, it’s there to build a positive message and showcase a hopeful future; the same kind of hopeful future previous generations saw. Just this time, we’ll see it built again from the ashes. Which surely, in a world filled with chaos and culture war, is something to feel good about for an hour a week.
EPISODE DISCUSSION & SPOILERS
Highlights
- We see more campus names this week including a long lingering shot on Boothy Memorial Park and the Betaazed conference held in the Uhura Pavilion.
- The unnamed Brikar cadet was wonderful to see in live action following the species debut on Prodigy with Rok-Tahk
- I refuse to believe the broken replicator line wasn't a Red Dwarf reference.
All Connected...
Brought to screen by Anthony Natale, President Emerin Sadal is the second deaf character to appear in Star Trek. The first was Riva in Next Generation episode Loud as a Whisper. Played by Howie Seago, Riva communicated through a chorus of telepathic delegates who each conveyed different aspects of what he wanted to say. Both Natale and Seago are deaf in real life with our new Betazed President making his film debut in the classic Mr Hollands Opus as the older Cole.
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