The first six episodes of Paramount Plus’ Star Trek: Starfleet Academy carry the franchise’s soul with honest, forward-facing confidence. The series believes in Star Trek’s philosophy, then stress-tests it. People make mistakes while following their ideals. They learn, recalibrate, and still choose hope. That tension feels modern, compassionate, and deeply Trek.
Ideals On Trial, Lessons At Starfleet Academy
The show refuses easy answers. Cadets confront ethical puzzles where every choice costs something. The scripts treat Federation values as living tools, not slogans. When those tools fail, the story does not flinch. Characters reflect, adapt, and try again. That cycle of curiosity, humility, and growth is the franchise at its best.
Holly Hunter’s Command, Cadets On The Rise
Holly Hunter is perfect as Chancellor and Captain Nahla Ake. She projects calm authority, a mentor’s patience, and a captain’s steel. Her belief in the greater good inspires, and her unbending trust in process exposes blind spots the show interrogates with care. She embodies the franchise’s finest ideals, while also personifying its potential shortcomings, and the series lets both truths breathe.
The young cadets are a joy to watch. Each episode nudges them from archetype toward personhood. Caleb Mir wrestles with trust. Jay-Den Kraag fights to reconcile warrior tradition with medicine’s oath. Sam discovers personhood in the space between code and curiosity. Darem Reymi pushes past privilege to earn respect. Genesis Lythe learns to choose purpose over pedigree. Tarima Sadal balances empathy with boundaries. The ensemble keeps growing individually, and as a unit, and you feel all of their wins and their losses.
Faculty, Legends, And Laughs
Gina Yashere’s Lura Thok and Tig Notaro’s Jett Reno add crackling wit and frontline credibility. They take wild, out-of-this-world concepts, make jokes that land, then ground the scene in human logic. Oded Fehr’s Admiral Vance lends institutional weight without killing momentum.
Robert Picardo returns as the Doctor, playing reluctant caretaker who secretly loves shaping young minds. His presence adds lore by simply existing, a living bridge to Voyager and Prodigy that never feels like a stunt. Keep an ear out for the Digital Dean’s announcements, which thread levity through high-stress days.
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Special note for Becky Lynch. She has not had much to do yet, but when she appears the camera finds her. She delivers, looks at home on the bridge, and reads as a presence to watch.
A Villain Worth Studying in Starfleet Academy
Paul Giamatti makes Nus Braka a brilliant, visceral, conniving force. He walks in, raises the stakes, and exits leaving nerves frayed. Each scene escalates threat through intelligence rather than volume. He feels like a thesis opponent for Starfleet’s ideals, not just a bad guy of the week.
A Galaxy You Want To Explore
The show looks stunning. The Academy’s San Francisco campus glows with glass, steel, and sunlight. The U.S.S. Athena feels like an idea factory with a warp core. Lecture halls flow into labs and training bays. Starfields sparkle. Planetary vistas inspire curiosity, not just awe.
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The VFX sell the future without shouting. Production design trusts clean lines and purposeful color. The music wraps scenes in warmth or tension as needed, never smothering them. It is a world that invites you to live in it.
Color-Coded Cadets, With Powerful Ranges of Depth
The series leans into firm archetypes and a playful color language that might remind you of another crew of morphin adolescents. Here, it plays as a more mature, less action-first riff. Fewer spinning kicks and giant brawls. More choices, consequences, and character. The vibe is fun, the storytelling is richer. Yet still vibing with attitude-infused adolescents of designated colors.
Tonal Warp Without Whiplash
The season dances between bright Young Adult energy, crunchy hard sci-fi, brisk action runs, and dark, emotionally lit character drama. It shifts tone without losing unity. Playful banter opens the door to a physics problem. A midterm prank sets up a first-contact dilemma. A quiet confession detonates into a tactical scramble. The blend works.
The Courage To Be Wrong
What makes these six episodes sing is the courage to let characters be wrong on the way to right. The series faces hard topics, refuses cookie-cutter fixes, and does not pander. It models how to fail, listen, and do better. That is Starfleet at its most aspirational.
Star Trek: Starfleet Academy is thoroughly entertaining, absolutely beautiful, and powerfully thought-provoking. I give it a
9/10
Star Trek: Starfleet Academy premieres on Paramount+ with two episodes on January 15, 2026, then continues weekly for a ten-episode first season through March 12. If you can, watch on a screen that honors the show’s color and sound design. New to Star Trek or a lifer, you can jump in here and feel at home.
About Star Trek: Starfleet Academy
Release Date: January 15, 2026
Showrunners: Alex Kurtzman, Noga Landau
Composer: Jeff Russo
Executive Producers: Alex Kurtzman, Noga Landau, Gaia Violo, Aaron Baiers, Olatunde Osunsanmi, Jenny Lumet, Rod Roddenberry, Trevor Roth, Frank Siracusa, John Weber
Production: Secret Hideout, Roddenberry Entertainment, CBS Studios
Cast: Holly Hunter, Sandro Rosta, Karim Diané, Kerrice Brooks, George Hawkins, Bella Shepard, Zoë Steiner, Robert Picardo, Tig Notaro, Oded Fehr,
Synopsis
STAR TREK: STARFLEET ACADEMY introduces viewers to a young group of cadets who come together to pursue a common dream of hope and optimism. Under the watchful and demanding eyes of their instructors, they discover what it takes to become Starfleet officers as they navigate blossoming friendships, explosive rivalries, first loves and a new enemy that threatens both the Academy and the Federation itself.
Ready to enroll at Starfleet Academy? Do you want hopeful coming-of-age, crunchy sci-fi puzzles, or both? Which cadet has you most curious, and which mentor would you follow into a crisis? Share your take below or @me.
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