“Kids These Days”

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy season 1, episode 1—Debuted Thursday, January 15, 2026
Written by Gaia Violo
Directed by Alex Kurtzman

NOTE: Episode 2 (“Beta Test”) also debuted on January 15. That episode is recapped/reviewed separately. 

An impressive start to a show full of the promise of Star Trek, filled with a new world to save, grounded in personal stakes and populated with intriguing new characters and some delightful familiar faces.

Do these chairs come in my size?

WARNING: Spoilers below!

RECAP

“Don’t trust them.”

The brand-new space show opens… in space… with Captain Nahla Ake doing some (thankfully brief) Disco exposition. Cut to dreary Federation Outpost Pikaru to see how the final frontier was devastated during the Burn. Young Caleb Mir and momma Mir share a secret moment as they dream of visiting Earth. Sadly, fate has other plans: Baddy Nus Bruka had lured them with promises of food (by stealing from Starfleet) and everybody got caught. An officer died, so the Klingon/Tellarite pirate is going to prison, mom is going to a rehabilitation colony, and poor Caleb (with adorable robot bear) is a ward of the Federation. The feels are hitting hard as Ake announces sentences and Braka finds it all hilarious, telling the little one to hold on to his hate while mom tells him not to trust Starfleet, Later, Nahla tries the soft approach with the kid but he can’t hear her over all that tragic backstory. The lovable scamp surreptitiously steals her badge and escapes into a storm, leaving behind his bear and a heartbroken Ake regretting her life choices.

The Burn was so bad they didn’t even have lights.

“I am not your prisoner.”

15 years later, Caleb has built up quite a rap sheet and finds himself on a Torothian penal colony shuttle. The wily young man gets free and uses that time to hack the computer to find his mom (no dice) before crashing and getting re-arrested. Meanwhile, Ake has retired to a nice school on Bajor, until Admiral Vance shows up for some ice cream and a job offer. Mistakes were made during The Burn, and she is the one to put it right. Being 423 years old (half Lanthonite), she can remember the good old Federation before the bad new compromises. In classic Trek style, Vance pitches her the job of chancellor of the renewed Starfleet Academy, to shape this generation of cadets in those key values of hope, exploration, and all that stuff. She doesn’t want to let go of her regrets, but Charlie adds a sweetener… he found Caleb Mir. Cut to that Torothian prison and (a recommissioned) Captain Ake is offering a sullen Caleb a second chance. Join Starfleet Academy? That’s a hard pass for this hard kid, but she gets him with her own sweetener. Mom broke out of prison and Ake will help him find her… and hopefully he agrees as that’s the whole premise of this new TV show.

My name is Bane — sorry, Mir.

“And so we begin”

Together they fly over to the USS Athena (aka flying Academy), a ginormous hive of activity where they meet the gruff XO (and Cadet Master) Lura Thok, who puts moody Caleb in his place, assigning him latrine duty (wait, latrines?). Klingon cadet and aspiring doctor Jay-Den Kraag gets roped in, and soon enough he and Caleb get uniforms, (unwanted) haircuts, and a checkup from the doctor (sorry, The Doctor!). We also meet SAM, the school’s first holographic cadet, who appears to be majoring in awkward, but this only endears her to the sagacious Genesis Lythe and they become instant friends. The pair runs into Caleb and Jay-Den with the cocky Darem Reymi (who comes with an actual posse) crashing in, announcing himself as the “a–hole” of this group. The EMH beams in to deescalate things only to face overwhelming photonic fangirling from Sam. Caleb takes a moment to do some coms array hacking (and gets caught by Genesis), but his secret code fails to contact mom. Meanwhile, Ake checks out the discotheque (sorry, bridge), meeting the officers who all have names and everything. She gives a nice speech about dreams of the future and the galaxy as a classroom and they warp off to Earth. Did you get all that? There will be a quiz later.

Bro! Bro? Bro.

“Your mother would be so disappointed in you.”

Venari Ral pirates crash the trip home, disabling the Athena with a brutal attack and programable matter goo. The cadet gang rallies and Sam literally lights the way in a beautiful Star Trek moment. Our new heroes start by helping a seriously injured (and seriously angry) Thok. Nus Braka is back with a menacing monologue involving an “origami chicken,” but bottom line, he is there to steal the warp core… Oh, and he tracked the ship thanks to Caleb’s attempt to call his mom. Oops. But the kid has an idea to de-goo the ship, so Ake humors Braka to buy time. The cadets set to tasks while Jay-Den attends to Thok; Darem volunteers to do a suitless spacewalk (as a Khionian, he might survive) to scan the goo for a code Caleb needs, Sam provides cheerful assists all around, while Genesis gets the EMH (who says the thing!) to help after Darem succeeds, but is turning into a cadetcicle. Thok is saved and Caleb can fix the ship, but he needs to get to engineering — which is crawling with pirates. Ake steps in, fooling the boarders into beaming away with a fake warp breach, but Nus Braka smells a space rat. An unwelcome reunion with Caleb turns all punchy-punchy while the pirate captain drops hints about lost momma Mir until Caleb’s algorithm reprograms the programmable matter, allowing Ake to blow the pirate ship out of the sky in a satisfying conclusion to the action. Time for a laughing Braka to skedaddle unharmed, because his contract says he is the bad guy for the whole season.

Don’t these holocomms come with a personal space filter?

“Home”

Things slow down nicely for some beauty shots as the ship arrives at Earth, descending through the clouds to nestle into place within the San Francisco campus. Even the jaded Caleb is impressed. Ake lets him know that even though his comm hack caused the attack, he can have a second chance (with some menial labor penalties) for showing “command potential” in saving the ship. Finding mom is still the priority, so he chooses to stay and he and Ake start to settle into an uneasy proxy relationship as she reveals regrets over a son lost to The Burn. In a message that fans may be thinking when it comes to launching this new series, Nahla tells Caleb “Don’t screw it up.”

Like my office? You could fit seven of Picard’s ready rooms in here.

ANALYSIS

New show, who dis?

They sure packed a lot into that one episode, with the 1 hour and 15-minute runtime making it more like a short movie or an old-school two-parter. But director (and co-showrunner) Alex Kurtzman uses the time well, with fast pacing that moved nicely from sci-fi action to character drama to lighthearted diversions. The series premiere had a lot of boxes to tick: introduce new audiences as well as fans to the setting, premise, and especially the characters. In this case, the premiere excelled. There were a lot of new faces to take in, but it was easy to walk away with a sense of what each of the five core cadets is about, albeit with some clichéd shortcuts deployed that will hopefully be smoothed out over time. Still, each one showed promise, indicating flaws to overcome, goals to be tracked, and hero moments to make you want to follow their journeys.

But this show isn’t just about just about “Kids These Days” (silly title, btw), as we also understand the adults guiding (and opposing) them. This is especially true of Captain Nahla Ake, and it’s no surprise that Oscar winner Holly Hunter carries much of the heavy lifting for the drama of this season opener. She is certainly a different kind of captain, fitting for this dual role as smart commander and nurturing educator. Laying almost as much weight on newcomer Sandro Rosta was a bigger gamble that is paying off so far as the show builds a clear arc for his reluctant Caleb Mir to find his way in Starfleet, the bigger story and mystery of his mother (Tatiana Maslany) making the stakes personal and relatable. A few others stand out in this first episode, including Kerrice Brooks as the intensely new SAM, nicely counterbalanced with the return of Robert Picardo, bringing his trademark wit to The Doctor along with a welcome sense that being online for over eight centuries carries its own burden. As for Paul Giamatti’s Nus Braka, he certainly is hamming it up, but behind the scenery chewing is clear menace that makes his villain unpredictable and dangerous.

After eight centuries, I am still workshopping names.

Starfleet Academy is ostensibly a follow-up series to Star Trek: Discovery; however, it doesn’t feel like a spin-off, nor does it feel like season 6 of Disco. This is especially surprising given how many (if not most) of those working behind the scenes also worked on Discovery, plus the show is shot on the same stages at Pinewood Studios, in Toronto. The 32nd century setting is the same, complete with its accompanying aesthetic and technology like detached nacelles, robotic DoTs, and programable matter, but Academy still feels like something new, or at least puts a spin on the familiar, like having Braka use programable matter as a weapon. And for being a follow-up show, there were surprisingly few nods to Discovery. Admirable Vance was the only crossover character in the pilot, there was a brief mention of the USS Discovery itself, but that was it: No big-name cameo from the previous show to kick it off as was done in TNG, DS9, Voyager, and Enterprise. While Starfleet Academy‘s big story is tied into the aftermath of “The Burn” that dominated the latter seasons of Disco, it is presented here with a simple introduction, eliminating the need need to have seen the previous show. The message seems clear: This is a new, different show with its own voice, style, structure, and tone. Let’s hope Academy can take the best bits of Discovery and leave the rest behind.

Yes, I did borrow this outfit from Captain Burnham.

A show about something

While the stakes of this episode are thankfully limited, the story exists within the larger backdrop of the reestablishment of the Academy (and the Federation itself) following the devastation of The Burn. And here we see the bigger picture and overt message of the pilot (and show), stated clearly by the always calming presence of Discovery’s Admiral Vance (Oded Fehr) as he talks about how this next generation is to be tasked with fixing the problems of the last. The modern allegory is obvious, but welcome, as Star Trek should take on contemporary events. The episode also had something to say on the issue of child separation, although in that case it felt unnecessarily overt, reminiscent of some of Discovery’s sins of not trusting the audience to get it on their own. Still, it’s good to see Star Trek with something to say, and this pilot episode had plenty of moments of Trek as the themes of family, teamwork, science, and hope for the future are all on display… along with plenty of technobabble and even the always reliable deflector dish saving the day.

What was a bit jarring, especially for old-school fans, was some of the more modern (and sometimes foul) language used in dialogue, particularly among the younger characters. Star Trek has always been a sort of period piece, albeit in the future. These kids are not yet Starfleet officers, so we shouldn’t expect them to talk like Jean-Luc Picard, but in the attempt to connect to a younger audience, the show risks dispelling that illusion of the future at the core of Star Trek. Still, the tone of the show was generally balanced well, and the action and intensity were broken up with some fun, lighter moments, so far relying heavily on Picardo’s Doctor and Ashere’s Thok. As for Stephen Colbert’s background announcement as the “Digital Dean,” there was some fun to be had, but they can do better than “Hanger is the greatest enemy of all.”

Yes we can save the galaxy together… after you learn how to shake hands properly.

Lookin’ good

As we have come to expect from modern Trek, the production was impressive. It looks like they spared no expense on this pilot (and show), with some excellent visual effects helping set the stage as the show jumped from location to location, although the massive and overly complicated USS Athena may take some getting used to. On the inside, the bridge may be even bigger (and gaudier) than the USS Discovery’s, but the grandeur of the Academy sets are something to behold. The flurry of activity with an army of extras (and extra expensive DoT robots) running around helps sell the premise of a busy school flying through space, populated with a welcome cornucopia of new and familiar. Jeff Russo’s capable score helps keep you on track emotionally, especially when you are supposed to get those fan feels. And if all that wasn’t Star Trek enough, there are bonus nods to lore and canon peppered around the campus and episode to keep the Easter egg hunters busy, but so far. Like the brief mention of The Doctor’s past with the crew of the USS Protostar, it doesn’t feel as much fan service as just fun… and appropriate.

Sure, there are still plenty of big questions. Lura Thok’s existence is a puzzle; the talk of her Jem’Hadar father and Klingon mother hopefully begins a journey to some answers. Nus Braka must have a bigger agenda coming after Ake (and Caleb), as taking on the Athena just for spare parts seems small ball. The catchphrase callbacks are all fun, but there’s something about how The Doctor reacts to Sam’s overtures that suggests he has some issues around making new connections. Is there anything programmable matter can’t do and can this show avoid the Disco trap of that magic techno-fairy dust? Why does Nus Braka have tic-tac-toe shaved into his hair? Hopefully these and many more open queries we are left with will be picked up over the next nine episodes of season 1. And maybe the biggest question of all is: Can the show keep up the tricky balance of appealing to both fans and a new audience without leaving one (or both) behind?

Working in this visual intensity environment is surely some kind of space OSHA violation.

Final thoughts

There was a lot of anticipation — and even apprehension — over this new Star Trek show. It is carrying a lot of weight at a pivotal time for the franchise. While it’s not perfect, there are clearly some lessons learned from the previous shows of the streaming era, and this show is trying to expand and improve on the formula. So far, so good. With one of the stronger series premieres, this starting episode does what it needed to do: make me want to watch more.

Hey look, there’s a new episode starting already.

It’s a good thing for fans that Paramount released two episodes on the same day. Look for the review of episode 2 (“Beta Test”) coming up later; however, we recommend not watching episodes back-to-back, as this show is more episodic in nature. It’s best to give each a moment to be absorbed instead of rushing into a binge.

Bits

The episode is preceded by a new Star Trek Universe animation celebrating the 60th anniversary.
Stardate 854724.6 (for 15 years earlier flashback).
Episode is written by series creator Gaia Violo, who is first person to get sole “created by” credit for a live-action Star Trek show since Gene Roddenberry and The Next Generation in 1987.
This episode does not include the main title sequence seen in episode 2; main credits come after the episode.
Starfleet Academy has 11(!) executive producers.
Credits include many who worked on Star Trek: Discovery, including co-showrunner Alex Kurtzman, executive producer Michelle Paradise, producing director Olatunde Osunsanmi, and department heads Jeff Russo (music/score), Gersha Phillips (costumes), Jeff Zimmerman (visual effects), and Glenn Hetrick (makeup).
The cast also includes David Benjamin Tomlinson, who played the Saurian Linus in Discovery, playing a different Saurian in Academy (credited as “Starfleet Officer”).
Explaining away the march of time, Robert Picardo’s Doctor added an aging program to his matrix “to put organics at ease,” saving the show millions (in dollars and uncanny valleys) in de-aging CGI.
The “Little Blooms” school on Bajor was shot at the Rock Garden of Canada’s Royal Botanical Gardens in Hamilton, Ontario.
The registry of the USS Athena is NCC-392023.
The Doctor heads up the school’s opera society, naturally.
When Braka boards the USS Athena, he is whistling an unknown tune, but in the first trailer released at SDCC 2025 he was whistling theme to TOS, which Paul Giamatti revealed was just an ad lib he knew wouldn’t be used in the show.
The half Klingon / half Tellarite Braka refers to himself as a “Klingerite.”
Ake wears reading glasses, but it’s unknown if it is due to a Kirk-like allergy or a Kovich-like affectation.
When the USS Athena arrives at Earth a cover of the song “San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair)” by Rufus Wainwright is played.
Even though the song and all the discussion was about San Francisco, the Academy campus is actually located across the Golden Gate bridge in Marin County, as established by TNG.
Marc Okrand, who originally created the Klingon language during the TOS movie era, is credited as Klingon coach.
The USS Athena is so big that the turbolift cars have seats.

I hear Kirk and all those old guys had to stand up and twist a handle.

More to come

We will have more interviews and analysis (including Easter eggs) on this episode and new series in the coming days. And “Kids These Days” along with the news of the week will be the subject of the next All Access Star Trek podcast, arriving on Friday. A separate podcast episode reviewing “Beta Test” will drop on Saturday. The podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocket Casts, Stitcher and is part of the TrekMovie Podcast Network.

Keep up with news about the Star Trek Universe at TrekMovie.com.