{"id":453105,"date":"2026-03-02T05:14:10","date_gmt":"2026-03-02T05:14:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/453105\/"},"modified":"2026-03-02T05:14:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-02T05:14:10","slug":"interview-starfleet-academy-eps-talk-sam-2-0-and-honoring-the-doctors-star-trek-voyager-history-trekmovie-com","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/453105\/","title":{"rendered":"Interview: \u2018Starfleet Academy\u2019 EPs Talk \u201cSam 2.0\u201d And Honoring The Doctor\u2019s \u2018Star Trek: Voyager\u2019 History \u2013 TrekMovie.com"},"content":{"rendered":"

[SPOILERS] Episode 8 [\u201cThe Life of the Stars<\/a>\u201c] of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy featured the return of Mary Wiseman as Sylvia Tilly to help the cadets deal with the trauma of the Miyazaki incident from episode 6. This trauma hit Sam particularly hard, damaging her so much that she had her to return to her homeworld of Kasq for treatment with Captain Ake and The Doctor, who revealed his resistance to becoming Sam\u2019s mentor was tied back to his own trauma from an episode of Voyager. TrekMovie had a chance to talk to episode co-writer and series creator Gaia Violo along with co-showrunner Noga Landau, who discussed how they put it all together and what this means moving forward into season 2.<\/p>\n

Was this episode specifically crafted for Mary with the whole Our Town theater kid vibe? <\/p>\n

Noga Landau: Yeah, I don\u2019t think we could have done this episode without Mary Wiseman on so many fronts, but namely that it was finally time for her to come and shine. And we had to bring it in order to earn Sylvia Tilly coming back to Star Trek. But there were so many serendipitous things about having Mary come back to play the role for this episode in particular. One of them was we knew we wanted it to be about Our Town, because there\u2019s so many parallels between what the message of Our Town is and what our cadets are going through in this episode. But when we sat down with Mary to say, \u201cHey, would you like to come back to play Tilly?\u201d And we told her what the episode was going to be, she got this look on her face, and it was a very emotional look, and we were worried that we made her cry. And then she said, \u201cActually, I played Emily in Our Town when I was at Juilliard, so this play has meant a lot to me in my life.\u201d So it was like the stars aligned, \u201cThe Life of the Stars\u201d aligned.<\/p>\n

When Tilly\u2019s return was first announced back at Comic-Con a long time ago, we assumed we were going to get more Mary. So are we getting more Mary?<\/p>\n

Noga Landau: I love that question. I will tell you that we want lots of Mary. We want as much possible. Having her with us on the red carpet at the premiere was like a dream come true. And you will just have to stay tuned in to see.<\/p>\n

Gaia Violo: And I would add to that that being on set when for the reunion of Tilly and Reno with Holly [Hunter] as well as Nahla [Ake] \u2014 both writing that scene and then seeing it in person \u2014 was was one of those \u201cpinch me\u201d moments. Because it felt necessary, these three powerful women in one room just sort of like connecting the experience of Discovery, the experience of Starfleet Academy, with the large framework of: how do we help this new generation that is incoming and is not quite ready to be officers yet, but they\u2019re on their way to become that. It was very special.<\/p>\n

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Mary Wiseman as Tilly in season 1, episode 8 of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy streaming on Paramount+. Photo Credit: Brooke Palmer\/Paramount+<\/p>\n

Gaia, first of all, congratulations on being the first solo credited creator of a [live action] Star Trek series since Gene Roddenberry [in 1987 with Star Trek: The Next Generation]\u2026<\/p>\n

Oh my god, I actually didn\u2019t know that. So thank you.<\/p>\n

So how long had you planned The Doctor\u2019s story here? You also wrote the pilot where we saw him reluctant to engage with Sam, so did you already have this whole backstory with the loss [of his daughter \u201cBelle<\/a>\u201d] on Voyager? <\/p>\n

Gaia Violo: It was there from the beginning, the idea of The Doctor having lived 800 years, for so long, and the experience of loss, and what that means for someone that experienced life \u2014 I like to think of it \u2014 like a flowing river. It is just constant, and what that means for him. That was always there from the beginning. And the idea that there was just one other holographic student there who was looking at him for that level of mentorship and his inability to connect, because it is too painful when you\u2019re living life again as a as a flowing river and everybody\u2019s passing you by and you\u2019re still there. That was always intriguing.<\/p>\n

And then I think the specificity of how are we going to handle that story and bring it full circle with Sam? How are we going to address \u201cReal Life<\/a>\u201d and and what happened in season 3 of Voyager. And rewatching that episode and the how gut wrenching that ending is; there were so many \u2013 in many of the many drafts that Jane [Maggs] and I did, there were so many Easter eggs to that episode, like the blanket that he holds. So we really leaned in and really wanted to honor that storyline. And then as, obviously, the writing process goes on, we simplified, we streamlined the episode. But I would say that we wanted to honor that story at the very beginning with the pilot, but it really came full circle. And we really delved into it in episode 8.<\/p>\n

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The Doctor with Belle in Voyager\u2018s \u201cReal Life\u201d (Paramount)<\/p>\n

So is Sam now a totally different person now that she has a childhood, and is The Doctor now different because he is a father? Will that ripple through the show? <\/p>\n

Noga Landau: So one of the most fun things coming out of this episode that we really get to live in, a fun way, is that they are now father and daughter, to the core. And we really get into that in season 2 in ways that are super touching and funny and hilarious and awesome. And so I can\u2019t wait for you all to watch season 2. We\u2019ll have it ready for you soon. But, the way we designed the transformation of Sam, we called it sort of colloquially in the writers room, \u201cSam 1.0\u201d and \u201cSam 2.0.\u201d \u00a0Sam 1.0 was just a couple months old and was a baby in so many different ways. And the contrast that you start to see in episodes 9 and episode 10, but in a big way in season 2, is that Sam 2.0, while she does carry the memories of Sam 1.0, she really is a totally different person. She feels things that Sam 1.0 never felt.<\/p>\n

Something I\u2019ll tease about what happens in season 2 is she actually starts to feel feelings of attraction. Because when you\u2019re a couple months old and you\u2019re Sam 1.0 you don\u2019t have that yet. You haven\u2019t grown that yet. But if you\u2019re 17 going on 18, that\u2019s when you start to experience all of these facets of life that she needed to grow into. And that\u2019s why we did episode 8. And also being raised by The Doctor, that\u2019s a funny experience. You\u2019re going to have a lot of opera. You\u2019re going to have to do watch a lot of weird science experiments going on under your nose. There\u2019s so much hilarity that comes from being the daughter of The Doctor that we really get to live in in season 2.<\/p>\n

This episode is all about dealing with trauma. Were you guys thinking about \u2014 or did [Trek superfans and Academy writers] Tawny [Newsome] and Kirsten [Beyer] bring up \u2014 episodes like \u201cFamily<\/a>\u201d or \u201cIt\u2019s Only a Paper Moon<\/a>\u201d for inspiration?<\/p>\n

Gaia Violo: I mean, Kirsten and Tawny are such a big presence in the writers room, and we really couldn\u2019t write any \u2014 they\u2019re essential to the writing process and the development process, because they\u2019re really giving you the guidepost. And we really want to honor what came before us as we are charting new territory. So, yes, I mean \u201cReal Life,\u201d and \u201cBlink of an Eye<\/a>,\u201d was another one that we really rewatched to understand what The Doctor experienced beforehand.<\/p>\n

But in terms of trauma, the genuine answer is that\u2019s the human experience. Like every single person in the writers\u2019 room has experienced some version of something that they\u2019ve had to deal with that either became a big part of their lives, or changed their perspective on life, or may really propel them into adulthood. That is why a writers\u2019 room becomes such a precious and sacred space, because you\u2019re sharing real life. And in many ways, that episode is a love letter to two young women who have gone through a traumatic experience, who are not even that close when they begin the story, and yet, throughout this journey, they\u2019re choosing, with what Sam calls \u201chopeful defiance,\u201d to just keep going. They decide that trauma is not the end of their story. It\u2019s just a chapter. And so I would say, in terms of trauma, it\u2019s a combination of yes, story and what came before us, but then the real-life experience of every single person in that writers room.<\/p>\n

Noga Landau: What I would add to that is you mentioned \u201cFamily,\u201d that\u2019s an episode you make when you\u2019re dealing with a character who\u2019s in his 40s, who\u2019s lived so much life. That\u2019s how he processes it. Taking the spirit of \u201cFamily\u201d and doing it in a framework of a school where you have instructors who are going to come in and try and fix the problem, I feel like, in a lot of ways, this was our version of that. But also, Trek has such a rich tradition of doing episodes about theater. The other inspiration that was so important to us is to be like, we\u2019re far from the first Star Trek writers\u2019 room to be like, \u201cLet\u2019s do theater in Star Trek.\u201d There\u2019s such a history of doing Shakespeare, of doing old plays, that I felt when we were designing this episode, it made so much sense that, of course, the act of theater sits in the Star Trek universe so comfortably we have to do the same thing on Starfleet Academy.<\/p>\n

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Zo\u00eb Steiner as Tarima in season 1, episode 8 of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy streaming on Paramount+. Photo Credit: Michael Gibson\/Paramount+<\/p>\n

So this was a deep dive into Kasq. We visit Kasq, but what exactly is it? <\/p>\n

Noga Landau: I mean, we are keeping it mysterious, Yes, there is message to the madness. [Landau then screenshares concept art for Kasq]<\/p>\n

So is Kasq a technological construct or physical\/astronomical body? <\/p>\n

Noga Landau: It is both. What it does is, once you enter Kasq, space and time sort of break down in the interior. And Dr. Erin Macdonald, our science consultant, could make it sound so much better, but that\u2019s essentially what it what it does.<\/p>\n

Gaia Violo: We are exploring, with the Makers and the way Sam grew up, and there is a lot to explore there that we haven\u2019t really delved into. And yes, it\u2019s a version of an alien species that we haven\u2019t really seen before, and we really want to explore.<\/p>\n

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Kasq in \u201cThe Life of the Stars\u201d (Paramount)<\/p>\n

I just hope that with Genesis, we finally learned something about the Dar-Sha, because we still don\u2019t know anything, really\u2026<\/p>\n

I hear you. You know how we did the Dar-sha \u2014 when we decided that they were nomadic, our amazing prosthetics department was like, \u201cSo, what do you want them to look like?\u201d And we were like, \u201cWe want them to look like gorgeous aliens that woke up at Burning Man.\u201d [laughs] And that was the design for the Dar-Sha.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

L-R: Zo\u00eb Steiner as Tarima, Kerrice Brooks as SAM, and Bella Shepard as Genesis in season 1, episode 8 of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy streaming on Paramount+. Photo Credit: Brooke Palmer\/Paramount+<\/p>\n

More for SFA 108<\/p>\n

Check out our Landau and Violo talking about the season 2 finale<\/a>, which wrapped filming earlier in the week. We also spoke to Mary Wiseman about returning as Sylvia Tilly for this episode<\/a>. For a deeper dive into the episode, check out our recap\/review<\/a> and the new episode of the All Access Star Trek\u00a0podcast<\/a>, which includes audio from this interview as well as Laurie\u2019s chat with Mary Wiseman.<\/p>\n

Keep up with news about the\u00a0Star Trek Universe at TrekMovie.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"[SPOILERS] Episode 8 [\u201cThe Life of the Stars\u201c] of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy featured the return of Mary…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":453106,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[96,391,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-453105","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-entertainment","tag-tv","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/453105","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=453105"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/453105\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/453106"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=453105"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=453105"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=453105"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}