‘Star Trek: Starfleet Academy’ is Hogwarts in space by way of ‘Dawson’s Creek’, and we don’t love it
By Sergio Pereira, published 15 hours ago
The noisy fandom is about to have a field day with Star Trek: Starfleet Academy.
“Star Trek: Starfleet Academy” has officially docked on Paramount+. It’s the latest expansion in a franchise that has more time hops than Doc Brown’s delightful DeLorean, but this show might be the most puzzling addition yet.
At some point in time, every Trekkie has imagined what it must be like to be a cadet and learn all the various disciplines required to join the Starfleet. Writer Gaia Violo recognized this as well, envisioning a series following an influx of new cadets set after the events of the divisive “Star Trek: Discovery,” while producers Alex Kurtzman and Noga Landau put their names behind it as showrunners. In typical Hollywood fashion, though, a spin on the concept just had to be shoehorned in here.
The story starts innocently enough. Nahla Ake (Holly Hunter) gets appointed as the chancellor for the Starfleet Academy. Disappointed by the actions from her past, she makes amends by offering orphan Caleb Mir (Sandro Rosta) the chance to become a cadet and find his long-lost mother. You may like
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Caleb has never dreamed of joining Starfleet, but he reluctantly accepts the opportunity. While he’s an outsider and rebel at heart, Caleb makes friends with the likes of Klingon Jay-Den Kraag (Karim Diané) and Dar-Sha Genesis Lythe (Bella Shepard), and rubs a few others the wrong way. It also doesn’t take too long for Caleb to demonstrate he might have what it takes to become a Starfleet officer after all, even though that wasn’t on his initial bingo card.
Sounds harmless enough, right? Well, it was until someone decided this all needed to play out like a CW teen drama from the 2000s. Think Dawson’s Creek in space. There are noticeable sparks between Genesis and Caleb from the get-go, but he kicks off a romance with the Betazoid Tarima Sadal (Zoë Steiner) to add more awkwardness to the proceedings. Blink twice if you’re over love triangles on every show and want this trope to disappear for a decade at the very least.
Also, let’s not forget the forced and telegraphed tensions between the cadets, because teenagers need to hate each other for arbitrary reasons before they become bosom buddies in the end. Seriously, is Greg Berlanti ghostwriting this?
While “Star Trek” boldly claims to go where no man has gone before, YA drama might be one frontier too far. It isn’t like “Star Trek: Starfleet Academy” is hiding its influences either, as a poster proves to be an unabashed tribute to “One Tree Hill.”
Editor’s Note: Read the rest of the story, at the below link.
Editor’s Note: Featured image at top is from WP AI. –DrWeb
Continue/Read Original Article Here: ‘Star Trek: Starfleet Academy’ is Hogwarts in space by way of ‘Dawson’s Creek’, and we don’t love it | Space
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