Spoilers Star Trek: Starfleet Academy 1x01 – “Kids These Days”

[Arvis Taljik]

I could be wrong, but I think Enterprise was the only show that routinely just disabled weapons/engines and left ships drifting in the dead of space rather than blowing them up.

Regardless, I think what happened with the pirate ship here was a failure of communication across the scripting and the VFX team. I wouldn't be surprised if the original just specified the bridge ordered them to fire on the ship, and then the VFX team decided to make it as big/cool of an explosion as possible.

Though TBH we don't actually see the entire ship vaporize. I'm guessing when Braka comes up again later in the season he will have some of the same henchmen, not a new team. Possibly his ship wasn't even destroyed.

This kind of thing is present throughout the episode tbh.

Ops calls out 12 contacts but VFX only made 5. Tactical fires 12 torpedoes at those 5 contacts and manages to only hit 1 (why not fire phasers AND torpedoes?!). I think the VFX folks got their "12" mixed up.

Ops also calls out tachyon readings 100,000 km to port, then we see that the programmable matter mines (which were hidden by the tachyon readings) are actually off the starboard bow of the ship, not the port bow. They're also about 10 km away, not 100,000.

This type of disconnect between the script and the VFX department really shouldn't be as egregious as this, but here we are (and these were just the glaringly obvious ones...).

 

[fireproof78]

be pedantic, Kirk and them taking Apollo at his word is really bad for a bunch of scientists.

Kirk: I'm a soldier.

Pedantic as well I suppose

 

[Stam22]

Just watched E1 last night. Gave it an "8". My wife's watching with me, and she never saw Disco so I had to bring her up to speed on The Burn.

Her response to a Klingon/Jem Ha'dar hybrid and a Klingon/Tellarite hybrid: "Man... those Klingons are really getting around."

Saw some convo about the timeframe for this series, and I got the impression it takes place between S3 and S4 of Disco. They mentioned casually that Discovery was undergoing a refit/retrofit, which tracks with how the ship's appearance changed beginning S4. Couldn't take place after since Disco was sent out to wherever the hell they sent it to watch for the aliens that were supposed to come sometime.

I'm interested, we'll put it that way.

 

[Oddish]

The Tom Paris choice.

Tom's choice wasn't initially returning to Starfleet. It was "help us and we'll cut you loose". It's a little odd that he was in uniform at all.

My head canon with Caleb is that he had demonstrated considerable skills over his 15 years on the run, in everything from combat to computer hacking, so he obviously had the skill set. That and Ake probably included his membership as a condition for leaving her kidlets on Bajor and setting sail on the Athena.

Are we really trying to say Ake was wrong to blow away a bunch of pirates who were literally attacking a school?

I'm not. That ship might not have had tactical superiority overall, but it had disabled the Athena once. And the Athena was a school ship, hauling kids. If I saw someone opening fire on a school bus here on earth, I'd blast them into oblivion and wouldn't feel sorry about it.

 

[Arvis Taljik]

Just watched E1 last night. Gave it an "8". My wife's watching with me, and she never saw Disco so I had to bring her up to speed on The Burn.

Her response to a Klingon/Jem Ha'dar hybrid and a Klingon/Tellarite hybrid: "Man... those Klingons are really getting around."

Saw some convo about the timeframe for this series, and I got the impression it takes place between S3 and S4 of Disco. They mentioned casually that Discovery was undergoing a refit/retrofit, which tracks with how the ship's appearance changed beginning S4. Couldn't take place after since Disco was sent out to wherever the hell they sent it to watch for the aliens that were supposed to come sometime.

I'm interested, we'll put it that way.

The timeline of Disco makes it impossible to occur between S3 and S4 since the first Academy class (which is out of FHQ) isn't formed until S4. If anything, it's possible for SFA to take place in S5, potentially when the Discovery is laid up in drydock between S5E1 and S5E2.

They're also very specific on screen to state that this is the first class to re-convene in San Francisco, not the actual FIRST class, since the first class was convened out of FHQ and the cadet uniforms were red instead of the neutral gray w/department stripes they're using in SFA. This would also give this "new class" upperclassmen in the form of the FHQ first class of cadets, who would now be sophomores or potentially juniors on the SFA academic track.

Also, it can easily take place after S5 (there's some 30+ years between the end of the story in S5 and when the Epilogue takes place). Plus the Discovery could be in drydock for refit/retrofit for literally any sort of handwavium reason they feel like contriving for the episode lol.

Side note, the Discovery's appearance changed to the 1031-A in S3 (around E5-6), not the beginning of S4.

 

[Detached Nacelle]

Saw some convo about the timeframe for this series, and I got the impression it takes place between S3 and S4 of Disco. They mentioned casually that Discovery was undergoing a refit/retrofit, which tracks with how the ship's appearance changed beginning S4. Couldn't take place after since Disco was sent out to wherever the hell they sent it to watch for the aliens that were supposed to come sometime.

2 years after season 5 of Discovery and a good 30 years before the epilogue.

 

[Nyotarules]

Just did a second watch, much better pilot than I expected. My fav scene the school taking its place in San Franciso, although the city should be as large as Australia to school students for the trillion population UFP. The idea of another lost soul needing mentoring by a Starfleet captain ala Kelvin Kirk, Burnham, Sisko had me rolling my eyes.

 

[Rahul]

Or in Insurrection, the Enterprise beams Picard off the exploding Son'a Collector but leaves Ru'afo (who was standing quite literally right in front of him) behind to die in the explosion.

Like it or not, this sort of thing is cool and normal in Star Trek and always has been.

They beam off Picard in the absolute last second. And then they rendered help to the other damaged Son'a ship.

 

[Ometiklan]

So, i watched the episode last night. It was not amazing, but at least quite entertaining for me.

I still have some issues with the production design from this Discovery-era show, but at least there are no flame jets on the bridge (that I have seen, yet).

I did not like the cadet who "thinks" she may have swallowed her combadge. Maybe send her back to some regular school where she can get some remedial life skills?

I had one general question for this board. I am a little unclear about how Ake traveled to Bajor 15 years prior. As far as I understand it, warp travel was extreemly limited before Discovery saved the day. The entire "Federation" only had a few dozen ships, and then there are the unaligned traders (like Book) and villains who managed to get their hands on some dilithium, but otherwise everyone is supposed to be completely isolated from all other star systems, right? I guess when Ake quit, from whatever random detention center she was posted at, she could have requested Starfleet drop her at Bajor for her reitrement?

Seriously, I have only managed to watch Discovery once through, and the showrunners and writers for that show weren't known for their worldbuilding, so am I wrong in my impression that warp travel (especially to a place as far away as Bajor) should have been extreemly rare? This show doesn't seem to treat it as such (almost like they forgot the impact of the Burn 15 years ago).

 

[Turtletrekker]

Discovery discovered a whole planet made of dlithium at the end of season 3.

 

[Detached Nacelle]

Bajor was a major trade hub during the dark era. Multiple references are made to the Bajoran Exchange so it was probably quite easy to get a ride there.

 

[Lucky]

I'd give it a solid 8/10. I didn't realize Tatiana Maslany would be a guest star, and that was a nice surprise. I like Caleb so far as the protagonist, though I hope we see the other characters fleshed out more in future episodes. Braka isn't the most compelling antagonist I've ever seen, but I'll give them time to give him more depth. I liked the way the cadets worked together at the end to save the ship.

 

[Fateor]

I had one general question for this board. I am a little unclear about how Ake traveled to Bajor 15 years prior. As far as I understand it, warp travel was extreemly limited before Discovery saved the day. The entire "Federation" only had a few dozen ships, and then there are the unaligned traders (like Book) and villains who managed to get their hands on some dilithium, but otherwise everyone is supposed to be completely isolated from all other star systems, right? I guess when Ake quit, from whatever random detention center she was posted at, she could have requested Starfleet drop her at Bajor for her reitrement?

You don't need Dilithium for warp travel.

You can use fusion or any number of other power sources, they just tend to be slower then the controlled M/AM reaction you can get when using Dilithium.

 

[Rahul]

I find it interesting how vague this show is about the burn.
They never explained what it is at all, they never mentioned dilithium, or even "warp" or "ships", and showed only a single explosion in the opening.
If you didn't watch DIS, this could literally be any other type of catastrophic collapse. Did they ever even mentioned in which century it takes place?
Which I guess is the right choice? The burn was narratively "solved" in DIS season 3, there isn't really anything new to do with it.

 

[eschaton]

I find it interesting how vague this show is about the burn.
They never explained what it is at all, they never mentioned dilithium, or even "warp" or "ships", and showed only a single explosion in the opening.
If you didn't watch DIS, this could literally be any other type of catastrophic collapse. Did they ever even mentioned in which century it takes place?
Which I guess is the right choice? The burn was narratively "solved" in DIS season 3, there isn't really anything new to do with it.

Just sweep it under the rug as the quadrant was on the verge of a general collapse, and the Burn was the match that lit it.

 

[The Salt Umpire]

Who said it was extra-judicial?

Because Ake swore to right the injustice? Seems extrajudicial to me.

I was underwhelmed, nay severely underwhelmed by S1 E1. I will give it a chance, but it earned a Six from me. If this is the only Trek offering from P+, I'll have no qualms about cancelling my sub.

P+, you have until SNW ends.

 

[The Salt Umpire]

They should have just paid to use the original.

The vocalist They got sounds so maudlin and he ruins the song ...

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It's supposed to be an upbeat song, not a dirge.

Agreed, it was a celebration of the Counterculture.

One of these others would have maybe been a better choice than Scott.

The 13 Best Songs About San Francisco: Golden City Playlist

In this post, we're going to take a deep dive into 13 of the best songs about San Francisco. Let's get started.

hellomusictheory.com

 

[FredH]

You may be the first person I've ever heard say they enjoy Season 2 of PIC.

For different reasons, I enjoy all three seasons of Picard. Each has a different focus, and does what it’s trying to do — enjoyably —and that’s fine.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Peter Preston is a lovely callback....

but really??

He stayed while the other trainees ran.

 

[Set Harth]

If I met a guy who walked on water and could heal the blind, I don't think that gives me reason to accept it if he claims to be Jesus Christ.

Yeah you don't wanna jump to conclusions, it could be Mr Beast.