Spoilers Star Trek: Starfleet Academy 1x04 – “Vox in Excelso”

[Set Harth]

Did you ever see her exit a police box?

 

[Akiraprise]

8/10

I have not been particularly enamored with this show but this was a damn good episode. The debate stuff was not the best but I can appreciate some of the character development that has gone on so far. Caleb wasn't a pouty jackass and kept his shirt on for a change. Is Jay-Den supposed to be autistic or just have some extreme social anxiety? His voice is hard to follow at times. Although I can empathize with the public speaking issue. Klingons don't have tear ducts, but they also are supposed to have purple blood so I guess we can overlook that bit of TUC canon. After Praxis I really doubt even the Klingons would have kept using dilithium reactors on Qo'noS. The fate of the Klingons does really drive home how awful The Burn was because after S3 of DSC we kind of glossed it over.

 

[Nerys Myk]

. Is Jay-Den supposed to be autistic or just have some extreme social anxiety? His voice is hard to follow at times. Although I can empathize with the public speaking issue. Klingons don't have tear ducts, but they also are supposed to have purple blood so I guess we can overlook that bit of TUC canon.

I felt his pain at public speaking. I was always a nervous wreck.

Not having tear ducts doesn't mean you can't produce tears. (Some animals produce tears but lack tear ducts). Legends say (Well TNG's "Birthright") that Kahless filled the ocean with his tears.

They have red blood or purple/pink blood, depending on the episode/movie.

 

[tenmei]

Caleb wasn't a pouty jackass and kept his shirt on for a change. Is Jay-Den supposed to be autistic or just have some extreme social anxiety? His voice is hard to follow at times.

People are allowed to just not like public speaking, they dont have to be neuro diverse.

 

[fireproof78]

Am I dating myself here or just remember old comedy bits but is a fear of public speaking no longer a fear?

Like, a comedian had a a whole bit on the statistics showing that Americans top fear one that was public speaking, with dying being number two on the list. Meaning, at s funeral more people wanted to be in the casket than giving the eulogy.

Just me?

 

[Akiraprise]

People are allowed to just not like public speaking, they dont have to be neuro diverse.

For sure, but he speaks that way even amongst his chums.

Am I dating myself here or just remember old comedy bits but is a fear of public speaking no longer a fear?

I would say it is less of a concern for the TikTok generation constantly taking videos of themselves posting for all to see than Millenials and older. I still detest being on video.

 

[fireproof78]

would say it is less of a concern for the TikTok generation constantly taking videos of themselves posting for all to see than Millenials and older. I still detest being on video.

In my experience it makes it worse. Anxiety gets worse in public speaking because they are no longer in control.

 

[tenmei]

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[CT_Phipps]

8/10

I have not been particularly enamored with this show but this was a damn good episode. The debate stuff was not the best but I can appreciate some of the character development that has gone on so far. Caleb wasn't a pouty jackass and kept his shirt on for a change. Is Jay-Den supposed to be autistic or just have some extreme social anxiety? His voice is hard to follow at times. Although I can empathize with the public speaking issue. Klingons don't have tear ducts, but they also are supposed to have purple blood so I guess we can overlook that bit of TUC canon. After Praxis I really doubt even the Klingons would have kept using dilithium reactors on Qo'noS. The fate of the Klingons does really drive home how awful The Burn was because after S3 of DSC we kind of glossed it over.

I think Jayden has social anxiety.

Also Klingons not learning a damn thing from Praxis is on brand.

 

[CT_Phipps]

Odd Thought:

Were the Klingons members of the Federation when the Burn happened?

They mention the Federation mediating with their former subject races but if they were part of the Federation they wouldn't have subject races.

 

[CT_Phipps]

Did you ever see her exit a police box?

I assume this means Lee Merriweather is her third incarnation and why Batman doesn't recognize her.

 

[tenmei]

Odd Thought:

Were the Klingons members of the Federation when the Burn happened?

They mention the Federation mediating with their former subject races but if they were part of the Federation they wouldn't have subject races.

Previously on "This Thread"

The Last Starship states they were, that the only species left in the Milky Way not part of the Federation were the Gorn, who agreed to join at the precise moment of the Burn.

It also shows the Klingon Defence Force ships had been subsumed into Starfleet.

The Federation's peak was only 350 members, hardly the entire galactic community. I know comics aren't canon but if they say everyone bar Gorn was a member then someone didn't do background research.

 

[CT_Phipps]

Previously on "This Thread"

I read those comics and while they said "Everyone had joined but the Gorn", I don't think you need to assume they were being literal.

They could have just meant the Alpha Quadrant or even just figuratively.

 

[tenmei]

The wording is, "The galaxy stands united under our banner, thousands of species united in a dream ... [snip] Only you stand alone ..."

I guess the language is loose enough, that i guess you could consider there were only 350 official members, but like Bajor and the Bolian Homeworld, hundreds/thousands more stood under Federation Protectorate status?

 

[Galaxy]

Were the Klingons members of the Federation when the Burn happened?

Daniels had mentioned in Enterprise that the Klingons had joined the Federation, that does not mean they were still members by the time the burn happened, they could have left again.

 

[cooleddie74]

People are allowed to just not like public speaking, they dont have to be neuro diverse.

I took public speaking in college and was involved in debate in high school and I was still occasionally a deer in headlights before talking to a group of people.

 

[tenmei]

We now know this episode was filmed in October 2024, as Robert Picardo celebrated his birthday whilst filming.

 

[Detached Nacelle]

Daniels had mentioned in Enterprise that the Klingons had joined the Federation, that does not mean they were still members by the time the burn happened, they could have left again.

Precisely politics is never static and members aren't in it for life. I mentioned earlier the temporal wars could have caused a lot of friction and the Klingons might have seceded to protect their time crystals.

It's far more fun to imagine there have been centuries of highs and lows, peace and conflict than to imagine a stagnant world state.

 

[Uhura's Song]

Loved this one up to and including the part where Caleb and Jay'Den fall out during the debate.

Mixed feelings about the resolution; the show slipped fully back into TNG-style simplistic cultural relativism, simultaneously excusing anything in the name of culture while also having a smug back-patting "we can easily manipulate people into acting how we want if we go along with the most superficial version of their beliefs" attitude.

It was especially odd because Caleb rightly raised that Klingons aren't a one-dimensional monoculture based on race, and then the solution treated them as exactly that mere minutes later. The Klingon captain being in on it alleviated it a bit, but I think that sort of dynamic was handled better in Voyager's "Prophecy".

Still a strong episode with superb acting work all around, and did a lot for Jay'Den's character. If the biggest criticism I can make is "this annoyed me in the exact same way TNG often did", then they're at least pissing me off in a way that's distinctly Star Trek! 7/10

I liked the way the characters were written throughout this one, still recognisable but less over-the-top than the past three episodes.

The Klingons were well aware, it seemed to me.

I think it was more about the Federation recognizing/respecting their ways. They could not accept a gift as charity, but they could accept this.

Anyway, I had some quibbles with the ep, but they were minor. Good ep. A sigh of relief. Thok finally got to do something beyond silly drill sargeant comic relief.