Spoilers Star Trek: Starfleet Academy 1x05 – “Series Acclimation Mil”

[Detached Nacelle]

Did you even Read what i wrote?

Yes and I replied to it.

What Avery wanted? He didn't want to be a bad role model, that he didn't want to leave his daughter fatherless in the end because he was aware he was a role model and didn't want to be that guy.

We don't know if it was a son or daughter technically.

How is being willing to sacrifice yourself to save everyone everywhere being a bad role model? Is every Black person who joins the military and dies being a bad role model to their children for leaving them without a parent?

This argument comes from a very narrow viewpoint. I think even Avery was being too limited with his own perceptions and missed the point a little.

And they DID re write the ending to a hopefull one because originally it was just as you say, Jump. Dead.

He still jumps in.

And again just because he wants to return doesn't mean he can, ultimately that isn't within his power and like so much of his life wasn't his choice.

 

[Farscape One]

Regarding Ben not coming back from the Celestial Temple...

There is something that I have not seen anybody consider about him not returning. He remembers his appearances throughout Jake's life in the alternate future in "THE VISITOR". He knows it had a very adverse affect on Jake (after he was forced to leave DS9 and was on Earth, for years Jake was actually living a good life: he was married and he was a published author... until Ben appeared in his living room again), and was doing exactly what Ben was doing from Wolf 359 to the end of the pilot... he was stuck in that moment of Jennifer's death. He did not really move on with his life.

More than anything, Ben would want Jake to live a happy, full life. To help assure this, he did not appear physically to him because he knew how that could do the exact opposite. Look at how serene and at peace the hologram of Jake was. He was able to let go. Jake did not exist in that final shot of DS9, as his father did for years after Jennifer's death.

In a way, Ben did for Jake what the Prophets did for him in "EMISSARY". Sometimes the best way to love someone is to let them go. And that was clearly a good decision, as we see based on the Jake hologram.


(This also assumes that Ben actually had the ability to return.)

 

[Dar70]

Man, that Brooks voiceover, followed by the thank you title card and DS9 music? Completely finished me off.

Really happy we got to see Jake, and was probably even happier we saw him a second time and that it wasn’t just a one scene cameo. Obviously, his second appearance was more SAM’s own version of him, so we can’t take what he said as 100% accurate, buuuutttt…

…I do with they’d been braver and just outright told us that Sisko returned.

I get it — they didn’t want to interfere too much with how DS9’s writers left things, but I don’t think outright stating Sisko returned would’ve pissed off anyone that worked on that show. As it is now, we’ve probably blown our one opportunity to definitively give Sisko a happy ending.

That said, reading between the lines, Sisko clearly still had that. Imaginary Jake stated he felt Sisko was there for everything, and so I choose to interpret that Jake DID meet his father again, even if not in a physical way he could ever prove with say a photograph. I just wish I didn’t have to still make theories, when this was the one chance to put something in stone.

One thing they fixed beautifully from DS9 though, was Jake’s ending. Never sat well with me how the show ended for Jake, but SFA has now shown us that he was at peace with his father’s role, and fate, regardless of whether he did or didn’t see Sisko again unbeknownst to others. DS9 really ended things on a dark note for Jake, so I’m glad we now know that he lived a happy life full of love, and never felt abandoned by Ben regardless of whether Ben did or did not return to him properly.

I’m going to assume that Ben did - I just wish they’d let us know for sure, as this is likely the I’ll only opportunity there will have been to do so.

I'm glad they left it in the air. Brooks is retired and would not make even a brief appearance. Even the voice over was from a previous project of his. I guess they could have told us but it would be bittersweet but probably would have fulfilled Avery Brooks wish for the character..

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

Maybe the kid was born in the temple and stayed with Ben, so there's no record of birth or existence because time isn't linear there.

 

[Jag2112]

Screencaps gallery is now online:

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy ScreenCaps "Series Acclimation Mil" (S1:E5)

Cygnus-X1.Net: A Tribute to Star Trek

www.cygnus-x1.net

 

[Lakenheath 72]

The people who made that Sisko family tree probably did as much research as SAM did, which is to say not much as it was surface level. The ability to research properly is a declining skill in America.

 

[firehawk12]

How is being willing to sacrifice yourself to save everyone everywhere being a bad role model? Is every Black person who joins the military and dies being a bad role model to their children for leaving them without a parent?

This argument comes from a very narrow viewpoint. I think even Avery was being too limited with his own perceptions and missed the point a little.

You're talking about media and well as prejudices in the 90s though, where it was both a problem in terms of how Black men were depicted and in terms of the material experiences time where Black men had been incarcerated in America at a much higher rate than white men.

As one of the few Black characters on TV, I could see why Brooks didn't want to contribute to the prevailing narratives at the time of Black men abandoning their families.

 

[TRON JA307020]

So I guess we can expect one fan service episode a season in hopes to raise ratings. So season 2 im guessing something from tng. Maybe Data or Wesley as a centuries old traveler.

Except for the sisko stuff and seeing cirroc lofton portraying an older jake I had no use for the rest of this episode. The cadets are unlikeable and frankly boring. But now we have another Dax. I guess theyll bring her out occasionally to get everyone excited. I think they should leave dax as is.

They did reach on the top ten yesterday and already fell out again.

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

She'll investigate where Spock went when he vanished in the Jellyfish, perhaps.

 

[firehawk12]

Regarding Ben not coming back from the Celestial Temple...

There is something that I have not seen anybody consider about him not returning. He remembers his appearances throughout Jake's life in the alternate future in "THE VISITOR". He knows it had a very adverse affect on Jake (after he was forced to leave DS9 and was on Earth, for years Jake was actually living a good life: he was married and he was a published author... until Ben appeared in his living room again), and was doing exactly what Ben was doing from Wolf 359 to the end of the pilot... he was stuck in that moment of Jennifer's death. He did not really move on with his life.

More than anything, Ben would want Jake to live a happy, full life. To help assure this, he did not appear physically to him because he knew how that could do the exact opposite. Look at how serene and at peace the hologram of Jake was. He was able to let go. Jake did not exist in that final shot of DS9, as his father did for years after Jennifer's death.

In a way, Ben did for Jake what the Prophets did for him in "EMISSARY". Sometimes the best way to love someone is to let them go. And that was clearly a good decision, as we see based on the Jake hologram.


(This also assumes that Ben actually had the ability to return.)

I agree with this, but I think he didn't even actually needed to have appeared in a real scene. It felt like Anslem itself is a book about faith, and the way he says he chooses to believe to SAM also points to faith as well... which is the lesson she takes away from reading the book.

Maybe the real Jake wanted to leave it cryptic in his book, maybe Ben appeared once and Jake wanted to believe he was there all the time... or maybe he was actually there, or maybe Jake learned to live with the thought of his father being both nowhere and everywhere.

But combined with the poem that they used about love being the manifestation of divine/written words, I think the lesson at least is that all that matters is how you feel about these things and not what actually happened. It's why SAM is able to pushback against her "parents"/creators.

 

[Cap'n Calhoun]

Or maybe they decided to cool it with the memberries?

They basically recapped the last few episodes of DS9 and spent the episode dwelling on what happened to Sisko and his son. Does mentioning his other child even count as a "memberberry" at that point? The omission (especially on the family tree) was conspicuous enough that I've heard people wonder if it was meant to imply that she miscarried.

Yeah. Gone are the days of thought provoking trek and stories so good they stick with us for years. I also gave it a one.

To each their own, but the way this was constructed with strong themes and so much room for interpretation... I can't stop thinking about it. Kudos to the writers IMO.

I gave it a five for this very reason. There is no excuse for getting the chief details of Sisko’s family tree wrong - especially in a tribute to DS9.

You dropped your score because the art department messed up a display that is hard to read even if you pause it? I guess I agree it's a negative mark, but I hope it didn't drop the score by much.

(This also assumes that Ben actually had the ability to return.)

He returned to Kasidy in "What You Leave Behind", though I suppose it's possible that it was a one-off grant by the prophets. Interesting that it didn't require an orb or the wormhole though.

I am surprised Paul Giamatti has been in only one of the first five episodes.

Minor spoiler:

Spoiler: When Paul Giamatti next returns

He's in episode 6 per the comments of the cast and crew at https://collider.com/star-trek-starfleet-academy-season-1-holly-hunter-alex-kurtzman/

 

[Tuskin38]

I gave it a five for this very reason. There is no excuse for getting the chief details of Sisko’s family tree wrong - especially in a tribute to DS9.

 

[Tuskin38]

Is my screen cap any help?

looks like they copied the trees a couple times. Either because they didn't think it would be seen, or maybe in-universe multiple people could view it at once without waiting.

They IMPLICITLY went against Avery Brooks wish.

According to interviews, Avery approved of this episode. He got to read script and signed off on it.

 

[Detached Nacelle]

You're talking about media and well as prejudices in the 90s though, where it was both a problem in terms of how Black men were depicted and in terms of the material experiences time where Black men had been incarcerated in America at a much higher rate than white men.

As one of the few Black characters on TV, I could see why Brooks didn't want to contribute to the prevailing narratives at the time of Black men abandoning their families.

Oh I absolutey understand and respect his position but I still see it as a bit simplistic honestly. I was only 8 when DS9 ended so I knew nothing of racism at the time, did people at the time genuinely see WYLB as if Sisko was deliberately abandoning his family? The way people act today they seem to view it as if he was written to maliciously chose to leave and enter the wormhole of his own free will?

 

[firehawk12]

Oh I absolutey understand and respect his position but I still see it as a bit simplistic honestly. I was only 8 when DS9 ended so I knew nothing of racism at the time, did people at the time genuinely see WYLB as if Sisko was deliberately abandoning his family? The way people act today they seem to view it as if he was written to maliciously chose to leave and enter the wormhole of his own free will?

I'm not an expert either and the 90s are a blur to me, but it was definitely part of the culture at the time. Like even Fresh Prince of Bel Air, the premise is that Will's father abandoned his family - it's actually a real big plot point for the character. I assume it was, and perhaps probably is, still a big source of trauma for a lot of Black families so I can see why Brooks didn't want to add to that... especially if all the people working on the show were white at the time.

 

[eschaton]

Folks seem to be overlooking the "Sisko in the clouds" in the final shot.

I think the message of the episode is pretty clear. Ben returned. Ben never left. It's just that it wasn't in the literal, human sense.

 

[Tuskin38]

The Jake info box that pops up on the family tree, it's the opening paragraph from his Memory-Alpha article. The image of Jake is even the one M-A uses for the top of his page.

So this makes 2.5 characters that have had their Memory-Alpha pages copied lol. Pike's service record in DSC Season 2 premier was copied from M-A (though edited to be in the present tense).

the .5 is that the book Picard gives Elnor in PIC Season 2, the opening page is from Spock's M-A page, but that's not visible on screen, it was only shown in BTS photo by Terry Matalas I believe. It was also edited to be written from Spock's POV

While not Memory-Alpha, Star Trek Into Darkness used the Qo'noS info box from the old Star Trek Online Wiki

 

[FreezeC77]

Wasn't the trill in Discovery who temporary was joined to Culber considered like friggin ancient and almost dead having lived to like 800 years old?

Dax seems pretty good for being 2 centuries older.

 

[ToddCam]

It will probably never be confirmed, but I get the sense Dax's journey from DS9 to SFA wasn't entirely linear.

 

[The Wormhole]

Wasn't the trill in Discovery who temporary was joined to Culber considered like friggin ancient and almost dead having lived to like 800 years old?

That is true, though even that didn't really make sense, as we know the Tal symbiont has also been around since the 24th century. One of the previous hosts was seen wearing a Starfleet uniform from Picard S1, after all.