Spoilers Star Trek: Starfleet Academy 1x03 – “Vitus Reflux”

[firehawk12]

This is certainly relative; Trek has never been Dune.

Star Trek doesn't do "world-building;" the creators improvise whike trying to keep up and pick and choose from all the contradictory stuff that's been established in one story or another over the decades. Some productions employ people to research that, but it's then disregarded when that's desirable.

But they obviously try to keep things consistent. They made up a whole unique afterlife for Klingons on Voyager. All the complicated rules for honor killings and being disinherited comes from TNG and DS9. Hell, it's why they had to come up with a dumb reason for why there are "smooth Klingons".

The fact that Jay-Den doesn't want to be a braindead murderer who dines on the blood of his enemies depends on everything Star Trek has done to build out the Klingon culture.

DS9 did the same for Ferengi and examining their patriarchal society (however problematically by making Quark a woman). Even Lower Decks built out the Pakled lore.

To say that there's no consistent world building in Star Trek and that none of that matters when even the modern writers feel the need to keep Vulcan stoicism canon (even if they made it genetic in SNW) kind of belies the material reality of Star Trek as a franchise.

 

[Nerys Myk]

I mean either you want to create lore or you don't. Why invent "Klingon Opera" let alone a Klingon language (and a Vulcan language) if they're not relatable? Why don't they have Klingon ships with English display panels instead? Why make Klingons shout Q'apla all the time?

It's not either or. Trek has always blended real world references with fictional ones. When they want to emphasize "alien" they go with the latter.

 

[Fateor]

I kind of assume most of that was a combination of the volume and classic Trek styrofoam boulders. lol

Well, the flamethrowers were real at least.

This is certainly relative; Trek has never been Dune.

Star Trek doesn't do "world-building;" the creators improvise whike trying to keep up and pick and choose from all the contradictory stuff that's been established in one story or another over the decades. Some productions employ people to research that, but it's then disregarded when that's desirable.

It's literally a well known fact that the writers of TNG to Enterprise had a thick series of ever growing world bibles.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Well, the flamethrowers were real at least.



It's literally a well known fact that the writers of TNG to Enterprise had a thick series of ever growing world bibles.

Isn't that how the Encyclopedia came to be? Stern and the Okudas transformed their "notes" into an actual book.

 

[cooleddie74]

I write my fan films and short stories and toss in "lore" to establish backgrounds for characters and the like, but because I think they need backgrounds and those little details to help flesh them out as three-dimensional people within the context of the story. I don't write simply to "create lore," the lore comes as a natural byproduct of me writing the stories.

The histories, continuity and associated datapoints are a fun side effect of the writing process.

 

[TRON JA307020]

Well I gave this a 1. The show is getting worse not better. I can't stand any of the cadets. Seven more of these to go.

 

[Fateor]

Isn't that how the Encyclopedia came to be? Stern and the Okudas transformed their "notes" into an actual book.

Yup, and the technical manuals.

 

[Char Kais]

Well I gave this a 1. The show is getting worse not better. I can't stand any of the cadets. Seven more of these to go.

17. Season two is already shot and in post-production.

 

[Firebird]

Isn't that how the Encyclopedia came to be? Stern and the Okudas transformed their "notes" into an actual book.

There's a couple different things going on with this. Sternbach & the Okuda's technical memos eventually became the internal Writers' Technical Manual for season 3, which was then revised again in the fourth and fifth seasons. After that, it morphed into the final retail book.

The actual Writers' Guide was divorced from the technical minutiae beyond a quick glossary in the back of the document for prospective writers' orientation. The bulk of the guide was character bios, set descriptions, and the basic dos and don't's of writing scripts for the show. That document was revised for each of the first three seasons, and then a final version in the fifth season primarily for freelancers coming in to pitch.

 

[fireproof78]

While I enjoy lore and world building it is not why I watch Star Trek. Otherwise, I'd left right after TMP and the debacle of a Bird of Prey being a Klingon ship.

I try very hard to not let the seasoning of the minutia become the steak of characters and story.

 

[TRON JA307020]

17. Season two is already shot and in post-production.

Oh my gosh. I forgot about those.

 

[Skipper]

I don't know if this has been addressed before (I can't read 30 pages of comments), but isn't it a little weird that the War College students (who started the prank war) can teleport people and take over academy communication devices without any consequences?

I know they were supported by their dean (or whatever the rank was), but does that mean the rules no longer apply when it comes to pranks? And where's the line?

During the episode, disciplinary measures are handed out here and there, but I can't figure out what's punishable and what's not. Teleporting people against their will is fine, but playing a game of whatever that game was called after class isn't? Why?

 

[Mr J]

I thought this episode was an improvement on Episode 2 because it actually had some fun with the academy setting and tried to do something a bit different. Unfortunately, that difference leaned too far into teen‑comedy clichés that felt more like high school antics than anything set in a university‑level environment.

The positives: I’m still really enjoying the characters and their dynamics. However, Holly Hunter felt a bit over‑the‑top this time. Previously she struck a great balance between quirky and credible, but here she drifted into “eccentric chancellor who’s ultimately cool” territory, which felt a bit too broad.

The rivalry plot also felt exaggerated. The head of the War College openly encouraging pranks was a step too far. That said, the episode did a good job of showing why SFA is needed again—emphasising strategy and brains over brute force, and highlighting collaborative problem‑solving.

Overall, it’s another “I liked it, but it’s not quite firing on all cylinders yet” episode. I appreciate that the show is experimenting with a different audience and setting, and sometimes that works and sometimes it doesn’t, but the cast and characters continue to carry it.

The show is fun and the ensemble is very likeable, but it still feels like it’s searching for the right tone and long‑term direction. Hopefully this is just the early‑season “Freshers Week” phase, and we’ll see things settle into a more consistent balance soon.

And now we've moved on from the gents just picking up the Seven/T'Pol/Deanna crown of skin tight outfits into full on nakedness. No notes there.

 

[CT_Phipps]

I don't know if this has been addressed before (I can't read 30 pages of comments), but isn't it a little weird that the War College students (who started the prank war) can teleport people and take over academy communication devices without any consequences?

I know they were supported by their dean (or whatever the rank was), but does that mean the rules no longer apply when it comes to pranks? And where's the line?

During the episode, disciplinary measures are handed out here and there, but I can't figure out what's punishable and what's not. Teleporting people against their will is fine, but playing a game of whatever that game was called after class isn't? Why?

It's their Chancellor so not Dean. The buck stops with Kelric.

 

[Skipper]

The buck stops with Kelric.

And what does that mean in practice? That some students, chosen by her because she likes them, can break any rules they want?

Of course, I can't know what the rules of a fictional academy are, but I'm sure growing alien plants in the dorms is against them.

 

[Nerys Myk]

And what does that mean in practice? That some students, chosen by her because she likes them, can break any rules they want?

Of course, I can't know what the rules of a fictional academy are, but I'm sure growing alien plants in the dorms is against them.

Kelric is the head of the War College and a man.

It’s rather easy to assume that punishments were doled out. We don’t actually need to see or hear it.

 

[CT_Phipps]

And what does that mean in practice? That some students, chosen by her because she likes them, can break any rules they want?

Of course, I can't know what the rules of a fictional academy are, but I'm sure growing alien plants in the dorms is against them.

Kelric is the War College head and helping the War College kids pranks so no punishments.

Ditto Ake as she suggested it for her students.

 

[Dar70]

That's the bummer to me. I grew up with TNG and loved it then, as I do now. But in retrospect, outside of a handful of legit classic episodes, TNG is the most beige show in the franchise in terms of writing. It remains comfort viewing because the majority of the episodes don't really challenge the viewer in any way. TNG is the original "just vibes" type of show.

Well TNG was at the tail end of mostly episodic tv. Tv didn't do huge story arcs back then. Just the occasional 2 or even 3 part. So most episodes were not referenced or even mentioned the next one. Towards the end of the show it began to change and then with Voyager and of course DS9 you began to see bigger arc storytelling into seasons. Not to say that TNG didn't have things that affected seasons. It did but in a smaller way.

 

[Greg Cox]

I mean if someone wants to interpret all of this as a horrific act of violence in which lives were in danger of being snuffed out, I can't disprove that. That can be their interpretation. I just don't see much of anything in what's actually on screen to support it.

I interpreted that scene as slapstick, exaggerated for comic effect, and the thing about slapstick is that, yes, of course, if you take it literally, outside a comic context, falling down the stairs or slipping on a banana peel can have serious consequences.

But Abbott & Costello or The Three Stooges never end up in the emergency room after a pratfall, and I think that applies here as well. It was a wacky bit of slapstick humor, involving some deliberately goofy-looking alien plants, clearly not to be taken too seriously.

 

[Turtletrekker]

I interpreted that scene as slapstick, exaggerated for comic effect, and the thing about slapstick is that, yes, of course, if you take it literally, outside a comic context, falling down the stairs or slipping on a banana peel can have serious consequences.

But Abbott & Costello or The Three Stooges never end up in the emergency room after a pratfall, and I think that applies here as well. It was a wacky bit of slapstick humor, involving some deliberately goofy-looking alien plants, clearly not to be taken too seriously.

This should have put Tony Stark in the hospital for a long time, if not outright killed him.

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