Spoilers Star Trek: Starfleet Academy 1x06 – “Come, Let’s Away”

[F. King Daniel]

My compliments to the directors doing that opening scene and not showing a single Betazoid nip-nop.

The Furies? Aren't they from the novels?? I can't remember details but... yeah. More like the baddies from Firefly here, though. But they're part human?

Black bin-liners hung up everywhere are apparently great at disguising your regular bridge set as some weird old wreck.

We have a Betzoid Jean Grey situation! And they offed the Vulcan cadet!

Very dark episode. Very good episode. Love the range this show has.

 

[eschaton]

And I think it was. And I will tell you why: in the case of RIker and Troi, it was hinted in the past, that their deep connection has sexual roots. They have built upon this, to explain why Tarima can access Caleb's mind, and also I think Tarima did her psychonic attack against the Furies through Caleb ...So they had to plant this, before use it. It wouldn't have been the same effect to explain off screen.

Am I the only one who remembers the fanservice from Enterprise, where characters got lubed down in their underwear multiple times a season?

There was nothing particularly horny about the lovemaking scene of Caleb and Tarima, I thought. It's not like we get a flash of her boobs or either of their butts. There's certainly implied lovemaking, but what we see is mostly just two people covered by sheets making out in a not-particularly vigorous fashion. She wasn't riding him like L'Rell was doing to Tyler back in DIS Season 1.

 

[tomalak301]

There was nothing particularly horny about the lovemaking scene of Caleb and Tarima, I thought. It's not like we get a flash of her boobs or either of their butts. There's certainly implied lovemaking, but what we see is mostly just two people covered by sheets making out in a not-particularly vigorous fashion. She wasn't riding him like L'Rell was doing to Tyler back in DIS Season 1.

I'm afraid to bring this up and I hope I don't offend people by it. I was wondering if that scene constituted as a rape scene. It was when Tamira saw what happened to him and his mother, and when Caleb pushed back, Tamira said that that was who she was. I think I felt the same when we first introduced her and she got made that Caleb had secrets. There are things that are too personal to share and people would feel uncomfortable sharing. For Tamira to see that and then say "I can't help it" (pretty much) was an unwanted advance. It might not have been intentional, but she did do it.

 

[Agony_Boothb]

It might have been an interesting use case to make up some Tellarite culture since it seems like he doesn't care about being Klingon at all

I don't think Braka cares about much of anything really. He obviously did not grow up in a supportive, loving environment and does mention his father was abusive. So it makes sense he would not want to engage with either parents culture.

Saw this pointed out on TrekCore, it was mentioned in the episode that the furies were part 'Lynar', that is existing bat species from lore, barely seen in TNG Chain of Command

https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Lynar

It got me wondering if the Furies are genetically engineered by someone. It's implied that Starfleet has very little knowledge of them, and has possibly only witnessed the aftermath of their attacks. I wonder if the Venari Ral created them to sew chaos in the disputed territories so they could swoop in and be heroes to the local populations and build anti-federation sentiment in those regions. Later the plan might be to have them as bodies to use in a conflict with the Federation.

 

[GothicPudding]

I have actually had a theory about a potential Venari Ral spy ever since the second episode...

It’s possible, but it seems unlikely to me now.

The first episode made it seem like Caleb’s transmission was what alerted Braka to Athena’s location. It would have been somewhat coincidental to have planned such an attack beforehand since Ake wasn’t offered the position as Chancellor until the day before and she picked up Caleb. I think it’s hard for there to be a spy involved unless Braka was already planning the attack beforehand since Ake was offered the position. I guess it would explain how Braka was able to put his plan together so quickly.

For this episode, there seemed to be an alternate explanation offered since the War College had been doing this training mission for five years, so Braka could have planned the attack for a long time.

Complaining about it is just finding something to whine about.

Besides, if they did what you wanted, then you’d just whine that they were reusing Picard sets.

I’ve found that using the Ignore function on some users has made using this forum more enjoyable.

The Furies? Aren't they from the novels?? I can't remember details but... yeah. More like the baddies from Firefly here, though. But they're part human?

There was a Star Trek: Invasion! crossover book series from 1996 that had Furies as the antagonists. I believe they have different origins in that series. I think it was the first crossover book series across all four live-action shows at the time.

 

[Starflight]

Didn't like this one, unfortunately - the action setup was competent but the conclusion with the bad guys just being psychic-yelled out of existence by Tarima felt a bit sudden and disconnected from most of the episode prior (I know, I know, they set up her abilities at the very start, but most of the plot focused around the cadets trying to bring the singularity drive online; the "oh by the way Tamira can fus-ro-dah everyone" twist didn't really feel like a logical extension of what we knew about the situation up to that point IMO).

The real disappointment for me though is that the tone is collapsing back into the usual stuff. It's increasingly looking like the freshness and easygoing attitude of the first three episodes is giving way to typical rather generic prestige drama tropes and mood, same as began to happen with SNW. I think with this show it's especially deflating because the real strength of this series is the characters, but outside a couple beats like Genesis and Guy-Whos-Name-I-Forget-Even-Though-I-Like-Him sharing credit for the good work and Caleb admitting he also read the comics, there wasn't much of their personalities in this one; you could have slipped this script almost unchanged into DSC or PIC or SNW at its worst and nobody would notice the difference.

Still hoping the series goes back to what made it feel compelling to start with but I get the feeling that this is more the kind of thing we'll be getting from now on.

 

[CT_Phipps]

In @KRAD's review of the episode he says that the pirate ship that Braka is flying is the same one from the first episode and it wasn't destroyed.

“How’s that for a trauma loop?” — Star Trek: Starfleet Academy’s “Come, Let’s Away” - Reactor

Who's ready for one of the darkest and most depressing episodes of Star Trek?

reactormag.com

That puts an interesting spin on both his escape and the attack by Ake on it. It wasn't destroyed but just driven off.

 

[DarthTimon]

Braka is certainly proving resourceful and cunning, and his hatred for Ake is compelling. Of course, she undoubtedly hates him at least as much, and now it seems most of Starfleet hates him too. This is a great episode.

 

[DarrenTR1970]

Which is called "being an ensign".

United State Naval Sea Cadet Corp established in 1958 allows cadets to engage in combat training, live fire exercises and rescue missions on naval vessels during their time at the Academy.
That's not an 'ensign'.

 

[firehawk12]

I don't think Braka cares about much of anything really. He obviously did not grow up in a supportive, loving environment and does mention his father was abusive. So it makes sense he would not want to engage with either parents culture.

It feels like they were trying to make an eccentric Bond villain which is fine, but I still find the idea that the biggest menace to the Federation is a music theatre fan being really funny.

 

[CT_Phipps]

Re: The Furies

Yeah, the Furies being results of “mad science gone horribly wrong that only exist to hurt and eat people now” feels more Doctor Who than it does Star Trek. Doctor Who is more comfortable creating these sorts of beings that are pure evil because of their status and can only be put down despite its otherwise very progressive attitude. It was how I felt the Borg being dealt with in PIC 3 wasn’t great. Another comparison that comes to mind is the Reavers from Firefly, at least after Serenity came out.

Re: The Technology being so very SNW

As for 32nd science not being more advanced, I think we’re meant to not think of the 32nd century as that much more advanced and maybe even regressed from the 25th century. Supply lines fallen and damage leading to adoption fo analog technology made locally (akin to Battlestar Galactica using landlines and switches in the reboot). Protomatter being the one big exception. But it may also just be that 1000 years was too much of a time skin and the Burn should have been in the 26th century and the Dark Age more like 20 years than 100. It’s the Fallout problem of the timeline having advanced 200 years but wanting to still be in the same Wasteland full of skeletons and trash from the pre-War.

Re: The TOS uniforms

I also think with the uniforms it could be either: 1. The Last Starship shows the uniforms of the 31st century were TOS inspired ala the Strange New World take on them. 2. Its a stylistic choice from the artist in-universe.

Re: The Singularity Drive

My interpretation was it was actually addressing the common fan complaint that the Singularity drives should have been an immediate substitute for the dilithium ones that were no longer usable in the 31st century. This is Starfleet planning to make their own versions that could overcome the Burn and….for whatever reason…it failed spectacularly. Thus they couldn’t get a functioning one working.

(My previous theory was that the drives damaged subspace and contributed to the Romulan Sun exploding)

 

[DarrenTR1970]

I explained why they should use the D sets. Why would I whine anout it when i just explainedit previously. Maybe you should read my whole response. Youre whining about things you think I didnt say. Pay attention.


I was absolutely right early yesterday that I was worried they would use the snw sets again because again they were encountering an old stsrship in the 32nd century that just happens again to be from the STD and SNW version of the 23rd.


They built new sets and bridges all the time on tng. This show is spending just as much per episode or more. They could easily have constructed something.

Get out of your mother's basement, go outside, take a breath, stop and smell the flowers. You'll feel better and lower your blood pressure.

 

[firehawk12]

In @KRAD's review of the episode he says that the pirate ship that Braka is flying is the same one from the first episode and it wasn't destroyed.

“How’s that for a trauma loop?” — Star Trek: Starfleet Academy’s “Come, Let’s Away” - Reactor

Who's ready for one of the darkest and most depressing episodes of Star Trek?

reactormag.com

That puts an interesting spin on both his escape and the attack by Ake on it. It wasn't destroyed but just driven off.

Watching the pilot again, you see explosions but not the ship explode I suppose.

It's so weird because the episode is already like 70 minutes so if that was the intent, having 30 second shot of Ake saying that they need to retreat while they have the chance shouldn't have been too much. Instead the next shot is the ship reaching Earth and everything on board being all bright and shiny again.

 

[CT_Phipps]

Get out of your mother's basement, go outside, take a breath, stop and smell the flowers. You'll feel better and lower your blood pressure.

It's such a weird thing to complain about. Re-using sets should be a sign of a show's pedigree these days.

But I suppose it's essentially the Fallout issue I mentioned above.

A lot of people have "issues" with the time jump.

 

[Fateor]

United State Naval Sea Cadet Corp established in 1958 allows cadets to engage in combat training, live fire exercises and rescue missions on naval vessels during their time at the Academy.
That's not an 'ensign'.

Live fire is used to get people used to how XYZ thing actually acts instead of the more limited versions of it they would train with before hand.

The real life military would love to do away with the giant waste of money it represents, but they can't because they don't have holodecks which can perfectly replicate real life conditions.

Re: The Singularity Drive

My interpretation was it was actually addressing the common fan complaint that the Singularity drives should have been an immediate substitute for the dilithium ones that were no longer usable in the 31st century. This is Starfleet planning to make their own versions that could overcome the Burn and….for whatever reason…it failed spectacularly. Thus they couldn’t get a functioning one working.

Which of course brings up the question of why they had a problem with it given the Romulan's were building them just fine in the 24th century and were a part of the Federation.

 

[Michael]

Really enjoyed this one. Was probably my favorite after the series premiere. I’m not totally buying Nus Braka as some sort of mastermind criminal outsmarting them at every turn, and I think some of his dialog is cringe-inducing, but Hunter’s performance did a lot to give it some depth and gravitas. I really liked the subplot of Tarima’s and Caleb’s relationship and how it tied into the conclusion. It’s interesting to learn that her father is deaf because of an accident she caused.

Based on some people’s reactions to the redress of the Strange New Worlds bridge set for this episode I was prepared to find it noticeable, but I honestly think they hid it really well. Sure, if you know it’s that set or go through the episode frame-by-frame you can definitely spot it, but I’m confident I wouldn’t have noticed on a regular watch of the episode. I asked my wife after the episode if she noticed it and she confirmed that she didn’t.

The Furies I found kinda meh as villains and I’m not entirely sure if I understand whether the end means they were working together with Braka or not. If they wanted me to care about them they should have spent a little more time on what their whole deal was. As presented they just felt like baddies straight from a Power Rangers episode.

What I liked is how they established the mythology of the Miyazaki and her crew and captain. The comic was a nice touch, although its use as a historical record was stretching plausibility. And the artwork that they showed looked a little bland, to be honest. Kyle placing an original copy on B’Avis’s body in the end was a nice thouch, although I think it would have made a lot more sense if it was Dzolo doing that.

I’m probably alone on this one, but I felt the episode didn’t really need Vance. I think it’s a little ridiculous how he’s there the entire time as a hologram and felt it kind of undermined Ake as the captain. That said, I enjoyed that moment in the end between him and Ake, where he wanted to tell her to not blame herself for what happened, but she didn’t want to hear it.

I liked a lot of small things in the episode:

• Kyle touching Jay-Den’s hand
• B’Avi and Caleb learning to trust each other
• Lura Thok announcing that she would be grouchy now
• Genesis and Darem working together on the Athena
• Kelrec getting into super competent command mode
• that they remembered the teddy bear from the premiere
• the Doctor taking care of Tarima
• Seeing another Intrepid class ship; although, didn’t that one look a little too small next to the Athena?
• Seeing cadet Pickford again was cool, too, and I wonder if the character’s function in the show is ultimately to say that not everyone will make it through the Academy.

Tamira

Tamira

*Tarima

 

[CT_Phipps]

Which of course brings up the question of why they had a problem with it given the Romulan's were building them just fine in the 24th century and were a part of the Federation.

To be fair, Star Trek fans used to be able to accept the Technical Manuals saying something like, "The Singularity drives used to work on Unobtanium obtained from Pandora but after the Burn the Na'vi aren't supplying any so we had to use Diobtanium instead."

"But can't you replicate unobtanium?"

"No."

"Why?"

*hand wave*

"BECAUSE."

 

[CT_Phipps]

What I liked is how they established the mythology of the Miyazaki and her crew and captain. The comic was a nice touch, although its use as a historical record was stretching plausibility. And the artwork that they showed looked a little bland, to be honest. Kyle placing an original copy on B’Avis’s body in the end was a nice though, although I think it would have made a lot more sense if it was Dzolo.

Whether the ship's AI was Siri or Grok or something closer to Zora wasn't clear (or somewhere inbetween). It was having a panic attack, though, and needed someone to relay to her what had happened. For whatever reason it wasn't listening to SAM.

 

[tenmei]

Lura Thok announcing that she would be grouchy now

Half expected a quip from Ake to this on the grounds that Thok is usually grumpy, "If it ain't broke ..." or something much wittier

We do love Lura.

 

[Michael]

Whether the ship's AI was Siri or Grok or something closer to Zora wasn't clear (or somewhere inbetween). It was having a panic attack, though, and needed someone to relay to her what had happened. For whatever reason it wasn't listening to SAM.

I got that. But why would it trust a comic, a medium not exactly known for its use as a historically accurate source?