Ep3 felt like a Dax/worf on Risa episode in the beginning. Almost turned it off.
this post was submitted on 27 Jan 2026
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Each and every ST series has been despised at first. Only some have been despised until the end. We'll see what happens with ST:SA.
Every one? I don't remember any hate for Below Decks; it seemed beloved from þe first episode þrough to cancelation.
At the start of Lower Decks, I remember debates about whether a comedic cartoon series could even count as canon. By the end, it was being used as evidence that another, live action show wasn't canon!
Best comment yet. Quite true.
We won't have long to see what happens with SFA, since its [at least rumoured that the] 2nd season got cancelled after 2 episodes of the 1st season, because of the really low ratings^1^ and strong critiques.
Will be interesting to see what kind of a reception it has by the end of its one season. I'm open to the possibility they somehow radically turn it around, ~ though, the push-ups, the glasses, and many more things, do not give me any strength of confidence in this possibility.
^1^ E.g.: I hear 1st episode was beaten by a stream with just a Spock doll sat on a chair, by more than 3 times the views.
I've heard there are mixed reporting on that... some saying it's not cancelled? And that by Paramount's standards it's doing well, contrary to the live streaming poor performance?
I think Academy is pretty good so far 🤷
I’m digging it too!
I find this fascinating. You're the first I've encountered who thinks so. (Or at least who have said so outright.)
Pray tell, how so?
What is it you find there is to like about it?
Really? I've seen some people who really hate it, but my impression from most in my little bubble is more a tone of pleasant surprise. There was even a thread here a week ago titled Star Trek academy (spoilers) is awesome. Actually, I just looked it up for the link and you commented on it!
Anyway, some quick points I like:
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It embraces IDIC wholeheartedly. It doesn't just show diversity as being good or normal (which is de rigueur for Trek), but shows what strength it can bring. The third episode, while a bit of a silly romp, is a great example of the characters clashing but growing both internally and as a group as a result of working through that clash.
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I think Holly Hunter is doing a fabulous job. I've said elsewhere, her character isn't all that much on the page, but she brings such an enormous confidence and comfort to it that I don't think many could pull off without it seeming inauthentic.
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I'm very intrigued by the angle of rebuilding a fallen Federation, which Discovery did an OK job setting up but didn't delve into as much as I'd have liked. It's an exciting new backdrop. I'm also relieved it moved Federation HQ to Betazed, following in Disco's footsteps of downplaying the usual Earth-centric nature of the Trek universe. Maybe a small point, but I didn't think that would happen since the Academy itself stayed in San Francisco and I'm very happy to see it.
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It's fun to watch. The humour works for me, the characters are charming, and they have good chemistry. Some of them came off as cliche teen drama archetypes on first introduction, but they're already doing a good job moving past that. For episode 3, it's not bad.
Thanks for the thoughtful reply.
I see it very differently.
Much appreciated hearing a different point of view. (Ever an opportunity to learn). :)
Watching these three episodes I felt it was for teenagers, then I realised that when I most enjoyed Star Trek was in my teens and early twenties. So probably there's nothing wrong with these shows, I'm just not the target age anymore. In fact it's not that different from what I think of half of the episodes of the older shows when I watch them now.
There's one thing I must say, why people don't sweat anymore? For fuck's sake! They were doing sport and all sort of shit, not a single drop of sweat or a speck of dirt. And don't get me started with the colours of the interiors, who in their right mind thought that red and gold makes for comfortable living spaces?
I'll keep watching, it seems fun.
There's one thing I must say, why people don't sweat anymore? For fuck's sake! They were doing sport and all sort of shit, not a single drop of sweat or a speck of dirt.
That is actually a very universal development in movies and shows, and it's part of a bigger problem. Productions are losing texture and visual grip.
Yes, since I saw That video on youtube I can't stop noticing it, some shows are much worse than others.
Episode 3 was peak awesomeness.
They have shenanned! If we don't do something, they will shenanagain!
Haters gotta hate, huh?
Apparently so, looking at some of the replies here, projecting.
The original post's intended as a fun critique of a specific characteristic. Not hate.
I'm afraid I need some help on this one.
Oh dang. I thought I made the mouse-over alt-text sufficient.
It's the classic popular Dunning-Kruger graph, where those without the ability lack the ability to know they lack the ability, and so, in over-confidence, grossly over-estimate their competence. The point on the chart the arrow points to is often referred to as "mount stupid".
So you came into a trek based community to call a trek series stupid?
Which way to the Kurtzman Star Trek Haters Club?
I mean, it's not not Hogwarts In Space, but you're also not wrong. 😅
I thought I made the mouse-over alt-text sufficient.
How does that work in mobile apps like Voyager?
Besides that, I still don't know what you want to say. Do you think Academy is stupid? Do you think fans of the show are stupid? I didn't watch it, why do you think either was stupid, what are your clues?
On Thunder, it's this Tt button
In Voyager you have to tap the image and the text will bee displayed below.
I tried your method and see no bees please help
Bees have been sent to your location. Please remain stationary.
Ah, thanks. I usually don't open images, because why? I don't suspect all images to have such alt texts and there is no indicator (afaik).
Thank you. I learned something today.
Oh dang. I thought I made the mouse-over alt-text sufficient.
I have no idea how to see that in Boost, unfortunately
Pitch for a new Star Trek series: Let's get an AI to mash together every single tired old sci-fi cliché we can find, except for the ones associated with Star Trek.
That would be an impressive challenge.
It seems like ST has covered just about every one of them.
It is a shocking drop in quality compared to other treks
It is a shocking drop in quality compared to other treks
Yep.
TOS, TAS, MOV, TNG, DS9, VOY, all great. ENT, a bit meh, but looks great compared to everything since.
DIS, PIC, SNW, SFA, utterly terrible, especially the last two. Most especially this latest one. It's like either they've never seen Star Trek, or, they have, and they're intentionally trying to do everything as wrong as they possibly can. Perhaps as some kind of sadism and intentional degeneracy. Perhaps it flies under the radar of those who've never understood what Star Trek was doing, and who've succumbed to "brain rot" from hyper-short form content.
What an atrocious affront to the guiding principles Gene Roddenberry put in place. No interpersonal conflict?? SFA's almost nothing but interpersonal conflict. So much just makes no sense, like no one had pause to consider it, like it was a 3rd rate AI's first idea. There's so much "dumb". Could write an entire essay on what's wrong for every 5 seconds of it. So very poorly conceived, poorly written, poorly directed, poorly acted. It is consistently, concentratedly, astoundingly bad.
Too many chefs spoiling the broth? ~ Too many over-paid producers choking out any artistic integrity? Astonishing that they can spend so much, and make something so intensely, consistently, bad.
Does not deserve the name Star Trek. It is consistently violently in opposition to everything good that Star Trek was about. Sickening.
Farcically failing at suspension of disbelief, at almost every turn, adding more layers of implausibility and universe breaking wrongness, it is mind blowing. If it's not intentional sadism and sabotage, perhaps it's well meaning incompetence, over-confidently charging on ahead, with no clue how wrong they are? ~ Hence the Dunning-Kruger graph... to be charitably reaching for Hanlon's razor.
Good time to get into the books for something more "cannon" than Kurtzman-Trek.
And/or even start writing our own. (Already am.)
What an atrocious affront to the guiding principles Gene Roddenberry put in place. No interpersonal conflict??
Lol. If that is your issue with newer Trek, why do you list DS9 as great? Or (later) TNG? VOY is boring, unnecessarily devoid of most character development but still carried much interpersonal conflict. LMAO.
Lol. If that is your issue with newer Trek, why do you list DS9 as great? Or (later) TNG? VOY is boring, unnecessarily devoid of most character development but still carried much interpersonal conflict. LMAO.
DS9's interpersonal conflict were in context of being set on the outer fringe of Starfleet's reach, showing how the goodness could be brought forth to where there's conflict, where the ideals of the federation and starfleet have not yet reached and settled. None of Trek, from the start, was that everything is effortlessly hunky-dory la-la land positivity-ninnyism across the cultures of different species... it's not all magically balanced already without effort. There's great effort to balance and achieve peace, so we can all explore space, both inner and outer, together, forever, in peace.
Note the absence of interpersonal conflict among those of the federation? Even where there's tension, the peace is kept, and friendships form. It's not juvenile insanity. Even for those who set out to go into starfleet (or not), like with Nog and Jake. It's still an aspirational hope for the future, even in interpersonal relations. Instead of the tension that is allowed, across the different species of aliens, being solely who are met by the crew of the star ship Enterprise, everybody's brought together on the space station, Deep Space 9, with no running away. Everybody there, seeking a better future, even the antagonists, in their own way. Well considered characters, with their own perspectives and philosophies. RedLetterMedia recently did a quick two part run through of season 1 of DS9, in which they touch on some of these well thought out fun aspects: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5ozNRUW7Kw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXYFrc1-ES8
VOY's little rubs of interpersonal conflict here and there, were almost entirely from the Maquis and Starfleet, learning to get along, forced together by circumstance. Generally more strictly in line with the principles of Star Trek, the same structure as Gene gave us, the crew get along (quite astonishingly, really, considering the radically different views the two crews have, ~ that they become one crew... how about that for putting aside the differences? We should all so aspire.).
Maybe I'd need to rewatch TNG to get what you're on about there. I don't recall TNG having nearly every line of dialogue be spitting foul mouthed adhominems in searing hateful tones, like SFA has. Nor even any such lines at all. But maybe I'm misremembering. It has been a few years (... Gosh, maybe about 7 or more years) since I last watched all of TNG. But I could understand the writers taking the cheap easy way out once slipped free from the living reigns of Gene Roddenberry.
Later TNG, DS9, VOY, may have pushed the boundaries. They didn't betray the boundaries that defined what Trek is. They stayed consistent in that universe.
You don't do a lot to make me stop laughing.
I haven't watched Academy or care to do so. But thinking there was no interpersonal conflict between Starfleet personnel before or attribute it to being stationed in a borderland... DS9 started with interpersonal conflict between Sisko and Picard. The very appeal of DS9 was a commander/captain who defied Roddenberry's principles. It doesn't matter if that was explained with certain circumstances, it matters that that was part of why DS9 was good (being excellently written didn't do damage either).
I don't recall TNG having nearly every line of dialogue be spitting foul mouthed adhominems in searing hateful tones, like SFA has.
I didn't state anything in that direction, and I couldn't (since I haven't watched Academy). I stated that TNG was best when interpersonal conflict was the vessel the writers conveyed the discussion of philosophies. Or just told interesting stories with.
I don’t recall TNG having nearly every line of dialogue be spitting foul mouthed adhominems in searing hateful tones, like SFA has.
I didn’t state anything in that direction,
My reductio-absurdist over-emphasis of the other side, aside, it was interpreted as strongly implied (stated by context) in:
What an atrocious affront to the guiding principles Gene Roddenberry put in place. No interpersonal conflict??
Lol. If that is your issue with newer Trek, why do you list DS9 as great? Or (later) TNG? VOY is boring, unnecessarily devoid of most character development but still carried much interpersonal conflict. LMAO.
and, given
and I couldn’t (since I haven’t watched Academy)
might be why that was missed what I was referring to. Give it a go. You'll see.
I stated that TNG was best when interpersonal conflict was the vessel the writers conveyed the discussion of philosophies.
I don't see heated and impassioned debate about the morality, metaphysics, philosophy, spirituality, ethics etc as interpersonal conflict. ... But like I say, it's been a few years, maybe I need to rewatch TNG's later seasons to get an idea of what interpersonal conflict is there that you're referring to.
PS, if you want character development in VOY, look to Kes (at least in her penultimate 2 episodes), 7of9, Tom Paris, B'Lana Torres, Harry Kim, and the Doctor. ... Oh wait, that's most characters. But yeah, is much like the ship, near blown to smithereens and then next episode, reset back to normal like nothing happened. DS9's character growths was stronger, as was more the intent with it, than to have a consistent platform for starship space exploration stories[1]. But even after O'Brian spent several simulated years in a prison, he seemed back to normal next episode. Yeah, there's lots to pick at it each, if you really want to go out of your way to break the suspension of disbelief and break out of it, and into critical analysis. Harder work to get into suspension of disbelief with the KurtzmanTrek.
::: spoiler [1: weird side idea...]
it's kinda like how western tropical astrology moved the dial to fit the people, and eastern sidereal moved the dial to fit the stars. ~ okay, weird esoteric side notion. n_n
I don't see heated and impassioned debate about the morality, metaphysics, philosophy, spirituality, ethics etc as interpersonal conflict.
If you have two characters with different morals, philosophies, world views etc, and they argue about that, yes, that is interpersonal conflict. Conflict between characters does not have to result in strife, insults, hatred or friendships breaking up.
if you want character development in VOY, look to Kes (at least in her penultimate 2 episodes), 7of9, Tom Paris, B'Lana Torres, Harry Kim, and the Doctor.
Wait, you think these characters had development and arcs? Those were mostly flatlines (besides the Doctor). If younreally think that's character development, that's all I need to know to conclude discussing storytelling and fiction with you is pointless lol. Bye.
Largely less arcs, and more mere slight curves.
I dislike it less than you i guess, but i still dislike it. Too much "they fly now?"/"um hes right behind me isnt he"-esque humor. Like a marvel movie, nothing can be serious and left that way. There always seems to be a joke or a quip waiting around the corner.