As the year comes to an end, Caleb must choose between the life he thought he wanted and the life he’s built for himself at Starfleet Academy. Meanwhile, Nahla breaks protocol in one final gambit to keep a promise to Caleb.
As the year comes to an end, Caleb must choose between the life he thought he wanted and the life he’s built for himself at Starfleet Academy. Meanwhile, Nahla breaks protocol in one final gambit to keep a promise to Caleb.
I am going to complain first: The show still felt like it was a season of Prodigy they re-wrote. They lingers a long time on an emotional reunion that I don’t think was earned enough for as long as they waited on it. My biggest whining was that they “upped the stakes.” It can’t be just get rid of this bad guy, it’s that they have to save all the Federation from the Space-Nuke-Mines. This has been a trend where everything has to be bigger. The Doctor never has to save one town, it’s always all of everything. Deadpool made fun of it in the last movie where they have to save all of the Multiverse. Even the Friendly Neighborhood, street level characters also had to save All The Multiverses because just helping a few people from alternate universes isn’t good enough, apparently.
Okay, that said, I do enjoy the show. I like how Sam is slightly different, now, and more calm, and also more confident; more mature. They are writing Mir as very charming, so while it’s a bit contrived, I do enjoy the Mir/Tarima dynamic.
I also made at least one “Don’t make her mad, she’ll Hulk out!” joke.
I think the scale issue also comes from the fact that these shows now have 10 episodes per season, not 22-24. The scale has to be big and punch hard.
SFA is often best when it’s the kids being kids. They don’t have to save the galaxy (especially not in Season One). Let ’em cook. I dig when they lean into the found family angle (like Prodigy)
I fully expected the “nukes” to go off around Betazed, trapping the fleet there (that would’ve been the smarter move). But we got what we got.
The fingernails bit was a nice touch of smart deduction. Health and care of your body shows up there (weak or missing nails are common in the malnourished). My son works on cars and his nails never get clean, even after scrubbing.
Darem’s line about needing both nacelles otherwise they just fly in circles made me laugh. When the writers lean against the 4th wall and poke fun at fan theories about how Trek tech works, I smile (probably why LD is one of my top tier Star Trek series). Also, glitter vomit being a recurring bit is fun.
The real complaint: Where the F is Lura Thok? She was gold and I love how brutal she is with the cadets. I need more of her. I’m guessing the makeup is a lot or they needed to trim the budget. #ScreentimeForLura
Glitter Vomit is great. I appreciate how it knocks the pedestal that Darem puts himself on and knocks it right out from under him.
Also, I agree, where is Lura!?
Lura is likely missing because she’s expensive due to makeup. I see a lot of financial corner cutting on everything but visuals here. Count lines of dialogue: guest stars have three SAG levels of minimum wage:
1) Lowest wages are for those who don’t speak.
2) Slightly higher pay for characters who speak fewer than 5 lines of dialogue.
3) Regular minimum wage for the rest.
There are a LOT of characters that fit category 2, and not just in SFA. That’s also almost the entire Discovery bridge crew throughout that series.
Also, as a teacher who has organized field trips, the teachers at this school are utterly incompetent when it comes to keeping these students safe. The first simulation is after they’ve already been asked to fix the starship that KILLED ITS ENTIRE CREW. The teacher running that simulation also criticized them for a lack of leadership and teamwork, doing so while sitting in the captain’s chair. Which student was supposed to be in charge?
The Sam/Doctor plot is great, and there’s so much potential. Like all of the live action streaming Star Trek, the “below the line” crew are knocking it out of the park every week. I don’t think anyone could make a better show based on these scripts. I just wish the scripts were better. I don’t blame the writers or showrunners; it’s the same problems on all shows. It’s Kurtzman.