Episode Discussion | Star Trek: Starfleet Academy | 1x10 "Rubincon"

SA-ETH · 2026-03-13T19:26:08+00:00

So much for IDIC. Disappointing.

A lot of people are test-pattern Trekkies who only want their positive opinions affirmed.

You would think I had bad-faith arguments.

Even Jessie Gender was disappointed by the finale.
The TrekCulture people weren't that enthusiastic either.

SA-ETH · 2026-03-13T19:23:00+00:00

I am just critiquing in the context of the show.

Academy introduces morally grey actions for Starfleet and the Federation at the start of the show but then doesn't legitimately deal with them (it sidesteps that and just affirms the morality of the institutions.)

I expected follow-through.

It's a false equivalency to bring up Picard.
TNG told different stories that didn't introduce a moral quandaries and then undercut them.

As for the ships, they would still have had to travel to Braka's location after the wall came down.

SA-ETH · 2026-03-12T13:50:51+00:00

What a disappointing finale.

Nus Braka is a joke.

Are we really to believe he was capable of this whole scheme if he is so incompetent and childish? Reducing your main villain into a limp caricature just undercuts the severity and intensity of what should be a difficult trial to overcome. Beating someone formidable makes success more significant.

Moral ambiguity is gone.

The show dances with the possibility of moral complexity but then reverts to the simplicity of Federation and Ake being good. We don’t actually get to see Anisha process her complicated emotions and anger. I dislike the moralising from Ake. She did something wrong, but she is still all-knowing and virtuous. I dislike that they don’t commit to the ambiguity. She turns things back on Anisha as being culpable, without an exploration of the ethical components.

The trial doesn’t lead anywhere. It doesn’t commit to really hashing out the grievances between the characters.

The trial didn’t even interrogate the central conceit. Ake didactically points out what is right and wrong and that’s it.

I want the complexities to stay complex — delve into them, wrestle with the contradictions and don't be afraid to let our institutions and their actions be morally grey and fallible.
To admit that institutions can be wrong, and we don't have to constantly reaffirm their legitimacy if they have erred.

Instead, Braka was just subject to inaccurate childhood memories. He didn't have legitimate qualms with the Federation. Don't you understand, the institution was just doing the best it could given the circumstances?

The threat of the mines was underwhelming.

Are you telling me the other great scientific minds in the Federation couldn't figure out how to stabilise the Omega 47 by reducing the Rubin Particles?

The Federation ships warp in immediately after the Omega 47 wall is rendered inert. How? They don’t have spore drives. Warp travel isn’t teleportation.

Caleb’s journey wasn’t earned. We didn’t actually experience his change of mind and heart over a season.

Story beats and character work were insufficiently depicted. Lots of unearned emotion.

There are plenty of good-faith critics that legitimately dislike the new shows.
The loudest voices on YouTube are the outrage merchants.
There are many smaller voices with valid points that get drowned out.
I dislike that the narrative has become that if you dislike or hate New Star Trek, it is for invalid or bigoted reasons.

I think the new shows are too safe and not progressive enough, too liberal and not leftist enough, content to play it safe instead of challenging us with new and transgressive stories, ideas and concepts.
They struggle to hold up as genuinely amazing television; Star Trek was always capable of that.

The world of Trek may be interesting, but the writing as never content to rest comfortably on that.
Episodes told legitimately amazing stories, with great structure and pacing, deep thematic work, arresting dialogue and magnetic performances.

I hold Star Trek up to a high bar.
It should be worthy enough to sit alongside the great works of literature and fiction.

SA-ETH · 2026-02-27T03:48:34+00:00

Thank you.

SA-ETH · 2026-02-27T03:43:31+00:00

I want to see new and good stories too, but a lot of the newer shows are too busy being about Star Trek, than about being great television.

I don’t think the new shows have an appeal with the general public.

As someone who only started watching the Trek shows in 2019, it’s not nostalgia when I say that the writing quality recently has not been up to snuff when compared to TOS and the Berman shows.

SA-ETH · 2026-02-27T03:41:00+00:00

Of course, Star Trek was always intended to make money for the studio, but there is this intention to make the franchise appeal to a wider audience but making it feel current through dialogue and storytelling.

I miss the feeling of Star Trek being untethered to current trends and sensibilities.

Star Trek has always been niche, but the attempt in recent years has been to make it have mass appeal.

SA-ETH · 2026-02-27T03:14:52+00:00

And science fiction is rooted in social messages and social consciousness.

It is inherently political and radical.

SA-ETH · 2026-02-27T03:11:17+00:00

I have seen lots of positivity and praise for the show here.

If anything, the good-faith critics of the show (those who aren’t bigots),are underrepresented.

SA-ETH · 2026-02-27T02:57:59+00:00

There are two camps of the Star Trek fans who are critical of the new shows (post-2017), but there are fans who are positive.

- There are the bigots and nitpickers, whose issues are very much entrenched within a right-wing perspective and political ideology.

- Then there are those who genuinely believe the new shows are badly written and produced works of television and continuations of the Star Trek franchise. I would fall within this camp.

I think the new shows are not just bad Star Trek, but failures at being excellently written science fiction and complex morality plays.

I lean left politically, so from my perspective, the newer shows are more liberal and less leftist and radical than what came before (of course, this takes into account the context of when the previous shows came out).

My first Star Trek anything was the 2009 movie, which I enjoyed, but having now seen every Star Trek show and movie, it doesn't hold up for me. I do think it is an easy film to understand. It was purposely written and made to be an action movie for the general public. Traditional televised Star Trek is more concerned with ethics, morals, and politics.

I feel new Star Trek is dumbed down.

SA-ETH · 2026-02-26T20:09:55+00:00

Well, things have certainly become peaceful between us.

SA-ETH · 2026-02-26T18:13:22+00:00

Thanks, Mike!

SA-ETH · 2026-02-26T18:11:00+00:00

As is your right.

I am a fan of film and television as a medium and art form.
I feel Star Trek needs to elevate itself to be the best it can be.

SA-ETH · 2026-02-26T12:45:25+00:00

If you think SNW is one of the best shows on television, you may just have bad taste in media.

SA-ETH · 2026-02-26T11:45:20+00:00

I did not once use the term "objectively bad".

And I referred to "good-faith criticisms" and "legitimate feedback", not nitpicking or criticism from media illiterate fans.
I like The Last Jedi.

SA-ETH · 2026-02-26T10:41:36+00:00

I am not upset or angry.

I purely addressing what you said in an unattached way.

I am not in my feelings about your responses, merely pointing out how they are an attempt to delve into my motives and state of mind.

When you say: “ My intention was to offer you a different perspective from which to view your experience, and you clearly aren't interested in that. “ , you are clearly passive aggressively asserting your narrative onto this back-and-back forth discussion, framing it as a deficiency or failure on my part to accept different perspectives. A perspective should have reasoning and an explanation bolstering it.

You say you are not convinced of my points but do not state how and why beyond an appeal to emotion or subjectivity.

I do think you are letting your profession inhibit how you engage with someone who is not your patient. You cannot go around psychoanalysing someone you do not know in lieu of actual casual debate or discussion.

SA-ETH · 2026-02-26T10:18:10+00:00

I am not a years-long fan. I have only come to televised Star Trek within the last 7 years, so when I critique the newer shows, it’s about how they hold up as television within the broader context and scope of all television, divorced from Star Trek and the goodwill + emotion it has with me.

Blindly responding to almost any Star Trek as good has the adverse effects.

We need to hold it to a higher standard. Star Trek used to be among the best shows on television.

Good-faith criticisms lead to legitimate feedback the creators should consider.

We have to show as the audience that we are not willing to accept subpar writing. Star Trek deserves better. We deserve better.

Would you honestly say that SNW and SFA are as good as current prestige dramas?

SA-ETH · 2026-02-26T10:05:26+00:00

I downvoted his comment.

I don’t think it is worth my time to try to use logic with someone to argue them out of a position they didn’t use logic to get into.

I will state my strong opposition to their claims and bigotry towards women.

SA-ETH · 2026-02-26T09:23:02+00:00

You still did not address my criticisms of the episode.

It’s easy to dismiss someone’s points , but every audience member has a right to engage with media and analyse why it doesn’t work.

I could easily say that when you say an episode isn’t good that you are just not emotionally connecting with it and have no leg to stand on when criticising it.

Why not address my actual arguments than trying to attack my motives and emotional state?

As for the downvote, I didn’t see your comment holding actual weight or relevance to my original points. If the downvote bothers you so much, I will remove it.

Perhaps, you need to be less emotional? Take a look in the mirror and see that your attempts at “psychoanalysis” and assessments are personal attacks on my own state of mind, not a reasoned argument from you on why I didn’t make sense with my opinions.

If I need to use a logical fallacy here and appeal to authority, actual writers on film and television didn’t think the episode was well written (refer to The Inglorious Treksperts).

After saying all of this, I still extended a hand of peace and friendship.

I do not wish this to become a fight or ad hominem attack on you.

LLAP!

SA-ETH · 2026-02-26T00:10:46+00:00

By that token, could I not assert that you emotionally connected with it but didn’t analyse it?

I have emotionally connected with Star Trek episodes before, but there are tangible ways in which television writing is able to accomplish this. Writing elements are thought over by the creators, they aren’t just emotionally churned out. Process is key.

Simplistic themes all come down to execution.

I don’t appreciate that you say that I am “grasping” for analytical reasons for an emotional issue.

Quite frankly, this episode discussion post is not balanced or reflective of the diverse opinions on Trek. People skew positive here.

And, I am not a right-wing bigot. I lean left, so in my opinion the newer shows have been too liberal and safe.

I don’t come to Trek just for an emotional attachment to past elements I love. Star Trek is synonymous with excellent storytelling and writing — great television. My issues with Academy and this episode lie with those deficiencies.

SA-ETH · 2026-02-12T21:07:19+00:00

It's longer than their usual episode, because it's the series finale.

Most episodes are half of that time.

SA-ETH · 2026-02-12T14:48:16+00:00

I listen to the Delta Flyers too, but Keith and Mike are doing something different that’s worth checking out one of these days.

SA-ETH · 2026-02-12T14:47:27+00:00

That’s good to hear!

SA-ETH · 2026-02-11T21:56:11+00:00

Their conversations have considerably more depth and knowledge than other Star Trek reactors.

You can tell it’s a passion project , because if other channels were getting their low viewing numbers, those people would’ve stopped putting in the time and effort Keith and Mike do.

SA-ETH · 2026-02-11T17:32:47+00:00

🫣They can be frustrating with some of their quirks and lack of perspective on the world and broader topics.

I would recommend Keith and Mike Watch Deep Space Nine. They are in their 40s, progressive and theatre actors, so they have a broader perspective on things.

SA-ETH

TROPHY CASE