One Cool Trick Makes Star Trek: Starfleet Academy Feel So Huge

"Star Trek: Starfleet Academy" possesses a note of aspiration that truly defines it as a "Star Trek" show. It's a spin-off of "Star Trek: Discovery," but it possesses none of that show's protracted action violence. Instead, it's a series about diplomacy and reconstruction. "Starfleet Academy" is set at a future time when the galaxy has been damaged by a massive cataclysm — The Burn — that nearly destroyed Starfleet and caused the Federation to disband centuries earlier. After some careful new diplomatic efforts, however, Starfleet is ready to open again, and a new generation of cadets is attending Starfleet Academy for the first time in hundreds of years.

Teenagers from all over the galaxy are excited to be part of this new initiative, and the first class of cadets is huge and diverse. The students will be attending classes on an Earth-based campus in San Francisco, but they will also be getting some hands-on experience on a peacekeeping starship called the U.S.S. Athena. There is one token human in the show's main cast, Caleb (Sandro Rosta), but the rest of his classmates and faculty are aliens. There is Sam (Kerrice Brooks), a sentient hologram; Kraag (Karim Diané), a Klingon; Genesis (Bella Shepard), a Dar-Sha; Tarima (Zoë Steiner), a Betazoid; and Darem (George Hawkins), a Khionian.

"Starfleet Academy," in its first few episodes, is also careful to include many sweeping shots of the Academy campus and the Athena, wherein hundreds of students are always bustling this way and that. The sheer volume of extras makes the series, even in only the first few episodes, feel large and alive. And, importantly, the student body is made up of dozens and dozens of alien species, some familiar, many not. Because of this, the show feels huge.

Seriously, look at the extraterrestrial diversity in the cast. One can see Ferengi, Vulcans, Romulans, and all kinds of other alien teens, eager to learn. Meanwhile, the faculty is made up of Lathanites, holograms, and a drill instructor that is half-Klingon, half-Jem'Hadar (played by Gina Yashere). One can even briefly spot a Brikar — themself a member of a species that was originally introduced in the "Star Trek" novels and later appeared in "Star Trek: Prodigy" — and an Exocomp, itself a cute little wink to "Star Trek: The Next Generation" fans.

As such, "Starfleet Academy" makes the "Star Trek" universe feel massive — like we're getting the first taste of the galaxy at large since the revival of "Star Trek" on TV back in 2017. Indeed, many of the streaming-era "Star Trek" shows have been insular, happy to stay on board a single ship ("Discovery") or live off explicit nods to the "Star Trek" films and series that came before ("Lower Decks" and "Strange New Worlds" in a good way, "Picard" in a bad, excessively nostalgic way). "Starfleet Academy" is finally taking stock of where the galaxy is in relation to Starfleet, as well as where it needs to go next. Starfleet wants to reopen communication with the rest of the universe, but thanks to the centuries of isolationism that took hold after The Burn, it's going to be an arduous process.

But the sheer volume of students at the Academy shows that the reconstruction is ready to begin. Kids from everywhere want to be part of this process. They have dreams of being engineers, doctors, diplomats, or just command officers, and a new opportunity is open. The premise is pretty grand for this new show.

Back in March 2024, prior to the start of filming on the show, it was reported that "Starfleet Academy" would have the largest physical set ever made for a "Star Trek" TV series. And once you're seen the show, that's an easy boast to believe. There are giant cafeteria spaces, several offices, endless corridors, dorm rooms, and a central quad, and that's just the San Francisco campus. There is also the U.S.S. Athena, where Captain Nahla Ake (Holly Hunter) conducts business. The Athena sets are classically "Star Trek," with a captain's chair, con and ops stations, an engineering station, and a large, forward-facing viewscreen, but the Academy sets are truly epic. If the goal was to make the titular "Stafleet Academy" feel complex and lived-in, then the giant sets were a good investment. It makes the show feel like an actual college.

As of this writing, "Starfleet Academy" already has about a dozen regular or recurring characters after its first two episodes, but if it's anything like previous "Star Trek" shows, there will be more and more supporting players as the series goes on. Over time, we'll likely meet the main characters' family members, new friends, new teachers, and new diplomats who come to Earth to negotiate potential inductions into the Federation.

Just like a real-life college student, "Starfleet Academy" is currently nothing but an excitable ball of potential energy. The series is thankfully poised to be great. Fingers crossed that its writing remains sharp, its performances good, and its stories intriguing. It already has the design, the sets, and the casting on lock.

"Starfleet Academy" is streaming on Paramount+, with new episodes dropping on Thursdays.