Why Star Trek: Starfleet Academy's Big Sisko Tribute Is So Much More Meaningful Than You Think

Set phasers to spoilers. This article discusses major plot details from episode 5 of "Star Trek: Starfleet Academy."

They did it; those sons of you-know-what's actually did it. Ever since one of the earliest trailers for "Starfleet Academy," Trekkies have anxiously waited to see how this new series would address one of the franchise's biggest mysteries of all. The unresolved fate of Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks) has loomed large over the canon in the years since "Deep Space Nine" came to a close in 1999. Now, in the most unexpected of ways, series co-showrunners Noga Landau and Alex Kurtzman have found a clever approach to address this loose plot thread — but without ever sacrificing the ambiguity or deeply-felt emotions of that storytelling choice.

In fact, episode 5 of "Starfleet Academy" (titled "Series Acclimation Mil") accomplishes this much more meaningfully than may be apparent at first blush. Through the ever-optimistic eyes of the holographic exchange student SAM (Kerrice Brooks), the series launches an investigation of sorts into the ultimate fate of Bajor's heroic Emissary. The hour begins with SAM making a plea to anyone "out there" to listen to her and understand her story, and ends with the familiar-sounding voice of Sisko (performed by Chiwetel Ejiofor) answering back. It's what goes down in between those two voiceovers, however, that makes this stand apart from everything else preceding it.

This episode is a tribute in more ways than one. As much as its main priority is honoring Avery Brooks as Sisko, who receives a touching title card in the end credits, it's simultaneously a coming-out party for Kerrice Brooks' SAM. By extension, it's also a celebration for all of us who hold "Deep Space Nine" and its themes of racial equity in such high regard.

Not many fans would've anticipated that our return to the legacy of "Deep Space Nine" would come courtesy of SAM, the high-energy Academy student who happens to be a photonic. But, as we soon learn in her "Ms. Marvel"-style opening monologue full of creative flair, she considers herself an Emissary of her people, specifically chosen by the leaders of her home world Kasq to learn more about organics at Starfleet and discern whether they can be trusted. When this mission to explain everything about organics — including their most inexplicable aspects — dovetails perfectly with a course titled "Confronting the Unexplainable," SAM is ordered to enroll. In no time at all, she fixates on Ben Sisko ... and it's easy to see why.

Episode 5 of "Starfleet Academy" quickly draws parallels between Sisko and SAM as emissaries in their own right. More to the point, it's made clear that SAM relates to the burden of responsibility and the frustrating lack of choices that the "Deep Space Nine" captain had at his disposal. Having to answer to the Bajoran Prophets isn't entirely unlike SAM dealing with her impossible-to-please photonic makers. But it's when she witnesses a grown-up Jake Sisko (with Cirroc Lofton reprising his role), through old video recordings and an old book he wrote, that she begins to truly understand all the complexities that made up Benjamin.

Implicitly, "Starfleet Academy" draws a direct line from the galaxy-wide impact Sisko made and the actions of people like SAM, Jake, and countless more.

With episode 5, "Starfleet Academy" proves it fully understands what a radical piece of entertainment "Deep Space Nine" truly was — particularly for its time. Not only did Avery Brooks's casting mark a fundamental shift as the franchise's first prominent Black captain, but countless episodes made this subtext directly into text by exploring storylines that emphasized racial inequalities, systemic prejudice, and also triumphs. It's no coincidence that, for instance, one of the very best "Trek" episodes, "Far Beyond the Stars," addresses these topics head-on and was directed by Brooks himself. Although he soon retired from acting and pulled back from public life following the end of "Deep Space Nine" (a choice that somewhat mirrors Sisko's own), Brooks has always remained a mainstay among Trekkies who know and love everything he represents.

That's what makes much of "Series Acclimation Mil" hit as hard as it does. In many ways, a character like SAM played by an actor like Kerrice Brooks wouldn't have been possible without "Deep Space Nine" carving its place in the canon over 30 years ago. And to watch her, Jake Sisko, the professor revealed to be another host of the Dax symbiote originated by Terry Farrell's Dax (played by "Lower Decks" voice actor Tawny Newsome, to boot), and countless more do their thing in "Starfleet Academy" takes on even greater meaning through this lens. The fact that this is co-written by a Black woman like Newsome (along with Kirsten Beyer) only adds even more layers to the mix.

By the time we hear Benjamin Sisko speaking from beyond and that "Thank you Avery" title card hits, "Starfleet Academy" pulls off its greatest feat yet: by reminding us that "Star Trek" past is never really past.