Entertainment
Starfleet Academy Channels Two Wildly Different Movie Genres To Create A Standout Episode
By Chris Snellgrove
| Published
Starfleet Academy’s sixth episode (“Come, Let’s Away”) was a standout tale that ditched the series’ infamous tryhard humor to deliver a tight action/adventure thriller. As someone who had been hard on the show before, I was morbidly curious if that grimdark outing represented the new normal. Would this Star Trek spinoff finally start taking itself seriously in every episode, or would the series be returning to sloppy comedy form?
The seventh episode (“Ko’zeine”) managed to surprise me, and not always in a good way: this story brought goofy comedy back to the forefront, but the humor is less forced and all the more fun for it. Plus, the episode channels the vibe of both indie coming-of-age films (like Garden State) and wedding rom-coms (like My Best Friend’s Wedding) into an uneven episode that packs plenty of character development. As a result, “Ko’ziene” is a deep improvement over earlier Starfleet Academy episodes, but it fails to pack the high-octane thrills and equally high stakes of “Come, Let’s Away.”
Spring Break Is Finally Here
The general premise of “Ko’ziene” is that the various cadets are headed home for Spring Break, but things quickly go awry for three of our heroes. Caleb has no family to return to, so he decides to stay aboard the Athena, trying to take his mind off the injuries sustained by his telepathic girlfriend when she successfully saved him from the Furies. She is recovering on Betazed, and Caleb is having trouble composing the right message to express his feelings; however, he gets a welcome distraction from Genesis, whose decision to steal back aboard the Athena hides a shocking ulterior motive.
Meanwhile, the B plot is that Jay-Den sees Darem getting abducted, and he follows the kidnappers to discover a rather insane surprise. You see, Darem has been nabbed by his own people as part of an ancient ritual, and he is about to marry the woman he was betrothed to many years ago. Jay-Den now has to serve as his best man, but that means he has to avoid a romantic getaway in Ibiza with Kyle, his himbo War College boyfriend.
Taking Aim At The Series’ Awful Humor
Before you say it, I want to let you know I get it. If you’ve hated most of Starfleet Academy up until this point, then “Ko’zeine” sounds like a double serving of the show’s two most annoying aspects: awkward romance and teen angst. However, this outing is better than earlier episodes this season for the simple fact that the writers are finally showing a bit of restraint with the show’s attempts at comedy.
Sure, there are still some overly goody bits here, like Caleb’s ears swelling up in a bit straight out of Star Trek (2009). Oh, and he and Genesis chase down a “warp snail” in a low-speed chase sequence so silly that it belongs in Lower Decks. As for the wedding plot, we get a few equally cartoony, overly trope-y bits, like Darem’s elaborate wedding suit tearing and him having a Bridezilla-esque freakout.
Mostly, though, this Starfleet Academy episode puts the forced humor into a dampening field, allowing the more serious elements of the story to have more impact. We get to see Caleb processing his feelings for Tarima in a surprisingly earnest way; he cares for her but doesn’t know how to express his feelings, which is relatively realistic for a teenage boy dealing with his own traumatic baggage. Jay-Den has to confront the depth of his romantic feelings and a potential love triangle, all while learning that his swaggering bully/classmate crush is a secret simp back home.
Star Trek Goes Indie
What holds everything together, though, is that returning Trek director Andi Armaganian shoots the A plot and the B plot through the lens of two very different genre films. Jay-Den and Darem get a wedding-based rom-com story, one that mines humor out of cultural misunderstandings and the two characters’ grudging mutual affection. Caleb and Genesis, however, get a twee coming-of-age adventure that shamelessly channels beloved indie hits like Garden State and Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist.
Needless to say, your enjoyment of these plots will hinge largely on your enjoyment of the genre stuff. Personally, I like my wedding comedies to be driven more by winking charisma (like in The Wedding Singer) or raunchy punchlines (like in Wedding Crashers), so I was left just a tad cold by the Jay-Den/Darem B plot. The actors get some fun lines and have a decent chemistry with one another, but their plot line veers a bit too much into the space lanes of a good, old-fashioned soap opera for my taste.
A Weirdly Moving, Weirdly Thoughtful Episode
By contrast, I found the A plot with Caleb and Genesis weirdly moving in large part because the script knows when to pull back and just let these characters vibe out. As if in answer to all those fan complaints about the show’s overly vulgar modern slang, this episode mostly has these characters speaking to one another like actual adults. This contrasts nicely with the shenanigans they get up to (Genesis is hellbent on breaking into the Athena’s bridge), and it sets up the essential dichotomy of Starfleet Academy: that these cadets have the potential to be Picard-style movers and shakers, but like Jean-Luc at this tender age, they still have a lot of growing up to do.
In terms of visuals, this episode has some of the most creative camera angles we have seen so far; instead of action shots designed to make you dizzy, “Ko’zeine” provides dynamic shots of Caleb and Genesis bonding, all while a mellow alt soundtrack punctuates their light interaction with hints of profundity. Granted, I’m a Millennial who absolutely loved Garden State, and that might make you want to take your phaser off stun before shooting me. But I thought this episode perfectly channeled that film’s sense of epic ennui; the idea that everything is meaningless and meaningful all at once for characters who have their whole lives ahead of them and a lifetime of baggage behind them.
Feelings Frequencies Open, Captain
There are no chilling monologues like we got in “Come, Let’s Away,” and unlike that earlier adventure, nobody’s in danger of suddenly declaring “Zo’Keine” one of their favorite Star Trek episodes. But this is a surprisingly earnest, surprisingly honest slice-of-life tale that adds surprising depth to some of the show’s most one-dimensional characters. It’s a thoroughly entertaining (good, not great) tale, one that signifies that Starfleet Academy has overcome most of its growing pains and is ready to finally provide episodes that capture the ephemeral highs and haunting lows of life as a young person.
A fun, unpredictable story that dynamically transforms several of the show’s best characters without disrupting franchise lore? As a Star Trek fan, you could do a lot worse!
