Logline
During the cadets’ first training mission on an abandoned ship, they encounter a dangerous new enemy. As our cadets fight for survival, Nahla must risk everything to save them by seeking help from an unexpected, untrustworthy, source.
Written by: Kenneth Lin & Kiley Rosseter
Directed by: Larry Teng
I was thinking about the promotional picture for the show with all the people smiling. That was a scam to make us think that it was gonna be a cozy show, and they strike with characters death and betrayals left and right. They played us like a violin
My partner, our older GenZ offspring* and I were pretty stunned at the end of that.
I’m trying to think of the last time the franchise had an episode with such a dark ending that was not the first episode in a clear multipart sequence.
This is not cozy Star Trek.
I’m not sure what type of episode I was expecting this week but it certainly wasn’t this. What a fantastic episode. Every scene with Ake and Braka was perfect. Holly Hunter did most of the acting this week with her facial expressions instead of words, but you can hear every moment.
Though I wish we would have saw her, Discovery name drop!
Though I wish we would have saw her, Discovery name drop!
Even if we don’t see any of the cast, it would be SO badass to see Disco pop in and save the day during a space battle for a moment then just pop back out.
Oh yeah, Intrepid Class sighting! If only it hadn’t gotten its ass kicked.
I think this is the most I’ve despised an enemy since Kai Wynn. I did not expect an episode like that from this show.
After the first appearance I thought he was going to be a lovable scamp, like Harry Mudd or Quark. But MAN.
And yet, the accusations he launched at Ake? They landed! The Federation has been, and still is culturally imperialistic, and we have seen that aspect in action through Nahla. Braka is being very hammy with the “hate is good” thing, but he’s right at pointing that Starfleet is an institution that very usually takes misfit and vulnerable kids and makes ideologically pure scientist-soldiers out of them, like a futuristic version of the Ottoman janissaries.
Another good episode! Really feels like the show is hitting its stride now.
My only complaint is a bit of standard fan whinging: I hope the detached nacelles go the way of the S1 Discovery Klingons. They just look so goofy.
I like the detached nacelles. It’s nice to have at least a few clear indicators that technology has advanced in the 800 years since TNG. And it seems like a logical extension of the idea that the nacelles are these big dangerous things that needed to be kept separate from the living spaces and easily jettisoned.
Nah, they’ve never jettisoned the nacelles. The warp core is the dangerous bit (Voyager jettisoned it, what half a dozen times?). I don’t know if the warp core on the Athena is floating but… maybe.
Jettisoning the nacelles was considered in TOS’ “The Apple” and “The Savage Curtain”, but in both cases they never actually did it.
Saved me from having to look up the episodes where that happened, nice.
You’re right, that’s the model they landed on by TMP. I meant to say it resonates with Jeffries’ original concept that the engines were just too dangerous to be near the ship, which I always preferred. And who’s to say 32nd century ships don’t have power plants in the nacelles themselves, like a lot of early fandom assumed in the days of TOS? It would make sense if they’re completely separate now. (I know we saw Discovery with a central warp core after its refit, but Discovery is a bit of a special case).
I’m sure it’s perfectly safe, and we know the starships are held together as much by structural integrity fields as by metal, but I will be damned before I am chief engineer on a starship with the engines not bolted to the ship.
I hope the detached nacelles go the way of the S1 Discovery Klingons. They just look so goofy.
Yeah to say nothing about detached hulls! Like what’s with the Intrepid hulls also being detached and floaty? Seems like a system where you have to rely on transporters (I’m assuming?) to get between parts of the ship isn’t great fault tolerance in the event of something going wrong.
Detached shenanigans aside, I definitely didn’t mind how Athena ‘folded her wings’ after coming out of warp, that was badass!
Yeah, the Athena’s wings are cool. But, again, the weird floaty bridge is… weird.
Oh man, I couldn’t agree less. Detach everything!
Woke nonsense.
Roddenberry 22:47: And the GENE spake unto the heavens, saying, “Let no craft wander uboldly, nor let any nacelle drift apart from its wing."
I’ve always been a heretic.
You know I was a liberal until they force detached nacelles down our throats.
Kidding obviously, but I am right there with you 😂
EDIT: For the record I loved the Disco S1 Klingons and they never should have wussed out with those but I can live with it.
spoiler
why??? why did it have to be B’Avi!!!.. he was supposed to live long and prosper.
Another excellent episode from SFA. Honestly for me the show is firing on all cylinders.
- The opening intimacy between Terima and Caleb was the right combination of sensual and sweet for me. I liked that more attention was paid to the “pillow talk” afterwards with Terima’s story about her experience with a Deltan and Caleb’s reaction to it
- I also feel like the end of this scene shows Caleb’s character growth a bit. We understand why he reacted the way he did to Terima suddenly seeing his childhood. Yes he’s an ass at first as the defenses instinctively trigger, but I like that he quickly stands down and realizes (as Terima is leaving) that he messed up and one of the first things he says to her when they get back into contact is an apology. I don’t think we would have seen that, or at least as quickly, from Episode 1 Caleb.
- Caleb rooms with Ocam, right? I don’t care how supportive Ocam is of Terima’s relationship with Caleb, that had to be an awkward conversation when Caleb asked for the room for the night. Or maybe Betazoids are more open about that kind of thing, they do have naked weddings sooo… Idk
- Nooo!
Bobby!B’avi! - The Kyle/Jay-Den ship is sailing along I see
- I like how the officers on the bridge let the cadets help and didn’t shove them aside when shit hit the fan.
- Paul Giamatti and Holly Hunter were just absolutely amazing this episode. They are both multiple award winning performers and they showed it here. Giamatti in particular is chewing the scenery all over the place. It takes a great actor to make a great villain and Giamatti doesn’t disappoint here. I genuinely hate Braca after this episode.
- Terima thinks Caleb is going to hate her after she went all psychic Black Canary. I don’t think so, I think Caleb (after all the trauma resolves and Terima gets out of a coma) is going to be like “My girlfriend is BADASS”
Paul Giamatti and Holly Hunter were just absolutely amazing this episode.
Couldn’t agree more. Just absolutely riveting scene with little else going on besides his angry ranting and her micro-expressions. So many layers to both of their performances.
I’m with nearly all your other observations too. Even the Kyle Jay Den thing manages to feel natural and awkward in a wholesome realistic way for a character who has had all of ten seconds of screen time.
Yes [Caleb’s] an ass at first as the defenses instinctively trigger
This is the only part I’m not sure I fully agree with you on. I think Caleb’s reaction to having his childhood trauma brought up against is will during a time he is supposed to be feeling safe being vulnerable is completely understandable. “She can’t help it” isn’t an excuse in my book. BUT they both handled it maturely later with cool heads and that’s what matters. He is definitely going to think she’s a badass (maybe because that scene was maybe one of the most badass moments we’ve ever seen on Star Trek).
Oh yah, Caleb’s reaction to Terima’s accidental psychic poke is completely understandable. I think I said that but maybe I didn’t word it right.
What I was referring to is how they handled it and how quickly Caleb realized that it was an accident and Terima wouldn’t intentionally hurt him. I don’t think Episode 1 Caleb would have come to the realization that quickly.
Oh I see what you mean, yes absolutely with you. That said, if she truly has a “trauma causing thing she can’t control” …he’s going to need to establish some clear boundaries…
I would have liked Braca to have one or two more episodes as a scoundrel before becoming a villain. Dukat, with a bird of prey, as it were.
But yes, it was gloriously done.
The only thing that upset me was the “on/off” Caleb’s trousers. Every plane change the trousers “toggled”.
Usually Star Trek takes a little more than the first season to get good but this did it somewhat early.
I thought SNW did a really good job establishing all of the characters in a short season. But SFA is somehow doing even better.
That opening scene will be talked about a lot. But damn, that was a bleak episode.
Also, will IDW be publishing a one-shot or graphic novel of that comic?
It did look like a fun read.
Definitely a darker episode. I thought it was a bit of a mixed bag, but I enjoyed the Ake/Braka development.
I have to admit, I didn’t expect them to kill off a (guest star) cadet. Earlier in the episode, I’d been thinking about how nice it’s been that they’ve kept the supporting cast of cadets so consistent, but now we’re down one. At least we still have the Delta Swallower.
I didn’t love the basic setup - using a derelict ship that people died on as a training ground didn’t really sit well with me - but it was a decent story in that setting.
I think using a real ship with experimental tech for the drill was certainly a response to how cadets should be trained in the time of post-Burn. However the Miyazaki was a contemporary ship; why did the comic book depict TOS era uniforms? Or did I miss a detail there?
I thought about that, and concluded that the comic book probably took a lot of liberties with reality. Caleb did dismiss it as propaganda, after all.
I guess it was for the same reason Wolverine’s suit is yellow: it looks good on paper.
I didn’t love the basic setup - using a derelict ship that people died on as a training ground didn’t really sit well with me - but it was a decent story in that setting.
To me it gave “this is the best we can afford right now” vibes. They clearly can afford better, but that was my impression of the message they were trying to send.
Tap for spoiler
I loved this episode a lot. Paul Giamatti & Holly Hunter really played off of each other very well. Seeing the Vulcan B’avi (I think that’s the name it said in the show) die and also mention Spock’s famous quote was heartbreaking but well done.
I think spoiler is ok in these threads, but in any case it should be stated on the OP message to avoid confusion
spoiler is ok in these threads
This is correct - honestly, spoiler protection in the community in general is minimal, but there is none at all in these threads. I can try to add that to the post body moving forward.
I didn’t really like the Tarima stuff at the end. It seemed kinda overdramatic. But damn, Nus Braka? Paul Giamatti is an incredible actor and the dialog for him was crazy good. Please more of that!
Learning Nus is short for
NusiferNustopher made me chuckleEdit: Thanks for the correction @Routhinator@startrek.website !
I’m going to follow up with a thought here.
Christopher = Christ like.
If opher means like… Then who is Nust in Nus’ culture? Their Christ?
Also I like how that parallels between the preferred names… Chris and Nus vs Christ and Nust.
Nustopher
Stood out for me because Im a Christopher.
Man, those scenes with Braka and Ake were really something. Wasn’t sure how I was going to like Giamatti in this series but I’m kinda digging him.
I think Braka and the Venari Ral are an interesting contrast to Osyraa and the Emerald Chain, which was an entirely different flavour of tyranny.
I’m starting to like the Venari Ral quite a bit actually. They seem to be more like actual mustache twirling pirates rather than a tyranical government masquerading as pirates like the chain was. I’m waiting for Calebs mom to be re-introduced as his right hand in the finale.
Annotations of 1x06 are up at: https://startrek.website/post/35489042
A little detail I liked was Tarima specifying something about destroying her father’s auditory cortex. It answered the question of why a telepathic species would need sign language. In humans, even when we imagine voices or use an internal voice it goes through the auditory. So, it makes sense that a telepathic species might use it’s auditory context to “hear” thoughts.
I am a lot more annoyed at an official Trek production using AI slop comic book art that I probably should be.
That aside, this episode didn’t do much for me. I like SFA when it’s about Academy cadets doing school stuff. I really could not care less about Captain Ake’s tragic backstory, or Nus Braka.
The comic is not “AI generated”. One of my friends reached out to the VFX supervisor for the show on Mastodon and they said the art department drew and colored it.
I think it’s also important for us to fact check things before assuming. I know “AI generated content” is being used a lot but there are designers and artists that are very much against its use.
I follow Brian Tatosky on mastodon as well, and he says, “as far as I know” it was drawn and coloured by the art department. That is not a confirmation one way or the other.
But I went through and screenshot every image that was on screen of the comic pages. I would believe the art department mocked up the cover, but you cannot convince me the interior pages shown weren’t shat out of an LLM.
I’m with you. It seems at least in part it was AI. The shoulder is shadowed but the sunglasses are giving off a (double?) glint?
I’m really not seeing any obvious AI tells. It looks to me like it was drawn and inked traditionally, and then someone dropped in the little flares to up the cheese factor (and maybe give a little reference to JJ). I may be wrong, it’s getting hard to tell these days, but to me it just looks like someone trying to emulate a very typical comic book style.
OK, I’ve seen the images in the other thread now, and I’m seeing much more convincing evidence of AI generation there.
Like, everything about these arms looks wrong: https://imgur.com/DiRNxEY
And these shadows are just nonsense: https://imgur.com/TMZY25V
Honestly, I’m personally not too bothered if a background prop you’re not supposed to get a good look at is made with AI, but I’m also not going to argue with anyone who takes a real hard line on the subject.
Not to belabour the issue, but it seems like Tatosky might not be entirely convinced that those panels are not LLM generated.
Thank you for sharing this. I just didn’t want to assume but I did have an assumption that it could be AI.
