Join Sean and Matt as they rewatch all of Star Trek in order and in historical context.
Sean Ferrell: In this episode of Trek in Time, we're talking about Sean crying his eyes out. Welcome, everybody, to Trek in Time. This is the podcast that takes a look at Star Trek in chronological stardate order and also takes a look at the world at the time of original broadcast. But right now, we're out of chronological stardate order because we are watching Starfleet Academy because it is brand new and it is on the air right now. So we're watching it in as close to real time as we possibly can so we can talk about it while it's fresh. We hope you'll enjoy and join us in this watch of Starfleet Academy and then jump back into our regular pattern, which currently is partway through season three of the original series. And then from there we'll move on forward into, well, the original series movies, followed by Next Generation and so on and so on. And one of those will be Deep Space Nine. I mentioned that for a very specific reason. So we're going to be talking about Series Acclimation Mil, Starfleet Academy Season 1, Episode 5. And who are we? Well, I'm Sean Ferrell. I'm a writer. I write some sci fi, I write some horror. I write some stuff for kids. With me, as always, is my brother Matt. He is that Matt behind Undecided with Matt Ferrell, which takes a look at emerging tech and its impact on our lives. Matt, how are you on this cold, cold day?
Matt Ferrell: Doing great. Really excited to talk about why you were crying, Sean.
Sean Ferrell: Yeah.
Matt Ferrell: And hopefully get you to cry. You're live onto the show.
Sean Ferrell: Yeah, let's. Let's hope. Fingers crossed. Yeah. If you couldn't tell we were brothers, having your co host of the program say, let's see if we can't make you cry, that should tell you everything you need to know. Before we get into our conversation about this newest one, we always like to take a look at the mailbag and see what you've had to say about previous episodes. So, Matt, what did you find for us this week?
Matt Ferrell: Well, from last week's, for our listeners, again, timey wimey stuff for you and me. We're actually like an extra episode ahead. It's really weird. But from episode Vitus Reflux, Jason Dumb wrote. Great discussion. Per usual, I look forward to the next 14 years. Star Trek Starfleet Academy has definitely been uneven thus far. Episode three was okay. Rocky road ahead. I do agree. Yeah, you and I both feel that way. But also we're also a couple episodes ahead of everybody, so we actually know where things are going.
Sean Ferrell: Jason, jump into the comments as you move forward in time and let us know what you think. Has it continued to be rocky or has it seemed to have leveled out in any way?
Matt Ferrell: Yeah. Next up, we had Happy Flappy Farm chiming in. We enjoyed this episode on our rewatch. It was fun to see the clues Chancellor Nala dropped for the students. The character development was rewarding and I am pleased to see Caleb and other students using their intellect, patience and empathy to best the War College students and leader. Where can I get one of those plants? Yeah, they take gardening to a whole new level. Yes, yes, yes they do. Yeah, I, I do. I do like the sentiment of what Happy Flappy Farm wrote. It's like, yeah, it's, it's, it's fun to see how they're kind of evolving these characters and pulling them together. Which again is going to be a big part of today's discussion.
Sean Ferrell: Yes, it is.
Matt Ferrell: And then we have Paleghost69 jumping in. How did Matt describe it once? Star Trek is watching competent people being professional while being very good at their jobs or something like that. I think that's the reason the lower deck style humor doesn't work well for me. I'm expecting competence, intelligence and the willingness to get shit done, not goofy awkwardness that only serves as character self pleasuring. Especially when it doesn't add anything or improve the story in any way. Like the game induction, like the game introduction, high intensity, realistic combat scenario being used as a sink or swim moment is funny and progresses the story while showing what we might be expecting in the future. I don't know, am I just weird for expecting them to take things seriously while being funny about the situation? I don't think you are. And I. This is a part of the reason why I think some people don't like lower decks is because it is the humor doesn't quite feel right as Star Trek for some people. For me, what I love about Lower Decks is that as goofy as the characters are, they are all actually really competent at their jobs when they do it. But they're just quirky people. So it's like on the main character's name, what's his name? He's scared of everything. He has that high pitched scream. He's completely ridiculous. But he's turning into like this amazing commander. Like he's going to be a great leader but he's just a complete goofball getting there. So it's like that's what I enjoy about even lower decks is that it is competent people that are really bizarre. So I feel like with this show, they're still trying to find that footing, to make sure that it's grounded in reality without feeling like slapstick.
Sean Ferrell: What I was going to say in response to that comment was, yeah, I feel like lower decks is effectively. They said, what if you had a ship that was filled with Reginald Barclays? And that's one of the key things about that character, and that's one of the things that I do enjoy about lower decks, is that if you can watch Next Generation, they're clearly not saying he's not good at his job. In fact, they're saying the exact opposite. He could be a brilliant engineer if he could just get out of the holodeck and get over this addiction and this fear of being in public. So you stack a ship with nothing but that and you get lower decks. So I do feel like there is. There is a middle ground, though, and. And PaleGhost is not wrong to point out you need that competence in order to have this. You can't have it just be the Office in space. Yes, that's not going to work.
Matt Ferrell: Exactly.
Sean Ferrell: You can't just have it be like, they're weird and they're not that great at their job, because why would they be where they're supposed to be?
Matt Ferrell: So then finally, another Paleghost69 comment, wrong answers only for the Vox in Excelso, a spin off movie where sentient dolphins teach Earth history to diverse alien class, which also include language sections where they teach them to say thanks for all the fish in 500 different Earth languages that are now extinct.
Sean Ferrell: There you go. Thank you everybody for your comments. Now, that noise you're hearing, those lights you're seeing, that is the read alert. It's time for Matt to tackle the Wikipedia description. And just like last week, this is simply the first sentence of a very long summary. But again, boil it down, it pretty much says everything it needs to. All right.
Matt Ferrell: Due to her own work as emissary for the Makers, Sam becomes obsessed with the mystery of Benjamin Sisko, the Emissary of the Prophets who vanished at the end of the Dominion War. That is all you need.
Sean Ferrell: Yep.
Matt Ferrell: That is all you need, Sean.
Sean Ferrell: Yep.
Matt Ferrell: If there's anything beyond that, it's pointless.
Sean Ferrell: This episode, which dropped a from our perspective a week ago, making it February 5, 2026. What was the world like when it dropped? Well, we have. At the time of broadcast of this episode, the super bowl halftime show had not taken place. But the number one streamer. Yes, Bad Bunny with the song DTMF at the number one spot on Spotify and in theaters we have Send Help, a new movie which was despite the fact that it looks like a bloody mess, is actually a Disney film.
Matt Ferrell: Hmm.
Sean Ferrell: And also doing well in the theaters despite the fact that it gets incredibly low critical reviews, but very popular with an audience that I'd be willing to bet was giving it thumbs up without having seen it. Melania. And on streaming services, TV shows that are proving popular around February 5th, Unfamiliar, a show with which I am not familiar.
Matt Ferrell: I am, I just started watching it.
Sean Ferrell: Also in the top spots, a Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, the Lincoln Lawyer and a new show on Peacock which broadcast after the super bowl in an attempt to get at some views, The Burbs, which is a series based loosely upon the Tom Hanks film from the 80s. And in the news, the top story on February 5, 2026, President Donald Trump says he ordered withdrawal of 700 immigration agents from Minneapolis. About 2,000 personnel will be left in Minnesota where President Trump's immigration crackdown has generated outrage. On now to our discussion of this episode. I try to be fair. I try to say, Matt, it's your turn to lead us off. Now it's my turn. Now it's your turn. I'm going to cut to the chase right out of the gate. I'm not going to waste any time. I'm going to mince any words.
Matt Ferrell: Blubber, Sean, blubber.
Sean Ferrell: I first of all, hat tip to you. Last week you said, I can't wait till we get an episode about Sam. I think Sam's going to be a fun episode. I think when we learn more about Sam, toodlee, toodlee tootly week later, what do we get? We get Sam. So well done, Matt. I loved the episode for what they did with her. So I would like to talk about this from that perspective. But I also love the episode for what it did in honoring Deep Space Nine and specifically the character of Benjamin Sisko, played by Avery Brooks who I mean, we've talked about Star Trek now for 200 and some episodes and every now and then you'll be like, my favorite captain was Picard. My favorite captain was Picard. Mine was Sisko. I loved Deep Space Nine. Deep Space Nine for me was the program that showed what building that long term arc and having the episodes weave together week after week to tell individual stories that then weave together to create this bigger tapestry. Deep Space Nine did that for me in a way that no other Star Trek show of our era of when we were growing up was doing at the time. There were hints of it that they could have tried doing something like that during Next Generation. They could have leaned much harder into it during Voyager than they ever tried to. Enterprise, not so much. It was kind of wishy washy in that way. And it always surprised me that the shows that followed Deep Space Nine didn't do what DS9 did, because DS9 told the story of an individual who's at the crux of being both a religious figure and a man. And this episode pays homage to that in a way I didn't expect. And when I saw what was happening in the story and where it was headed and what they were going to be doing. Tears, when the walls fell. It was just. I was incredibly moved by this episode. I just like to get the DS9 of it all out of the way.
I just want to say, like, for me, this was an unexpected and lovely love letter to a character and a series and a set of characters. The fact that they used the actor, reprising the role of the son so beautifully, even down to him wearing his hairstyle the way that when they had. Remember the one episode where Sisko time travels and he sees the future of his son, they got this guy to wear the hairstyle so that he looks a little bit like the actor who played him as an older man. And like, the whole thing for me, from the DS9 homage was so lovely. And the idea of Sam connecting immediately with the like, oh, an emissary. I need to learn how to be an emissary from an emissary. This is what I need to do. Made perfect sense. And to now dip into her storyline. You and I talked last week about what would her storyline be, what would getting to know her better look like? And I felt like this was. We've seen it before with characters like Odo, Data. You get the one of a kind, the Doctor from Voyager. You get that one of a kind and you dive into them for their particular look. But hers was unique. I was very pleased that it was. They landed on a way that she's not just a copy of what the Doctor's story was. She's not a holographic representation. She's not just a copy of Data. I'm trying to learn what it means to be human. That's not her role. She's not trying to learn how to be human. She can emulate humanity at ease and doesn't even question what it means to have emotions. She seems to genuinely have them. For her, it is, how do I build a bridge? How do I be the bridge between a people who are terrified of these others.
And the others, how do I convince the others that it's important to them to want to reach out? And I found myself watching this and thinking, wow, they really kind of like, after last week's episode where you and I talked, and I was like, I feel optimistic about where this is headed. I find myself watching this one and thinking they upped the bar on themselves. They did a great job. I feel now like maybe episode two, they were just like, well, we got to have an episode two. So now let's get to the stuff we really want to do. Because at this point, it feels like episode two seems like the outlier. Now. This is episode five. So this is a chunk of the season, and I feel like they've managed to keep it consistently building in a way that I find really good. I love that Tawny Newsom was one of the writers on this. I love that she was in it. I love that it was a reprisal of Dax. Come on. I mean, I just, like, I didn't see that coming at all. I saw the whole, like, the Cardassian esque appearance and I was just like, how lovely that the person teaching about the Emissary is of Cardassian heritage. That's a really nice touch point to say. Like, here's this person who's lovingly talking about instructing students in this thing. And I picked up when they talked about him growing tomatoes, I was like, she knows quite a bit about Benjamin Sisko to point that out. That seems like a very personal detail. Didn't expect the ending the way it was with the, holy cow, you're Dax. So again, I mean, you wanted to see me cry on camera during this conversation. You can hear it in my voice. It's cracking a little bit. So I loved it. I loved this episode. I just, like, really, really, it resonated with me. I enjoyed watching it. I didn't want it to end when it ended.
And all the stuff with Sam and her quirkiness, the cartoony introduction of her talking about herself and all the little blippi emoji excitement on the screen felt like it was in character and it felt like it was in universe. It felt like for this character, this is how she experiences the world. Caleb reprogramming her so that she can experience drinking, even little things like that. It was just like, you don't need it to be Geordi La Forge. I'm the only person who can go into Data's brain and work on Data. This guy is just literally, like, I could Reprogram it. And I liked that. I like the idea that she was trusting. And when he was just, like, joking, like, I gotta tell you, this is kind of sexy. And she was just like, hey, all of that. I was just like, this is fun. This is a really warm and loving and engaging episode about a character who felt fresh and exciting. And I just thought they did a great job. They did a great job. So I loved it.
Now throw me against the rocks.
Matt Ferrell: Yeah, I was going to say I like this episode a lot. I did not like it as much as the previous episode, which I loved. So it didn't hit me as hard as it hit you. And I think part of the reason for it is my own fault, is, like, I was so excited for a Sam episode and I was hoping it would be one thing and it wasn't and it wasn't hitting my expectations. So for the first half of the episode, I was kind of like, ah, that's kind of disappointing. And then about halfway through, I was like, let that go. Just go with it. And I started going with it. And I'm also a fan of Deep Space Nine. But to go back to when it was first aired, I didn't like the show it was first on and I watched it for the first season and a half and I was like, I'm out. Stopped watching it. Then grad school, I started watching it in reruns. It was every night at 11 o' clock, they'd show an episode and they'd show episode two at midnight. So from 11 to 1 o' clock in the morning, I'd lay in bed and I'd watch myself some Deep Space Nine. And I got hooked. So I think it was just a. My headspace changed from when it was originally on to when I was in grad school. And, man, that show just. It was a show written for. As a streaming network, a streaming show before streaming existed. And I think that's. And that's why it didn't work. That's why it struggled. It was a show before, it was a show ahead of its time. And so it's like, if you go back and watch it now, it, like, feels like most of the shows that are created today, it's, like, got this very linear story that's being told that's fantastic and engaging and exciting and the war and all that kind of stuff. And I agree with you. Sisko is, in my opinion, probably the most underrated captain of all the captains across all the shows. He's no Picard. Sorry, Sean, Picard. He's my guy. That's one of the beauties about his.
Sean Ferrell: Character, is that they had it in universe with the two of them as contemporaries.
Matt Ferrell: He's so different and very different from one another.
Sean Ferrell: And the storytelling is very different. And compared to Next Gen, for a younger viewer who's at that point, you're in fourth season, Next Generation. Deep Space Nine came out and felt like somebody threw a bucket of water onto the campfire. It was just like, what is this? This tone, this. This feeling. The. The. At the end of this episode, they played the opening theme song from Deep Space Nine and I got choked up and I was just like. I was like, it's the most maudlin of the theme songs. It is such a quiet. Like, it's nothing but French horn. Just like, you want to fly through space and be a little depressed. Deep Space Nine is your show.
Matt Ferrell: Well, I have to go back to what I was saying about Sisko. He's kind of this underrated captain. He kind of grew on me and, like, watching the reruns, I loved how he dealt with Q. For the way Picard dealt with Q. And the way he dealt with Q I thought was super cool of like, he was just this blustery hothead that would just literally, like lash out at Q. And Picard would never do that kind of stuff. And even Q commented of like, you're no fun. You're not like Picard. And I loved that they even made a reference to that in this episode where it's like at the son's appearance, it was like he was a man who wouldn't hesitate to knock out a cue. Yeah, I was just like, hell, yeah. But I was. The thing I loved about this episode specifically, though, was I was worried at first that this was going to be fan servicey because, like, she's. She's. Sam's walking through that room and you're seeing all these screens of past things that we know as Star Trek fans as being kind of like these key pivotal moments. And you see the one of Sisko in the silhouette, and I was like, oh, that's nice. Kind of fan servicey. And then she starts talking about it. I'm like, oh, that's still kind of fan servicey. But by the end of the episode, it actually had a point. It wasn't just there for them to talk about Deep Space Nine and talk about Captain Sisko. It was directly related to her character development. And it had a purpose, had a point about what an emissary is about making hard choices. Even though you know, it's not going to work out for you in the long run. You have to live in the moment and do the right things for yourself in the moment. And that's what the whole thing about the Emissary was in Deep Space nine is like. They spent how many seasons?
Sean Ferrell: Yeah.
Matt Ferrell: Was it seven seasons?
Sean Ferrell: Yeah.
Matt Ferrell: Coming to that conclusion. And they did a wonderful synopsis of it. And when the whole thing of Dax came out at the end, I didn't catch the tomato remark. I thought, that's awfully specific. But it didn't make me go, why is it that specific? And it was like, when it turned out to be Dax at the end, I was like, of course it's Dax. Dax lives how long.
Sean Ferrell: She talked about gumbo the way that he would have talked about gumbo. And I'm like, how's this woman talking about. There's very particular takes on gumbo, and there's different schools of thought. And he was an adherent to tomatoes to the point where he grew them. And I'm like, that's not going to be in a history book. That's like, that's a little. Yeah.
Matt Ferrell: But the one thing that did bother me, though, Sean, is they've never. They didn't explain or even set up a premise to me. I didn't catch it as to why she's so childlike and she's talking to. She's clearly. She can clearly communicate with her species almost at will. And it wasn't exactly clear until, like, the second conversation. That's what was happening is like, they can just, like, beam into her head whenever they want. It wasn't quite clear of. And they don't have to answer it now, but it's like, are they individuals or is it like the Borg, where it's like, one kind of thinking entity and she's an outlier because they made her to be this emissary, so she's independent where the rest of them are not. Or are they all independent and they're just kind of like group thinking?
Sean Ferrell: Right.
Matt Ferrell: Like, it was not clear. And that's something I hope they answer in time. Yeah, but it was like, those kind of things of like, well, why the hell is she so childlike? And then they're so, like, this voice of God thing. It didn't quite make sense to me why that was going on.
Sean Ferrell: I like your. I like your premise there. I'm hoping that they do expand on that in those ways, because I think that could be really, really compelling to, like, if I was writing that, I would say she is offset, unique intentionally, because they. Within their. I would say that they would be Borg. Like, that would be my envisioning of this, like, a larger consciousness. And I would say that they would set her off as an outlier by design, because to open the door as the collective would mean to change the collective's entire way of thinking and operating, and they aren't willing to do that. So they firewalled her off and said, okay, we need a program that is willing to open that door. It can't be us, but we can firewall this and design the program on the other side of that firewall. So it will do that. And we can have other firewalls doing other things. Like, there could conceivably be one sequestered off that's looking for ways to destroy organics. Like, you could do all sorts of permutations with that as a storytelling device. I think it'd be really exciting to see what some of that would look like. But that's a really, really neat idea. I like that a lot.
Matt Ferrell: I did enjoy in the episode, like, the other characters, the other friends, like, the whole Caleb thing, I thought was funny. Getting her drunk, I thought was funny and kind of quirky of her. Experiencing with her friends how impulsive she is is something I love about her character. Like, he gives her the ability to get drunk, and she immediately goes all the way up to 10. He's like, what are you doing? Yeah, it's like, I just love the fact that she's super impulsive and just kind of lives in the moment. So I like her character. I just wish they would explain to me or the viewer more clearly, like, why, like you brought it up before, did she choose to be this way, or did they make her this way? And if they made her this way, why did they make her this way?
Sean Ferrell: All right, so I have a quick question for you. I think we can wrap up our discussion of this episode pretty quickly from this point, because the B plot felt very B. It was the War College president, or the War College chancellor is invited by a species to meet and talk about potential partnerships. And he's stunned by this and thrilled by it, but he's kind of collapsing inward under the pressure of it, to the point where he is quietly heating part of the ocean without telling anybody that he's doing this. I thought that was a nice little, like, what are you doing? Like, warming a pocket of the Pacific Ocean. It's a lagoon. In an episode that wasn't over serious, although it was paying this loving homage to Sisko, a not so serious A plot had a B plot that was clearly intended to be light hearted, comedic, goofy, goofy. I feel like there was zero attempt to connect threads between the two of them to the point where it felt like that comedic B plot could have been in any episode. Yep. And I don't feel like it's necessarily a weakness. I felt myself watching. It didn't distract. I feel like what they were doing was giving the viewer a breath from the heavier plot, which was, I don't know how to be an emissary. I don't. The stakes are so high. I have a ticking clock literally over my head. If I don't do the right thing, they are going to yank me. And to get a breath from that. Even though it wasn't being told super heavy and super serious. I think that they just came up with a B plot to be like, okay, here's a bunch of people talking about something. The fish is going to deflate and it's going to make a weird noise and he's going to play a funny flute and there's going to be the tension between the two of them.
The nice thing was it was a mini, epic, mini emissary story because it is the Chancellor reaching out to the other Chancellor and saying, like, let me help you. We can be partners. Let me. Let us be pals in this. With no ulterior motive and giving them the chance to connect and to have a nice moment where. I love Holly Hunter's depiction of this leader. She's walking around in bare feet. And then in that final scene where she's lying on the sofa next to him and she's got her head right against his hip and she's just looking up at him and she's making these funny faces and she's like, come on. Like, yeah, like, why are you defending territory? I'm not trying to take anything from you. And he's. And they start to laugh and they have a nice moment. I felt like, okay, that doesn't really directly connect. There's no through line that feels like it's being heavily, heavily pulled on to hold it all together. But it held together for me and I was like, I like this little B plot. I think it's nice that the Doctor is the expert. I think it's nice that Tig Notaro gets to have the opportunity of like, I'm a very funny person. Like, all those notes. And I was just like, I was into it. I just. The one character that I wish had been there. And I think it was probably just a too many people on screen. So somebody's got to step to the background. I wish that the Klingon Jem'Hadar, number two of the school had been there, mainly because I think she could have been the connective thread between the two stories. She could have been at the dinner and she could have been. I wanted to see her talk to Sam. That was the one conversation I felt like they didn't have. I wanted Sam to go to her and have her say, do you know what we called Sisko in the Jem’Hadar ancestry? I wanted to hear what they said because there's all this other stuff going on.
And I wanted to hear a Jem’Hadar say, we called him and then fill in a blank. I thought of all the different things that a Jem’Hadar might say about what we said about the Sisko. So that was the one thing of this that I left with. Like, oh, I wish they'd had that moment. But I still felt satisfied by the overall episode.
Matt Ferrell: Yeah, it didn't distract me because it was that pressure, relief valve that you kind of need in storytelling like this. Just like a little aperitif, like a little palette cleanser between scenes. And it's like, it didn't distract. It wasn't too long. It was very short, very quick, very short, very quick. So it was just like a little comedic moment, which was a nice beat. It's all about comic timing. And there's obviously people who have great comic timing that are writing the show, so they. They understood that pacing that was needed. Yeah, I liked it. I like your idea, too, of having that character as the thread between the two storylines. But again, wasn't completely needed.
Sean Ferrell: Yeah.
Matt Ferrell: I do want to point out one joke that is a Matt joke that hit me so hard, and I was laughing so hard. And it was Stephen Colbert. It was the Dean's announcement when he's talking about the trip to Muir Woods. Join us for some morning Wood. And there's this pause and he goes. He starts laughing. I died. I died. It was such a bad dad joke he makes. And Colbert chef's kiss. I'm so glad he's on the show.
Sean Ferrell: It was. It was really great. So, viewers, listeners, what did you think about this one? I want to give a quick shout out. I didn't mention this earlier, but I felt like the directing on this one by Larry Teng. Really, really well done. But also big shout out to Kirsten Beyer and Tawny Newsome, who wrote this one, and Kirsten Beyer. We've talked about her before she was one of the main producers on Picard and she's written Star Trek novels. So like this is a woman who's steeped in this and Tawny Newsome, I mean come on, lower decks. She's also critical in being involved in at this point her Wikipedia page said she is the co creator along with Kurtzman of an unnamed Star Trek sitcom. So we'll see what that means. Okay, if it ever comes into being. So that is our discussion of this episode's Series Acclimation Mil. Next time we're going to be talking about Come, let's away please. Wrong answers only. What do you think that one's going to be about? Drop into the comments if you think we missed something in this conversation. Drop that in the comments if you think you wanted to expand on something we said. Drop it in the comments if you think we're wrong. Keep it to yourself. No, drop it in the comments. Let us know where we may have missed the mark. Thank you so much everybody for taking the time to watch a listen. If you want to support us liking subscribing, sharing with your friends, those are all great ways for you to support us. If you want to directly support us, go to trekintime show. Click the join button. That allows you not only to throw coins at our heads, but you will be signed up as a cadet for our spin off broadcast program Out of Time in which we talk about things that don't fit within the confines of this program. We hope you'll be interested in joining us there. Thank you so much everybody for taking the time to watch or listen. We'll talk to you next time.