Logline
As a cadet sets out to solve an ancient Starfleet mystery, she embarks on a journey of self-discovery and learns the value of forging her own path. Meanwhile, Nahla agrees to help a fellow chancellor with an elaborate alien ritual.
Written by: Kirsten Beyer & Tawny Newsome
Directed by: Larry Teng
I’ve been pretty excited for this one ever since it was highlighted as a “love letter” to DS9…but I was pretty nervous about a couple of things.
I wasn’t sure how the hell they would make it relevant to the cast of this show, and keep them rightly front-and-centre. There was no obvious connection for them to do so, and it wouldn’t serve them well to just do a full-on nostalgia fest.
I also wasn’t sure how to explore Sisko’s fate in a way that felt substantial. It seems like any story about his return would have to be pretty significant (or, alternatively, so insignificant that it would be hard to make an episode about it).
As it turns out, I needn’t have worried. They threaded the needle pretty perfectly. SAM was the central character from beginning to end, and her “connection” to Sisko was uniquely intertwined with the character’s motivations. And they sidestepped my second issue entirely, but in a way that I still found satisfying.
I feel bad for Ben and Kasidy’s kid, though - apparently completely insignificant to the history books.
And I do hope he was able to visit them from time to time.
So, as someone who is watching the entirety of DS9 for the first time… Spoilers? Lol. But actually, that made me appreciate the episode more.
I really like how this series evolves. The last three episodes were all really good. This DS9 homage felt great in a franchise which is very much TOS/TNG focused.
I did not quite get the “Thank you, Avery” in the end and had to check whether Brooks died? Is it because he retired?
Presumably it’s a combination of “thank you for what you contributed to Star Trek” and maybe a way to acknowledge him letting them license the final scene narration off of an album he did some 20 years ago.
Makes sense. Apparently he was also creatively involved in the episode to a certain degree.
I hadn’t heard that, other than they got his blessing basically (and the licensing) and he was given a copy of the script to read. Cirroc Lofton seems to be the one that was as close to hands-on involved as you can get when you’re not a writer of the script.
I got emotional listening to Jake speak about his father
wew! I though I was the only one… and the music at the end…
Cried when Jake appeared the 1st time but at the end it was too much.
Thank you, Avery and all the crew and cast of DS9.
I’ll be honest with you, I’m by no means a fan of “nu-trek”. couldn’t stand Discovery, SNW I enjoyed but then it kinda went belly up, and I only really enjoyed Picard season 3.
So I went into Starfleet Academy and I wasn’t optimistic. Utilizing plot points from Discovery made me groan. but I must say this last episode has won me over. It’s about time Star Trek does a decent homage to DS9. it’s been a long time coming.
Oh man, it started a little… extra shall we say, but that was really something special! I did not expect this series to be this good.
Annotations for 1x05 are up at: https://startrek.website/post/35172991
I’m just replaying the last 30 seconds over and over again and punching my feels into oblivion.
Damn, I’ve been enjoying the series more than I ever expected to, but this episode really got me.
Omg, that was incredible. I was moved to tears from the overwhelming joy of each moment. 🥹







