Starfleet Academy: 1.07 "Ko'Zeine"
While the prior two episodes were a mixed bag for me, the latest episode "Ko'Zeine" worked a lot better, even if it has plenty of shortcomings that's led to what seems like a generally dismissive reaction.
To explain why I enjoyed this one, I'll summarize how the other two suffered. First, I wanted badly to love 1.05 "Series Acclimation Mil," because I'd seen online that Tawny Newsome had written it as a valentine to DS9, which is to this day my favorite Trek, full stop. And while I thought that the last act worked beautifully, the lead-up to it never connected to me, since it seemed so concerned with asking questions ("What, concretely, happened to Sisko?") that felt inconsequential. I realize that that's partly the point, but dwelling on it for so much of the episode dragged down the payoff of the scenes with Jake; in fact, the episode has the feel of having been built backwards from the Jake scenes, with Sam's struggles being an emissary feeling like a superficial connection to Sisko's role as Emissary. I like that it's about Sam, and that she gets to interact with Jake, but it's ultimately hero worship (though, let's be real, most of us would love to be in the situation given the chance), and not a position where she's a peer with her main scene partner.
As for 1.06 "Come, Let's Away," I mentioned in my previous post that I simply don't find streaming-era Trek's action interesting because the perils don't feel convincing ('90s Trek is more concerned with characters talking themselves into and out of problems, and sometimes violin recitals). Also, the episode continues the streaming era's chronic inability to flesh out secondary characters before they die. In the end, the focus on action in this episode left little time for the things I care about -- namely, the characters.
"Ko'Zeine," on the other hand, falls firmly in the slice-of-life category, with considerably lower stakes and body counts than "Come, Let's Away," and episodes like this is where Starfleet Academy has shined the brightest. The writers have come up with a colorful cast of weirdos, and I relish the chance to see them put into odd scenarios to bounce off of the walls and each other in funny and sometimes moving ways. Jay'Den, for instance, is a supporting character in Darem's plot this week, but we still see him getting past his rocky introduction to Darem as well as overcoming his fear of public speaking, all to culminate in a speech that was subtle, funny, and heartfelt. Darem, similarly, gets more depth, with the revelation that this kid, who has had mountains of expectations loaded onto him and has had his self-worth completely eroded away, finds freedom at the Academy to FINALLY let his inner asshole shine.
I also loved that we finally got some Genesis development, with the episode peeling back some of the "high-achieving nepo baby" layers to show a more vulnerable self, all while just letting her just hang with Caleb for much of the episode. (I did detect some hints at her becoming involved in a future love triangle with Caleb -- which I'm not excited about -- but unless/until we cross that bridge, I'll enjoy where we're currently standing.)
With that said, the plot machinations to move our characters into the places they need to get to are pretty underbaked. Darem's "byebye Starfleet I'm going AWOL to co-rule an entire planet(?) with my one-episode fishwife actually wait jk let's get a fishdivorce ok I'm back in the Academy" speedrun barely held together under its own weight. Meanwhile, Genesis's plan of tricking Caleb into hacking the bridge so she could alter some incriminating letters of recommendation was pedestrian, tic-tac-toe planning from someone whom we're meant to see as having more potential as a canny strategist. (I'm not mad at you, Gen, I'm just disappointed.)
All the same, I'm willing to put up with the sloppy plotting because the character work is so fun. I wouldn't argue that all of these developments are earth-shaking (though I really appreciate seeing Jay'Den being more at ease and even smiling -- we've never seen a happy Klingon as part of our main cast!), but they let me immerse myself into a world that feels so vibrant and alive and populated by interesting characters in a way that's been lacking in most of the other streaming Trek shows.
If that puts me on an island of one, that's fine, I hear that there's a fishgirlboss who's back on the market again.