Star Trek: Starfleet Academy Vox in Excelso (REVIEW)

Spoilers ahead, Cadets!

As I’ve said before, Star Trek: Starfleet Academy very much comes from Discovery’s writing style, with its heavy emphasis on character development. Which has even been detrimental to itself. With the first three episodes caring more about the “WHO” than the “WHAT” of what Star Trek is.

Honor in the Face of Extinction

In the post-burn era of Star Trek, as we were introduced to in Discovery, several species had gone by the wayside to push the narrative of how we fix the Galaxy. One of those, in particular, was the Klingons. An obvious go-to ally race for the Federation since the TNG era. We’ve learned what happened to them after the Burn, the fact that there are only eight houses left, and they are all considered refugees in space.

Compounded with the atypical xenophobic nature of all species, with the lack of warp drive, the Klingon Empire succeeded back into itself, using their myth and lore to justify themselves. Cutting ties with everyone not Klingon.

Fear is the Enemy of Honor

The show initially opens with The Doctor extolling over the fine art of debate. Caleb had truly found his calling, but Jay-Den Kraag seems to have a huge fear of public speaking!

During the debate, it was revealed that an accident could have affected the rest of the Klingon race. While everyone is trying to use kid gloves around Jay-Den. He instead says that the first debate SHOULD be about the Klingon diaspora.

No Such Thing as a Free Replacated Lunch

Admiral Vance has brought a proposal to Captain Ake to assist with the Klingons finding a new home world. The downside is that the only representative Ake knows seems to have been an old flame, and the Admiral is trying to use that to their mutual advantage.

Everything goes sour as Klingon Honor will not accept a free handout from the petaQ Federation.

At the same time, Jay-Den and Caleb have a moment as he explains how he joined Starfleet and what it cost him. The guilt of his brother’s death and the abandonment issues stemming from his family after that fact.

Finally, Commander Thok has a one-on-one with Jay-Den. As she feels it’s her duty as his Klingon (albeit half) Elder. She explains to him a more in-depth idea of what it means to be Klingon, which Jay-Den takes his newfound perspective to not only slay his enemies at the debate podium.

But then inspires a very Klingon compromise that the Federation had to enact and give honor to the Klingons and establish their new home world.

Thoughts from the Warp Core

THIS is the Trek I was looking for in this show!

First starting off with calling back to one of the iconic species in all of Trek, then taking them down to a pittance of what the great Empire was. As much as Jay-Den showed no emotion on screen during the first 10 minutes, I was sobbing, speculating about which houses had survived.

Then follow through with Jay-Den’s backstory, which, while heavy, as again I would expect from this style of storytelling, made sense in context with the amount of Klingons left in the Galaxy.

I was concerned that Commander Thok would be an afterthought in this episode, but I appreciated how they incorporated her perspective to guide Cadet Jay-Den.

Now speaking of which, the resolution of HOW the Klingons acquired their new home world was the most honorable thing I’ve seen in Trek in a very long time.

Where the story goes next, I’m not sure, but the bar is finally set to what I would consider Trek. Lets boldy stay on that caliber of storytelling.

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy Vox in Excelso soars at a warp factor of 9.5 out of 10

The only downside was having Captain Ake use her history and feminine wiles to persuade the Klingons into having the free handout of a planet.

What were some of your favorite moments or Easter Eggs? Let us know in the comments below, and beam back here to Nerd Initiative for all your great Star Trek Reviews! 🖖

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