Overview
- Set in the 32nd century after The Burn, the series reopens the Academy under Capt. Nahla Ake, played by Holly Hunter.
- Reviewers highlight Hunter’s relaxed, barefoot, chair-perching physicality as a deliberate break from traditional Starfleet formality.
- Paul Giamatti’s villain Nus Braka features heavy hand armor and elaborate makeup that the actor says fundamentally informed his performance.
- The two-episode premiere introduces a cohort of cadets and situates the story within Discovery-era continuity aboard the USS Athena.
- The cast includes Tig Notaro, Oded Fehr, and Robert Picardo, with Stephen Colbert voicing the Digital Dean, as early reactions note a YA-leaning shift that may not suit some longtime fans.