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Star Trek: Starfleet Academy’ Draws Cautiously Upbeat Early Reviews Ahead of Jan. 15 Paramount+ Debut

Critics single out Holly Hunter, legacy callbacks, and a YA focus, with notes on uneven writing, pacing, and occasional CGI.

Overview

  • Paramount+ will launch the 10-episode season with a two-episode premiere on January 15, followed by weekly installments through March 12.
  • Set in the 32nd century after Discovery’s timeline, the series reopens Starfleet’s school in San Francisco with storylines that also utilize the USS Athena as a mobile campus.
  • Reviewers widely praise Holly Hunter’s Chancellor Nahla Ake and highlight Paul Giamatti’s antagonist, alongside returns from Robert Picardo, Tig Notaro, and Oded Fehr.
  • The show leans into a YA, school-drama framework with episodic, character-focused stories, which some critics find fresh and others describe as slow or tonally uneven.
  • Coverage notes impressive sets and design alongside mixed views on VFX, with Engadget pointing to speculation about high production costs and broader stakes for the franchise’s streaming future.