Spoiler Warning: There are spoilers ahead for Star Trek: Starfleet Academy Season 1. Spoilers are also present for the following Star Trek productions: The Next Generation, Discovery, and Section 31.
I promised you last time that I was sharing my “final” preview of Starfleet Academy ahead of its premiere, which is now just a couple of weeks away. But since then, we’ve learned a little more about some of the cadets thanks to Skydance/Paramount’s marketing campaign. I have to say that, on the whole, Starfleet Academy hasn’t gotten a particularly impressive marketing push so far, but there’s still a little time left for that to change. I certainly hope that, even if the show isn’t “my thing,” it’ll manage to reach its teen/young adult target audience in a big way. Star Trek definitely needs new viewers, and Starfleet Academy could be the last show of the current streaming era.
But that’s enough about that for now! I wanted to look at the main cadet characters in turn, and share my thoughts on how they seem and what could lie in store for them across the show’s first few episodes. I’m basing all of this on the trailers, interviews and comments from the actors and producers, and the show’s general marketing material. I do not have any “insider information,” and anything I say about these characters or where their storylines could go is speculation, and nothing more!
It also goes without saying that all of this is *subjective, not objective,* so if you think I’ve missed the point, got it all wrong, or you just hate my take… that’s okay! There’s plenty of room in the Star Trek fan community for polite discussion and differences of opinion, and all I’m doing is offering my take on these characters at this very early stage. I could be wide of the mark or completely wrong, but I hope it’ll be interesting and perhaps a bit of fun to talk about Starfleet Academy once more before the series hits our screens.
I’ll be looking at the cadet characters only, not the senior officers, villains, or supporting cast. We know several of those already, and I don’t really have a lot to say about the likes of Captain Ake or Nus Braka that I haven’t already said across my other preview articles.
So with all of that out of the way, let’s get started!
First, a general point. This is something I hadn’t considered until I started writing this piece, but I can’t shake the feeling at this preliminary stage that one of these characters is destined to be killed off – perhaps as early as the first or second episode. We saw this in Section 31, where the Deltan character Melle was a big part of the film’s marketing campaign, but only lasted a couple of minutes and got a grand total of one or two lines before being vaporised.
It can be a good ploy for a series that plans to go all-in on action, mystery, and tension. By setting up a group of characters, only to kill off one of them at an early stage, it raises the stakes in a pretty big way. And with these characters all being brand-new, it leaves us as the audience with the impression that *no one* is safe; that Nus Braka and his band of pirates(?) could attack at any moment, and our favourite cadet could be next on the chopping-block.
Another reason why I feel this could be possible is that there are a couple of cadets who feel kinda… samey. Genesis and Darem are both on the command track, both want to be captain, and both seem to come from a demanding family background. Then Darem and Caleb almost seem interchangeable to such an extent that I forgot who was who when watching the trailers and reading their bios. They are, obviously, distinct characters… but Darem in particular just doesn’t seem to have as much to say as some of the others.
So could an early death be on the agenda? And if so, will it succeed at raising the stakes? For what it’s worth, I think that basic idea wasn’t the worst part of Section 31, and there was shock value in seeing a hyped-up main character killed off within the first few minutes. Whether it would work as well in Starfleet Academy is unclear, and if I’m already potentially expecting something like that… maybe it won’t land as hard. But I’ll be curious, at least, to see if I’m even close to being right!
Caleb, to me, seems like he’s being set up as kind of a deuteragonist, along with Captain Ake. He certainly seems to be the most-developed of the cadets narratively, and the character who seems to have the biggest connection to the show’s overarching story – barring any surprises from the others, that is. Caleb seems to be being positioned as the “main” cadet, perhaps even taking on a role not dissimilar to Michael Burnham in Discovery. Burnham was that show’s principal character, and it was her development, relationships, and story that was in focus a lot of the time. Starfleet Academy could be doing something similar with Caleb.
Of all the cadets, Caleb seems like the one most impacted by the aftermath of the Burn, too, and that’s something I hope Starfleet Academy will be able to make more of than Discovery ever did. I wrote a while ago that Discovery’s “post-apocalyptic” setting didn’t really stick the landing for me, and a big part of why is because of how quickly the Burn, its impact, and its aftermath were ignored after Season 3. Most characters we met and most storylines we saw either made the barest of references to the Burn or sidelined it entirely, and that just wasn’t very satisfying.
Caleb, coming from a difficult background outside of the rump Federation, seems to have experienced the worst of the post-Burn galaxy firsthand, presumably prior to the discovery of the dilithium nebula and the restoration of much of Starfleet. That backstory is genuinely interesting, and through Caleb’s eyes we might get to see a bit more of what the galaxy looked like before Burnham and the USS Discovery began to put things right.
This could also tie into Caleb’s “undeclared” speciality at the Academy. I picked up on this a while ago, when all of the other cadets had their specialities (or majors, if you prefer) mentioned when we were introduced to them. “Undeclared” doesn’t necessarily mean that Caleb hasn’t yet chosen a speciality – command, science, medical, engineering, and so on. It *could* mean that he knows what track he’s on, but for some reason he can’t make it public. That could indicate he’s on some kind of security or intelligence course, which could be interesting.
If so, would that connect to his backstory as an orphan with a difficult upbringing? Could Caleb have an agenda for enrolling at the Academy – perhaps hoping to use his new Starfleet security and military skills to help the people he left behind? That could be interesting – all of the other cadets are there by choice, but maybe Caleb, who seemed to have his arm twisted into enrolling by Captain Ake, has a hidden agenda. Given modern Star Trek’s love for Section 31, Caleb’s “undeclared” major could also connect with that.
Romantically, Caleb seems to be linked with Tarima, a character we know very little about and who may not be as big a part of the show. A romantic entanglement definitely fits the whole “teen drama” thing that Starfleet Academy is going for, and if anyone was going to get a (presumably) rocky or complex romantic relationship, it makes sense that it would be the main cadet! I expect we’ll see something comparable to Burnham’s relationship with Booker in Discovery, but with more of a young adult/teen flavour.
Tarima, who isn’t included as one of the “main” cadets in most of the show’s pre-release marketing, is described as being a “daughter of the president of Betazed,” which opens up a few interesting possibilities. There’s a remote chance, perhaps, that we’ll get a link back to Lwaxana and Deanna Troi, or just a reference to those characters. We could learn more about the Betazoids – I never knew, until now, that Betazed was a republic. Lwaxana’s very regal-sounding titles (Daughter of the Fifth House, Holder of the Sacred Chalice of Rixx, Heir to the Holy Rings of Betazed) always felt like they implied, to me, some kind of aristocracy at the very least, if not a theocratic or monarchical system.
Having a Betazoid character also opens up telepathy and empathic storylines, with Tarima perhaps able to “read” people the way Deanna Troi did in The Next Generation. She might be able to sense Nus Braka’s approach, for instance, or help guide Caleb (and others) with their own fears and feelings. Tarima says at one point that she’s “not like other Betazoids,” which is interesting, and I also noted that she isn’t wearing a typical cadet’s uniform in any images or clips we’ve seen of her so far, so she may not be a full cadet. A Betazoid character is also a nice callback to The Next Generation era, and even if Tarima isn’t a major player in the series, her inclusion is one of those threads of continuity that helps keep Star Trek together.
Sam (or SAM, in all caps?) confuses me. Why go to all the trouble of creating a sentient hologram – an A.I. – only to make them… go to school? I hope we’ll learn what the point of that was; previous holograms, from the Doctor to Professor Moriarty, emerge fully-formed, or at least equipped with the knowledge and skills they need to perform the roles they’re assigned. The Doctor, in Voyager, wasn’t created as a kid and forced to go to medical school; the whole point of making an A.I. (in Star Trek as well as in the real world) is that they can perform tasks humans can’t or supplement human skills. So… why create a holographic teenager and send her to school?
Also from Sam’s backstory we learned something a bit… I dunno. Disappointing, I guess. Sam will be the first-ever hologram to attend Starfleet Academy. But this is coming more than eight centuries after the Doctor first began to establish the idea of holograms having rights, and after Picard and the crew of La Sirena overturned a ban on synthetic life-forms. For so much time to have passed with no holograms being admitted to the Academy feels like it’s something that requires an explanation.
One thing that interests me about Sam – and this could also apply to the Doctor, too – is how there’s the possibility to look at the development of artificial intelligence through Star Trek’s sci-fi lens. As far back as The Original Series, with episodes like The Ultimate Computer, the Star Trek franchise tackled the growth of automation, of A.I. “misalignment,” and through characters like Data and the Doctor, the idea of synthetic life as being akin to organic life. Sam’s inclusion in the series could set up similar storylines.
With A.I. being such a big deal at the moment – generating a ton of money, a ton of interest, and a ton of backlash – you could have hardly picked a better time to tell a story about a young, “newborn” A.I. system coming online, and having to learn how to interact with humans and other organic beings. There’s the potential, at least, for some very interesting allegorical storytelling through this character. And, as I said before when we first learned that Sam is a hologram, her interactions with the Doctor will be of particular interest.
Jay-Den is an interesting name for a Klingon, isn’t it? Is that meant to be a joke; a silly reference to the name of someone on the production team? Or could there be more to the idea of a Klingon having a human-inspired first name? As far as I know, Jay-Den is a full Klingon – not like Nus Braka or Lura Thok, who are partial Klingons with other ancestry. And he’s also attending Starfleet Academy – a traditionally human-centric school based on the human homeworld. Is his name a clue to some kind of human ancestry or human-supporting Klingon faction, perhaps?
One thing that disappointed me after Discovery shot forwards in time was the lack of attention paid to the state of the galaxy at large. There are several major factions that we met across Star Trek’s history who were never even mentioned, leaving it totally unclear whether they even still existed as independent powers. The Klingon Empire was first amongst them. It seems, thanks to Jay-Den’s role in Starfleet Academy, that there’s the potential to learn a lot more about the Klingons in this era, and that can only be a good thing. It’s also interesting to note, in a time period populated by a lot of hybrid characters who are half-one species, half-another, that Jay-Den appears to be a full Klingon.
My two biggest questions would be whether the Klingon Empire eventually joined or merged into the Federation, or whether it remained an independent power. And secondly, what happened to the Klingons – independent or Federation members – during and after the Burn? One storyline that could have been interesting in Discovery, that the show never even attempted to tackle, would have been the reaction of other interstellar powers to the Federation being the source – and arguably the *cause* – of the Burn. It was a Federation member’s ship, operating under Starfleet orders, that was the epicentre of the Burn, and a Federation citizen who (unknowingly) instigated it. How would the Klingon Empire react to that information?
And more broadly, what happened to the Klingons after the Burn? Given that we didn’t see a single Klingon in Discovery, we could assume that they weren’t full Federation members, right? But then… how is Jay-Den a Starfleet cadet? Would Starfleet really give priority to a non-Federation citizen right as the Academy re-opens, when surely there would be millions of Federation citizens who’d want to apply? Those are interesting ideas that this character could explore. At the very least, the status of the Klingons, their Empire, and their possible Federation membership will all be points that Jay-Den’s storylines could touch on.
Genesis is the cadet who left the least significant impression on me. The only thing I put in my notes about her is that she’s the daughter of a Starfleet admiral, and she’s on the command track, which seems to lead her to butt heads with Darem at one point. The only Starfleet admiral we’ve met and who we know has a role in the series is Vance – and we know, from Discovery, that he has a wife and daughter. Those characters looked human when we caught a glimpse of them, so unless there’s a retcon, I doubt Genesis is meant to be connected to Admiral Vance… but it’s not impossible, I guess.
Through Genesis, we could get a story about living in the shadow of an illustrious parent – something a *lot* of Hollywood writers, producers, and performers have experience with! We could get a story about overcoming those connections, perhaps with Genesis trying to make a name for herself on her own terms, or having to combat the idea that she is, for want of another term, a “nepo baby.” Maybe we’ll even learn that her admiral parent pulled some strings to get her into the Academy ahead of other candidates… that could be interesting. A kind of “Operation Varsity Blues,” Star Trek edition.
Honestly, though, I don’t really have a lot to add about Genesis. Her species, the Dar-Sha, appear to be new to the franchise, and despite some apparent visual similarities, don’t appear to be connected to the villainous Nus Braka, who’s described as part-Klingon, part-Tellarite. Maybe it’ll be interesting to learn about her people; if one of her parents is a Starfleet admiral, the Dar-Sha could be longstanding Federation members, perhaps.
Darem, as mentioned, seems to be a character who has some traits similar to Genesis and Caleb. He’s the second command track cadet, along with Genesis, and aside from potentially pitting them against each other, I’m not really sure what that will add to the series. If I had to pick one cadet for my “killed off early to raise the stakes” theory, I think it’s gotta be Darem.
At one point, we seemed to hear other cadets chanting his name, which could mean he’s popular among his peers – another point in favour, perhaps, of my “kill him off” theory! And Darem, supposedly from a wealthy background, could have something to say, perhaps, about wealth inequality in the university admissions process. Darem isn’t human, he’s a Khionian, which seems to be another new species created for the show. Though there are two similarly-named species – one extinct and one made of pure energy – that we’ve seen in Star Trek before.
One question I’d have about Darem, or rather his family, is where their wealth comes from. If they’re Federation members, surely they conform to the “no money” idea that’s been present in Star Trek since the beginning. But in the post-Burn galaxy, it seems like the way to get rich probably isn’t by behaving ethically. So there’s that – and there’s the same kind of question I had with Genesis: did wealth have any bearing on the admissions process when Darem wanted to attend the Academy?
So I think that’s all I have for today.
Starfleet Academy is only a couple of weeks away from its premiere, and I will certainly be reviewing the two-part start to the season. I still haven’t decided whether I’ll do individual episode reviews after that, or whether I’ll review the entire season in a single piece. I think it’ll depend on whether I feel there’s a lot to say, whether I have theories I want to write, and so on! But at the very least, you can expect a review of the premiere in a couple of weeks’ time, and a review of the season as a whole after it wraps.
I hope this has been interesting. After Skydance-Paramount produced those little vignettes about the cadets, and teased a little more information about them, I wanted to talk about what we learned, speculate, and preview where some of their character arcs might go. I could be totally wrong with all of it… but it’s still a bit of fun to spend a bit more time in the Star Trek galaxy! Be sure to join me for that review of the premiere, and until then… Live Long and Prosper, everyone!
Star Trek: Starfleet Academy will premiere on the 15th of January 2026 on Paramount+ in countries and territories where the service is available. The Star Trek franchise – including Starfleet Academy and all other properties discussed above – is the copyright of Skydance/Paramount. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.
Trekking with Dennis 