Starfleet Academy “Ko’Zeine” Slows the Action for Coming-of-Age Chaos

Review: Star Trek: Starfleet Academy Season 1 Episode 7 “Ko’Zeine”

A month after the explosive and tragic events of last week’s episode, our young protagonists are still licking their wounds as they delve into some character-building personal drama. 

The Rebel Alliance

It’s All Worlds Day at Starfleet Academy, so the school is empty as students head to a variety of off-campus locations. Everyone, that is, except Caleb Mir (Sandro Rosta), who is horrified by the thought of being bored and on the other side of Earth with a host family. So, he decides to hang back on Athena, where Genesis Lythe (Bella Shepard) also skips out on her All Worlds Day assignment to instead spend some quiet time in the Academy’s halls. 

The two classmates get into some hijinks together, including chasing around a slug that warps around a classroom, daring each other to stick their hands in all manner of strange science lab products, and generally killing time while they have the Academy to themselves. 

Genesis takes an interest in Caleb’s relationship with Tarima, and she learns he hasn’t spoken to the Betazoid since the explosive events in the starship graveyard. Caleb is too anxious about reaching out to Tarima, as he is still reeling from having a small part of his traumatic childhood leak into the mental paradise the two conjured during their intimate time together. 

Genesis’ ultimate goal while the Academy is empty involves sitting in Athena‘s command chair, a highly dangerous and illegal act for an inexperienced cadet with no supervision. Genesis tells Caleb how she feels she is always walking in her father’s shadow, and being able to sit in the chair even briefly would help her chart her own path.

“The thing about following someone else’s footsteps… they are someone else’s footsteps.”

– Genesis to Caleb. 

There is a more practical reason for Genesis wanting to get on the bridge. Caleb is unaware that Genesis wants to access Athena‘s database. Her goal is to alter the application Chancellor Nahla Ake (Holly Hunter) sent on Genesis’ behalf for Starfleet’s pre-command track. When Genesis first applied to Starfleet Academy, she had to alter unfavorable reference letters — one called her “driven by fear” — and now she needs to delete them from Ake’s application.

The two cadets are caught in the act, with Caleb being the unwitting accomplice to Genesis’ plan. Chancellor Ake, naturally, is angry and disappointed at the cadets misbehavior, but true to form she uses the situation to teach Genesis a lesson: leaders are full of flaws, and the committee did her a favor by pointing hers out early. And Genesis, after all, is doing just fine at the Academy, and her future prospects are promising. Appropriately, Ake withdraws Genesis’ application from consideration. We have to wonder what Genesis’ endgame was here, though, as surely the command track committee would have noticed Ake’s application didn’t include Genesis’ letters of recommendation and wonder where they were. 

Caleb and Genesis have developed a more profound friendship as a result of their time together during All Worlds Day — and we did pick up on a bit of romantic tension between the two for a hot second. We wonder if this show is going to introduce a love triangle at any point. Thanks to Genesis’ encouragement, though, Caleb does end up sending a heart-felt message to Tarima, which represents growth for the young man as he comes to grips with being connected to another person. 

An Unexpected Royal Affair

While Caleb and Genesis are goofing around in the Academy, Darem Reymi (George Hawkins) and Jay-Den Kraag (Karim Diane) stumble their way into an adventure of their own. As people filter out of the Academy for All Worlds Day, Jay-Den witnesses the Khionian get kidnapped, and follows his friend through the mysterious portal through which the kidnappers abscond. It’s a surprise to Jay-Den and the audience when we learn that Darem, who is Khionian royalty, is getting married — and Jay-Den is the best man. 

To his credit, Darem accepts the fact that his arranged marriage to Kaira (Jaelynn Thora Brooks) is happening earlier than expected. Whereas Darem wanted time to cultivate his career in Starfleet before settling down, circumstances on his homeworld have changed, and it’s time to tie the knot. That’s not to say the Khionian isn’t nervous about such a radical change in his life, and his anxiety manifests when he snaps at Jay-Den for questioning his decision to leave Starfleet.

“If this is your true path, timing does not matter.”

– Jay-Den to Darem, who has pre-wedding jitters. 

The brief, unwarranted outburst aside, Jay-Den shows up as Darem’s best man, and delivers a speech during the wedding that helps Kaira realize how much Darem is thriving at school. The Klingon’s words lead her to selflessly call off the marriage so Darem can pursue his potential. In the end, Darem and Jay-Den’s friendship — ironic considering the bellicose way they met — is strengthened, with Darem reaffirming how he was thankful for Jay-Den’s presence. 

Beauty in Chaos

“Ko’Zeine” shifts focus from galactic stakes to coming-of-age drama, as cadets tackle personal issues while Nus Braka plots his next move. The episode explores teenage angst: from Caleb’s romantic troubles with Tarima, to Genesis’s struggle under a Starfleet admiral’s shadow, to Darem’s concerns about his arranged marriage limiting the life he is building for himself at Starfleet Academy. This focus on the protagonists’ personal demons may not be appealing to everyone considering the stakes raised in “Come, Let’s Away,” but we appreciated that we now feel a bit more invested in who these people are. 

The final shot of the episode, a meteor shower illuminating the San Francisco skyline, effectively mirrors the cadets’ current emotional and mental state. This captivating, beautiful visual carries an ominous undercurrent, suggesting that future troubles lie just ahead. In this way, the scene demonstrates how beauty can often be found amidst chaos.

Stray Thoughts:

• Before Jay-Den followed Darem’s kidnappers, he was planning on going on a brief vacation with Kyle Djokovic (Dale Whibley); the two have clearly become closer since their shared trauma in “Come, Let’s Away.”
  
  
• In case anyone forgot, Caleb is still looking for his mom, and he is angry at Chancellor Ake in this episode for not asking Nus Braka about his mom during the events in the starship graveyard. Ake insists she is still looking for his mom.
  
  
• Why does a human — in this case, Jett Reno (Tig Notaro) — need to manually do “spot checks” of off-limits rooms on Athena? Surely the computer can detect any unauthorized access, especially on the bridge, of all places.
  
  
• Jay-Den takes only a few seconds to follow the kidnappers through the portal, but when he emerges on the other side, the Khionians are already engaged in a pre-marriage ritual. Why the delay in Jay-Den arriving?
  
  
• Starfleet Academy is generally a great-looking show, but was anyone else distracted by how subpar some of the backgrounds and set extensions were on the Sunset Moon?
  
  
• The Khionians have some remarkable technology if they have artificial wormholes that can transport people between planets. This technology should be used more!
  
  
• How doesn’t Jett Reno hear the freezing beam Genesis fires at the slug that’s just above her head?

New episodes of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy are available to stream Thursdays on Paramount+.

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