- Directed by Doug Aarniokoski
- Written by Alex Taub and Kiley Rossetter
- Based on Star Trek created by Gene Roddenberry. Star Trek: Starfleet Academy created by Gaia Violo
- January 22, 2026
- Paramount+
Episode Cast
- Chancellor Nahla Ake-Holly Hunter
- Caleb Mir-Sandro Rosta
- Jay-Den Kraag-Karim Diané
- Sam (Series Acclimation Mil)-Kerrice Brooks
- Darem Reymi-George Hawkins
- Genesis Lythe-Bella Shepard
- Tarima Sadal-Zoë Steiner
- Lura Thok-Gina Yashere
- Digital Dean of Students-Stephen Colbert voice
- Jett Reno-Tig Notaro
- Commander Kelrec-Raoul Bhaneja
- Ocam Sadal-Romeo Carere
- B’Avi-Alexander Eling
- Kyle-Dale Whibley
- Dzolo-Cecilia Lee
- Darem’s Posse-Scott Gemmel, Mia Yaguchi, Ritchie Lawrence
- Vitus Reflux-Lily Du voice
- “Mugato”-Kostyn Mitruk
- Holo-guard-Chris Hong
- Botany instructor-John Fray
- DOT voices-Brian David Gilbert, Rekha Shankar, Jeremy Culhane
A prank war erupts between the Starfleet Academy and War College cadets.
Star Trek was once a franchise that contemplated the futility of war. Now in its latest iteration it features a story about college kids engaging in a prank war. I could not believe that was going to be the plot of an episode for a multimillion dollar series yet that is the idea behind Vitus Reflux. The amount of poor EVERYTHING contained in this single episode is impressive.
Gina Yashere as Lura Thok spends much of her time acting like a bad cross between R Lee Ermy in Full Metal Jacket and a parody of a Klingon. The lines uttered are shouted in a mix of angry romantic with her revealed girlfriend Jett Reno (Tig Notaro) and a superficial warrior aesthetic. The two being supporting characters get a good amount of time yet have no chemistry.
The episode begins with a physical fitness exam (?) or some such which begs the question: why does a hologram that was designed and programed need to be in any type of gym class? Sam (Series Acclimation Mil) (Kerrice Brooks) physical skills can be adjusted as shown with The Doctor in Voyager episodes. The bigger question is when the prank war begins and she is transported via a transporter into water why does she expel air and make bubbles? How do you transport a hologram? No mobile emitter like The Doctor though I do not recall seeing one on him in the previous three episodes. Are they then broadcast via emitters around the campus? None of that explains the air bubble or her being transported.
As a prank episode it isn’t funny. A prank episode works best when the characters have had a little time to develop and we are only three episodes in knowing almost nothing about these characters. The initial prank is not funny. It’s just stupid. They beamed everybody into random spots around the Academy because it is something they do for reasons?
Why do the War College and Starfleet Academy, which are two separate institutions, share the same physical grounds and facilities? It helps to explain why the students who share a school rivalry come into continual contact but strains credibility. Different classes are occurring in the gym at the same time.
I am struck at how few and minor the repercussions these individuals prepping to participate in an organization with a command structure face. Chancellor Ake (Holly Hunter) encourages it and even hints at a prank though that prank is the revenge culmination of everything else so how did she anticipate that this would be the coup de gras? That and how does encouraging a prank war prep these kids for following orders? It happens in less clear way with the War College too and that orgs primary purpose is defense. It just makes no sense. The one cadet who calls revenge at the beginning of the prank war the single dumbest idea he’s ever heard could’ve easily been referring to this episode.
Ake trying to help them comes off as an adult trying to be cool to the kids. The reveal that she was behind the mentioned legendary prank of sending a whole class to the roof of Alcatraz does nothing to change that. Also, Alcatraz is still standing after WWWIII and centuries of the salty San Fran Bay air?
There is some of Vitus Reflux occurring in a combat simulator. The joke is it is sold to the class as a friendly yet serious exercise where even a hologram needs to wear protective armor though a few times in Voyager The Doctor was sent in first because he was immune to weapons injury. They remember that does conveniently later in the episode. Phasers now have a transport setting that removes players from the field when they are hit. A weapon that dispenses a fused light beam capable of things from stunning to disintegration now acts as a transporter. How?
Supposedly the lesson of the episode is one of leadership. That is what articles and some reviewers are suggesting it to be. Genesis Lythe (Bella Shepard) says that she needs to be the team captain. If you need to be team captain, you might not be the best person for leadership. Desiring power is not the sign of a good leader. Darem Reymi (George Hawkins) uses some family drama info he has on Genesis to distract her to win the position during an exercise and gets framed as a poor leader by the end. Darem made a good strategic decision even if it hurt someone’s feelings.
Inexplicably Darem can make all the right moves to get the job but cannot come up with a good idea when necessary during the combat simulation. Genesis does though. Darem does learn the lesson his parents suck because they put a lot of pressure on him. Where is her lesson on keeping focused on the job at hand?
Patience and empathy are called strategies when they are not. I guess I’m nitpicking, but I wouldn’t be nitpicking if this were better written. Where is the lesson/example of being empathetic and patient and how such traits can be used to win the day when it comes to people? It is just stated. Was the empathy flower (actually a fungus that breaks the laws of thermodynamics) which parrots voices does a better job though by the end of the story to the War College than the Starfleet Cadets because it grows better when treated with patience and empathy rather than stress.
When Caleb (Sandro Rosta) should be focused on the task at hand he takes time out to have a personal discussion with Tarima (Zoë Steiner) about the chemistry she refuses to acknowledge. That moment happens in the climax during the final prank where he is playing an important part. This guy who was about not being on a team was suddenly about being on a team until the booty he sought to get came close.
Biomimetic gel makes a return to Star Trek in the climax when it is used to clone an eye to get past a retina scan. In the era from TNG to VOY it was a dangerous and highly controlled substance that was often used nefariously for bioweapons despite more legitimate and beneficial uses. I know Starfleet Academy is a few centuries later but what changed so that Jay-Den (Karim Diané) could use it to casually to clone an eyeball as part of a revenge prank? It was an item that was kinda like Trek’s WMD that is now not. It would be like casual access to nukes.
Ake continues her inability to sit still or naturally in a chair distracting from Holly Hunter’s performance while also making an authority figure not look like one. Even the incompetent authority figures of McHale’s Navy or Hogan’s Heroes did try to look serious even if the shows were not. I know Jonathan Frakes described this series as funny but her flopping undercuts every moment.
The spores of the aforementioned empathy flower are spread in all the right places at the War College and it grows at a cartoonish rate while its vines slam cadets into walls and windows. The potential injuries to people are ignored and the potential damage to property are never considered. Star Trek was once deeper than this.
Maybe because it gets too much into the YA romance elements or just superficial elements of the show, I could not take this seriously and enjoy myself. Or maybe it is because a franchise that did its share of stories on the futility or general pointlessness of war now has an episode built around a prank war. But that’s not really the problem. Fun is never a problem. The problem is that it’s so poorly written. Growth is sudden and abrupt. The humor is not funny. There is zero logic where things occur to get to the next act rather than as an intelligent outgrowth. What The Trouble with Tribbles or Trials and Tribblations did so very right, Vitus Reflux does so very wrong.
Vitus Reflux is flashy and well produced, but ultimately silly and borderline condescending with not much thought given. Never funny and never entertaining.
Warren Watched A Movie 