- Directed by Larry Teng
- Written by Kenneth Lin and Kiley Rossetter
- Based on Star Trek created by Gene Roddenberry. Star Trek: Starfleet Academy created by Gaia Violo
- February 12, 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
- Digital Dean of Students-Stephen Colbert voice
- Commander Kelrec-Raoul Bhaneja
- Ocam Sadal-Romeo Carere
- The Doctor-Robert Picardo
- Commander-in-Chief of Starfleet Admiral Charles Vance-Oded Fehr
- Cadet Master Lura Thok-Gina Yashere
- B’Avi-Alexander Eiling
- Cadet Pickford-Raffa Virago
- N’Duwo Skra-Stephen Adekolu
- Nus Braka-Paul Giamatti
- USS Athena Computer-Brit Marling (voice)
- Tomov-Jeff Teravainen
- Kyle Djokovic-Dale Whibley
- Dzolo-Cecilia Lee
When a training mission for the cadets goes bad, Starfleet is forced to seek help from an old enemy.
Come, Let’s Away opens with a cool little modern diddy over a romantic sex scene between Caleb (Sandro Rosta) and Tarima (Zoë Steiner) with their feelings for one another having been finally acted upon in a brief cut in Series Acclimation Mil. The scene itself is graphic for Trek which once aimed to be more for everybody with what made it to screen hinting sex was coming or had just happened.
During this tender moment Tarima accidentally links with Caleb’s mind. The key word is ‘accidentally’ and she apologizes but that is not enough for Caleb who gets mad because he feels violated. He storms off because we need a moment of conflict over an accident rather than a scene to build the relationship between the designated couple.
The premise of the episode is a training exercise on a ship goes wrong which isn’t a bad idea. It feels closer to Trek than previous episodes but considering that they go out as first year cadets it doesn’t necessarily make sense. Did they get training? From the sound of it this is a first in all aspects. With holodecks and whatnot and the ability to remove safeties while also maintaining controls of a type doing such a thing with first year cadets seems questionable.
This takes place in a ship graveyard onboard the derelict USS Miyazaki (in a reference to that guy). The Miyazaki has a unique singularity drive and when the action switches there it all looks a bit like the Cult Classic Event Horizon.
Previews teased a terrifying new enemy being introduced. Here it is The Furies which it is my understanding are present in books and comic books which I admit to not being strongly familiar with. Within episode dialogue they are described as human-alien hybrids.
While in the field these Furies easily ambush the Athena while trapping the students on the Miyazaki. Pretty sure that makes it two times they got blindsided easily by a threat. These aliens are referred to as cannibals and take bites out of people not of their species. In this case they dumped a victim out an airlock which Pickford (Raffa Virago), the one cadet who swallowed her COM badge, sees and freaks out over. If the latter did not get her kicked out of Starfleet, the former should. It is a complete breakdown so serious she needs to be removed from the bridge in a distinct moment of logic and authenticity for the show.
Another tease for episode six was the return of Paul Giamatti as series villain Nus Braka making him the second announced hybrid in Come, Let’s Away. Starfleet intelligence as stated by Admiral Vance (Oded Fehr) thinks Braka has a way to deal with Furies since it is noted he cleared them from a particular area. How effective is Starfleet if they cannot handle an assault force?
On the Athena and at times alone with Chancellor Ake (Holly Hunter), negotiations begin with Braka for his help. Braka engages in some very modern and very Paul Giamatti dialogue. This hybrid with no cultural connection to Earth references The Sound of Music-a movie that was made over a millennia before this show takes place. Not that it could not be known that far into the future but the further you get from something, the more it becomes niche or academic no matter the initial popularity. Movies especially. Then again the writers used this character to gift us with the phrase ‘origami chicken’.
Braka makes some seriously unreasonable demands. He wants his unstable wormhole to be useful again which means Starfleet needs to stop supplying those near it with dilithium. Given how they name planets it would seem the two planets are in the same system so it’s a pretty useless wormhole all things considered.
It also seems unlikely that not only the Federation president whom Vance says he will confer with over would be involved with a hostage situation but would sell out a civilization of thousands if not millions for a few cadets. No pardons are offered or requested. Braka may be crazy but to get into a position of power requires a level of intelligence. Then again so does writing a script.
Paul Giamatti gives it is all and he’s always a pleasure to watch. Holly Hunter, who is the other most famous name in this, doesn’t try too. Oded Fehr the same leaving me think they may have begun to give up a bit. The ever good Robert Picardo as The Doctor gets less than a notecard worth of dialogue but gives that smidge the most depth and flare of anyone in the episode.
While on the Miyazaki, our cadets are trapped on the bridge and struggling to get the computer working so they can do something. The computer does not recognize them since it believes the old crew are still alive. Not the first time a Star Trek show has needed to get the computer on another ship running but unlike before they need to talk to and convince it. No protocols on a PADD to follow but a lot of what is essentially begging. O’Brien or Geordi would have done some engineering work to gain access but nothing like that here.
Comic books still exist and maintain a level of popularity. I will go with the medium enduring in some form. Here it is a series called Tales from the Frontier which features the adventures of the crew of the Miyazaki dressed in uniforms nearly identical to TOS with characters that look suspiciously like Kirk and Spock even though it occurs around the time of The Burn. Did they just grab a random issue from IDW and use it here?
This comic is used to convince the computer that the crew is dead, and the cadets are the new crew. Yay! It saved the day even though earlier in the episode Caleb called comics ‘feel good colonizing bullshit to brainwash poor kids.’
During this situation there are distinct hints that Jay-Den (Karim Diané) and Kyle (Dale Whibley) are going to become an item since B’Avi (Alexander Eiling) gets killed off. I never realized B’Avi and Kyle were intended as an item. I also think it is creepy to be moving on under an hour after your SO’s death. Weren’t Jay-Den and Darem (George Hawkins) an item in Series Acclimation Mil? This is some warp speed bedhopping!
How is the problem of the Furies solved? A sonic weapon is to be fired from a spaceship called the Sargasso. It is what Braka says he used, Let that sink in. I would believe a sonic weapon if troops went in armed. Instead it’s going to be mounted on a Starfleet ship. If this were an 80s toy cartoon I would let it slide but Star Trek once obeyed the rules of reality or created technobabble to get around limitations.
It is upon the arrival of the Sargasso and it being taken out of commission we learn this is all a master plot by Braka to find the secret location of Starbase J19-Alpha or leave said starbase undefended because the only ship they have is sent to deploy the sonic space weapon. I just have no idea. What gets me is he knew enough to have an idea where it was and had access to a significant enough military force to tie up the Athena since this shows he joined forces with the Furies which was a bigger and presumably better armed ship then the vessel that came to the Athena’s aid so why didn’t he just find the base and go after it? Why all this subterfuge?
What saves the day for the cadets is the deep bond of love between Tarima and Caleb. She contacts him and tells him what to do as she overcomes her implant. She takes them out with a telepathic sonic scream.
While the basics of the idea feels like a Star Trek story, this is the second time that Braka caught the Athena off guard. It also makes it the second time they were on an actual mission of some type and got their butt whooped to a degree. It undermines the effectiveness of Starfleet/Federation in general and the adults training the kids in particular. Because of how easily Starfleet was taken advantage of, they come off as incompetent. It’s not even like Braka had a really great plan.
The closing moments of contemplation of the attack are treated as somber but it all happened off camera making the intended somber nature fall flat. In contrast the surviving cadets getting treated works better though I am not sure how SAM (Kerrice Brooks) took damage. Was it corruption interfacing with the Miyazaki?
Jokes were at a minimum with aim for action and drama. I praise this episode for minimizing the generally quippy nature of the show. THIS is may not be classic Trek, but it was the best so far of Starfleet Academy. Maybe not character driven but overall a step up.
Warren Watched A Movie 