Although Starfleet Academy is set in the 3190s, putting it roughly 790 years after the last Next Generation-era series, that doesn’t mean familiar folks from Star Trek’s past can’t show up. But the presence of legacy characters in this Trek era requires a bit of canon tap-dancing.
Near-immortal characters, like the AI hologram known as the Doctor (Robert Picardo), can appear, as can other long-lived Trek species and entities. Which, as we learned back in 2020, means the Trill are very active in the 32nd century. And with Starfleet Academy’s nostalgic fifth episode, “Series Acclimation Mil,” the most famous Trill of all is among them. Here’s how Lower Decks veteran and Trekkie fan-favorite Tawny Newsome brought back a Deep Space Nine character for the modern era. Spoilers ahead.
