Star Trek: Strafleet Academy will wrap up Season 1 soon, and as it looks on past the 2026 TV schedule and onward to Season 2, the debate surrounding it continues. There's a section of the fandom that decries it as "too woke," and others are happy to see a new generation represented in the franchise. Then there's the opinions of the actual people responsible for it, and who better to comment than Jonathan Frakes, who can relate it to when he was on The Next Generation.
As people continue to watch Starfleet Academy with their Paramount+ subscription, Frakes spoke to IGN about the talk surrounding the show. He's acted and directed for Star Trek over the decades, and has seen a few things. As such, he wasn't surprised by the divisive reaction to the series, as he experienced it too when TNG was on the air:
I was prepared because when Next Gen came out almost 40 years ago, we were trolled. Nobody wanted us. And this was pre-internet. But it’s still dimensionally more painful [today]… and the trolls are hiding, and the trolls are hating. … It's the first rule of the Constitution. I guess they're entitled to their opinion, but it surprises me how aggressively ‘anti’ they are with each new iteration of the show. And it continues to surprise me, and I try not to let it upset me.
While it eventually went on to become one of the greatest sci-fi shows of all time, it is true The Next Generation had its share of haters when it began. Fans campaigned to save Star Trek, but they wanted more adventures with Captain Kirk, Spock, Uhura, and the rest. They weren't familiar with Jean-Luc Picard and this new crew, but now, consider them some of Trek's best characters.
Jonathan Frakes also mentioned how the internet has intensified the "trolling" of a cast and crew, though they don't seem fazed by it. Both showrunner Noga Landau and star Karim Diané dismissed the noise and continued to encourage those debating to watch as the series continues.
Filming just completed on Season 2 of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, and while it's not officially known if it's coming back for Season 3, Landau hinted there's a cliffhanger in that season finale. If that's the case, I think the crew is feeling bullish about coming back for another season.
I imagine we'll get word about a renewal eventually, though for now, I'm just focused on the upcoming Season 1 finale. I'm not sure the Federation is ready to face a threat from some of its rival enemies, but I guess we'll see for sure after their response in the episode.
Star Trek: Starfleet Academy continues on Paramount+ on Thursdays. With Season 1 set to close out, I do wonder how this upcoming season finale will set the stage for Season 2 as a big threat looms over the Federation.
