Warning! The following contains SPOILERS for the Star Trek: Starfleet Academy Season 1 finale "Rubincon." Stream the episode with a Paramount+ subscription, and read at your own risk!
Star Trek: Starfleet Academy closed out Season 1 with a thriller episode and moments that will cause debate amongst the fandom. This included a meta joke referencing one recurring trend in the modern shows, which ended with a joke about needing to "pee." With Captain Nala kidnapped by Nus Braka, and Jett Reno off elsewhere, Genesis was thrust briefly into shuttle command in the season finale. As the camera panned up to the Starfleet admiral's daughter, and the scene paused for her big "captain's tag," she announced that she needed to pee instead.
I've loved Starfleet Academy since the beginning, but even I questioned the decision to turn what could've been an influential moment for Genesis into a joke. I asked showrunner Noga Landau about the decision, and she swayed me with her reasoning behind the scene playing out the way it did:
We've seen captains take the captain's chair so many times and do it perfectly and say exactly the right thing. The point of Starfleet Academy is that it takes so many years of training as a cadet, as an ensign, you know, moving, working your way up the ranks of Starfleet before you're capable of sitting in the chair and having command. Even if, like Genesis, you are a natural-born captain, you were destined always to be a captain from the beginning. That's our show.
Genesis has the makings of a Starfleet Captain, but she's far from that level of polish. It would've been more unrealistic for her to be completely composed in the moment and show us her final form on the 2026 TV schedule when she still has years of schooling left to complete. Given that context, I can understand why someone who isn't even an ensign yet didn't get too captainly when the lights were brightest.
Noga Landau continued speaking about the moment and talked about how it lines up with the tone of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy. While the series is science fiction, it prides itself on creating moments that feel real:
There have been so many times in our writer's room, or doing Zoom interviews, or starting a cut in post, when we sit down, and we're ready to be captains ourselves, and then all of a sudden one of us says, wait a minute, wait a minute, I have to pee. It's real. It's a real moment. And there's a texture to Starfleet Academy that captures that.
I can't deny that it is a strength of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy. I love how the characters respond as a rational human being might, especially with the added note that they aren't currently serving on a Starfleet vessel. It has the same vibe as Lower Decks, and while I love many episodes of The Next Generation, it is refreshing to see a cast not so stoic and serious at all times.
As for other talking points tied to Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, I am happy that Caleb got his happy ending, and that filming is complete on Season 2. All that's left to do now is see how the Warner Bros. merger with Paramount and Skydance all plays out, and how that will impact the franchise as a whole going forward. Paramount Skydance previously said it was eager to get Trek back in theaters, but as for what this new acquisition means for that and the television side of things, I'm not even sure some of the people at the highest levels quite know yet. Here's hoping it's good news for Starfleet Academy, though, because I want Season 3!
Star Trek: Starfleet Academy Season 1 is now available to stream in its entirety on Paramount+. We're still waiting on details on what's next for the future of Trek as the year marches on. Stay tuned and be on the lookout for Strange New Worlds Season 4 later this year.
