Four episodes into Starfleet Academy, it’s now obvious that the show isn’t just rewriting Gene Roddenberry’s vision of the future; it’s determined to erase it. What started out as a clumsy mix of teen melodrama and hollow sci-fi set pieces has now turned into another identity politics lecture disguised as entertainment. Every character on the bridge seems to be working their way toward some kind of “representation milestone,” and judging by the latest episode, it wouldn’t be shocking if the entire cast came out as gay or bisexual before the finale.
The newest entry takes us back to the Klingons, well, sort of. A century after the last “woke Trek” disaster detonated every warp core in the galaxy because one guy felt sad (yes, that actually happened), we now find the Klingons reduced to a social commentary subplot. Co-showrunner Noga Landau proudly told Polygon, “There are so many refugees at any given time in the world. It is a part of the human condition.” Then she added that Starfleet Academy has a duty to tell that story. Not a story about exploration or science or moral challenge, mind you. A story about refugees. Because apparently, nothing says “boldly go” like recycling every tired Twitter talking point from 2020.
Landau and executive producer Alex Kurtzman have both made it clear that this show’s mission isn’t discovery; it’s moral messaging. Everything about Kurtzman’s Trek seems to be filtered through light flares and modern leftwing social obsessions. Even the Klingons on this show, originally conceived as a warrior race that used to stand for honor and independence, have been reduced to their “battle” being about fighting a fear of public speaking. I wish I was kidding. An extremely effeminate Klingon cadet named Jay-Den earns his stripes not through combat or courage but by delivering a heartfelt speech about intergalactic housing policy. He proposes a new homeworld for the Klingons, while “redefining what it means to be a warrior.”
I know this will be hard to believe, but it gets worse. Episode three introduced audiences to Jay-Den’s family as a Klingon “triad,” complete with two fathers and a mother. Landau said the creative team wanted to “hold up a mirror to the modern world” by including a polyamorous household. Again, I am not kidding. She even explained that they wanted kids watching the show to see families “like theirs” portrayed on screen. No concern for the confusion it might cause for 99.9999999% of the remaining, normal families that might be watching this drek. Instead of exploring alien civilizations, Kurtzman’s Star Trek is concerned with the Federation’s diversity training module. And guess how it’s presented? Through black actors portraying violent, emotionally unstable aliens in a “progressive” take on family life. Apparently, the same people who scream about cultural sensitivity in Hollywood are fine as long as the message checks the right ideological boxes.
Kurtzman’s stamp is all over this mess, from the recycled “everyone’s feelings are the center of the universe” theme to the hollow moralizing that would make even the real Jean-Luc Picard roll his eyes. Under his direction, every *Star Trek* show becomes a mirror reflecting the insecurities of 21st-century showrunners instead of the optimism of a future worth striving for. The franchise that once pushed audiences to think big now just tries to make them clap in the right places.
The so-called wilderness years of Star Trek, that long stretch when the franchise went quiet on TV, like it did after Enterprise ended in 2005, used to feel like a tragic pause in its history. But if this is what passes for the Federation now, maybe those wilderness years would be the kind of break fans need right now. Better than another round of lecturing dressed up as science fiction. Because the only thing Starfleet Academy is exploring right now is how fast loyalty to Star Trek can vaporize once fans realize the show thinks it’s smarter than they are.
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