Film

Starfleet Academy Must Avoid Discovery’s Mistakes In Season 2

20 March 2026

Warning: SPOILERS for Star Trek: Starfleet Academy Season 1Star Trek: Starfleet Academy can’t repeat two big mistakes Star Trek: Discovery made. Rated 88% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, Star Trek: Starfleet Academy has wrapped season 1 on Paramount+, with filming of season 2 completed in late February. Star Trek: Academy season 2 is expected to premiere on Paramount+ in early 2027.

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy season 1’s finale established that the series is about the class of 3196. This means Star Trek: Starfleet Academy season 1 picked up one year after Star Trek: Discovery ended in 3191, and continues Star Trek‘s 32nd century timeline. Star Trek: Starfleet Academy rightly focused on its own characters, although a few familiar faces from Star Trek: Discovery joined Captain Nahla Ake’s (Holly Hunter) series.

A surprise cameo by the USS Discovery at the end of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy season 1’s finale hammered home its shared timeline with Star Trek: Discovery. In many ways, Star Trek: Starfleet Academy learned from the early mistakes Discovery made, and the new show is better for it. However, there are a pair of Disco’s errors that Star Trek: Starfleet Academy can and should still improve upon.

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy Season 2 Should Show The 32nd Century USS Enterprise

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy can do one thing Star Trek: Discovery never did, and show the USS Enterprise in the 32nd century. The USS Discovery glided by the USS Athena as they orbited Betazed in Star Trek: Starfleet Academy season 1’s finale, but it’s unclear if the Starship Enterprise was there at all.

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Star Trek: Discovery seasons 3, 4, and 5 established the 32nd century. Disco mentioned the USS Enterprise a few times, but it was never seen. Thus, audiences have yet to learn what letter follows the Enterprise’s NCC-1701 call sign, and what starship class the 32nd-century version of Starfleet’s most famous ship is. Further, is the USS Enterprise still the United Federation of Planets’ flagship after The Burn?

Instead of the Enterprise, the USS Voyager-J played a supporting role in Star Trek: Discovery seasons 3 to 5. Voyager established what Intrepid Class starships look like in the 32nd century, and it was the first to test Starfleet’s experimental Pathway Drive. Lt. Commander Nilsson (Sara Mitich) also transferred from Discovery to the USS Voyager.

The Starship Enterprise’s legacy is legendary and synonymous with Starfleet’s thousand-year history. Enterprise’s chronicles are not only something Starfleet Academy cadets should learn about, but Star Trek: Starfleet Academy showing the USS Enterprise would also be aspirational for the cadets and fuel their desire to serve aboard Starfleet’s most famous ship.

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy Season 2 Needs To Develop USS Athena’s Bridge Crew

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy season 2 should also do something Star Trek: Discovery largely neglected to do, and better establish the characters of the USS Athena’s bridge crew. Star Trek: Discovery’s focus on Captain Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) left the bulk of her supporting cast largely unexplored, even after five seasons.

USS Athena Command Crew	Position	Actor
Captain Nahla Ake	Captain, Chancellor	Holly Hunter
Commander Lura Thok	First Officer, Cadet Master	Gina Yashere
The Doctor	Chief Medical Officer	Robert Picardo
Lieutenant Thelonious Dandridge	Helmsman/Conn Officer	Michael Brown
Lieutenant Mackenzie Ya	Tactical Officer	Rebecca Quin
Lieutenant Hayden Thriss	Operations Officer	Ken Barnett
Lieutenant Astrid Atlee	Communications Officer	Nicole Dickinson
Ensign Weldu	Science Officer	Joseph Chiu
Lieutenant Rork	Academic Liaison	Tricia Black

Captain Ake greeted each member of the USS Athena’s command crew by name in Star Trek: Starfleet Academy season 1’s premiere, but they only appeared once more in the first season. After Star Trek: Starfleet Academy episode 4, “Vox in Excelso,” the Athena’s bridge crew vanished.

Of course, Star Trek: Starfleet Academy is about the cadets and their instructors, but perhaps members of the Athena’s senior staff, like Lieutenant McKenzie Ya (Rebecca Quin), could have more of a mentorship role, as Commander Lura Thok (Gina Yashere) and Commander Jett Reno (Tig Notaro) do.

The character development of Star Trek: Discovery‘s bridge crew was a missed opportunity that Star Trek: Starfleet Academy mustn’t repeat in season 2. Showing the Starship Enterprise and delving into who serves on Captain Ake’s bridge would only further enrich Star Trek: Starfleet Academy‘s 32nd century.