Star Trek Just Made The New Enterprise Replacement Look Criminally Weak

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Star Trek is boldly going into uncharted territory by leaping into the future. The series Discovery introduced a storyline that fast-forwarded the timeline to the 32nd century. However, this future isn’t what Starfleet expected. A catastrophic event destroyed Dilithium, a vital component for warp drive, severely limiting space travel. Discovery showed how a ship from the 23rd century brought Starfleet’s values to a broken, harsh galaxy that had lost its way and forgotten the Federation. Now, Starfleet Academy is focusing on a new generation of cadets in the 32nd century as they try to restore the Federation’s mission and legacy in a universe still struggling to recover. This includes reimagining classic elements of the franchise, like iconic starships.

Starfleet Academy recently unveiled the USS Athena, a completely new kind of starship with a distinctive design and a specialized function. The Athena functions as both a stationary base and a fully operational spacecraft. Its unique construction allows different sections to connect and work together, or even separate, enabling it to land on planets. Essentially, the Athena is a high-tech, mobile university campus intended to provide Starfleet cadets with practical, hands-on experience exploring the galaxy. While it’s been fascinating to see the ship in action, it’s unlikely to replace the USS Enterprise anytime soon.

Starfleet Academy Episode 7 Totally Nerfs the Athena

In the seventh episode of Starfleet Academy, titled “Ko’Zeine,” cadets Caleb (Sandro Rosta) and Genesis (Bella Shepard) sneak onto the bridge of the Athena. Genesis attempts to erase parts of her history by hacking the ship’s computer, and she succeeds. However, they’re discovered by instructor Jett Reno (Tig Notaro), forcing them to confront potential punishment. Ultimately, Captain Ake (Holly Hunter) decides against disciplinary action related to hacking and instead assigns them physical labor as a form of consequence.

This episode focused on Genesis struggling with the pressure of being a top academy nominee, leading her to rebel. However, the bigger problem is that a cadet – even a gifted one like Genesis – managed to hack the Athena. The ship is a highly advanced Starfleet vessel and a school full of students, so the idea that its computer system could be breached so easily is a major issue that many Star Trek fans will find hard to accept.

Star Trek has a long history of stories featuring digital dangers – from the Borg trying to hack into the Enterprise, to artificial intelligence gone wrong (like Moriarty), and even powerful alien computers (such as Landru) attacking Starfleet. The show has consistently needed to convince viewers that its future technology is believable. But a recent development at Starfleet Academy may have made that much more difficult.

You could explain this if you wanted to. Starfleet Academy feels like a Star Trek story for Gen Z, and the idea that younger people are better with technology than older generations – and can even outsmart them – could be the point, not just a plot error. Another possibility is that Starfleet’s technology hasn’t fully recovered since the Burn.

Look, I really want to like Starfleet Academy, and I’m trying to be patient. But even giving it the benefit of the doubt, moments like this don’t do enough to make me – or frankly, any Trek fan – really connect with the USS Athena. And that’s a problem, especially when a new series is just starting out. I’m hoping the show delivers some truly memorable scenes featuring the Athena soon, because right now, it’s not quite living up to the potential of becoming a truly iconic Star Trek ship.

Starfleet Academy is streaming on Paramount+. Discuss the show with us on the ComicBook Forum!

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2026-02-21 17:13