Star Trek: Starfleet Academy’s Hilarious Glitter Vomit Joke Explained by Jonathan Frakes

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Jonathan Frakes has revealed how the funniest, most unusual recurring gag in Star Trek: Starfleet Academy came to be. Frakes directed the ninth episode of the show’s first season, titled “300th Night,” which was written by Kirsten Beyer, based on a story by Beyer and Kenneth Lin.

The series Star Trek: Starfleet Academy has revealed details about the character Darem Reymi (played by George Hawkins) and his species. Darem is Khionian, a race that resembles fish. While he usually appears human, his natural form is a blue, humanoid creature with gills. Khionians have the remarkable ability to briefly survive in space, but their unique biology also comes with some unusual weaknesses.

Jonathan Frakes recently discussed the ninth episode of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy with TrekMovie. He shared that a memorable scene – where cadet Darem Reymi unexpectedly vomits glitter during a fast-paced shuttle theft – was the idea of the show’s executive producer, Noga Landau. Frakes provided a quote about the scene, which is included below.

Jonathan Frakes recalled being shown footage of glitter being used in a previous episode, which he found strange. The showrunner, Noga Landau, along with Kurtzman, had decided glitter would be a recurring visual element. She specifically wanted a lot of glitter in the opening sequence of an episode, showing the characters celebrating the end of the school year with slow-motion and fast-motion shots. Frakes questioned the idea of throwing glitter in the hallways, but Landau embraced it so much that she started ending all her emails to him with a glitter emoji.

In the fifth episode of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, Darem unexpectedly threw up glitter after eating bananas on a dare. This strange and humorous effect was explained as being caused by Khionians’ inability to digest bananas due to a lack of the necessary enzymes.

Still feeling sick from Klingon drinks, Darem threw up again following the cadets’ rough shuttle ride in the ninth episode of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy. He complained this time that his vomit was sparkly and had gotten “all over his trousers.” Reymi confessed to “judgy judgy Genesis [Bella Shepard]” that Khionans “don’t have many of the necessary enzymes to process it.”

Jonathan Frakes shared that Noga Landau, a key creative force behind Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, loves to add sparkle to the show. She specifically requested more glitter in the opening scene of episode 9, where Genesis gathers her friends for an end-of-year celebration. Frakes jokingly mentioned that Landau even uses glitter in her emails, showing just how much she enjoys it!

Darem Reymi proved he can withstand a beating in the ninth episode of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, taking several hard hits to the face from Venari Ral. We might find out why Khionans are so tough physically in the season one finale of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, or possibly in season two.

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2026-03-09 04:28