Star Trek: Starfleet Academy Avoids TNG & DS9's 'Elite' Cadet Mistakes

Warning: SPOILERS for Star Trek: Starfleet Academy Season 1, Episode 3 - "Vitus Reflux"

I'm glad that, so far, at least, Star Trek: Starfleet Academy has shown no signs of making the huge mistake that Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine did. Directed by Doug Aarniokoski, and written by Alex Taub and Kiley Rossetter, the dynamic Star Trek: Starfleet Academy episode 3 pits Starfleet Academy's cadets against their rivals at the War College in heated competitions.

Under the guidance of Captain Nahla Ake (Holly Hunter), Starfleet Academy's fall semester has only just begun. Still, the eccentric Lanthanite Chancellor has fostered a sense of unity among Starfleet Academy's cadets. This cooperative team spirit led to Starfleet Academy's triumph in their prank war against the War College.

Whether it's the brooding outsider Caleb Mir (Sandro Rosta), goofball mascot Ocam Sadal (Romeo Carere), or dueling alphas Genesis Lythe (Bella Shepard) and Darem Reymi (George Hawkins), Starfleet Academy feels unified, with the cadets bonded together and sharing a common goal, rather than divided and separated into "elite" units that caused tragedies in Starfleet Academy seen in prior Star Trek shows.

Starfleet Academy Has No Nova Squadron Or Red Squad

Starfleet Academy feels like one school of equals in Star Trek: Starfleet Academy. Happily, there is no sign thus far that Starfleet Academy under Chancellor Ake will create "elite" groups of cadets like Nova Squadron in Star Trek: The Next Generation and Red Squad in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

Nova Squadron was already a failed idea and a cautionary tale when it was introduced in Star Trek: The Next Generation season 5, episode 19, "The First Duty." Led by Nicholas Locarno (Robert Duncan McNeill), Nova Squadron's hubris led them to cover up the accidental death of their classmate, Joshua Albert.

Even Wesley Crusher (Wil Wheaton) participated in the cover-up until Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) made Wesley feel so ashamed that he finally did the right thing and admitted his guilt. Years later, Nick Locarno returned in Star Trek: Lower Decks and tried to commit genocide to prove he was still "elite."

Starfleet Academy learned nothing from Nova Squadron's failure. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 4's Earth-set two-partner, "Homefront" and "Paradise Lost," saw cadet Nog (Aron Eisenberg) desperate to join a different iteration of "elite" cadets, Red Squad. However, Red Squad were pawns in Admiral Layton's (Robert Foxworth) plot to place Earth under military dictatorship.

Red Squad's return in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 6, episode 22, "Valiant," saw nearly all of the "elite" cadets get themselves killed. Behind enemy lines during the Dominion War, Acting Captain Tim Watters (Paul Popowich) was so intent on proving Red Squad's excellence that they foolishly picked a fight with the Jem'Hadar, which led to the destruction of the USS Valiant.

Star Trek: Prodigy season 2 somewhat redeemed Nova Squadron by introducing a new version, but their Vulcan cadet, Maj'el (Michaela Dietz), ended up preferring her new friends, the former crew of the USS Protostar, to her "elite" classmates.

Starfleet Academy Is At Its Best Without Nova Squadron And Red Squad

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy shows that cadets like Genesis Lythe and Darem Raymi demand excellence of themselves, in part to prove their worth to their demanding and distant parents. Still, Chancellor Ake's Starfleet Academy is a level playing field where each individual's abilities, like Caleb Mir's athleticism or SAM's (Kerrice Brooks) photonic powers, are welcomed and encouraged to serve the greater whole,

There is no sense of isolation or divisiveness among Star Trek: Starfleet Academy's cadets. The highest achievers, like Darem and Genesis, don't truly set themselves above their peers (although Cadet Reymi has a bro squad of followers to cheer him on). Starfleet Academy's cadets may not always agree, and they bicker and want to fight, but they unite when called upon.

Starfleet Academy's rivalry is with its sister school, the War College, rather than creating levels of status within itself that separate the cadets and develop a false sense of invulnerability and infallibility among the "elite" students. When Captain Ake's Starfleet Academy wins, they win together by working seamlessly together, and this strength in unity is the true spirit of Star Trek.

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy doesn't need a Nova Squadron or a Red Squad, which are proven to be failed ideas from centuries past, and I hope Chancellor Ake never allows "elite" cadet groups in her school.