Star Trek: Starfleet Academy Episode 4 Sneak Peek - The Doctor's Debate Coaching [Exclusive]

1 week ago 10

Published Jan 28, 2026, 10:00 AM EST

Sam is a News Editor for Collider and a known lover of all things sci-fi and horror. She spends her days editing news stories, coodrinating exclusives, and working closely with writers to deliver their best work.

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Star Trek: Starfleet Academy is settling into its first season, and a new episode is right around the corner. In "Vox in Excelso," an existential crisis threatens to wipe out a beloved but infamous Star Trek species, and a cadet is forced to confront his past and strained relationship with his family. The cadet in question may find an unexpected coping method in speech and debate, while Captain Nahla (Holly Hunter) races against time to save his species from extinction. Today, ahead of the episode's arrival on Paramount+, Collider is thrilled to bring you an exclusive sneak peek from the episode.

In our sneak peek, The Doctor (Robert Picardo) is pulling double duty as the academy's debate professor. When a young cadet is shocked that he can say things like "chicken shit," The Doctor none-too-gently reminds everyone that after arguing for his very right to exist, he can speak however he sees fit.

Ahead of the episode, I sat down with Picardo and Gina Yashere, and the Voyager alum was delighted to dive into this new side of his character. "There's an episode where I'm coaching them in rhetorical speech because The Doctor, as we know, loves the sound of his own voice," he laughed. "He loves to hear himself talk. He could listen to himself all day long."

The Next Episode of 'Starfleet Academy' Is a Full Circle Moment For Robert Picardo

When asked what he thought about this new role for his character, in addition to running the medical department, Picardo told Collider:

"My very first thought was that I was president of the debating club in high school, which I wasn't a very good debater, but I cared a lot about it. That's the first thing I thought. It was like, 'Oh, look at this. It finally paid off!' But I do believe that, especially in our new show, the cadets talk like kids in the present-day world and in their own vernaculars, but it is important to note that it's almost like old Star Trek meets new Star Trek. We used to speak in a different way in the old series, that mid-galactic speech, so I think it's important that when you're marshaling an argument in a diplomatic situation, that you can speak in well-thought-out and well-planned paragraphs, and not just, “Um, well, you know, kind of,” and that kind of thing. So, I do think that The Doctor was pretty demanding."

The next episode of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy will be available to stream on Paramount+ tomorrow, with new episodes dropping every Thursday. Stay tuned at Collider for our full conversation with Picardo and Yashere, as well as more updates on all things Star Trek.