Star Trek: Starfleet Academy Season 1 Episode 7 Review: Ko’Zeine

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy Season 1 Episode 7, “Ko’Zeine,” finds the cadets having to choose between familial expectations and personal desires. It’s not your stereotypical Star Trek fare. Instead of balancing story-driven action and character-driven drama, “Ko’Zeine” is entirely the latter. 

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, “Ko’Zeine”

There’s nothing wrong with drama in Trek, despite what most will tell you. Let this writer rephrase that: there’s nothing wrong with drama in Trek when it’s done well. The narrative bare bones of something intriguing are certainly there. However, “Ko’Zeine” blasts through the two arcs, not giving either story enough time to truly flourish. 

It’s as if both storylines are fighting for the A-plot. Admittedly, the Darem/Jay-Den arc is more interesting, but it deserves more time to breathe. Darem gets married (or “sealed”), and we don’t even get a scene with his family or parents. Jay-Den delivers a beautiful speech as Darem’s Ko’Zeine, and that’s all it takes for Kaira to call things off. Perhaps this act would carry more emotional weight if viewers even knew who Kaira was. 

It all feels like a contrived dilemma to keep Darem at the titular school. With more screen time, or maybe even one more episode, Darem’s story could’ve really landed properly. Perhaps the writers could’ve made viewers privy to the side of Darem that only Kaira knows. Let us see Darem struggle with that internal conflict of honoring his homeworld while trying to make his own path at Starfleet Academy. 

Chemistry and Slugs 

At least the burgeoning romance between Jay-Den and Darem is infinitely more fascinating. Karim Diané and George Hawkins boast easygoing, natural onscreen chemistry. It’s already groundbreaking to have a queer Klingon in Starfleet, let alone a potential dip into polyamory. Well, the Jay-Den/Darem/Kyle story feels more polyamorous than the Caleb/Tarima/Genesis plot, which is teetering into love triangle territory. 

Speaking of Caleb/Tarima/Genesis, certain elements of the “Home Alone but make it Trek” storyline are fun, but it loses steam pretty quickly. There must be something more to Genesis’s confession about fudging her reference letters. Again, it feels contrived. “Ko’Zeine” touches on the nepotism aspect of Genesis’s insecurities (a relevant topic in today’s world), but it doesn’t go beyond that. 

There’s ample opportunity to go deeper in these storylines, but “Ko’Zeine” merely skims the surface. However, the outing at least gives Caleb space to contemplate and grow. It ain’t easy letting someone in your head, let alone a Betazoid. Genesis helps Caleb through his block with Tarima. Caleb spends much of his time with his walls up, and he must consider whether he wants Tarima to knock them down. (I’m also Team Caleb re: his mom; did Nahla forget she exists?) 

“Ko’Zeine” is the weakest episode of the bunch thus far. That said, it’s certainly not weak enough to tarnish Star Trek: Starfleet Academy as a whole. The creatives take a big swing, in a way, with making a character-heavy episode like this in the world of Trek. Sometimes, a swing can result in a miss. 

Stray Observations: 

• Warp slugs are my new favorite thing in Star Trek. They’re an oxymoron, and one wouldn’t think they’d be a thing, but their existence is perfect. 
• You’d think that Khionians would want to stay in their natural form for a Khionian wedding. Budgetary constraints, I guess. 
• Speaking of weddings, why were there only six people at the nuptials for Khionia’s queen? Wouldn’t that be a planet-wide celebration? 
• We need footage of Jay-Den partying in Ibiza. Guzzling bloodwine. For science. 
• Everyone in this cast has chemistry together. Put them all in a polycule. 
• Nahla packing four pairs of shoes despite never wearing any is on brand for your typical nervous packer (i.e., me). 
• Lura freaking out over Jett’s toe is pretty damn cute. We need more scenes with them. 

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