Episode Discussion | Star Trek: Starfleet Academy | 1x10 "Rubincon"
(startrek.website)
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
this post was submitted on 12 Mar 2026
23 points (100.0% liked)
Star Trek Social Club
14343 readers
116 users here now
r/startrek: The Next Generation
Star Trek news and discussion. No slash fic...
Maybe a little slash fic.
Rules
1 Be constructive
All posts/comments must be thoughtful and balanced.
2 Be welcoming
It is important that everyone from newbies to OG Trekkers feel welcome, no matter their gender, sexual orientation, religion or race.
3 Be truthful
All posts/comments must be factually accurate and verifiable. We are not a place for gossip, rumors, or manipulative or misleading content.
4 Be nice
If a polite way cannot be found to phrase what it is you want to say, don't say anything at all. Insulting or disparaging remarks about any human being are expressly not allowed.
5 Spoilers
Utilize the spoiler system for any and all spoilers relating to the most recently-aired episode. There is no formal spoiler protection for episodes/films after they have been available for approximately one week.
6 Keep on-topic
All submissions must be directly about the Star Trek franchise (the shows, movies, books, etc.). Off-topic discussions are welcome at c/Quarks.
7 Meta
Questions and concerns about moderator actions should be brought forward via DM.
Upcoming Episodes
| Date | Episode | Title |
|---|---|---|
| 02-19 | SFA 1x07 | "Ko’Zeine" |
| 02-26 | SFA 1x08 | "The Life of the Stars" |
| 03-05 | SFA 1x09 | "300th Night" |
| 03-12 | SFA 1x10 | "Rubincon" |
| TBA | SNW 4x01 | TBA |
In Production
Strange New Worlds (TBA)
In Development
Untitled comedy series
Wondering where to stream a series? Check here.
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
I’m feeling the same way.
This is the most coherently plotted live action Trek of the current era. The showrunners and writers room knew what they wanted and laid down all the pieces to get there.
I’m going to say that while Anisha’s punch of Brakka’s (as they say in comics) most punchable face seemed logical and a necessary catharsis, I don’t like that Ake stooped to that herself, however understandable the motivation.
I still feel, based on how much difference an extra two episodes per season makes to a low budget show like The Ark, that SFA would be stronger and better able to serve its large cast with 12 episode seasons.
I hope we get more on SAM’s development and integration of her two memories in season two.
Likewise, there definitely feels that there’s unfinished business between Anisha and Ake. I am going with Anisha being resigned to accept who her son has become but unsure of her own future.
My 1st thought when Ake punched him was - that's illegal, he's in Starfleet custody.
_I still feel, based on how much difference an extra two episodes per season makes to a low budget show like The Ark, that SFA would be stronger and better able to serve its large cast with 12 episode seasons.
I hope we get more on SAM’s development and integration of her two memories in season two._
I’ve always been against the modern short season system. SFA is a classic example in my mind. SFA really needed another couple of episodes to breathe. I’d have been quite happy to have a few less SFX heavy episodes to have just more episodes.
I always thought that the insistence on every Paramount+ show having 10 episode seasons — which was mandated by the executives in charge of streaming when the ViacomCBS merger happened — was weird.
Other streamers are not that rigid and vary season structures depending on what the show is. While 12 episode seasons are rare, I can’t see the streamer that merges HBO Max and Paramount+ being quite so rigid.
The newly merged conglomerate has a myriad of practical decisions to make in merging Paramount and WBDiscovery. It will take time for all of the parameters of their streaming model to be fully established and implemented but we can expect some significant rethinking.
I didn’t know that the 10 episodes limit was a Paramount rule, really I miss the 22 episodes season. That length forces the showrunners to work harder. Some the best TNG episodes are bottle episodes or limited cast episodes. Lock everyone in a room and you might get another ‘Measure of a Man’ or if whole cast is run down and shooting catch up scenes focus on the bit players and you can get another ‘Lower Decks’ (the episode not the series). If there were only 13 episodes a season on TNG there wouldn’t have been time enough to grow Gordie as a character or create O’Brian or … the list is too long.
We will never see 26 episode seasons again.
It currently takes more than one week to shoot a 42 minute episode.
Also, actors are not willing to lock into shows that leave them unavailable for movies or other television shows.
Star Trek and other streaming series are able to cast A-listers not just because they are willing to pay high pay rates and list them as executive producers but also because the A-listers are able to lock in multi season contracts with Star Trek while still being available to do other things.
But 10 episodes is not the maximum possible. Large ensembles like Starfleet Academy have enough main cast members that not everyone has to be on set every day.
As well, it’s possible that 4 or 6 episode limited series might be the perfect vehicle to bring back a Legacy character or explore something like the Department of Temporal Investigations. Under the old management those weren’t negotiable.
Why Paramount had such a bizarrely rigid policy after the ViacomCBS merger has never been adequately explained.
Eh 13 seems to be the standard. But then if the show’s a hit then a back 9 raising it up to 22 or at least second season of 22 does seem to still be a thing for broadcast TV at least. But STA really would have been helped by another 3 episodes.
No one in any Star Trek series is what I would consider A-list so I’m pretty sure all of them would be happy to do a 22 episode season.
This era of Star Trek has quite a few A-listers actually.
Starfleet Academy is helmed by Oscar winner for best actress Holly Hunter (in The Piano), has two time nominee Paul Giamatti (one each nominations for best and best supporting actor) as well as Tig Notaro who is nominated this year for her documentary and has also been nominated twice for Emmys.
Akiva Goldsman, co-showrunner of Strange New Worlds has an Oscar for best screenwriter for an adaptation from another medium (for A Beautiful Mind).
You know you’re right about Holly Hunter, she’s so good as Ake I flat out forgot she’s Holly Fuckin Hunter my bad there. But as much as I love Tig, and do love Tig Notaro, (Jet Reno is my favourite engineer since O’Brian) she’s B or C level celebrity and she’s a supporting character., she’d have time to do Zootopia 3 even if they had 22.
But you’re right very few shows do longer seasons for a lot of reasons. I just think that it’s trade off I’m not in favour of. I miss how longer seasons made shows try more interesting things, and gave the Arcs time to breathe. The Dominion arc in DS9 felt epic in part because it was so long.
Anisha won't be in season 2 so maybe in season 3.