I like to think that the pepperoni pizza was a tribute to the 30th anniversary of "Threshold" on the same day, but the true tribute to "Threshold" was depicting parents stranding their offspring on a planet and then justifying that it was fine.
I've been doing a rewatch and making notes of things that are referenced later. Considering most classic Trek has a reputation for being episodic, you'd be surprised just how much gets referenced later, whether in a passing comment or an in-joke or something. The only episodes of TNG season 1 where I didn't spot at least a passing reference later was "Too Short a Season", "Home Soil", and "When the Bough Breaks". (The references to a few of the others are vague and/or arguable though, and admittedly "Knowing where that clip in 'Shades of Gray' is from" qualifies a few of them.)
So it kind of depends on how strictly you define "important." Most people could probably skip almost the entirety of TNG season 1 and not be that confused, but for example:
- "All Good Things..." loses a lot without "Encounter at Farpoint"
- "The Naked Now" is important to "The Measure of a Man"
- "Haven" introduces Lwaxana Troi, Mr. Homn, naked Betazoid weddings, and the running gag of data being too precise. "In the Cradle of Vexilon" loses something without it too.
- "Where No One Has Gone Before" is crucial in introducing the Traveler, and that plot continues into "Remember Me" and "Journey's End" and beyond.
- "The Last Outpost" has first contact with the Ferengi, though you could argue that future Ferengi episodes make more sense without it? Though it's important to the game Star Trek: Resurgence.
- "Justice" doesn't seem important, but if you skip it you won't know what Remmick's talking about in "Conspiracy".
- "The Battle" isn't referenced often, but "Bloodlines" depends on it. Remmick mentions this one too.
- "Hide and Q" introduces concepts like the Q Continuum, and the events of it lead to Q's status in "Q Who", which introduces the Borg.
- "The Big Goodbye" introduces Dixon Hill and explains holodeck matter. The Jarada are mentioned again later too.
- "Datalore" introduces Lore and the Crystalline Entity and explains Data's past, somewhat.
- "11001001" is important to understanding "Future Imperfect"... though that episode isn't really referenced again other than that it introduces a fictionalized version of Nurse Ogawa. So is it still important if you skip both of them?
- "Coming of Age" introduces a lot of the characters and concepts that will be in "Conspiracy". Fun fact: This is the first episode to name Murf's species from Prodigy.
- "Heart of Glory" introduces Khitomer and gives Worf's backstory and sort-of sets up "The Neutral Zone".
- "The Arsenal of Freedom" is the first mention of Crusher's grandmother from "Sub Rosa", but arguably more important for relationship-building between Crusher and Picard.
- "Symbiosis" becomes very relevant in Lower Decks in the episode "Trusted Sources".
- "Skin of Evil" features the death of Tasha Yar. Armus also returns in Lower Decks.
- Even though the cliffhanger isn't followed up on, "Conspiracy" becomes important again in "The Drumhead".
- "The Neutral Zone" pays off the hints that the Romulans were gone, though if you skipped "Heart of Glory" you didn't catch this in the first place, and "Angel One" arguably contradicted it. But this is the first hint of the Borg, as confirmed in "Q Who" and "The Best of Both Worlds".
I could add other subtler things, but those are some of the bigger ones just from that highly-episodic season.
Mostly strong-to-glowing reviews. Comic Book Club, Looper, Radio Times, and TV Guide are the most negative (or at least least positive). Comic Book Club and Original Cin (both which I'd never heard of before) are the only ones I've seen that seems to hate it. ComicBook.com, ScreenRant, and TV Line give middling reviews.
(NOTE: I made that note before adding a bunch of others. I've updated it a bit since then, but I'm more focused on updating the list below than the list of negative-to-middling reviews; Rotten Tomatoes can do that for you instead at this point.)
https://www.avclub.com/star-trek-starfleet-academy-review-tv-paramount-plus
https://bsky.app/profile/weatherkatie.bsky.social/post/3mbxglw3jtc26 (Meteorologist Katie Nickolaou)
https://www.cbr.com/star-trek-starfleet-academy-season-1-review/
https://collider.com/star-trek-starfleet-academy-review/
https://www.comicsbeat.com/tv-review-what-grade-does-star-trek-starfleet-academy-deserve/
https://www.empireonline.com/tv/reviews/star-trek-starfleet-academy-season-1/
https://fandomwire.com/star-trek-starfleet-academy-review-and-synopsis/
https://fenixnests.com/star-trek-starfleet-academy-review-s1-e1-6/
https://www.looper.com/2070574/star-trek-starfleet-academy-paramount-plus-review/
https://lytrules.substack.com/p/star-trek-starfleet-academy-review
https://www.moviefone.com/news/tv-review-star-trek-starfleet-academy-season-1/
https://nerdspin.com/star-trek-starfleet-academy-review/
https://nerdist.com/article/star-trek-starfleet-academy-review/
https://www.newsday.com/entertainment/tv/star-trek-starfleet-academy-review-tj8ikchx
https://www.polygon.com/star-trek-starfleet-academy-review/
https://popculturemaniacs.com/star-trek-starfleet-academy-review/
https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/sci-fi/star-trek-starfleet-academy-review/
https://screenrant.com/star-trek-starfleet-academy-season-1-tv-review/
https://www.slashfilm.com/2069394/star-trek-starfleet-academy-review/
https://www.starburstmagazine.com/reviews/star-trek-starfleet-academy/
https://www.strangenewpod.com/blog/star-trek-starfleet-academy-feels-undeclared/
https://www.thetvcave.com/post/star-trek-starfleet-academy-review
TrekCore's WeeklyTrek podcast, which has a review by Alex Perry distinct from the TrekCore review by Jenn Tifft posted by @ValueSubtracted@startrek.website https://blog.trekcore.com/2026/01/weeklytrek-podcast-294-more-spoiler-free-thoughts-on-star-trek-starfleet-academy/
TrekCulture YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7PzOd1GstI
TrekMovie’s podcast, which is distinct from their article review: https://trekmovie.com/podcast/star-trek-starfleet-academy-first-impressions-and-report-from-blue-carpet-premiere/
https://treknews.net/2026/01/08/preview-star-trek-starfleet-academy/
https://www.tvguide.com/news/star-trek-starfleet-academy-review/
https://www.tvinsider.com/1239156/star-trek-starfleet-academy-review/ (by former TV Guide writer Matt Roush)
https://www.tvline.com/2068610/star-trek-starfleet-academy-review-season-1-paramount-plus/
https://www.whatsalanwatching.com/review-in-starfleet-academy-star-trek-meets-the-o-c/
Aggregators:
https://www.metacritic.com/tv/star-trek-starfleet-academy/
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/star_trek_starfleet_academy/s01
Here's the transcript for those who prefer that over video:
She's definitely missed.
Incidentally, sounds like you might appreciate this podcast if you aren't into it already. I've heard it mentioned a few times, though to be honest I haven't given it a listen myself yet. (I'm behind on too many podcasts already to add another one at the moment.)
Not sure your country of origin, but in the U.S. it has all 13 theatrical films + Section 31, as well as Woman in Motion and Building Star Trek.
It's the same dumb cycle that's happened with every new Trek show since TNG (and probably TAS). It's tiresome, but at least it's predicable, I guess? Just ignore the obligatory backlash and see how it turns out.
Great notes, as always.
In addition to the already-cited references, the Beagle could additionally be a sly reference to Archer's pal Porthos.
Interestingly, Jolene Blalock is credited simply as "Jolene". EDIT: Mike McMahan says this was at her request. https://bsky.app/profile/mikemcmahan.bsky.social/post/3ld3v4usznc2i
Our T'Pol also had some indirect experience with the concept of katra transference when Archer briefly carried Surak's katra.
I'd probably just start the PIC era in 2399. We only see the 2380's in a handful of flashbacks. Prodigy definitely has some PIC connections, but it's far more a continuation of Voyager, and it starts like a year after season 5 of Lower Decks.
Not only do you not need to catch up with Disco, but the end of season 2 of Disco doesn't dovetail to the beginning of Strange New Worlds super-well when you watch them back-to-back; if anything, they feel like they lightly contradict each other.
Though if I were to recommend a single episode it would be "Through the Valley of Shadows" from season 2, which is probably the only "important" episode as far as Strange New Worlds goes, though the key stuff gets recapped in SNW.
The Short Treks episode Q&A gets some references in the series too, though if you don't watch it you likely won't realize you missed anything.
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rogermccoy
joined 2 years ago
Still watching, mainly out of curiosity.
It's become more fun and less repetitive with the new Holodeck Rescues. I don't know that it really does its job of teaching STEM or much of any lessons, but it's relatively harmless.
That said, if I had kids I have no idea if this would hold their attention, and I'd much rather the hypothetical kids just watch Bluey instead.
But I'll probably continue to at least check out the new episodes just out of curiosity based almost entirely on it having the name Star Trek.