“Star Trek: Starfleet Academy” is set in the 32nd century, approximately 920 years after the events of the original “Star Trek,” and a lot has happened in the intervening centuries. Most notably, this occurs after a galaxy-wide cataclysm called the Burn, which caused almost every spaceship in the galaxy to explode simultaneously. Starfleet was wiped out and the Federation collapsed. “Starfleet Academy” is resuming its rights at a time when the Federation is in the process of rebuilding. Diplomatic relations are slowly reforming and students are returning to Starfleet Academy for the first time in hundreds of years. It’s a series about reconstruction.
Part of this newly reopened Starfleet Academy’s efforts is to include as many species as possible from across the galaxy. The core of young students includes a Klingon named Kraag (Karim Diané), a living hologram named Sam (Kerrice Brooks), a Dar-Sha named Genesis (Bella Shepard), and a Khionian named Darem (George Hawkins). There’s also a human named Caleb (Sandro Rosta), but we’ve seen humans before. Even Starfleet Academy teachers come from across the galaxy. The dean, Nahla Ake (Holly Hunter), is half human, half lanthaniteand the head of the school’s combat department, Lurk Thok (Gina Yashere) if he is half Klingon, half Jem’Hadar.
The corridors of Starfleet are also dotted with diverse species, only some of which will be recognized by Trekkies. I spotted a Ferengi, for sure, and some will be surprised to see a Brikar make an appearance, a species previously only seen on the short-lived “Star Trek: Prodigy,” now canceled.
Additionally, and this is a surprise, we can see an Exocomp floating among the students. Exocomps are small, non-humanoid robots first introduced in “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” and they were last seen in “Star Trek: Lower Decks.”
The Exocomps are back in Starfleet Academy!
As any Trekkie can tell you, an Exocomp was a floating robotic tool introduced in the “Next Generation” episode “The Quality of Life” (November 16, 1992). /Movie has already written at length about Exocompsbut to remind readers: Exocomps were invented to float in dangerous areas and programmed to learn from their environment. They could analyze a problem and then reproduce the appropriate tools to make the necessary repairs. In “Quality of Life”, Data (Brent Spiner) discovered that the Exocomps were actually beyond their programming and were possibly making decisions based on self-preservation. To Data, this was a sign that they were alive, and the robots’ inventor (Ellen Bry) had to ethically admit that she may have created a new form of life.
The Exocomp returned for “Star Trek: Lower Decks”, in the form of Ensign Peanut Hamper (Kether Donohue), the first Exocomp to graduate from Starfleet Academy. “Lower Decks” takes place just a few decades after the events of “Next Generation,” so it seems like the Exocomps evolved pretty quickly. Peanut Hamper speaks casually and familiarly as she floats in the air around the heads of her fellow officers. She even has anxieties and neuroses. Exocomps are not only sentient, but complex and twitchy in “Star Trek: Lower Decks.” Peanut Hamper chose his unusual name after searching a linguistic database and finding two words that, regardless of their meaning, sounded musical to his hearing sensors. She eventually became a low-level villain in her series.
It seems that Peanut Hamper was just the first in a long legacy of Exocomps. “Starfleet Academy,” as mentioned, takes place in the very distant future and Exocomps appears to have survived. Indeed, they still seem to be attending Starfleet Academy, which is admirable. They live again.
