STARFLEET ACADEMY
Beginner’s Guide: The Top Five Episodes
The Next Generation of Starfleet
Starfleet Academy is the newest series in the franchise. Its first season of ten episodes premiered on Paramount+ in January 2026, and a second season is on the way. It is set in the 32nd century, in the Federation that Discovery helped rebuild, and follows a class of cadets at the reopened Starfleet Academy under Chancellor Nahla Ake, played by Holly Hunter. The cast also features familiar faces, including Robert Picardo as the Doctor from Voyager and Tig Notaro as Jett Reno, and Paul Giamatti as the menacing Nus Braka.
It is a young, energetic series that mixes campus drama with classic Star Trek storytelling, and it grows stronger as the season goes on, with critics singling out its second half. You do not need to know anything about the 32nd century to follow it, though fans of Deep Space Nine and Voyager will notice some warm nods along the way. For a newcomer who wants to see where Star Trek is headed, it is an easy and welcoming entry point.
Crew advisory: The students are very young and very dramatic. So were we. Please be kind.
1. Rubincon
In the season finale, Nus Braka returns with a plan that threatens the survival of the Federation, and Chancellor Ake, the cadets and the instructors have to outwit him. Jett Reno finds herself running the ship while the cadets step up as real officers. The episode pays off the season's themes of leadership and service, and it reaffirms the idea that Starfleet's principles matter most when they are tested. It ranks first because it gives each of the characters a chance to shine and brings the whole story to a satisfying conclusion.
2. Come, Let's Away
The cadets are taken aboard the USS Athena for what is supposed to be a salvage training mission aboard a damaged Starfleet ship, and it quickly turns into a real-life disaster. The danger rises, lives are lost, and Paul Giamatti and Holly Hunter share some of the best scenes of the season. Many critics called it the episode where the show found its stride, and it is easily the most intense hour of the series. It makes the list because it is the moment the young cadets stop being students and start being officers.
3. 300th Night
As the school year ends, Caleb Mir has to choose between the life he thought he wanted and the one he has built at Starfleet Academy, while Chancellor Ake breaks protocol in a last attempt to keep a promise she made to him. Directed by Jonathan Frakes, it is a heartfelt, character-driven story that gives the audience a reason to care about the future of these young people. It earns its place because it is the emotional heart of the season.
4. Vox in Excelso
The Klingons are on the brink of extinction after a ship carrying what remains of the last eight Houses crashes, and Jay-Den, a Klingon cadet who grew up as a refugee, has to confront his past and his strained relationship with his father. Robert Picardo appears as the Doctor, and critics praised the episode for its Klingon culture, its stakes and Karim Diané's performance as Jay-Den. It makes the list because it shows how the show can take a classic Star Trek people and tell a new and moving story about them.
5. Vitus Reflux
The cadets try out for the Academy's elite Calica team, coached by Thok and Jett Reno, while a prank war with the rival War College escalates until the cadets turn a fast-growing plant loose in the War College dorms. It is a playful, funny and surprisingly sweet episode that deepens several friendships and a budding romance, and it ends with a lesson from the Chancellor about how Starfleet disarms its opponents without resorting to force. It is on the list because it is the best example of the show's lighter side, and because it is a reminder that Star Trek can be fun.
More of the beginner’s guide: The Original Series • The Animated Series • The Next Generation • Deep Space Nine • Voyager • Enterprise • Discovery • Picard • Lower Decks • Prodigy • Strange New Worlds • Short Treks.
Not sure what order to watch in? Try our chronological watch order or the Star Trek timeline. Want people to talk Trek with? Enlist and join the crew at one of our Star Trek events around Atlanta.
