Starfleet Academy Season 1 Episode 6 Recap: The Furies Strike and Nus Braka’s Shocking Return

Rating: ★★★★☆

Love Goes Cosmic

Tarima and Caleb finally get closer and closer and fall deeply in love. Their love is cosmic and unheard of to Caleb. Their pillow talk is novel worthy. Tarima asks Caleb about his first time and she explains her Betazoid first time tradition of family tambourine dancing and “Fruitful Coupling”. Wait WHAT is that? They literally transcend into Betazoid mind-speaking. Tarima transports them to her safe place. It is out of this world, softly, peaceful, warm and comforting until it’s not. Caleb sees a cute little creature nestled amongst some beautiful, golden flowering plants and is shocked back to reality. He looks terrified after it evoked some of his childhood memories. Somehow, Tarima got into Caleb’s head not intentionally, and dredged up some hidden memory. It just happened. It had something to do with his Mom, and upset Caleb. He starts referring to Tarima as weird and tells her she should hide her special ability. He argues that she shouldn’t go into his head and see things he didn’t want her or anyone to see. Their love bubble bursts. Tarima tells Caleb her ability is not a weird Betazoid thing. It’s a part of her. Caleb's failed attempt at an apology drives Tarima away. She leaves.

Space Exploration Lesson

Captain Ake teaches the Starfleet and War College cadets a new lesson, the foundation of space exploration. She tries to instill in them what it means to truly explore unknown, uncharted space. She tells them to prepare for the unimaginable. She takes them to the ship graveyard. The war college uses it as a training ground for crisis response. The War College and Starfleet Academy will perform a joint training exercise together. She points out the ship they will use, The USS Miyazaki. It carried a Singularity Drive, an experimental warp alternative. It destroyed the ship when the crew first activated the drive. It caused a series of cascading mechanical failures, killing everyone aboard. Half of the cadets will board the ship to simulate a response mission while the other half remains aboard the Athena bridge on alert to learn to effectively monitor and support crew members on away missions. Caleb arrives late, and he and Tarima exchange a guarded glance. 

Chancellor Kelrec takes over instruction and gives them details to follow to complete the project. The cadets will work in two teams, one will reactivate life support aboard the Miyazaki, the other team will restart the ship’s computer in less than an hour. The Blue Team will be led by Lieutenant Commander Tomov. They will use Starfleet’s newest plasma-based life-support system and travel to the Miyazaki by shuttle. The suits look very cool. No more questions, and no additional information provided. They are all on their own. Red Team will be Blue Team’s tactical support, providing operational and logistical support from the Athena’s bridge. Chancellor Kelrec reminds them that away missions only succeed with teamwork. He emphasizes that the Blue and Red Team need to work together.  There’s a mixture of Starfleet and War College cadets on both teams. If they fail to revive the ship in 60 minutes, the away team has to return to the shuttle, and both teams get replaced by the next rotation of teams. Everyone takes their assigned stations when shift change is called. 

The Doctor takes another set of red team members and informs them when they will take over. This team  has Tarima and her brother, Ocam. Tarima seems a little unfocused and sad. Chancellor Kelrec reminds everyone that  in the field, their lives depend on their ability to get the most out of limited resources. No team has scored above 65% in five years. 

The Mission Begins

Kraag, Caleb and SAM are on the first team, Tomov’s Blue Team. They head to the Miyazaki. The ship’s computer informs the cadets to do a mandatory debrief after completing their Miyazaki shift. SAM asks Tomov if he’s meditating. Tomov says he used to read stories about the Miyazaki, and that led him to the War College. Caleb says it’s all Starfleet propaganda to brainwash people into working for Starfleet. There’s an ongoing bet that Tomov’s Team would be the ones to restore power to the Miyazaki. 

Genesis is on the Red Team aboard the Athena and clears them to board the ship. The ship is dark. Caleb hot wires the power on the ship, and gets life support online. Lura is upset because she lost her wager. Darem sees some odd readings and gets the Captain to check it. She says it’s not Starfleet, and no one else has clearance to board. There are 30 unknown power sources moving toward the Miyazaki. 10 unknown life-forms have also appeared and boarded the ship. Captain Ake calls for emergency transport, to get the Blue Team off the Miyazaki immediately.  Lura can’t transport Blue Team because the transporter signal is being blocked. Genesis says there’s a massive energy field surrounding the Miyazaki. It’s jamming all systems, there’s no sensors or comms. The Athena is being hailed. Captain Ake talks to an unknown life-form, N'Duwo Skra. They say they are claiming the Miyazaki as salvage for the Furies. N’Duwo Skra shows them they have captured the Blue Team, Caleb comes onscreen. N’Duwo Skra says they are hungry. Captain Ake tries to negotiate, and the Furies leader says they will give them 5 hours to provide them with 30,000 bars of Latinum or the Blue Team will get eaten. 

Aliens Claim The Miyazaki, Lives Lost, Old Villain Returns

The Doctor tells the next shift of cadets that their rotation has been suspended. Tarima asks what’s happening, but gets no answer. Captain Ake and Admiral Vance discuss the situation. Vance believes the Furies have a cloaked vessel nearby. The latinum is being prepared. Admiral Vance warns Captain Ake that the Furies have killed their hostages even after they received the ransom payment. He tells them Skra broke out of prison and killed 19 guards. 

The Blue Team make it to the Miyazaki bridge and secure the bridge door. SAM is able to contact the computer. It has to reassemble its code in order to become fully functional again. B’Avi quotes a famous Star Trek quote, “The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few or the one.” to Caleb when questioned. The Furies begin to break down the bridge door. SAM says she can reassemble the code. Commander Tomov’s body was ejected from the Miyazaki’s air lock, after the Furies finished dining on him. Everyone on the bridge sees it. Captain Ake takes action. She goes to see Nus Braka, the space pirate. He is still enamored with her, and ready to be a diplomat. Admiral Vance asks what makes the Furies vulnerable. Nus says the Furies are always in pain. The only relief they get is when they hurt other people. Admiral Vance asks Nus what he uses against the Furies, and they will give him additional humanitarian supplies. Nus tells them the way to get rid of the cannibalistic Furies is to stop supplying Taygeta I with dilithium. He has found a way to fight the Furies but is not sharing that information. 

Genesis suggests a method to find the cloaked Furies ship. Do they find the ship?

Can Nus Braka be trusted, and what was his ulterior motive? 

Does Captain Ake figure out what he really is hiding from them to defeat the Furies?

How does Tarima help the Blue Team cadets? 

What does tiny fireflies mean?

What is J19-Alpha?

Do they activate the Singularity Drive? Can it be controlled?

Do the Blue Team cadets get free?

What happens to B’Avi, Tarima and SAM?

How does a comic book help the Blue Team cadets?

What is Nahla’s trauma loop?

What is Nus Baraka’s gift to Nahla?

WOW! What just happened? I have to rewatch this episode several times because there’s a lot to digest. Nus Baraka has a love-hate, mostly hate relationship with Nahla Ake in his own mind. He has nothing but contempt for her. He returned and caused so much chaos, and left questions unanswered. The new alien species encountered, the Furies, is horribly nightmarish. Everyone was traumatized in this episode. There were deaths and one cadet went comatose. Nus Braka escapes, and is definitely a dangerous villain with a vendetta against Captain Ake. What began as a reasonably controlled crisis response training project for the Starfleet and War College cadets, became a tragic and dangerous real-life scenario for everyone. Vance makes Nus Baraka the most hunted person in the universe. This episode captured all my attention, and it seemed to approach cinematic quality.  I still can’t figure out all that happened. This is how some of the previous Star Trek series and movie experiences left the viewer. Paul Giamatti did what he does best and treated us to another entertaining performance. This episode was truly good, and I gave it 4.9 out of 5 Stars.

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