WHY WE LIKE IT: What a cliffhanger!
WHY WE DON'T: The CW writing.
REVIEW: As we gear up for the season finale (it's a two-parter, folks!), Caleb finally finds a message from his mother. It's the end of a long school year anyway (10 months, Starfleet Academy doesn't eff around), and he should be able to steal a shuttle and head into pirate-held space unnoticed while the rest of the Academy go to Betazed for its enshrinement as the new Federation capital. Of course, several of the kids are going to crash his escape, except Tarima and Kraag who stay behind, tell on their class mates, hitch a ride with the Athena's mission to get them back, so we can have kids on both sides of the mission. Tarima, I don't care too much about, given that every scene with her and Caleb involves some terrible CW dialog (this episode's unnecessary recap exposition - why do we even need this in the streaming era?! - is especially bad), but I was feeling like Kraag had some sort of Ortegas contract where he has to skip out on the action about half the time (was excused from drama class, too), all the more suspect because the episode starts with a R'uustai ceremony (from TNG's The Bonding) where he makes his class mates members of his House, i.e., his family. It DOES motivate the group, even if Caleb refuses to complete the ritual, Kraag included, even if his role develops later in the episode.
Caleb is a little insufferable in this one, especially considering the sacrifices his friends are making for him. At least Genesis and SAM call him out on his BS, after he lambastes them with a "truth" about them so as to push them away. We can understand not wanting to go to Ake for permission (even if she might have given it, though circumstances were less than ideal), but hiding his Starfleet connection to his mom is a teen dick move, considering that the Venari Ral are quick to spot the kids' obvious Fed tech and Mommy Mir is supposed to be an engineering genius. It seems like she would have known all along, and we cheer, I think, when she helps Caleb save his friends (or at least, confuse the enemy before they can be executed), not least of which because Caleb himself finally owns up to caring about his found family, but Anisha then acts shocked and terrified when they're rescued by Starfleet. Seeing Ake, her old judge and jailer, in charge of the ship, THAT should shock her, but all signs pointed to at least the Federation being involved, and she should know things have changed since Discovery solved the Burn problem. So the CW writing is strong in this one - watch any of the network's superhero shows for characters who pulled the dumbest moves because they don't communicate or ever reign their emotions in. There's a lot of that here (including the new SAM with emotional context being rebellious, but she still sparkles brightly despite being moodier than the previous model).
Outside of the "Core Four" action, things are dire indeed. Nus (unseen, I thought Giamatti would be in the season more from the marketing) isn't just annexing planets left and right outside Federation space, he's using stolen Omega Particles (from Voyager's The Omega Directive) to mine the Federation border, creates a crisis that makes all of Starfleet retreat inside that perimeter, and then activate it to keep everyone inside. So if Ake didn't care so damn much, and Vance wasn't such putty in her hands (honestly, why is this guy in the show?), the Athena wouldn't be on the outside able to fight back. I do love Ake here, captaining a mostly automated ship, but smiling as she "flexes" for the pirate crowd. Sadly, none of the bridge crew from episode 1 is here, so I guess they were always going to be non-entities. Instead, series regulars at the wrong posts - Reno at the helm and the Doctor at Tactical (they should have invoked the Emergency Command Hologram, which would also have explained why he's so slow to check on a wounded Anisha when she's beamed in)... does Lura Thok have an Ortegas contract, too?! - and the result is a saucer separation that leaves the atrium (the school set itself) in the hands of the Venari Ral, as their calls to the Federation interior remain unanswered. A chilling little ending courtesy of director Jonathan Frakes. Whatever happens next, the cadets have to really do the Federation a solid or else we won't easily accept they don't get expelled (you know, like bringing back humpback whales).
LESSON: Don't be afraid to try something again if conditions have changed since it originally failed.
REWATCHABILITY - Medium-High: Though the writing sometimes makes me wince, you can't argue with that strong a cliffhanger.
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