Star Trek: Starfleet Academy paid homage to Deep Space Nine, and the episode’s co-writer reveals just how important this was to fans of both shows. Caution: This article contains SPOILERS for Starfleet Academy episode 5. The episode, “Series Acclimation Mil,” followed SAM (Kerrice Brooks), the sentient hologram student, trying to prove herself to her Makers.
That had her tackling the challenge of figuring out what happened to Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks) following his vanishing at the end of Deep Space Nine. Speaking to TrekMovie.com, Tawny Newsome, who co-wrote the episode and played the role of Professor Illa Dax, mentioned how important it was to her to honor not just Ben Sisko, the character, but the man behind the role.
"I don’t even know where to start, but all I can tell you is that it was seemingly so impossible to be able to address the hugeness of the Sisko story with some of the limitations that we have because of canon, some of the limitations that we have because of available actors. And we really just wanted to honor the man, Avery Brooks."
Newsome continued by saying:
"We wanted to honor the character, Sisko. We wanted to honor that show which in the franchise has had the least rebooting. It’s my absolute favorite and I just wanted to celebrate it and not put a close to his story, but just put a little feeling of completion for one part of it, to just give some of us some resolution."
That resolution is one that DS9 fans have long awaited. As wonderful as the DS9 finale was, many fans were annoyed that Sisko basically stayed in the wormhole with the Prophets rather than return to his friends and family. This episode was a way of explaining that choice and the effect it had on Sisko’s son, Jake (Cirroc Lofton), who was able to talk to SAM via a holographic record.
We did hear Brooks speaking at the end of the episode, even though the dialogue was lifted from his jazz album Here.
The episode was a fine tribute to Sisko and his impact on the Federation, as well as those who knew him. It was also a reminder of how special DS9 was and how well it shone, all thanks to Brooks’ performance. It’s little wonder Newsome went out of her way to make it gel.
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