Star Trek: Starfleet Academy’s “Series Acclimation Mil” succeeds as a love letter to Deep Space Nine because the episode honors Benjamin Sisko’s ambiguity, centers faith and grief through SAM, and uses legacy characters to move its own story forward rather than chase hollow nostalgia.
Framing a modern DS9 tribute
In a SYFY interview, executive producer and co-showrunner Alex Kurtzman says they “spent a lot of time” in the writers’ room talking about what Star Trek means to different people, and how often those answers circle back to Deep Space Nine. He calls DS9 “ahead of its time” and admits it “didn’t quite get its due,” which is why he characterizes “Series Acclimation Mil” as a deliberate “love letter” to both the show and Avery Brooks.
The way in is smart: instead of using Deep Space Nine as a trivia buffet, the episode zeroes in on the very questions raised by DS9's series finale “What You Leave Behind.” It’s less concerned with cataloging canon than with exploring how Sisko’s story functions as a spiritual and emotional touchstone for people living centuries after his disappearance.