The penultimate episode of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy amped up the action as Caleb Mir (Sandro Rosta) went rogue to find his missing mother, Anisha (Tatiana Maslany). Naturally, his fellow cadets followed him to the planet Ukeck, which was being annexed by the sinister Venari Ral criminal cartel.
The cavalry arrives in the form of the USS Athena as Chancellor Ahke (Holly Hunter) literally sweeps the vessel down to the surface in order to beam the kids off the planet. SAM (Kerrice Brooks) called the escape maneuver "the flex. Speaking to ScreenRant, Jonathan Frakes, who directed the episode, "300th Night," admitted he didn’t come up with the idea. Nevertheless, it was still a callback to an eerily similar move used in the Star Trek: Picard finale, "The Last Generation."
"That was in the script," Frakes said in the interview. "We did the same thing at the end of Discovery, where we flew over the top and had to beam Sonequa [Martin-Green] out. That's just the move now. That's the new move. Get close and pull it in, and save the heroes."
For those who forgot, the Picard finale featured the TNG crew using the old Enterprise-D to attack the Borg Cube. In a fantastic sequence, Data (Brent Spiner) manages the impossible task of piloting the Enterprise through the Cube.
Picard (Patrick Stewart), Jack (Ed Speleers), Riker (Frakes) and, Worf (Michael Dorn) are all in danger on the cube, and Troi (Marina Sirtis) senses them when Riker whispers he loves his Imzadi. "I know where they are," Troi says, and then she takes navigation next to Data. The Enterprise spins in a sliding motion down near the surface to beam the characters out... similar to the flex in Starfleet Academy.
It’s an amazing moment that also shows how far Star Trek ships have come. Thanks to advances in special effects, these are no longer the old-fashioned models of the earlier Trek shows. Instead, we get ships that can really be spaceships and pull off moves akin to a car in a Fast & Furious movie.
The Athena move was great, with Ake making a bold entrance and showing off the vessel to the enemy troops. However, this flex lacked the sheer coolness and impact featured in Picard. The sight of Picard, Riker, and Worf looking up to see their old ship sweeping over them was easily one of the most epic in the history of the franchise. The fact it was Troi and Data of all people pulling it off made it even better.
It is funny how Frakes never intended to film a version of the flex for Starfleet Academy, it just happened that way. However, he recognizes that seeing a starship make this maneuver will thrills fans, so it’s likely we’ll see more flexes in the future. For more Star Trek content, visit the Redshirts Always Die Facebook and X pages.