The Golden Globe winner played one of the show's best characters.
Nus Braka rightly got his comeuppance in the Star Trek: Starfleet Academy season 1 finale, “Rubincon,” but the dastardly villain wasn’t killed off. Rather, actor Paul Giamatti’s half-Klingon, half-Tellarite baddie was arrested, which means the Golden Globe winner will be back in season 2, right? Wrong.
Unfortunately, Nus Braka doesn’t terrorize Starfleet or its cadets during sophomore year. However, executive producer and co-showrunner Alex Kurtzman is determined to have Giamatti appear in a third season of the streaming series. “There’s nothing we want more than to bring Paul back,” Kurtzman said in an interview with TV Insider. “And there’s nothing Paul wants more than to come back, so we are going to figure that out in season 3.”
It’s hard for me to imagine Starfleet Academy season 2 without Giamatti’s charismatic and deadly villain, even though the award-winning actor only appeared in three episodes of the series — and that trio of shows was certainly among the best and most entertaining installments from season 1’s offerings.
So, why didn’t Kurtzman and co-showrunner Noga Landau bring Giamatti back for season 2? According to interviews which followed the season 1 finale, sophomore year will feature a couple of new threats: one in the form of a different villain.
I can’t imagine anyone being more dangerous than Nus, but Trekkies probably thought that back in the day, too, after meeting Khan Noonien Singh (Ricardo Montalban) in The Original Series. And then along comes Q (John de Lancie) and the Borg 20 years later in The Next Generation. Expectations exceeded, and for more Star Trek content visit the Redshirts Always Die Facebook and X pages.
Live long and prosper, Trekkies!