That didn't take long. In my previous blog post, I said,

“My only other concern is going to be the overall story arc of the show. Obviously, we can't have Caleb finding his mother and going off to live happily ever after in Episode 3, so I fear that the show is going to get strung out with adventures-of-the-week while little to no progress is made in finding Caleb's mom. If it turns into a tease each week with some minor clue that reveals no real substance about Caleb's quest, that's going to get tiresome quickly. But, we're just going to have to stay tuned in and see how this plays out!”

Well, guess what, Episode 3 doesn't even bother with a minor clue to remind us about Caleb's 15-year search for his mother. No, this week it's all about petty competition – not only between the kids, but the adults, too! This is the sort of unserious lull I was afraid that this show would settle into. I suppose any real progress with Caleb's quest to find his mother and his rivalry with Nus Braka will be relegated to season premieres and finales, so that we can make way for more of Darem Reymi's adolescent chest-thumping.

There are seven more episodes in the season, and the upcoming episodes could really go either way. I'm guessing we won't completely forget about Caleb's mom, and we'll get a mid-season reminder about it, but I'm certain that we won't see any real progress there until episode 9 or 10. I'm also guessing there will be 2 or 3 more episodes like this one, purely about some antics that the kids are up to and not really about anything of substance. I hope I'm wrong, actually, and that the rest of the season will impress.

Now, I'd like to devote the rest of this article to criticizing the critics. There are two things I keep hearing repeated by several different critics of the show, and I want to address them both. The first one is just a sticking point that people don't want to let go of, and the second one is actually really concerning and insane. And they both have to do with Lura Thok.

The first point that people like to pedantically throw out has to do with Thok being a Klingon-Jem'Hadar hybrid. “The Jem'Hadar are genetically engineered! Bred in laboratories! There are no Jem'Hadar women, and they don't reproduce sexually!”, they say, indignantly claiming that the writers don't know their Trek lore. Listen guys, all those things they say about the Jem'Hadar are correct – or rather, they were correct, 800 years prior to the events of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy. 800 years is a long, long time, and a lot can happen in that time. Obviously, things have changed, and it now appears that the Jem'Hadar are capable of having children of their own. It's okay for things to be a little different after 800 years of change and progress – this is such a weird hill for the critics to die on.

And then we have the second, concerning point. It's concerning both for its content and for the fact that I even came across it once, let alone more than once. My various social media feeds know that I watch Star Trek, and thus they sometimes suggest Star Trek-related content. My various social media feeds also know that I tend to not be a fan of bigoted and sexist content, so I have to assume that some of the suggestions that I get just stopped reading after the words Star Trek. In a disturbing take on Starfleet Academy, I was sad to witness a video that described Lura Thok as a “fat, black, woman” – emphasizing each of those three words as if all three of them were individually worthy of contempt. What the actual hell is wrong with this reviewer? I will not name this reviewer, but I'd like to write the rest of this article as if I were addressing him:

Let's take a look at each of these words, individually. First, “woman”. You do know that women exist, right? What is it exactly that you object to about this woman? That she's in a position of power? That she's strong and confident? That she isn't demure and submissive? When people talk about female leads in Trek since 2017, they often also like to throw out the name “Kurtzman”, as if the executive producer is somehow wrong for having strong female leads in his shows. Can you articulate exactly what is wrong with this character being a woman?

The next word I'd like to address is “fat”. First of all, I don't think Lura Thok actually qualifies as “fat”, but even if she did, so what? I'm not sure what you're getting at here. I've heard people suggest that “people in the future shouldn't be fat”. Why not? Is this really the thing that is ruining the fantasy of fictional life over 1,000 years from now in your mind? Or is it just that you only want to see skinny women? Perhaps medicine has come so far in the 32nd century that everyone is perfectly healthy regardless of the natural shape of their bodies. Maybe Thok actually is skinny, but she's wearing a holographic body suit because she just likes the way it looks. Maybe Q snapped his fingers and changed her appearance. Maybe she underwent a 3-way zhian'tara ritual with a Trill and a Changeling during a transporter malfunction on the holodeck with the safeties off. Do any of those explanations sound stupid? Who cares, it's literally a science fiction fantasy world! I refuse to believe that “larger people” are ruining the moment for you.

And lastly, “black”. Lura Thok is not black; Lura Thok is blueish-grey. Do you see how absolutely crazy it is for you to call out an actor's skin color on a show about space travel and aliens that come in all shapes, sizes, and colors? Do you even know what Star Trek is about? Honestly, if this is your take on the franchise, do us all a favor and just stop watching it – it's clearly not meant for you.

It's not as if Star Trek is devoid of trim white men in power, if that's the demographic you so hotly desire. And they all got way more screentime than any of the others. Kirk, Spock, and McCoy had The Original Series, The Animated Series, and six feature films on the big screen. Then they got three more films with different actors in the Kelvin Timeline. Now Kirk and Spock are back, alongside another trim white man in power, Captain Pike, in Strange New Worlds. Jean-Luc Picard starred in The Next Generation and four feature films, and then got another 3-season TV series in recent memory! I don't recall Janeway or Sisko getting any movies about their stories, or new series devoted to their characters. So, I'm not sure why anyone would get so bent out of shape about other kinds of characters merely existing.

Well, I usually try to avoid these types of discussions because I really have no desire to get into an argument. I suppose it's easier for me to write about it here, on this blog, where there isn't a comment system where anyone can easily just fire off a vitriolic response. You can feel free to call me a coward or a “keyboard warrior” for that, because the simple fact of the matter is that I have no desire to talk to you about it. Ha! If you think that Star Trek is just supposed to be a bunch of white men cavorting around the galaxy telling aliens what they're doing wrong, then you have really, really missed the point. ◼