Summary
After 26 years,Star Trekhas finally fixed one of its biggest Starfleet Academy problems. InStar Trek: The Next Generationseason 5, episode 19, “The First Duty”, Wesley Crusher (Wil Wheaton) is now a Starfleet Academy cadet and a member of Nova Squadron, a flight team made up of elite cadets that also includes Sito Jaxa (Shannon Fill), Nick Locarno (Robert Duncan McNeill), and Jean Hajar (Walker Brandt).Locarno convinces the rest of Nova Squadrun to cover up the death of teammate Josh Albert,who perished when Nova Squadron performed the dangerous Kolvoord Starburst maneuver. Wesley speaks up, and Nova Squadron is disbanded.
Star Trek: Deep Space Ninereturned to Starfleet Academy and introduced Red Squad. This new crop of eliteStarfleet Academy cadetsis eager to prove themselves to Admiral Leyton (Robert Foxworth), to the point thatRed Squad inadvertently allows a Changeling coup of Starfleet to succeedinStar Trek: Deep Space Nineseason 4, episode 10, “Homefront” and episode 11, “Paradise Lost”. Red Squad try and fail to redeem themselves inStar Trek: Deep Space Nineseason 6, episode 22, “Valiant”. Cadet Tim Watters (Paul Popowich) appoints himself Acting Captain of the USS Valiant after the senior officers are killed, and he leads Red Squad into a fatal disaster.
Difference Between DS9’s Red Squad & TNG’s Nova Squadron Explained By Star Trek Executive Producer
Exclusive: Star Trek: Prodigy co-executive producer Aaron J. Waltke breaks down what separates TNG’s Nova Squadron from DS9’s Red Squad.
Star Trek: Prodigy’s Nova Squadron Fixed Starfleet Academy’s Elite Cadets Problem
Prodigy’s Nova Squadron Learn To Embody True Starfleet Ideals
Star Trek: Prodigyfixes the mistakes made by previous elite teams from Starfleet Academy with its own version of Nova Squadron by showing thatthe ego-driven arrogance of Starfleet Academy’s past elite teams can be overcome.Prodigy’s Nova Squadron is a team of up-and-coming cadets assigned to the USS Voyager-A under the command of Admiral Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew), and includesStar Trek: Prodigy’s breakoutVulcan cadet Maj’el(Michaela Dietz), human Zeph (Sunkrish Bala), and Grom (also Michaela Dietz), a Lurian. Like the 2360s version of Nova Squadron fromStar Trek: The Next Generation, the 2380s Nova Squadron is highly skilled, and they know it.
Star Trek: Prodigy’s new Nova Squadron is elite, but notelitist.
Unlikethe earlier Nova Squadron,Star Trek: Prodigy’s Nova Squadron is tempered with kindness and humility. Despite Nova Squadron’s initial skepticism of Dal R’El (Brett Gray), Maj’el’s adventures with Dal and the other cadets prove that Dal’s pilot skills can actually back up his boasting. When the chips are down, and Grom is out,Captain Chakotay (Robert Beltran)points out that Dal can fill in for Grom.Star Trek:Prodigy’s new Nova Squadron is elite, but notelitist, so they can give Dal a chance, and succeed because of it. There’s no scandal, no desperate desire to prove their worth.These Nova Squadron cadets truly are the best of Starfleet’s next class of heroes.
Star Trek: The Next Generation’s Nova Squadron returns in a flashback to Lt. Beckett Mariner’s (Tawny Newsome) time at Starfleet Academy inStar Trek: Lower Decksseason 4, episode 10, “Old Friends, New Planets”, with Robert Duncan McNeill, Shannon Fill, and Wil Wheaton reprising theirTNGroles.
Will Star Trek: Starfleet Academy Also Have Elite Cadets?
Starfleet Academy’s Elite Cadets Can Be Flawed AND Heroic
With the upcomingStar Trek: Starfleet Academyfocusing on new cadets inStar Trek’s 32nd century,it remains to be seen whether the tradition of Nova Squadron and Red Squad will be upheld in the far future era ofStar Trek: Discovery.Starfleet Academypromises to be about a new version of the school, rebuilding itself afterThe Burn decimated StarfleetinStar Trek’s 31st century. If Lt. Sylvia Tilly’s (Mary Wiseman) team of cadets inStar Trek: Discoveryseason 4, episode 4, “All Is Possible”, is any indication, some of these cadets haven’t even met people outside members of their own species. Building an elite team will take hard work.
As long as cadets' egos don’t get out of hand, as they did forStar Trek: Deep Space Nine’s Red Squad, orStar Trek: The Next Generation’s Nick Locarno,having an elite flight squadron inStar Trek: Starfleet Academycan give cadets something to strive for. Red Squad was a goal for Nog (Aron Eisenberg), and being a member of Nova Squadron mattered to Wesley Crusher, just as it does forStar Trek: Prodigy’s Nova Squadron cadets. IfStarfleet Academydoes have a Nova Squadron, hopefully they’ll follow the precedent set byStar Trek: Prodigy.Elite cadets can be flawed and immature, and still grow into promising youngStar Trekheroes.
