This article contains spoilers for the two-part premiere of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy.If you only saw the promotional materials for Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, you would be forgiven for thinking it was a teen drama, something that would fit on the WB or the CW—not next to Voyager on UPN. Awkward adolescents like Sam and Jay-Den Kraag fumble through social interactions, brooding hot guy Caleb Mir starts a rivalry with haughty hot guy Darem Reymi, try-hard Genesis Lythe insists she’s going to do it her own way. Those characters pay off the threat made by the infamous “kids under a tree” poster, in which the young cast smiled up at the camera from the Academy lawn.But alongside those juvenile hijinks, something very different is happening on Starfleet Academy. A captain consults her crew for suggestions while dealing with a surprising threat. A teacher emphasizes the importance of procedure. A scientist uses logic and expertise to approach a new discovery. In short, there’s a lot of classic Star Trek stuff happening alongside the bouncing hormones and personal affirmations that were sold in the Starfleet Academy marketing.cnx.cmd.push(function() {cnx({playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530",}).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796");});Nowhere is this more apparent than in the second episode, “Beta Test.” Even though it’s mostly interested in the romance between Caleb and Betazoid Tarima Sadal, the episode is driven by Admiral Vance and Captain Nahla Ake’s negotiations with Betazed’s President Sedal as they try to bring the planet back into the Federation. A onetime ally so important that its loss in the Dominion War signaled a new low, Betazed had left the Federation during the Burn, the (kinda dumb) event from Discovery that destroyed dilithium supplies and drove apart the planets.As we see in the back and forth between the leaders, Betazed still believes in the basic ideals of the Federation, but doesn’t trust this incarnation to enforce them. This problem can’t be solved with the same action that resolved the show’s premiere “Kids These Days.” Nor does the problem involve a clear good guy and bad guy, someone who needs to learn the error of their ways and join the right thinking people. Instead, writers Noga Landau and Jane Maggs and director Alex Kurtzman give the characters enough time and space to state their grievances and change their perspectives.These types of intellectual conflicts are the chief appeal of Star Trek, and something that’s been missing from the show in its latest era. In The Original Series, when Kirk wasn’t urging some ideological enemy to consult their better angels, he was debating with Spock and McCoy about trusting his head or his heart. In The Next Generation, episodes such as “The Measure of a Man” and “The First Duty” gave Patrick Stewart an opportunity to deliver monologues with the passion of a great cinematic lawyer, and debates happened regularly in Picard’s ready room.The idea that reasoned debate could win the day is as crucial to Star Trek as its fantastic settings and cross-universe adventures. While we still want to see space battles and daring escapes, Star Trek’s optimism demands that we don’t respond to difference with fear and violence. Rather, it insists that we can listen to other perspectives and win them over with a rational and empathetic argument. Or, at the very least, we can reach some kind of compromise, if agreement is impossible.Nu-Trek hasn’t completely abandoned that principle. Season 3 of Discovery in particular built to a conversation between Admiral Vance and Osyraa of the Emerald Chain, as the former tried to seek a compromise with the criminal syndicate, hoping that an alliance would help him rebuild the Federation. But too often, modern Trek has relied on big explosions and big emotions, turning reasonable disagreements into small issues—nothing that can’t be solved with a good cry and a strong hug.In “Beta Test,” problems don’t get solved with a hug. They get solved by hearing one another out and offering a compromise. Specifically, the Federation offers to build its new headquarters on Betazed, which gives the President an assurance that the new version of the alliance has no intention of abandoning them. It’s a reasonable and professional solution to a legitimate problem.Of course, all of this happens in the background of the episode. The A-plot is mostly concerned with Caleb wooing Tarima, which leads to a big emotional bit about his mom and his inability to trust people. And, if you want to get grouchy about it, Caleb’s sob story does provide Captain Ake the inspiration she needs to come to the Betazed conclusion.But that’s to be expected in a show that sells itself with good-looking teens under a tree. The teen drama is inextricably part of Starfleet Academy, but it’s not the only part. There’s plenty of old school Trek in there for us old cranks to enjoy. Hopefully, these kids will learn from it.New episodes of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy premiere Thursdays on Paramount+, culminating with the finale on March 12.The post The Best Part of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy Isn’t the Teen Drama appeared first on Den of Geek.