"We just wanted to honor Avery. I hope we did."
The "Avery" that Starfleet Academy star and newcomer Kerrice Brooks refers to is Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's lead actor, Avery Brooks (no relation), who famously played Captain Benjamin Sisko for seven memorable seasons on the landmark Trek spinoff.
And she's referring to the franchise's first Black actor to lead a Star Trek series because her new Paramount+ show recently attempted to answer a question that fans have been asking ever since Deep Space Nine signed off in 1999: What happened to Captain Benjamin Sisko?
A former Starfleet commander-turned-reluctant-emissary to the alien world of Bajor, Sisko seemingly gave his life in Deep Space Nine's series finale to save the galaxy. In doing so, he transcended his mortal existence to become one with the Prophets — the powerful, non-corporeal deities worshipped by the Bajorans. Even though DS9 signed off 27 years ago, fans have spent the better part of the last three decades pondering Sisko's fate: Did he really die? Is he really a Prophet now? Will we ever see him again?
"Series Acclimation Mil," Academy's fifth episode from its debut season, attempts to answer those questions.
The hour centers on hologram Sam (Kerrice Brooks), the eponymous character that gives the episode its title. Under the guidance of another character with ties to DS9, played by Academy writer and Star Trek: Lower Decks star Tawny Newsome (who also co-wrote episode), young cadet Sam sets out to uncover what happened to one of the Federation's most important figures. Along the way, she also discovers how to best adjust to being the Academy's first holographic cadet.
Sam's journey takes her on a tour of the Academy's mini-museum wing devoted to the life and times of Ben Sisko. Key mementos from Sisko's life, from his favorite baseball to his Starfleet uniform, are on display. And, according to Brooks, seeing all those props made filming the episode feel all the more vivid.
"It was really immersive," the young actor tells the Television Academy. "I want to say some of [the props] on set were the original props from Deep Space Nine. I know that the uniform was."
Walking amongst all that Star Trek history, and what it represents as the franchise celebrates its sixth decade, was not lost on Brooks. "You could literally feel the weight in the room as walked through the set during rehearsal. I don't know if it was the lighting or what, but you just felt how important all of it was. I felt like I didn't have to act too much in the scene, what I needed — it was just there."
There were also some breaking-the-fourth-wall moments, where Sam directly addresses the camera as the character documents her progress. These scenes are complete with cartoon-like animations that give us insight into Sam's child-like mindset.
"Those animated touches, they were not in the script," Brooks explains. "I don't think they were in the draft I read. But looking into the camera was. It's funny because — the looking into the camera part? That was my first audition scene, actually. In my audition, like you see in the episode, I was talking about the Federation, and how it has 'this many species' and that there has only ever been and will only ever be one me. One Sam. All of that was part of my audition, and I didn't really know why that was in there or what purpose it would serve until we [got to this episode]."
Tawny Newsome as Illa Dax.
By the end of the episode, Brooks realized Sam was essentially dictating a letter to her research subject. Whether or not Sisko received it, Brooks said, remains open for interpretation. "Hopefully, he got it. We don't know."
But what fans do know is that Sisko's most trusted DS9 colleague and lifelong friend, Dax, is alive and well in the form of Sam's professor, Illa Dax, played by Newsome. (Dax has survived the several centuries that span the two shows because she is a Trill, a parasitic alien race with an extensive lifespan — thanks to the various host bodies a Trill can inhabit over the years.)
According to Brooks, it was fitting that Newsome played Sam's mentor.
"In the writers room for the show, Tawny created and developed [Sam]. Shooting that scene, I forget the day we shot that, but we mostly shot the episode in sequential order. And that scene was pretty emotional, acting-wise. Especially with Tawny being such a big Deep Space Nine fan."
While Brooks' entry point into the franchise was 2017's Star Trek: Discovery, she eventually watched Deep Space Nine ahead of filming "Series Acclimation Mil," which made her participation in the episode all the more resonate.
"I didn't know that, at first, Sisko was resistant to the idea of being an emissary to the Prophets, and for Bajor. Watching that arc and his character unfold, and trying to bring it full circle with my character on this show, it was a very rewarding experience."
This interview was edited for length and clarity.
Starfleet Academy is streaming now on Paramount+.
