Star Trek: Starfleet Academy Season 1 Episode 8 “The Life of the Stars” offers us a bit of consolation after the traumatic experience of Episode 6, “Come Let’s Away,” and the light comedy of Episode 7, “Ko’Zeine.” We’ve got some big feels and trauma to work through. A visit from Professor Tilly might just do the trick.
Tarima’s back and things are…well…not the same. We’re boldly going where most Star Trek hasn’t always gone—talking about our trauma. It’s a dense episode, but in a really good way. Let’s dig into my review of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy Season 1 Episode 8 “The Life of the Stars.”
Field Trip to Kasq
As Lt. Tilly says, SAM? FAVORITE! But in Star Trek: Starfleet Academy Season 1 Episode 8 “The Life of the Stars,” we learn that SAM’s trips to the holo-spa aren’t doing the trick. She’s still glitching, and no one can figure out why. Sometimes the best medicine is just going home. But for SAM, going home might mean getting stuck there. Offering an ambassadorial escort is a wise move on Chancellor Ake’s and the Doctor’s part. Chiwetel Ejiofor is back as the voice of the Makers, which is wonderful. I hope sometime we get to see the Makers take physical form, but if you’re going to cast someone just on voice alone, then it’s hard to go wrong with Chiwetel Ejiofor. Kasq is a fascinating place, unlike anything I can recall seeing in Star Trek.
I’ve got to give massive props to Kerrice Brooks here for her phenomenal performance. The depth and range of emotion she portrays in SAM has been charmingly refreshing all season long. However, this episode takes the cake. Her fear and distress are as palpable as the joy we’ve seen her display all season long. And then you tell me there’s no way to repair her?! UGH, my heart. I’ve got more thoughts on SAM’s journey here, but those are also tied with the Doctor’s journey, so more on this in a bit.
Check out our reviews of Starfleet Academy Episode 1and Episode 2!
An Eternal Memory
Haven’t we all wondered at some point in our lives what it would be like to go on living on this earth forever? Star Trek: Starfleet Academy Season 1 Episode 8 “The Life of the Stars,” gives us a bit of insight into that idea. The Doctor, as a photonic being, is about as close to an eternal being as we get in the Star Trek universe. A close second would be the Lathanites, of whom Chancellor Ake descends. The opening monologue from the Doctor remarks on his eternity and how, for years now, he has allowed himself “colleagues,” but not friends, or a chosen family. I get the searing pain of loss and grief. And something that goes unspoken is that Ake understands that too. The Doctor has chosen not to love, but she corrects him. “You mean not having to love anyone again.”
When we experience grief and loss, be it a death or any other type of loss, the pain is indescribably immense. The Doctor’s reaction is understandable, but it is not sustainable. It is trading grief for loneliness.
C. S. Lewis says in his book The Four Loves, “To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give it to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket, safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. To love is to be vulnerable.” The Doctor has chosen this form of invulnerability, but it is a life without love.
SAM, with her million bars of gold-pressed latinum smile, has shattered the Doctor’s invulnerability. To make another Lewis comparison, the 17 years spent on Kasq, which equates to two weeks on Earth, allows them a Narnian amount of time to grow and heal. The Doctor is raising SAM to have resilience and gives her the resources to build her emotional stability. This relationship heals them both. The Doctor is a father again to a beautiful little girl, and teaching her resilience has given him resilience of his own. He is able to risk loving again. Would that we all heed that lesson.
We’ve got thoughts on Starfleet Academy episode 3 and episode 4!
Lt. Tilly is Back!
As I mentioned numerous times in my coverage of Star Trek: Discovery, Sylvia Tilly is my favorite character. She’s me! I’ve been waiting all season to have Mary Wiseman back as my girl Tilly, and finally, she’s arrived! Though this is her only appearance this season, she certainly makes a huge impact.
First, let’s talk about Professor Tilly. She is confident and at home at the front of the classroom. However, I didn’t expect her to be teaching theatre. Frankly, I didn’t expect anyone to be teaching theatre at Starfleet Academy. And yet, here in Star Trek: Starfleet Academy season 1 episode 8 “The Life of the Stars,” this is a special request from Chancellor Ake. “Stealth therapy,” she calls it. While theatre or other art is not a replacement for visiting a licensed counselor or therapist, it can certainly have therapeutic effects. It is a healthy outlet for processing emotions.
That’s exactly what happens in this episode. While it’s been 20+ years since I read Our Town, and frankly, I didn’t appreciate it at the age of 18 as I do now at age 40, the themes our cadets are experiencing in real life mirror those of the play. Grief. Loss. And somehow life just goes on? How can it go on when we feel like our entire reality has been irredeemably shaken?
Tilly’s blend of tough love and empathy strikes the right balance. My favorite line from Tilly comes from Star Trek: Discovery season 1, where she says, “I love feeling feelings.” Here, the cadets are learning to feel their feelings. They may not love it at first, but by the end, they have learned to feel the feels and push forward. Good job, Cadets, and thank you, Thornton Wilder.
Read our reviews of Starfleet Academy episode 5 and episode 6!
Tarima is Back!
We finally get Tarima back in Star Trek: Starfleet Academy Season 1 Episode 8 “The Life of the Stars.” She’s back, but she is not the same. She’s got a new inhibitor, which is great, but she has been forcibly transferred from the War College to the Academy. It isn’t what she wants, but it is literally a matter of life and death. But Tarima also perceives herself as a time bomb. What will happen if she blows up again? She’s afraid everyone now sees her as a threat, not a person.
This bit of the story falls into the typical young adult drama tropes that we’ve come to expect from a CW show. However, I would also say that this is more emotionally mature than we typically see in those shows. Tarima does the stereotypical get drunk and say mean things, but she lands better than many others do in that scenario. She learns, she apologizes, and she accepts that maybe she isn’t a monster. This isn’t what she would have chosen for herself, but it is the life she has. And maybe she can make something beautiful with that life.
See what we had to say about Starfleet Academy episode 7!
Final Thoughts
When we got the bit of consolation in the comedy in episode 7, I wasn’t expecting much more emotional catharsis than that. However, Star Trek: Starfleet Academy season 1 episode 8 “The Life of the Stars,” took that expectation and sent it into orbit. There are great thoughts in this episode about the power of art to heal and to help us cope with difficult things. As Tilly says at the beginning of the episode, art has the power to change hearts and minds long before policy and law do.
One thing that Star Trek: Starfleet Academy Season 1 Episode 8 “The Life of the Stars” confirmed for me is that Genesis has been underserved in this season thus far. Just about any time we get a bit of insight into her backstory, that gets overshadowed by Darem, who is on a similar journey. It happened in “Vitus Reflux,” and it happened again in last week’s show. Genesis is exactly how Tarima describes her. She’s a port in a storm. She’s a genuine friend. I want more of her where she’s not forced to share her story arc with Darem.
Finally, we’ll have more insight into this episode coming soon. I was fortunate to interview Mary Wiseman this week. Set your hailing frequencies to Fangirlish for that interview!
What do you think of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy season 1 episode 8 “The Life of the Stars”? Leave me a comment and let’s talk Trek.
The next episode of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy will air on March 5, 2026, on Paramount+.
