Entertainment
New Star Trek Spinoff Is Two For Two On Ruining Beloved Alien Races
By Chris Snellgrove
| Published
When older Star Trek fans began questioning whether the newest spinoff, Starfleet Academy, would ruin the franchise, younger fans called us alarmist. After all, Trek has changed greatly in the last 60 years, so the fact that the new show had a different setting (the titular academy) and a different intended audience (the coveted 18-24 demographic) didn’t inherently mean that it would be bad. However, now that the show has completely ruined two of the franchise’s most iconic aliens (the Betazoids and the Klingons) in the first four episodes, it’s fair to say that skeptical older fans have been completely vindicated.
It all started in Starfleet Academy’s second episode (“Beta Test”), which involved our heroes trying to lure Betazed back into the Federation. This involves wooing planetary president Emerin Sadal, a deaf man who relies on lip reading and sign language (along with some spiffy interpreter droids) to communicate. After a generous offer to make Betazed the new home of Starfleet Academy, he decides to reunite with the Federation, and his two children stay behind; one attends the academy, and one attends the War College.
Bye-Bye, Betazoid Abilities
Despite the weird writing decision to make the leader of the Betazoids a kind of Trump-like figure hiding an empire behind a psionic wall, the president seems like an affable character, and deaf actor Anthony Natale does a great job of bringing him to life. The problem, however, is that the Betazoids (first introduced in Star Trek: The Next Generation) were always fully telepathic. Theoretically, there should be no need for the president to have to rely on lip-reading and sign language because he (like Lwaxana Troi and other full-blooded Betazoids) should be able to read the minds of just about anyone.
However, Starfleet Academy presents the Betazeds as a race of empaths who can only read emotions rather than thoughts. This is more in line with the abilities of Deanna Troi, who served as the ship’s counselor on both the Enterprise-D and the Enterprise-E. She was limited to reading only the emotions of others (something Picard often used for tactical purposes) because she was only half-Betazed, and while there have been some other Betazoids with limited abilities (most notably Lon Suder on Voyager), The Next Generation made it clear that the vast majority of these aliens have Professor X-like telepathic powers.
Therefore, it’s clear that Starfleet Academy just changed a major aspect of one of Star Trek’s most famous aliens, neutering their collective telepathic abilities for no apparent reason. Some fans have frantically tried to come up with theories as to how this happened, such as everyone losing some of their mental powers because of creating and maintaining a powerful psionic wall. But none of that is even alluded to in the episode, making it seem like these writers just did a huge retcon that completely changed the primary thing that made the Betazoids special.
The Klingons Are Now Dumb And Neutered
In the fourth episode of Starfleet Academy (“Vox in Excelso”), the writers also made huge changes to the Klingons: we discover that the Burn (an event that rendered almost all of the dilithium in the galaxy inert) destroyed the Klingon homeworld and most of their Empire because these worlds relied on dilithium reactors to power them. The burn caused those reactors to explode, destroying entire planets and (combined with the Burn causing starships to explode) leaving the Klingons as a race facing extinction.
From a lore perspective, there are plenty of problems with this; as I have written about in more detail, the dilithium reactors shouldn’t have exploded in the first place. The only reason that the starships exploded was that dilithium was being used to keep the matter and antimatter (important for traveling at warp speed) separated. Once they came into contact with each other, the ships instantly exploded.
Putting aside how little explanation this storyline makes, it’s also lazy writing that makes the Klingons look deeply stupid. Even if we accepted that dilithium works as a power source, there are far safer sources like fusion that don’t rely on an increasingly scarce resource (remember, the galaxy was running low on dilithium about 15-20 years before the Burn). It really seems like the writers just wanted to echo Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, where the Klingons’ energy-producing moon of Praxis blew up because these aggressive aliens didn’t take enough safety precautions, resulting in the futuristic analog of the Chernobyl disaster.
Star Trek’s Most Famous Race Rots In Hell
In other words, Starfleet Academy decided to turn Star Trek’s most famous alien race into idiots who hadn’t learned their lesson 800 years earlier and became homeless and nearly extinct because of their ignorance. On top of that, their culture believes that you can only get to Klingon heaven if you die in battle. Killing off the vast majority of these warriors offscreen while they were outside of battle means that, from a Klingon perspective, the writers just sent most of these aliens to Hell!
Now, the most prominent representative of this race is Jay-Den, Starfleet Academy’s Klingon cadet. However, due to the show’s insistence on making every character quirky and special, he’s decidedly un-Klingon-like, preferring pacifism and healing over fighting and conquest. He’s softhearted, softspoken, and (based on the most recent episode) possibly gay, making him unlike any other Klingon that has ever been in Star Trek.
The Softer Side Of… Klingons?
By itself, this isn’t a problem; both Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine centered plenty of awesome stories around Worf, a Klingon who was raised by humans and never felt like he fit in with the rest of this warrior culture. Of course, those stories generally relied on contrasting Worf with other Klingons like his brother or Gowron, both of whom served as the embodiment of this alien race’s values.
Starfleet Academy just unceremoniously killed off most of the Klingons in the galaxy, which changed their culture (they are now nomadic families where everyone has two dads), made them look like complete fools, and left as their token representative someone who is the opposite of traditional Klingons in every way. Jay-Den is an interesting character in certain aspects, and he is played by a talented actor (Karim Diane), but the problem is that he is more than a bit like a KINO; that is, Klingon in name only.
Star Trek In Name Only
That’s kind of the problem with Starfleet Academy in a nutshell: it’s a Star Trek show in name only. They brought in the Betazoids only to take away their signature ability, and they brought in the Klingons just to kill most of these warriors off and replace them with a stuttering soyboy medical student. It obviously begs the question: why try to make a Star Trek series if you are going to just ruin everything that made that franchise great?
If the writers needed empaths rather than telepaths to tell a certain story, they could have just invented a new race rather than relying on Betazoids. If the writers needed a nomadic race in the middle of a depressing diaspora, they could have made new ones rather than ruining the Klingons. Finally, if they just wanted to tell a silly comedy show about space cadets that occasionally veers into shallow melodrama, they could have made something other than a Star Trek show.
Paramount Goes Down With The Ship
Starfleet Academy is a beautiful series filled with talented actors, and some of the creators behind it (especially Tawny Newsome) are equally talented. But the show keeps destroying old lore while ruining legacy characters, all so Paramount can create a series that might as well have been called “This Ain’t Your Daddy’s Hogwarts.” They own the IP, of course, so these executives have every right to change everything that ever made Star Trek special.
But, now that the new show has fallen off the Paramount+ streaming charts altogether, the execs might finally learn a lesson worthy of their onscreen cadets: when you destroy everything the fandom loves, don’t be surprised when they hate what you have created!
Entertainment
Nicole Kidman’s R-Rated Satire On Netflix Is A Masterclass In Manipulation
By Robert Scucci
| Updated
After watching Nicole Kidman’s Before I Go To Sleep on Netflix a couple weeks ago, I needed something that didn’t completely waste her talent. My search led me to 1995’s To Die For, which has such a stacked cast you’d think I was exaggerating if you didn’t check IMDb or Wikipedia yourself. Going as pitch black as a Gus Van Sant comedy can get, To Die For showcases Joaquin Phoenix, Casey Affleck, Kurtwood Smith, Wayne Knight, Matt Dillon, and even David Cronenberg in a brief appearance.
It’s a fourth-wall-breaking film that works as a thriller, comedy, drama, and mockumentary all at once, rolled into a murder mystery centered on Nicole Kidman’s Suzanne Stone, a woman so obsessed with fame and fortune that she throws her entire life away when nobody around her sticks to the script.
Multiple Timelines Effortlessly Intersect
There are two narratives in To Die For that strip away any real sense of mystery from the premise. Through television interviews, we’re introduced to Suzanne Stone, who got off scot-free after her husband, Larry Maretto (Matt Dillon), was murdered. We know she’s involved, maybe even directly responsible, right off the rip, but that’s not what the film is interested in. Instead, we get a full character breakdown of Suzanne and her sociopathic commitment to becoming a TV star. We know Larry is dead, and we know she had something to do with it. The story then rewinds to show us how everything led up to those interviews, introducing everyone she crossed paths with along the way.
Desperate to become a world-famous TV correspondent, Suzanne grows resentful of her husband Larry, despite the fact that he gives up his band and focuses on work so he can support her dreams. The guy does a complete 180, even though he comes from a mob-connected family running multiple successful businesses. In other words, Larry was never a screwup, but he still buckles down when he falls in love with Suzanne because he wants the best for her. That contrast exists purely to show just how unhinged Suzanne is when it comes to chasing clout.
While Larry works his ass off, occasionally hinting that he’d like to start a family, Suzanne takes a job at WWEN, a local cable network, under the supervision of Ed Grant (Wayne Knight), who we learn through interviews is absolutely terrified of her. It’s one thing to be ambitious, but Suzanne is aggressively so, making most people rightfully suspicious of what she’s capable of, including Larry’s sister Janice (Illeana Douglas).
While working her way toward a weather girl position, Suzanne recruits naive high school students for a “Teens Speak Out” documentary she hopes will launch her career. She pulls in a troublemaker named Jimmy (Joaquin Phoenix), who immediately falls under her spell, along with Lydia (Alison Folland), who admires her, and Russell (Casey Affleck), who was basically forced to participate. With three teenagers eating out of the palm of her hand, Suzanne starts plotting how to get rid of Larry, who she believes is holding her back because he wants a traditional life she finds completely suffocating.
A Masterclass In Manipulation
If I had to compare Nicole Kidman’s Suzanne to anybody, it would be Reese Witherspoon’s Tracy Flick from Election. She’s beautiful, driven, and easily the most dangerous person you could cross paths with if you happen to be in her way of her goals. Suzanne’s ruthlessness is initially softened by how charming and driven she is when she makes her first impressions. When you apply that level of manipulation to a group of teenagers, it’s only a matter of time before they start doing exactly what you want. This dynamic comes to a head when Suzanne fully sinks her hooks into Jimmy.
But nobody here is innocent. Suzanne may be the mastermind who sets everything in motion, but everyone else is self-aware enough to know better. That’s where half the fun comes from. Jimmy might be infatuated, but he still makes his own choices. Suzanne sizes him up, offers him a version of the life he thinks he wants, and he goes along with it despite the consequences because he’s short-sighted and naive. It’s fascinating to watch because at any point, anyone in Suzanne’s orbit could have just said “nah” and walked away. But they don’t.
One of the more uniquely structured black comedies I’ve seen in a while, To Die For is equal parts morbid and hilarious. Every character is painfully short-sighted, and they all become worse versions of themselves the moment they fall for Suzanne’s tricks. And while you should hate Suzanne for being an objectively terrible person, you still end up rooting for her because she’s living life on her own terms, just in the most antisocial way possible.
To Die For is currently streaming on Netflix.
Entertainment
NYT Connections Sports Edition today: Hints and answers for April 19, 2026
Today’s Connections: Sports Edition will be a little easier if you love baseball.
As we’ve shared in previous hints stories, this is a version of the popular New York Times word game that seeks to test the knowledge of sports fans.
Like the original Connections, the game is all about finding the “common threads between words.” And just like Wordle, Connections resets after midnight and each new set of words gets trickier and trickier — so we’ve served up some hints and tips to get you over the hurdle.
If you just want to be told today’s puzzle, you can jump to the end of this article for the latest Connections solution. But if you’d rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.
What is Connections: Sports Edition?
The NYT‘s latest daily word game has launched in association with The Athletic, the New York Times property that provides the publication’s sports coverage. The sports Connections can be played on both web browsers and mobile devices and require players to group four words that share something in common.
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Each puzzle features 16 words, and each grouping of words is split into four categories. These sets could comprise anything from book titles, software, country names, etc. Even though multiple words will seem like they fit together, there’s only one correct answer.
If a player gets all four words in a set correct, those words are removed from the board. Guess wrong and it counts as a mistake — players get up to four mistakes before the game ends.
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Players can also rearrange and shuffle the board to make spotting connections easier. Additionally, each group is color-coded with yellow being the easiest, followed by green, blue, and purple. Like Wordle, you can share the results with your friends on social media.
Mashable Top Stories
Here’s a hint for today’s Connections: Sports Edition categories
Want a hint about the categories without being told the categories? Then give these a try:
Here are today’s Connections: Sports Edition categories
Need a little extra help? Today’s connections fall into the following categories:
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Yellow: AL East Teams
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Green: First Words of Football Positions
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Blue: Premier League Managers
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Purple: Nicknames for the Dodgers Franchise, Over Time
Looking for Wordle today? Here’s the answer to today’s Wordle.
Ready for the answers? This is your last chance to turn back and solve today’s puzzle before we reveal the solutions.
Drumroll, please!
The solution to today’s Connections: Sports Edition #573 is…
What is the answer to Connections: Sports Edition today?
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AL East Teams — BLUE JAYS, ORIOLES, RAYS, YANKEES
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First Words of Football Positions — DEFENSIVE, RUNNING, TIGHT, WIDE
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Premier League Managers — EMERY, GUARDIOLA, MOYES, SLOT
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Nicknames for the Dodgers Franchise, Over Time — BRIDEGROOMS, DODGERS, ROBINS, SUPERBAS
Don’t feel down if you didn’t manage to guess it this time. There will be new sports Connections for you to stretch your brain with tomorrow, and we’ll be back again to guide you with more helpful hints.
Are you also playing NYT Strands? See hints and answers for today’s Strands.
If you’re looking for more puzzles, Mashable’s got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.
Not the day you’re after? Here’s the solution to yesterday’s Connections.
Entertainment
NYT Connections hints today: Clues, answers for April 19, 2026
The NYT Connections puzzle today is not too difficult if you have a sweet tooth.
Connections is the one of the most popular New York Times word games that’s captured the public’s attention. The game is all about finding the “common threads between words.” And just like Wordle, Connections resets after midnight and each new set of words gets trickier and trickier—so we’ve served up some hints and tips to get you over the hurdle.
If you just want to be told today’s puzzle, you can jump to the end of this article for today’s Connections solution. But if you’d rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.
What is Connections?
The NYT‘s latest daily word game has become a social media hit. The Times credits associate puzzle editor Wyna Liu with helping to create the new word game and bringing it to the publications’ Games section. Connections can be played on both web browsers and mobile devices and require players to group four words that share something in common.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.
Each puzzle features 16 words and each grouping of words is split into four categories. These sets could comprise of anything from book titles, software, country names, etc. Even though multiple words will seem like they fit together, there’s only one correct answer.
If a player gets all four words in a set correct, those words are removed from the board. Guess wrong and it counts as a mistake—players get up to four mistakes until the game ends.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.
Players can also rearrange and shuffle the board to make spotting connections easier. Additionally, each group is color-coded with yellow being the easiest, followed by green, blue, and purple. Like Wordle, you can share the results with your friends on social media.
Mashable 101 Fan Fave: Nominate your favorite creators today
Mashable Top Stories
Here’s a hint for today’s Connections categories
Want a hint about the categories without being told the categories? Then give these a try:
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Yellow: Lippy
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Green: Gowns
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Blue: Played in Vegas
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Purple: Sweet treats
Here are today’s Connections categories
Need a little extra help? Today’s connections fall into the following categories:
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Yellow: Cheeky
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Green: Dress measurements
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Blue: Cards in Texas Hold ‘Em
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Purple: Last words of candy brands in the singular
Looking for Wordle today? Here’s the answer to today’s Wordle.
Ready for the answers? This is your last chance to turn back and solve today’s puzzle before we reveal the solutions.
Drumroll, please!
The solution to today’s Connections #1043 is…
What is the answer to Connections today
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Cheeky: ARCH, FRESH, SASSY, WISE
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Dress measurements: BUST, HIPS, LENGTH, WAIST
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Cards in Texas Hold ‘Em: FLOP, HOLE, RIVER, TURN
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Last words of candy brands in the singular: CAP, DUD, KID, MINT
Don’t feel down if you didn’t manage to guess it this time. There will be new Connections for you to stretch your brain with tomorrow, and we’ll be back again to guide you with more helpful hints.
Are you also playing NYT Strands? Get all the Strands hints you need for today’s puzzle.
If you’re looking for more puzzles, Mashable’s got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.
Not the day you’re after? Here’s the solution to yesterday’s Connections.
Late goal helps Toronto FC salvage tie, point vs. Austin FC
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