Entertainment
Star Trek: Starfleet Academy Finally Released A Good Episode, But Is Anyone Still Watching?
By Chris Snellgrove
| Published
Like many critics, I felt like Starfleet Academy had a very rocky start, one that presented the show as a broad, lowbrow comedy for juvenile (in both senses of the word) audiences. To my astonishment, the show steadily improved as we warped through Season 1: the vulgar slang (mostly) disappeared, the thin characters fleshed out, and the comedy got minimized. At its worst, early Starfleet Academy felt like Beavis and Butt-Head meets Doctor Who. Now, each adventure feels like one of Voyager’s wackiest episodes, albeit one with the melodrama and fan service turned up to 200 percent.
The most recent episode, “300th Night,” is a new high for the series, in large part because it builds upon the mythology laid down by the very first episode. In this tale, Caleb finds his mother while the Federation finds itself at the mercy of Nus Braka’s deadliest attack yet. All of this is setting up what should be a satisfying season finale of Starfleet Academy next week, but unless that episode can win back the viewers it already lost, this show may be completely doomed.
Mommy Issues? More Like Mommy Subscriptions
The first episode of Starfleet Academy saddled main character Caleb with some seriously sad lore: his mother was unfairly busted by Starfleet, forcing Caleb to grow up on the run from Federation authorities. After he learned that she escaped prison, Caleb used the resources of Starfleet to try to reach out to Mommy Dearest. He never found her, but in “300th Night,” she is located on a planet that is about to be invaded by Nus Braka’s merry band of pirates.
With all of Starfleet being recalled to Betazed, Caleb is forced to steal a shuttle to go to his mother’s rescue. However, most of his fellow space cadets invite themselves along, and the best and brightest youngsters in the galaxy make a rough landing in a real hive of scum and villainy. There, they find Caleb’s mom and more trouble than they can handle, and Chancellor Ake must decide between saving the students she swore to protect and risking an intergalactic incident.
Starfleet Academy At Its Best
I was very hard on early episodes of Starfleet Academy, and for good reason: the show continuously used humor as a crutch, and the humor was often as juvenile as an episode of Jackass. Additionally, the show took big swings when it came to Star Trek lore, but the bad didn’t always connect. For every successful homage to past episodes of Deep Space Nine or Voyager, we’d get something controversial, like an episode revealing that most Klingons in the galaxy died (off-screen, no less) in their sleep, which means their souls went straight to hell (turns out it was not a good day to die).
Recently, however, Starfleet Academy has learned how to walk and sometimes even run without the crutches: most of the humor has been replaced with more dramatic beats, resulting in characters that feel more like serious cadets and less like sparring siblings. The show stopped making huge changes to franchise lore, leaning instead into episodes that follow up on previous adventures from Deep Space Nine and Voyager. The cherry on top of this is that the show seems to have finally learned proper pacing, resulting in tense episodes that are genuinely rewarding to watch.
In my always humble opinion, “300th Night” is the best episode of Starfleet so far. It continues the recent trend of following up on older stories, in this case, carving a new tale out of Voyager’s infamous Omega particle. The episode also reunites Caleb with his mom, deepens his relationship with Tamira, and establishes Nus Braka as one of the most effective villains in Star Trek history. The result is an episode that you can enjoy as a chunk of series mythology, as a character piece for Caleb, or simply as a taut thriller in its own right.
The Talaxian Furfly In The Ointment
Don’t pour that Saurian Brandy too soon, kids: “300th Night” still has a few distracting flaws in it. The first is SAM, whose childlike character recently gained 17 years of life experience, during which the holographic Doctor served as her adoptive father. The previous episode implied that she would be very different, and SAM in “300th Night” says she didn’t like her old self. However, her new self isn’t very different: between giving long, unfunny bits of word salad and screaming half her lines, the new SAM seems inexplicably more annoying than the old one.
SAM’s more annoying moments are a reminder of a depressing fact: while Starfleet Academy is relying less on comedy than ever before, the attempts at humor that we do get are still exceedingly subpar. Other less-than-satisfying comic bits include the return of glitter vomit and Jet Reno getting a few “well, that just happened”-style quips. However, to the show’s credit, these bits of bad comedy are few and far between, and “300th Night” mostly focuses on the high drama of Caleb and his buddies breaking all the rules to make the galaxy’s most unlikely family reunion finally happen.
A Day Late And A Bar Of Latinum Short
As a Starfleet Academy hater from the beginning, I was surprised at the thought that kept bouncing around my head during “300th Night”: “Why the heck did the show wait so long to get so good?” This latest episode builds on plot elements laid down in the first episode, but this most recent adventure is infinitely more polished, led by actors and writers who are infinitely more confident in these characters. At long last, Starfleet Academy has achieved the impossible: it is now a good enough Star Trek show that I don’t mind recommending it to a friend.
However, the show now finds itself in a state of limbo: it hasn’t been renewed beyond Season 2, and big changes at Paramount have made it increasingly likely it will be renewed. This is a bitter irony, but I’m convinced the show would already have been renewed if its early episodes focused more on the dramatic storytelling of “300th Night” and less on broad humor and lame attempts to appeal to young audiences. Now, Starfleet Academy may have finally transformed into a decent Star Trek show, but it won’t live long or prosper because embarrassing early attempts to appeal to new fans continuously drove everyone away.
Too busy chasing new fans to satisfy any of the old ones? That’s Alex Kurtzman at his best, baby.
Entertainment
Hurdle hints and answers for April 12, 2026
If you like playing daily word games like Wordle, then Hurdle is a great game to add to your routine.
There are five rounds to the game. The first round sees you trying to guess the word, with correct, misplaced, and incorrect letters shown in each guess. If you guess the correct answer, it’ll take you to the next hurdle, providing the answer to the last hurdle as your first guess. This can give you several clues or none, depending on the words. For the final hurdle, every correct answer from previous hurdles is shown, with correct and misplaced letters clearly shown.
An important note is that the number of times a letter is highlighted from previous guesses does necessarily indicate the number of times that letter appears in the final hurdle.
Mashable 101 Fan Fave: Nominate your favorite creators today
If you find yourself stuck at any step of today’s Hurdle, don’t worry! We have you covered.
Hurdle Word 1 hint
Royalty.
Hurdle Word 1 answer
QUEEN
Mashable Top Stories
Hurdle Word 2 hint
A huge fight.
Hurdle Word 2 Answer
BRAWL
Mashable 101 Fan Fave: Nominate your favorite creators today
Hurdle Word 3 hint
Rope.
Hurdle Word 3 answer
NOOSE
Hurdle Word 4 hint
A particle.
Hurdle Word 4 answer
QUARK
Final Hurdle hint
An extension.
Hurdle Word 5 answer
ANNEX
If you’re looking for more puzzles, Mashable’s got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.
Entertainment
The best Hulu deals and bundles in April 2026
HULU BUNDLES: Hulu is offering a range of bundle deals so you can stream from its impressive library without breaking the bank.
The best Hulu deals and bundles in April 2026:
There’s a wide range of excellent shows and films to watch on Hulu. From The Testaments to season two of Paradise, it’s a library that’s full of options to keep you entertained this spring.
If these have caught your eye and have you itching to sign up for Hulu, we’re here to help you get the best deal. Outside of the standard ad-supported and ad free plans, there are quite a few bundle deals available with Hulu that are worth exploring if you’re looking to save some cash. This includes the Disney+, Hulu, and HBO Max package.
‘Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice’ review: Time-traveling gangster comedy is a must-see crowd-pleaser
Below you can find details on Hulu’s best bundles at the moment — alongside information on both its ad-supported and ad free plans, if you just want the basics — offering you a way to save on the service right now.
Best Disney+ bundle deal
$12.99 per month with ads
Why we like it
For those interested in the ad-supported Disney+ and Hulu Bundle, which sets you up with Disney+ alongside Hulu, it starts at $12.99 per month. If you’d prefer the Premium ad-free version of this plan, this jumps to $19.99 per month.
Best HBO Max bundle deal
$19.99/month with ads, $32.99/month ad-free
Why we like it
This is one of the best Hulu bundles available at the moment. Starting at $19.99 per month, this bundle grants you access to Hulu, Disney+, and HBO Max’s streaming services for a much lower price than what you’d pay for the three of them separately. It’s an incredible deal to take advantage of, especially if you’ve already got Disney+ and HBO Max subscriptions. There are two plans to choose from with this bundle, and they are:
Best student deal
Hulu with ads for $1.99/month
Why we like it
If you’re a student enrolled at a university, you can score a Hulu (with ads) plan for even lower than the above bundles. Hulu’s Student Deal gives eligible college students the ability to buy a Hulu (with ads) plan for just $1.99 per month. Hulu notes that the deal lasts “so long as student enrollment status remains verified,” then it goes back up to the standard monthly price.
Best ESPN bundle deal
Why we like it
Alongside the big Hulu, Disney+, and HBO Max bundle, Hulu also has plans for sports fans that throw in ESPN Select or ESPN Unlimited. According to ESPN, “ESPN Select includes ESPN+ content only. Fans who want ESPN+ exclusively may subscribe to the ESPN Select plan. ESPN Unlimited includes all of the ESPN networks and services, including ESPN+.”
The Disney+, Hulu, ESPN Unlimited Bundle, which has ads, is available for $35.99 per month. The Disney+, Hulu, ESPN Unlimited premium bundle without ads is available for $44.99 per month.
Mashable Deals
Hulu’s monthly plans
If you’re just looking to jump straight into Hulu’s library without any fancy bundles, there are a couple of subscription options to consider. The ad-supported tier comes in at $11.99 per month, but you’ll get your first month free, which is a great way to test the waters and see if it’s the right fit for you. If you want to go ad free, that’ll cost you $18.99 per month. Unfortunately, this plan does not offer a free trial like its ad-supported sibling.
If you really want to go big on a streaming investment, there’s the Hulu + Live TV plan. This costs a whopping $89.99 per month for its ad-supported plan, but comes with plenty to keep you busy. Hulu + Live TV (with ads) gets you access to 95+ channels, unlimited DVR, Disney+ (with ads), ESPN Select (with ads), and Hulu (with ads). If you want to go even bigger with the ad-free plan — which offers Hulu (no ads), Disney+ (no ads), and ESPN Select (with ads) alongside Live TV — it’ll cost you $99.99 per month. The ad-supported plan also offers a free trial, but for just three days instead.
Wondering what to watch once you get set up with a Hulu plan or bundle? We’re here to help with that as well. Have a look at our roundups of the 30 best comedies on Hulu, the 25 best sci-fi movies on Hulu, and the 26 best horror movies on Hulu to start building your watchlist. And if you’re in the mood to binge-watch a show, check out our breakdown of the 25 best shows on Hulu.
Entertainment
The DJI Mini 5 Pro drone is down to its record-low price at Amazon — save over $500 this weekend
SAVE $500: As of April 11, the DJI Mini 5 Pro Fly More Combo is on sale for $1,089 at Amazon. That’s over $500 off the list price and the best-ever price at Amazon.
$1,099
at Amazon
$1,599
Save $500
The 2026 drone market is currently in a weird state of flux. Legislative pressure is mounting on DJI imports. We’ve moved past the phase of uncertainty into genuine panic buying before stock disappears for good.
Any sort of deal during this frantic period is very much welcome. Any sort of deal down to a record-low price cannot be ignored.
As of April 11, the DJI Mini 5 Pro Fly More Combo is down to $1,089 at Amazon — its all-time low and over $500 off the list price for a limited time.
Mashable Deals
The Mini 5 Pro remains the champion of the lightweight category. For creators, the one-inch CMOS sensor is the star of the show, delivering 4K HDR at 60fps that looks like it belongs on a cinema screen. The 360-degree Nightscape sensing maps obstacles in low light while the specialized Nighttime Return-to-Home ensures your investment doesn’t end up as a permanent resident of a neighbor’s tree.
Mashable Deals
We’ve monitored this price point across several sale cycles, and this looks like the floor. If you’re a content creator looking to future-proof your kit with a drone that doesn’t require a commercial pilot’s license, this is the deal to snipe before stock drops.
We’re not encouraging panic buying, but we do believe in tactical shopping — and there’s never been a better time to invest in this versatile drone.
Hurdle hints and answers for April 12, 2026
Sharks' playoff plans take hit in shootout loss to Canucks
