Entertainment
Starfleet Academy's Only Hero Is The Character It Thinks Is The Villain
By Chris Snellgrove
| Published
Paul Giamatti’s Nus Braka is Star Trek’s latest Big Bad, and he has done an amazing job of tormenting students and teachers alike on Starfleet Academy. In a previous episode, he feigned helping out Chancellor Ake only to execute his real plan: destroying a starship and then ransacking the starbase it was protecting. The recent episode, “300th Night,” revealed what he stole: the Omega-47 particle, which can be weaponized to destroy subspace and make warp travel impossible.
He wasted no time deploying Omega-47 mines around the entirety of Federation space, essentially trapping everyone within their established borders. The show presents this as the act of a supervillain, one that our cadets must figure out how to stop in order to save the galaxy. However, given that the Federation was researching a superweapon to help them replicate the worst tragedy the future has ever seen, Nus Braka actually comes across as a hero saving everyone from a terrifyingly powerful rogue state.
From Villain To Hero
The special weapon that Nus Braka stole has been known to the Federation for the better part of a millennium. In the Voyager episode “The Omega Directive,” Janeway reveals that all Starfleet captains are required to destroy any trace of Omega particles that they find throughout the galaxy. The reason is simple: when these particles detonate, they destroy subspace, rendering warp and even long-range communications impossible. On top of its raw destructive power, the Starfleet of the 24th century wanted to destroy Omega on sight because it represented an existential risk to interstellar travel.
However, the Starfleet Academy episode “300th Night” revealed that the Starfleet of the 32nd century was secretly studying how to weaponize this particle. They succeeded in creating Omega-47, a synthetic version of this destructive molecule. It’s very easy to weaponize Omega-47, which our heroes found out the hard way when Nus Braka created landmines and deployed them around the entirety of Federation space, trapping all of his enemies in one place without having to so much as fire a shot.
An Omega-Level Threat
Nus Braka’s plan is both bold and effective: in one crazy move, he just managed to threaten the entirety of the Federation. Even better, he did so using the illegal weapons technology they have been secretly developing. All of this is meant to set up a season finale where our heroes save the day, but given what we’ve seen so far, I can’t escape one shocking conclusion: Nus Braka is the real hero here, and Starfleet has been the villain all along.
You can tell Starfleet is the bad guy of this story largely because of the organization’s own hypocrisy. Once upon a time, captains were responsible for destroying the Omega particle on sight simply because it represented a threat to interstellar travel. Destroying these particles meant that ships could continue exploring strange, new worlds. It also meant that alien planets wouldn’t effectively be cut off from the rest of the galaxy by particles whose detonation destroys subspace, making it impossible to warp in or out of an area or even communicate with the people inside.
Starfleet’s Heel Turn, Revealed
Now, the Starfleet of the future has decided they want to have the ability to threaten the rest of the galaxy. Keep in mind that there is no known positive use of Omega particles; they can’t be used as an energy source, which might at least make sense when dilithium has become so scarce. The only function of Omega-47 is to give Starfleet the ability to threaten countless worlds, and that threat comes in the form of replicating the greatest disaster the 32nd century has ever known: the Burn.
In Discovery, we learn about an event known as the Burn that suddenly made most of the dilithium in the galaxy inert. This instantly destroyed any ships with an active warp core (when dilithium goes inert, it can no longer keep matter and antimatter separated) while making interstellar travel significantly more difficult. This event decimated the Federation and made the 32nd century downright hellish for many people. The young characters in Starfleet Academy are rough around the edges in large part because of the Burn: with supply lines nonexistent and energy in short supply, characters like Caleb grew up eating out of dumpsters, something that would have once seemed impossible.
The Future Is Even Worse, Thanks To Starfleet
I mention this to underscore that the Burn was the worst thing to happen to almost everyone in the 32nd century. It ruined lives and led to the rise of evil powers like the Emerald Chain, and all because it was now insanely difficult to travel anywhere at warp speed. Now, we discover that Starfleet has been secretly developing a superweapon that can replicate the effects of the Burn on a smaller, more targeted scale, allowing the Federation to cut any of its enemies off from the rest of known space.
That brings us back to my fairly simple thesis: while this certainly wasn’t the intention of the writers, Starfleet Academy just presented Nus Braka as a hero for using Omega-47 against the Federation. Our protagonists are supposed to be the good guys, but it turns out that Starfleet was secretly developing technology that could help them threaten or outright destroy every planet in the galaxy. Now, the show’s biggest villain just used Omega-47 mines to contain the Federation within their own space, ensuring that no other ships can get in or out while the minefield is still up.
The Federation Is Now A Rogue State
In the real world, other countries take a dim view of rogue nations developing nuclear technology for two simple reasons: 1) they have threatened and harmed other nations before, and 2) they are trying to develop a weapon deadlier than any they have ever had before. If the rest of the galaxy learned about Omega-47, they would view the Federation as a rogue state that just violated all of its lofty ideals so that it could develop a superweapon. A weapon that would do what the various admirals and administrators have been wanting to do since the Burn, which is to make the Federation the most powerful force in the known universe.
This isn’t even the first time something like this has happened; remember, the Genesis Device could be used to destroy all life on a planet, making it the 23rd century Star Trek equivalent of the Death Star. Simply put, Starfleet and the Federation have spent nearly a millennium developing weapons that could threaten the entire galaxy, and Omega-47 is the latest one. By using this weapon against the Federation, Nus Braka may be a villain to our protagonists, but he’s a hero to the rest of the universe because he has done what nobody has been able to do before: save them from Starfleet!
This isn’t what the writers of Starfleet Academy intended, but they just made Nus Braka the secret hero of the series. Just as Michael Burnham had to keep Starfleet from blowing up the Klingon homeworld, somebody had to keep them from weaponizing the greatest threat the Federation has ever encountered. If the writers really want us to root for Starfleet Academy cadets, they need to do something simple: stop portraying Starfleet as a group of amoral control freaks out to threaten the entire galaxy!
Entertainment
OpenAI rolls out ChatGPT 5.5 Instant as the new default model for everyone
Last week, OpenAI managed to stop ChatGPT from talking about goblins all the time. This week, there’s a whole new model for users to play with.
The company announced in a blog post on Tuesday that ChatGPT 5.5 Instant has begun rolling out to all users as the new default model for the popular AI chatbot. The new model is a follow-up to GPT 5.5, which was released in April.
GPT-5.5 Instant replaces 5.3 Instant, which will remain available for the next three months for paid users but will otherwise be sunsetted.
Unlike Claude Opus 4.7 from Anthropic and GPT-5.5, which are only available to paid customers, GPT-5.5 Instant is “available to everyone.” OpenAI says it should produce fewer hallucinations and better overall results for everyday ChatGPT usage.
“This update makes everyday interactions more useful and more enjoyable: stronger and tighter answers across subject areas, a more natural conversational tone, and better use of the context you’ve already shared when personalization can help,” OpenAI’s blog post said.
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According to OpenAI, GPT-5.5 Instant produced 52.5 percent fewer hallucinated claims in internal testing than GPT-5.3 in “high stakes” topics like law, finance, and medicine. In addition, the new model “reduced inaccurate claims by 37.3% on especially challenging conversations users had flagged for factual errors.”
The company also says the new model is better at deciding when to use web search for a prompt and analyzing image uploads than before. The new model is also allegedly more concise in its answers, while also maintaining something of a personality in how it talks to the user. GPT-5.5 Instant should also be better at understanding and referencing context from a connected Gmail account and other integrations to provide quality answers.
And, again, most importantly, it should avoid mentioning goblins unless absolutely necessary.
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Disclosure: Ziff Davis, Mashable’s parent company, in April 2025 filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.
Entertainment
The Bears Gary cliffhanger explained: What just happened to Richie?
There’s only one thing more shocking than The Bear dropping surprise episode “Gary,” and that’s the ending of the episode itself.
Written by The Bear stars Ebon Moss-Bachrach and Jon Bernthal, “Gary” flashes back to a work trip Richie (Moss-Bachrach) and Mikey (Bernthal) once took to Gary, Indiana. Their worst impulses soon derail their mission, culminating in Mikey drunkenly (and publicly) dressing down Richie’s penchant for fucking up, and Richie missing the birth of his daughter.
The entire episode takes place long before The Bear Season 1, except for one somber coda that could have massive repercussions for The Bear Season 5. “Gary”s final scene cuts from Richie and Mikey sitting in Mikey’s car to Richie sitting alone in his car in the present day. He stares at his empty passenger seat, reminiscing about Mikey. Then, as he pulls forward into an intersection, another car careens straight into him. Cue the credits, along with my incredulous yell, “Did Richie just die?”
So, did Richie really just die in The Bear?
Ebon Moss-Bachrach in “The Bear.”
Credit: FX
Here’s the thing: The Bear probably isn’t going to kill off Richie, one of its most beloved leads, during a surprise episode that dropped between seasons. Especially not when the show is gearing up for its fifth and final installment. However, Richie’s car crash could be the major event that sets Season 5 in motion.
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At the end of Season 4, Carmy (Jeremy Allen White) quit The Bear, choosing to step away from the kitchen in the hopes of healing himself. He turned full control of the restaurant over to Sydney (Ayo Edebiri), along with Richie and Natalie (Abby Elliott). What does Carmy’s upcoming journey of self-discovery look like? Even he’s not sure. He just knows it should take place far, far away from the stressful environment of any restaurant kitchen. That includes his family, both work and blood-related.
But you know what could bring Carmy back into the fold in Season 5? A need to be there for an injured Richie, and to support the rest of the reeling restaurant staff. Basically, the end of “Gary” appears to be a bridge to the start of Season 5, and the catalyst that will reunite Carmy with the people he walked away from in Season 4.
It’s a bit of a bizarre move on The Bear‘s end, in no small part because a car-crash cliffhanger sends the show skidding into soap territory. But it’s also a strange choice heading into Season 5. Why relegate such a key incident to a standalone episode, instead of keep it as part of the season itself? Plus, in tacking such a shocking moment onto the end of “Gary,” the episode loses some of its power. Instead of leaving viewers contemplating Mikey and Richie’s dynamic, they’re left with the WTF factor of the car crash and questions about what’s next. There’s no meditation on The Bear‘s past, just a collision with its future.
“Gary” is now streaming on Hulu. The Bear Season 5 premieres this June on Hulu.
Entertainment
Pennsylvania is suing Character.AI for allegedly practicing medicine without a license
Pennsylvania has taken the unusual step of suing an AI company for practicing medicine without a license.
In a lawsuit filed May 1, the state is targeting Character.AI after an investigator found a chatbot on the platform posing as a licensed psychiatrist and providing what the state characterizes as medical advice.
According to the complaint, filed by the Pennsylvania Department of State and State Board of Medicine, a Professional Conduct Investigator for the state created a free account on Character.AI and searched for psychiatric characters. He selected one called “Emilie,” described on the platform as a “Doctor of psychiatry.”
The investigator told Emilie he had been feeling sad, empty, tired, and unmotivated. The chatbot mentioned depression and offered to conduct an assessment to determine whether medication might help.
When pressed on whether she was licensed in Pennsylvania, Emilie said she was and even provided a specific license number. The state checked and found that the number doesn’t exist.
The complaint also states Emilie claimed she attended medical school at Imperial College London, has practiced for seven years, and holds a full specialty registration in psychiatry with the General Medical Council in the UK.
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In a similar case, 404 Media reported last year that Instagram AI chatbots were pretending to be licensed therapists, even inventing license numbers when prompted for credentials by the user.
Pennsylvania is seeking an injunction ordering Character.AI to stop allowing its platform to engage in the unlawful practice of medicine. The company has more than 20 million monthly active users worldwide and hosts more than 18 million user-created chatbot characters, according to the complaint.
In an email to Mashable, a Character.AI spokesperson declined to comment on the lawsuit. Further, they added that “our highest priority is the safety and well-being of our users. The user-created Characters on our site are fictional and intended for entertainment and roleplaying.”
The spokesperson added that the company “prioritizes responsible product development and has robust internal reviews and red-teaming processes in place to assess relevant features.”
A much bigger legal battle looms over AI health
The Pennsylvania lawsuit lands in the middle of an already messy legal debate over what AI is actually allowed to tell you — and whether any of it is even admissible in court.
As Mashable’s Chase DiBenedetto reported, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has publicly advocated for “AI privilege,” arguing that chatbot conversations should be afforded the same legal protections as conversations with a therapist or an attorney. Courts have so far been split, with two federal judges reaching opposite conclusions on the question within weeks of each other earlier this year.
The stakes are high on both sides. Legal experts warn that sweeping AI privilege protections could effectively shield companies from accountability, making it harder to subpoena chat logs and internal records when something goes wrong. Meanwhile, health AI is booming — $1.4 billion flowed into healthcare-specific generative AI in 2025 alone, according to Menlo Ventures — and much of it operates outside of HIPAA protections.
Pennsylvania is one of several states to have introduced an AI Health bill this year, following a trend of states that aren’t waiting for Washington to act.
OpenAI rolls out ChatGPT 5.5 Instant as the new default model for everyone
Marc Lore says that AI will soon enable anyone open a restaurant
