Star Trek: Starfleet Academy Character Undergoes Major Transformation

Warning: SPOILERS for Star Trek: Starfleet Academy Season 1, Episode 9 - "300th Night"Star Trek: Starfleet Academy confirms one of its fan-favorite main characters is undergoing huge changes. Directed by Jonathan Frakes and written by Kirsten Beyer from a story by Beyer and Kenneth Lin, Star Trek: Starfleet Academy episode 9, "300th Night," marks the end of Starfleet Academy's cadets' first year of studies in San Francisco.

Caleb Mir can't enjoy the end of Starfleet Academy's school year because he has no home to go to for the break, and he still hasn't found his mother, Anisha Mir (Tatiana Maslany). That is, until Series Acclimation Mil aka SAM (Kerrice Brooks) inspired Caleb, who was able to unlock three years of secret messages from his mom, including Anisha's whereabouts on Ukeck.

SAM wouldn't let Caleb steal a shuttle and find his mother by himself, while Genesis Lythe (Bella Shepard) and Darem Raymi (George Hawkins), ended up coming along for Mir's illegal rescue mission. Throughout Star Trek: Starfleet Academy episode 9, SAM displayed new behavior, wants, and desires that show the Emissary of Kasq isn't quite the person she used to be.

Series Acclimation Mil Is Becoming A Different Character In Star Trek: Starfleet Academy

Series Acclimation Mil lashed out at Genesis, telling her, "You don't know me! Or what I do," in Star Trek: Starfleet Academy episode 9, and it's true. We don't really know SAM because this is a new Series Acclimation Mil. The original SAM died when her Makers (Chiwetel Ejiofor) deactivated her in Star Trek: Starfleet Academy episode 8, "The Life of the Stars."

SAM 2.0 lived a very different life and had different experiences. She was raised on Kasq for 17 (Kasq) years and is loved by The Doctor (Robert Picardo), who became her father. SAM 2.0 shares her predecessor's memories and is physically identical, but she is in the profound position of having returned to Starfleet Academy, which knew a different version of her.

Genesis was shocked when SAM abruptly told her that she had applied for a solo room next semester. Genesis was even more flabbergasted that SAM was so gung-ho about helping Caleb steal a shuttle, which he couldn't have done without SAM's digital intellect calculating how to break free of the USS Athena's warp bubble and entering a transwarp conduit to Ukeck safely.

This is likely the tip of the iceberg in terms of how Series Acclimation Mil has changed from the SAM everyone knew in Star Trek: Starfleet Academy's first 8 episodes. While in many ways, it's still the same SAM audiences came to know and love, version 2.0 of Series Acclimation Mil is also a new person exploring different desires and directions in her life.

Why SAM's Changes In Star Trek: Starfleet Academy Are An Upgrade

The changes Series Acclimation Mil is undergoing are a step in the right direction for Starfleet's first holographic cadet. The O.G. SAM was lovable and won over her fans and friends with her eccentricities, but SAM, in her previous form, was essentially an infant. SAM was only created four months before joining Starfleet Academy. She had the body and programming of a 17-year-old, but without the requisite life experience.

SAM 2.0 is a more complete person than her prior incarnation, and she has her father, The Doctor, for love and support. What's sad is that, because the new SAM has the previous version's memories, Series Acclimation Mil realized, "I don't like myself." SAM 2.0 wants to undo the mistakes of the O.G. SAM and be better because she's ashamed of what she was before.

The original SAM's irrepressible effervescence made her fun to watch, but her previous form wasn't sustainable long-term at Starfleet Academy, or in Starfleet if she had graduated. SAM 2.0 has more life experience and more self-knowledge, but she is also still a teenager, with an innate desire to push boundaries and rebel. Yet from how SAM hugged Caleb on Ukeck, she is still, heartwarmingly, the same SAM where it counts.

It will be fascinating to see how Star Trek: Starfleet Academy explores SAM 2.0's feelings about being the Emissary of Kasq. The new SAM remembers her previous version's self-discovery as an Emissary like Captain Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks), but perhaps this new incarnation of Series Acclimation Mil is better equipped for the daunting task of being her people's Emissary.