Published Feb 5, 2026, 6:00 AM EST
John Orquiola is a New & Classic TV Editor, Senior Writer, and Interviewer with a special focus on Star Trek. John has over 4,000 published articles at SR, and he has interviewed the biggest names in Star Trek on the red carpet and VIP events, among other beloved shows, movies, and franchises.
Warning: SPOILERS for Star Trek: Starfleet Academy Season 1, Episode 5 - "Series Acclimation Mil"Star Trek: Starfleet Academy episode 5's massive and long-awaited Star Trek: Deep Space Nine cameo is fully explained by Tawny Newsome and Cirroc Lofton. Written by Kirsten Beyer and Tawny Newsome, and directed by Larry Teng, Star Trek: Starfleet Academy episode 5 is a moving and heartfelt tribute to the legacy of Avery Brooks as Captain Benjamin Sisko in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
In Star Trek: Starfleet Academy episode 5, Series Acclimation Mil aka SAM (Kerrice Brooks) investigates Captain Sisko's disappearance at the end of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Aiding SAM in her quest to understand the Emissary are Professor Illa Dax (Tawny Newsome) and Jake Sisko (Cirroc Lofton), who give SAM intimate insight into Benjamin.
In an exclusive interview with ScreenRant's John Orquiola, Tawny Newsome and Cirroc Lofton explain the whole story of Avery Brooks' participation in Star Trek: Starfleet Academy episode 5, the source of Captain Sisko's climactic voice-over, and how Avery passed the torch as the Emissary to Kerrice Brooks (no relation). Read their quotes below:
ScreenRant: Avery's voice-over: Where did it come from? How did you make it happen? Was Avery ever approached to appear?
Tawny Newsome: So we knew from the beginning that the best way to honor Sisko and honor Mr. Brooks himself was with his blessing and with his involvement, whatever he wanted that to be. So, through Cirroc’s help, through his relationship with Mr. Brooks, it was actually Cirroc's idea to use this recording that I'll let him talk about. But we knew from jump. We were like, ‘We need him to be on board and him to know that this is a celebration and an homage to him.’
Cirroc Lofton: I just had the idea that it would be great to use this album that he recorded. He recorded this album called “Here,” and it's a jazz album, beautiful. I listened to it on a regular basis, and I thought, ‘Can we find a way to get this in the episode?’ And so, Tawny and I got together. I handed her the CD that I had, and I said, Go…
Tawny Newsome: Very tactile analog process, like we had to go to a dumpling restaurant and hand over a CD.
Cirroc Lofton: I said, ‘Go listen to this CD and see if there's something there that we can use. And we can get Avery's voice on this episode, because I think that'll be a nice special moment at the end, that will kind of bookend everything.’ And so it actually, by the grace of God, all worked out. I can't even believe it.
Tawny Newsome: And I'll tell you, John, the sneaky thing that we haven't said to anyone else yet is that in order to get Mr. Brooks's permission to license the track, we did have to sneakily let him know how it was going to be used. And so there may have been a little like telling Mr. Brooks what the content of the episode was going to be. Cirroc deserves an executive producer credit for this episode, because we had to do a lot to get it done.
ScreenRant: It was beautiful, too, the way it plays out at the end, because it feels like he's speaking from the wormhole. He's speaking from the Celestial Temple. You get that ethereal sense that he is listening, he was listening to SAM the whole time, and he's also listening to all of us the whole time. And that speech at the end that Sam gives about what Sisko means to her, that's all of us. Because that's how I felt.
Tawny Newsome: Yeah, it was very meta for Kirsten and I both. It was us reaching out into the void to Mr. Brooks to say, ‘Hey, we'd love to honor you. Here's this love letter.’ And it's SAM doing the same thing to Sisko. So it was very meta.
ScreenRant: Cirroc, are you going to try to get Avery to watch the episode?
Cirroc Lofton: I will let him know that it's out there. I'm sure he'll get some feedback somewhere if he doesn't see it himself. But he was there with me throughout the journey of the process of this whole thing. And I do speak with him, and he's been a guiding force in my life. And so throughout the step-by-step process of this episode developing, he was aware of it. I had his blessing, and I was happy to get the opportunity to do this love story for Sisko.
Tawny Newsome also said that Star Trek: Starfleet Academy episode 5 is a passing of the torch from Captain Sisko as an Emissary to SAM as an Emissary, and that there was a real-life "handing of the reins" between Avery Brooks and Kerrice Brooks:
Tawny Newsome: One night when we were filming late, in the van on the ride to a sushi restaurant, me, Cirroc, and Kerrice Brooks were just going to go have a meal after we wrapped. And Ciroc got a phone call, and it was Mr. Brooks, and it was out of the blue. And he was able to put me and Kerrice both on the phone with them, and I won't share the details of the conversation, but what I got to witness was Mr. Brooks unequivocally handing the reins over to Kerrice, to this younger generation. And it was incredibly powerful for all of us.
Here is the quote from Avery Brooks' album "Here" that became the final words of Captain Sisko in Star Trek: Starfleet Academy episode 5:
Divine laws are simpler than human ones, which is why it takes a lifetime to be able to understand them. Only love can understand them. Only love can interpret these words as they were meant to be interpreted.
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine ended in 1999, and, since then, Avery Brooks has retired from acting. However, Mr. Brooks remains close to Cirroc Lofton. Their bond was forged playing father and son on DS9, with Avery taking Cirroc under his wing and treating him like his son in real life, which continues today.
Cirroc Lofton was instrumental in getting Avery Brooks' approval and finding the quote from Brooks' jazz album, "Here," that was used as Captain Sisko's voice-over at the end of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy episode 5. Meanwhile, Cirroc reprised Jake Sisko for the first time in 27 years to speak for his father, just as Lofton speaks for Mr. Brooks in real life.
Tawny Newsome is a diehard fan of Captain Sisko and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, along with co-writer Kirsten Beyer. Newsome is also a co-producer on Star Trek: Starfleet Academy and told ScreenRant in our interview, "It was my singular focus, when I entered the writers' room, to get Deep Space Nine talked about in a meaningful way in this show."
With nearly every other classic Star Trek Captain returning in Star Trek on Paramount+'s shows, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine fans long hoped that Avery Brooks would return as Captain Sisko. Still, Cirroc Lofton as Jake, Tawny Newsome as the 32nd century's Dax, and Mr. Brooks' voice-over as the Emissary are incredibly special together.
Although Avery Brooks may never physically portray Captain Sisko in Star Trek again, Star Trek: Starfleet Academy episode 5 is a genuinely loving tribute to Benjamin Lafayette Sisko and what he means to generations of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine fans, as well as introducing the magic of Captain Sisko to a new audience.
English (US) ·