Beta Test (episode)

Real world article

(written from a production point of view)

"Beta Test"
SA, Episode 1x02
Production number: 102
First aired: 15 January 2026
← 2nd of 3 produced in SA →
← 2nd of 3 released in SA →
← 972nd of 973 released in all →
Written by	Noga Landau & Jane Maggs
Directed by	Alex Kurtzman
In-universe date	← 3190s →

For the occupation, please see beta tester.

With the start of the new academic year, Caleb's unease about his future at Starfleet Academy persists. But when a delegation from a former Federation ally arrives and Caleb is tasked with showing their leader's daughter around campus, he must put his uncertainty aside to discover what life at the Academy is really about.

Background information

Title

• Given the episode's focus on the Betazed delegation, a pun is made on the process of allowing a select group of users to try a software program prior to its general release in order to identify problems with it. [1]

Cast and characters

• Zoë Steiner makes her first appearance as Tarima Sadal. Sadal is the second Betazoid main character on a Star Trek series (following Deanna Troi, who was also half-human).
• Tig Notaro makes her first appearance on the show as Jett Reno, reprising the role she originated on season 2 of Star Trek: Discovery. Jett Reno was last seen in the series finale of Discovery, DIS: "Life, Itself".

Soundtrack

• During the reception, The Doctor and the Diva perform "Pa-Pa-Pa-Papageno" from the Mozart opera The Magic Flute and "Jetzt, Schätzchen, jetzt sind wir allein" from the Beethoven opera Fidelio.

Continuity

• Betazed was last visited on the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Ménage à Troi". Still, much was learned about Betazoid culture through the characters of Deanna and Lwaxana Troi, among others (TNG: "Haven", "Manhunt", "Cost Of Living", "Dark Page"; DS9: "The Forsaken", "Fascination", "The Muse", "In the Pale Moonlight"; LD: "Empathological Fallacies")
• It is revealed that Betazed seceded from the Federation and isolated itself from the rest of the galaxy following the Burn. During the 31st and 32nd centuries, this was a common pattern with many Federation member worlds, Ni'Var, Earth, and Andoria among them.
• The Federation initially considers to rebuilt its seat of government in Paris, with Singapore and Namibia as other contenders on Earth. Paris was the Federation capital's location during the 23rd and 24th century (and likely until the Burn). When Earth left the Federation, the Federation government was established aboard USS Federation.

Links and references

Starring

• Holly Hunter as Nahla Ake
• Sandro Rosta as Caleb Mir
• Karim Diané as Jay-Den Kraag
• Kerrice Brooks as SAM
• George Hawkins as Darem Reymi
• Bella Shepard as Genesis Lythe
• Zoë Steiner as Tarima Sadal
• Oded Fehr as Charles Vance
• Gina Yashere as Lura Thok
• Brit Marling as Main computer (voice)

with

• Stephen Colbert as Digital Dean of Students (voice)
• Tig Notaro as Jett Reno

and

• Robert Picardo as The Doctor

Guest stars

• Raoul Bhaneja as Commander Kelrec
• Anthony Natale as President Emerin Sadal
• Jamie Groote as the Diva
• Romeo Carere as Ocam Sadal

Co-stars

• Cecilia Lee as Ozolo
• Tabitha Tao as Holo-guide
• Scott Yamamura as Tinn Valaak
• Marcia Adolphe as Interpreter
• Piotr Michael as President Sadal's voice chip (voice)
• Kether Donohue as Almond Basket (voice)
• Joseph Messina as Cadet Holloway
• Raffa Virago as Cadet Pickford
• Graham Nox as Cadet Oren (voice)
• Katie Nora Ready-Walters as Terrified cadet
• Ashley Poulin as Very small cadet
• Scott Gemmel as Darem's posse member
• Mia Yaguchi-Chow as Darem's posse member
• Ritchie Lawrence as Darem's posse member
• Brian David Gilbert as DOT (voice)
• Rekha Shankar as DOT (voice)
• Jeremy Culhane as DOT (voice)

Uncredited co-stars

• Scott Blachar as Sullivan

References

2215; Academy-class; action; activism; aim; airlock; allergy; ambassadors; americano; amount; "Aoxomoxoa"; apple; arrested; arrow; Asmaret; asteroid; Athena, USS; Avalon Ballroom; balls; banana; band-aid; banquet; bat; bed; Beta Zeta; Betazed; Betazed governmental star charts; Betazed Youth Delegation; Betazoid; birthday present; Boothby Memorial Park; Borg; boy; Braka, Nus; Brikar; Burn, The; cadet; Cadet Master; caffeine; captain; central authority; Chancellor of Starfleet Academy; chaos; Cheron native; children; choking; cinnamon; class; coconut milk; coconut water; coffee; cologne; combat training; commander; comms channels; compliment; confidence; conflict; conversation; cowards; creation myth; curfew; curriculum; cynicism; Dar-Sha; database; Deakohn; death; decaf; delegation; "dick" (slang); "dick" (vulgarity); dismissal; distance; day; DOT (DOT-23); double finger; duty; dying; Earth; effort; energy; entropy; espresso; exit; exocomp; eyes; face; fall; farm animal; fascism; father (aka dad); fear; Federation; Federation Headquarters (aka FHQ); fence; Ferengal horned tapeworms; Ferengi; Fibonacci sequence; fire; First House of Betazed; fish; fleet admiral; flight manifest; footwear; freezing; friend; future; gang; gem; general; genius; German language; ghost; Gideon S. Turner Wing; girl; glass; Goja V; Golden Gate Bridge; goo; Grateful Dead; guardian; guilt; hacking; half-caff; half-latte; hands; hate; Head of the War College; "hell no"; hibernation; hijab; history; hologram (Emergency Medical Hologram); Holy Mantle of Betazed; honor; hours; Human; Humpback whale; hybrid; institution; instruction period; interpreter drone; isolationist; jacket; James T. Kirk Pavilion; Janaran Sanctuary; jar; Jem'Hadar; "Jetzt, Schätzchen, jetzt sind wir allein"; K'Tamushi, Ajergh; Kelpien; Khionia; Khionian; kid; killing; Klingon; Klingonese; Krebs; Lanthanite; Laplings; lieutenant; lieutenant commander; light years; location; lying; macchiato; meltdown; messages; midterms; military; Milky Way Galaxy; minutes; Mir, Anisha; misdemeanors; mixtape; mocha; months; Moonflow; moons; mother (aka mom, mommy); Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus; mucus (aka "snot"); Mugato; Mutageocillus arniopolus; Mutageocillus kemagora; "My Blue Heaven"; name; Namibia; Natalia's species; Naxia; negotiation; neuro-inhibitor; neutralizing agent; office; old age; "on the fence"; Opal Sea; Orion; "Pa-Pa-Pa-Papageno"; parents; Paris; past; people; percent; phonograph; pillow fort; pips; pirates; planet (aka worlds); pregnant; prison; processing buffers; progress; promise; psionic wall; pudding; quadrant; quantum physics; raktajino; rat; red alert; regulation; Replicafé; requisition; Romov Sector; Romulan; room; roommate (aka "roomie"); runner; science lab; seat of government; self-defense; self-replication; semester; service; Singapore; singing; sister; skin; smiling; Special Assembly of the Diplomatic Council; socks; space; specialist; species; specimen; sponge; Starfleet; Starfleet Academy; Starfleet uniform; starship; Stellar Cartography; stitch; stomach; strain; strategies; suffering; sulking; surprise; tapestry; Tactical Engagement; Talaxian Furfly; therapy; thing; Thok's father; three-dimensional chess; thriving; time; toilet wine; tombstone; tooth; Torothan; trophy; trust; turn-on; Turner, Gideon S.; Turner's dog; Turner's parents; universe; "vanilla"; Venari Ral; vigor; Virulian fire-fruit; Vulcan; Vulcan alphabet; "Wake of the Flood"; walk; War College; weapons; weaving; welcome; Welsh; wheelchair; Wilde, Oscar; wisdom; xeno-mucosa; xenobiology; xenomythology (comparative xenomythology); years; youth

Meta references

intertitle

External links

• "Beta Test" at the Internet Movie Database
• "Beta Test" at Memory Beta, the wiki for licensed Star Trek works

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Star Trek: Starfleet Academy

Season 1

Next episode:

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