Warning! The following contains SPOILERS for the Star Trek: Starfleet Academy episode "The Life of the Stars." Stream the episode with a Paramount+ subscription and read at your own risk!
The Doctor's presence in Star Trek: Starfleet Academy has been a major topic ever since his casting was first announced. While the series is primarily focused on highlighting the stories of the new cadets of the Academy in the 32nd century, it was only a matter of time before the EMH received a significant role in the story. I'm thrilled that it was not only a great storyline, but also a big callback to Voyager.
Star Trek: Voyager gave fans plenty of WTF episodes to look back on, but also some that helped make The Doctor one of the best Trek characters of all time. No doubt the one referenced in this latest episode of Starfleet Academy is a good example, and I'm glad the series finally found a way for him to heal from this trauma.
The Doctor Mentioned His Longstanding Trauma From Voyager's "Real Life"
SAM has desperately wanted The Doctor to be her mentor all throughout Star Trek: Starfleet Academy Season 1, but he's brushed her off a lot thus far. It wasn't until she malfunctioned and required an emergency trip to Kasq, however, that we learned the reason why.
When the Makers were unable to "fix" SAM, they decided she must be deactivated. The Doctor, feeling guilty about not previously offering his hand to her when she was scared, decided to tell the deactivated version why he pulled away. He recalled the events of Voyager's "Real Life," in which The Doctor created a holo-simulation of a family to try to gain insight into that human experience.
For those who haven't seen the episode, the crew informs The Doctor that he can't fully understand the meaning of family because he only programmed the idealistic parts of having a family. After altering the program to allow for loss and downsides, the Doctor is struck when he ends up losing his teenage daughter to tragedy.
The Doctor understood what it was like to have a family, but the loss of his daughter stuck with him for all these centuries afterward. He felt as though it happened yesterday, and given his programmed perfect memory, it might as well have. For that reason, he couldn't be SAM's mentor because it reminded him too much of the loss that haunted him all these years later.
The Doctor Takes Another Chance At Parenthood With SAM
Throughout their conversations with The Makers, The Doctor realized the issue behind why SAM malfunctioned. Her new emotions overloaded her system because she had no past experiences of being human to draw back on.
The Doctor theorized that if SAM were able to have a childhood and upbringing, she'd be better equipped to handle the stress and trials of Starfleet Academy without feeling so overloaded. For it to work, however, she'd need a parent to raise her. Rather than have The Makers create her parents, the EMH volunteered himself to parent SAM, as 17 years on Kasq only equated to two weeks outside of their photonic planet.
It's one of my favorite reveals of the 2026 TV schedule, and I'm guessing SAM and The Doctor will be a lot closer going forward. It's a change for the better, because I know I was growing a bit tired of him pushing away from her. It'll be far more interesting to see the two interact and for him to continue to mentor her as she continues to grow in the Academy.
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Star Trek: Starfleet Academy streams new episodes on Paramount+ on Thursdays. There are only a couple more episodes left until the wait for Season 2 begins. Based on what little we know so far, I'm hype to see where it heads!