WARNING: Contains SPOILERS for Star Trek: Lower Decks season 4!
Summary

• Starfleet Academy's elite flight teams like Nova Squadron could offer dramatic potential for the characters in Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, but their elitism may contradict Starfleet's values.
• The presence of a highly skilled group like Nova Squadron at the Academy risks fostering ego and competitiveness, which can be detrimental to serving on active starships.
• The legacies of both Nova Squadron and Red Squad have been marred by fatal mistakes and impulsive decisions, highlighting the need for more oversight and guidance from the Academy's teaching staff.

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy will focus on the titular educational establishment, which could have its very own 32nd century version of Star Trek: The Next Generation's Nova Squadron - but should it? Star Trek: Lower Decks recently revisited the elite Starfleet Academy flight team by bringing back their disgraced squadron leader, Nicholas Locarno (Robert Duncan McNeill) as season 4's big bad. It was down to the reckless actions of Nick Locarno that Nova Squadron was disbanded, later being replaced by Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's equally problematic Red Squad.
With Star Trek: Starfleet Academy set to focus on the growing pains of a diverse cast of cadets, it's entirely possible that an elite group like Nova Squadron or Red Squad could be an enticing opportunity for some of the characters. There's plenty of dramatic potential in the idea of the lead characters competing for a spot on an elite team. However, it's debatable whether such elitism is in keeping with Starfleet's core ethos. The question of whether a group like Nova Squadron should appear in Star Trek's Starfleet Academy show is therefore a complex one.

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