Star Trek's new series honors a 60-year tradition.

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy echoes the franchise's long-running "redshirt" tradition in episode 6, where Lt. Commander Tomov dies and the Vulcan student B'Avi is later killed.

Star Trek's new series Starfleet Academy revisits a familiar franchise tradition as the franchise reaches its 60th year. The episode in question uses a modern approach to the classic "redshirt" idea by building short-lived characters through small personal details. Lt. Commander Tomov is given moments of personality before dying in episode 6. The episode then subverts expectations when Vulcan student B'Avi is also killed. Notable details: - The Star Trek franchise is 60 years old and continues to reference long-running tropes. - The "redshirt" trope traces to Star Trek: The Original Series, where newly introduced security officers in red often died soon after appearing. - In Starfleet Academy episode 6, Lt. Commander Tomov receives brief character beats before he dies; he is not wearing a traditional red uniform but is shown in red interior lighting prior to his death. - The article describes Tomov's death as a device to raise stakes and unsettle the surviving characters. - The episode then surprises viewers when Vulcan student B'Avi is killed by one of the Furies, rather than all danger being limited to a single expendable character. Summary: The episode intentionally invokes a classic Star Trek device to create tension and then deepens the effect by taking another character's life, producing a narrative surprise within a lighter-toned series. Undetermined at this time.