When Jean-Luc Picard was appointed captain of the USS Enterprise-D in 1987, there was a lot of head-scratching among followers of Starfleet. Who was this bald French guy with a distractingly English accent? Why did he talk like a Shakespearean actor, leave most of the planetary excursions and womanizing to his first officer, and have a penchant for classical music, archaeology and tea (preferably of the Earl Grey, hot variety)?

Those questions were asked because Picard seemed galaxies away from his predecessor in “Star Trek”‘s big chair, James Tiberius Kirk. But even though Kirk’s reputation as a gung-ho, macho ladies’ man is somewhat exaggerated — he’s also intelligent, calm under pressure and one hell of a leader — the contrast is intentional and important.

The second “Trek” out of Spacedock was quick to establish the notion that every commanding officer could be different, making it acceptable for each captain to do things their own way. In short, Picard proved that you don’t have to be a mini-Kirk to earn a place in Starfleet’s hall of fame. “Starfleet Academy”‘s Nahla Ake is the latest to pass the famous Kobayashi Maru command test, and an all-new type of CO — even though she shares many of the attributes of those who’ve boldly gone before her. She’s also shown enough promise throughout the first season of the school-set spin-off to suggest she’s already worthy of a place at the captains’ table with the Federation’s MVPs.

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Of course, you don’t recruit an actor of Holly Hunter’s Oscar-winning calibre, and then ask her to play some go-through-the-motions Federation jobsworth. Showrunner and franchise overseer Alex Kurtzman has described Ake as “almost like a space hippy”, and her casual approach to command is clear in the way she walks the halls of the Academy barefoot. She also takes a deeply unconventional approach to sitting in the captain’s chair — not even Will Riker’s famously eccentric relationship with seating can compete with the almost yoga-like poses she adopts on the bridge.

Being the captain of a starship is hard enough, but Ake’s job description also includes the additional role of “chancellor” of the Academy. Given her seemingly relaxed approach to education, it would be easy for her to fall into the trap of becoming one of those teachers who tries a little too hard to be friends with the students. But Ake’s way too smart and experienced to make that kind of error.

That she’s so comfortable with kids — in a way that Jean-Luc Picard never was, particularly during his early days on the Enterprise bridge — is particularly impressive seeing as she’s centuries old, courtesy of her Lanthanite heritage. She’s capable of putting a reassuring arm round the shoulder — an echo of Kathryn Janeway’s management style — but also knows when to keep her distance. Indeed, she has the uncanny knack of being approachable without diminishing her authority.

As a result, you get the impression that her lessons would be fun, even if she has the unfortunate habit — à la Albus Dumbledore at Hogwarts — of putting her students in harm’s way. The failed mission to the USS Miyazaki in “Come, Let’s Away” turned out to be the sort of learning experience that’s usually best avoided.

That said, breaking the odd rule is part of what makes Ake tick. There’s a long tradition of Starfleet commanders defying orders, whether it’s a pre-captaincy Michael Burnham accidentally kickstarting a war with the Klingon Empire in “Discovery”, or Kirk stealing the Enterprise to rescue his late BFF in “The Search for Spock”. But most of them save playing fast-and-loose with regulations for a bona fide life-or-death situation.