Strange New Worlds 2x02- 'Ad Astra Per Aspera' ~~ { ** Spoilers Within ** }

Just watched it :) .

That was excellent. So much true in it.

Best episode of SNW yet. Real proper Star Trek right there and at its very best. It had me happy and sad and crying too because I too know what it feels like to have to hide one's true self and how hard it can be. Thankfully I do not have to do that anymore and am living as the true me but society still has a long way to go.

It was great to learn a bit more backstory about Admiral Robert April, Captain Pike too and Commandar Una Chin Rileys childhood as well.

Can't wait for the next episode with the full crew back on board.

Bloody asylum seekers, taking our space jobs.

But yeah, it was a fun ep. And Pike's hair has never been more magnificent.

Not that I've seen them all, but I do enjoy court episodes of Star Trek, for some reason.

Have the Eugenic Wars featured in a season of Star Trek outside of being talked about or having the likes of Khan show up? Surprised it hasn't been done in a multi part time travel series of episodes. Or is it a case of no one would want to do it?

Wasn't expecting to enjoy a court room based episode but surprisingly entertaining - even the arguments in court

Pretty good episode. It could have easily gone down the too preachy route but kept it to a necessary minimum. Nowthat the crew's all back together hopefully they get out into space for the rest of the a season.

This episode brought up a little more confusion about L'aan. She's descended from the original augments and if she's worried about going all megalomanic doesn't that mean she's still an augment and should also be barred from Starfleet?

From the wiki entry about her: -

That was grand. I thought the court bits didn't feel particularly ground break but I really liked how much it reminded me of the Star Trek Prodigy season finale. They even had the Tellarite judge which was nice.

Really loved this episode. It really brought me back to watching TNG as a kid where you forgot about canon and went along with the laughs and the serious points being put across. I even find myself questioning if I lived up to the ideals of the federation watching this. I think there’s good trek like we get at times and deep core good trek that we get less often and this episode is one of those. Someone I’m going to sit down and compile my top 10 or 20 trek episodes and this could well be featuring.

I think the greenish makeup on the receptionist was intended to be her natural appearance but it didn't really work because it just looked like gaudy makeup.

Good episode. Pure Trek at its core.

Nope and I think it would be hard to get right from a continuity standpoint as they were set in the 1990s but various Trek outings since have had time travel back to that era and no sign of a world war. Some vague hints that the 21st century World War III might have been a retcon of the Eugenics Wars (sort of like the Terminator Franchise keeps shifting the date of Judgement Day as the real world overtakes the films).

Think STN alludes in the pilot episode that the Second American Civil War, Eugenics War all eventually become known as WW3.

Think they reconned it cause in Trek timeline we'd all be living through the age of horror now

The only thing about this that keeps it from being an all time classic is I dont really fell sorry for the augments. IRL we were probably all thinking about homosexuality or racism but in universe the Illyrians could just choose not to mess with their kids which they had promised to stop doing.

My favourite so far has been the one where society sacrifices the child every few years (even they could just fek off to another planet when you think about it)

I have to go against the grain here and say that I thought it was a pretty poor episode. Heavy handed with way too many preachy speeches. I think this is the type of episode that is best placed near the end of a season, preferably after an all out high octane actioner, kind of like a catch your breath episode. I found it contrived and forced.

I actually really enjoyed some of those more nuanced elements. The Federation is a progressive and inclusive society but like all societies that strive to be progressive and inclusive, it has to tread a line between respecting the culture and traditions of others but also upholding its own moral values. Just as say European societies have to decide what counts as a culture's rights and freedoms and when should child protection overrule those freedoms. And I like how the episode introduced those dilemmas but didn't preach the answer, just left it as something for viewers to reflect on.

If the Illyrians have a better grasp of genetic engineering than Earth scientists from the 50s and haven't accidentally created power hungry ubermensch why shouldn't they continue it?

In today's world where the misadventures of 5 idiotic billionaires gets more headlines than the sinking of a refugee boat with 350 on board, I loved how the principle of asylum was brought to the fore. Couldn't have been more timely.

Which character and what pilot?

'The Cage' happened before SNW series.