Spoilers Star Trek: Strange New Worlds 2x02 - "Ad Astra Per Aspera"
- Thread starter Commander Richard
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But flavor is the spice of life! In fact, it was flavor text that explained why Riker and Picard needed to serve as lawyers in Data's trial.
Yes but they don't have a place in persecuting said children by passing laws banning them from their military for genital mutilation. Its a shame that 1960s silly view of genetics is still part of the franchise.
I don't give many 10 ratings, but this episode earned it. Very few Trek episodes can stand next to TNG's Measure of Man, but this one did. A decade from now when we're all looking back at this series and talking about the very best episodes of SNW, this will be one of them. This was Star Trek at its best. BRAVO!
Yes, and a real shame that a show made in the nineties committed to the most preposterous, backward addition to the mythology.
Prejudice on Earth against people based on their heredity is nasty but plausible. That draconian laws would be passed to make an institution of persecution and then agreed to by dozens of species on other worlds througjout the galaxy in order to humor ancient human social trauma is both despicable and implausible.
I land on a 6. Usually I like Trek "courtroom episodes" but this one lacked the spark of having the Captain do the bulk of the talking and this one had us listening to a new character for most of the episode while our main cast did nothing.
It was good but I think I had lost interest in some areas of it (and Trek courtroom episodes I usually like) because the talking was a bit much (even for one of these) without being interesting and I think the music was a bit OTT too.
I dunno. It was good but, for me, not great. We'll see what happens next week.
It was good but I think I had lost interest in some areas of it (and Trek courtroom episodes I usually like) because the talking was a bit much (even for one of these) without being interesting and I think the music was a bit OTT too.
I dunno. It was good but, for me, not great. We'll see what happens next week.
I feel like this basically is like saying, "The Prime Directive is stupid. No government would ever have this kind of law."
The law against genetic engineering is to prevent the Nazis from rising. Just like the Prime Directive is to protect cultures from colonialism.
The fact it had unintended consequences is why it gets deserved pushback. But you wouldn't want the Federation to make it legal to remove people's essential traits. Lord knows as a neuroatypical person, I know people would want to destroy mine.
Very few of the other species use genetic engineering either, so they may have their own bad experiences. Also, look at it from the Vulcans (for example) point of view. "This backwater species is moving to the forefront of galactic politics faster than any other species, and they are weaker and dumber than us. Lets tell them it's OK to use genetic engineering to increase their strength and intelligence".
They banned it to protect themselves from an ascendant humanity.
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It's one of those things that is sort of when science makes the metaphor into a literal question.
The metaphor is, "We shouldn't try to make the ubermensch by looking down on divergent people."
The literality is, "we can now use genetic engineering to make kids stronger, healthier, and smarter."
It occurs to me that every one else (Vulcans, Andorians, etc) may have already augmeted themselves many generations ago, and cant push it any farther. So they are fine banning it and coasting on their now natural inherited traits. That would explain why so many aliens are smarter, stronger, and/or longer lived than humans.
We know the Denobulans experimented with cybernetic augmentation for medical reasons by the mid-22nd century and that's another field of medicine and enhancement that Earth is wary about. The Eugenics Wars and our missteps with cybernetics at some point before First Contact clearly set off a chain reaction that would last for at least 350 years.
Why because it's in a court room?
Voyager's Author, Author is far closer to Measure of a Man. Both deal with the exact same issue.
Honestly I remember one line of argument made by the lawyer being about how she didn't have a choice to be augmented, but I can't find it in the episode so maybe I just dreamt it after watching it.
Oh that's fine. But can you grant asylum from your own organization?
Is the idea that Starfleet ships can be "sanctuary cities" in the same way that some US cities protect undocumented immigrants from ICE?
I give this one a 10. The allegory was pitch perfect, and the kind of storytelling that is in the best tradition of Star Trek.
SNW is amazing: it feels of the same cloth as TOS but is also thoroughly modern. I can't wait to see James T. Kirk (my favorite character) examined through this lens.
SNW is amazing: it feels of the same cloth as TOS but is also thoroughly modern. I can't wait to see James T. Kirk (my favorite character) examined through this lens.
I do think this episode destroyed any respect I had for Robert April.
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It's a good lesson for Robert, and for anyone who follows unjust laws while saying "it's not personal," because it is very personal to the person being discriminated against for merely existing. I think the line was to hammer home the point that if you're comfortable enforcing unjust laws because 'that's the law,' then you need to realize you're complicit in the harm of others, even if that is not your intention.
Unfortunately the episode cuts off April after he's accused of being racist, so we don't get an answer to whether or not he thinks the law is just - certainly he thinks the law is there to protect people, and with Pike, it's clear that he's perfectly fine with Una, but the character isn't forced to address the larger question.
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Another random thought, apparently the threat of stripping Una of her Federation citizenship (or being exiled, whatever the heck that means) was on the table. Wouldn't the Federation go after her parents then?
He says the law is there to prevent genocide and that he would have turned her down with an angry expression. He chooses his side and it's against Una.
