Spoilers Star Trek: Strange New Worlds 2x02 - "Ad Astra Per Aspera"

[tafkats]

I liked this one a lot -- and I usually don't like Trek's courtroom episodes. (I hated, or at least strongly disliked, most of the "main character gets accused of murder" episodes that popped up way too often... the only one I actually liked was "Dax," and that's more because of the interesting work it did delving into the nature of the Trill. "A Wolf in the Fold," "A Matter of Perspective," and "Ex Post Facto" were all pretty cringeworthy.)

This episode has lots of shades of "The Measure of a Man," usually regarded as one of early TNG's best. Yes, there were dramatic contrivances (the JAG officer in charge is going to have Pike's first officer prosecuted by someone who has a romantic relationship with Pike? Really?) ... but the whole "Riker has to advocate against Data, and he has to do his best because if he doesn't They Will Know" thing was even more contrived, and it didn't stop Stewart, Frakes and Spiner from doing some of their best acting in the series to date.

However, from the moment they chose to go this direction with the revelation of Una's genetically engineered nature, the writers painted themselves into a corner. They had to have the episode end with a victory for Una -- otherwise they'd have to write her out of the story -- but at the same time, we already know that the Federation's policy on genetic engineering will be unchanged 100 years later, so they couldn't do anything to change the status quo.

 

[fireproof78]

However, from the moment they chose to go this direction with the revelation of Una's genetically engineered nature, the writers painted themselves into a corner. They had to have the episode end with a victory for Una -- otherwise they'd have to write her out of the story -

Why not?

 

[tafkats]

Why not?

Well, if they had wanted to write her out, they obviously could have. But presumably they didn't want to.

(And yes, she could have escaped from custody on her way to the penal colony and gone off to live some kind of vigilante life, à la Seven at the beginning of Picard S1 or Crusher at the beginning of Picard S3. But trying to follow two parallel storylines like that would get pretty unwieldy.)

 

[fireproof78]

Well, if they had wanted to write her out, they obviously could have. But presumably they didn't want to.

Yes, but I'm exploring a hypothetical. Why not write her out?

 

[ichab]

I wouldn't want to write her out right now because she's a good character with a lot of territory still yet to be explored.

 

[fireproof78]

I wouldn't want to write her out right now because she's a good character with a lot of territory still yet to be explored.

It's a thought experiment. What could you do with it? Possibly impacting Spock who feels he must become more logical to support Pike? Una returns due to making bail after volunteering for a dangerous assignment?

Just having fun here. She won't really be written out...I backed up my hard drive.

 

[ichab]

It's a thought experiment. What could you do with it? Possibly impacting Spock who feels he must become more logical to support Pike? Una returns due to making bail after volunteering for a dangerous assignment?

Just having fun here. She won't really be written out...I backed up my hard drive.

If it's done with the intention of her returning? Sure. Perhaps they could pull that story out of the bag in case there's a schedule conflict with the actress.

There could be good character development for Spock. Show him taking on the role briefly as first officer and always asking himself what Una would have done. It would be good for both characters as Una could develop in to a mentor type role and we see Spock learning from her. Between his duties as first officer and his therapy with the musical instrument he starts morphing into the Spock we know later.

 

[fireproof78]

If it's done with the intention of her returning? Sure. Perhaps they could pull that story out of the bag in case there's a schedule conflict with the actress.

There could be good character development for Spock. Show him taking on the role briefly as first officer and always asking himself what Una would have done. Between his duties as first officer and his therapy with the musical instrument he starts morphing into the Spock we know later.

*quietly applauds*

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I wonder if Una is a fan of Diamond Rio (the country band)?

Wish I had I car...
Top rolled down, music up loud
Follow that girl all over the town, you'll see
Una Chin-Riley's gonna notice me

Wish I had a dog...
See her in the park, with a puppy on a string
Lookin so cute, maybe sooner or later we'll meet
Una Chin-Riley's gonna talk to me

Everybody says fool, fool, nothing you can do
Never gonna see her with the likes of you
I'd say watch and see..
Una Chin-Riley's gonna notice me

Ought to learn to dance...
With the hottest moves and the latest styles
Get her on the dance floor, after a while you'll see
Una Chin-Riley's gonna dance with me

Everybody says fool, fool, nothing you can do
Never gonna see her with the likes of you
I'd say watch and see.....
Una Chin-Riley's gonna notice me

Gonna write a song,
Sing about her hair, lips and her eyes
bring her to tears with my heart felt honesty
Una Chin-Riley's gonna fall for me.

Everybody says fool, fool, nothing you can do
Never gonna see her with the likes of you
I'd say watch and see.....
Una Chin-Riley's gonna fall for me

Everybody says fool, fool, nothing you can do
Never gonna see her with the likes of you
I'd say watch and see.....
Oh, Una Chin-Riley's gonna marry me!

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[JonnyQuest037]

Just finished the episode. (I'm catching up on SNW since I was without P+ for a while.)

Well, after being horribly disappointed with the premiere, THIS was more like it! A great trial episode, definitely on a par with "A Measure of a Man" (And a damn sight better than both "Court Martial" and "The Drumhead.") I loved that we got more backstory on Pike, Number One, and Captain April. The ending was believable, yet also surprising and fiendishly clever. Rebecca Romijn knocked it out of the park acting-wise.

And c'mon, how great was that Vulcan "feud" we saw? That's how you write a humorous scene with Spock, instead of last week's idiotic "I would like the ship to go" gag.

THIS should've been the premiere. 10 out of 10 for me. I'm definitely looking forward to any SNW episodes Dana Horgan and Valerie Weiss do in the future!

 

[Cyrus]

I just saw this. I thought is was good but not great. Not at the level of "A Measure of a Man" but still pretty good. I find the use of gregorian calendar in Star Trek annoying but unfortunately it's becoming more common and at the beginning of the trial they kept mentioning dates in that calendar but thankfully the last one (The date Pike found out about Una) was given as a stardate.

It was also clever how they worked the ENT star fleet motto (this episode's title) into the story.

 

[Voodoowoman2]

Was glad to see SNW address the issue of accused officers having no legal representation. Never accept a government lawyer. Their job is to keep the paperwork straight and get you convicted. In TOS last episode, Scotty, being third in command should have been tapped as Spock's legal counsel. This was not an oversight. The writer's are saying something here. Loving Samuel T Cogley more and more every day.

 

[Jedi Marso]

Yes, but I'm exploring a hypothetical. Why not write her out?

It would be interesting to see La'an in the role of permanent first officer- she certainly has the 'hardass' aspect of it down cold.

That said, Una is a good character and I like the actress, so I'm glad we get more of her.

 

[bdub76]

Low budget ship in a bottle episode with a bunch of talking heads. So boring. West Wing makes talking heads far more engaging.

 

[Tuskin38]

Low budget ship in a bottle episode with a bunch of talking heads. So boring. West Wing makes talking heads far more engaging.

Which is the basis of a couple fan favourite star trek episodes.

 

[bdub76]

Which is the basis of a couple fan favourite star trek episodes.

The episode was completely predictable, so it was really talking heads for about an hour with an obvious ending. The only way this could have been good would have been if they found her guilty.

 

[fireproof78]

This is episodic. Consequences are less of a concern.

 

[Farscape One]

This is episodic. Consequences are less of concerning.

I disagree. You can have episodic and still have consequences. DS9 did it.

 

[fireproof78]

I disagree. You can have episodic and still have consequences. DS9 did it.

Of course you can. I've seen it done well in multiple shows.

I said it is less of a concern (apologies for poor grammar in the post. Will correct) not that it was of no concern.

 

[Farscape One]

Of course you can. I've seen it done well in multiple shows.

I said it is less of a concern (apologies for poor grammar in the post. Will correct) not that it was of no concern.

Ah, okay. I see what you mean. For the most part, I agree with that statement. But I think SNW is going the DS9 route and have episodic with character consequences.