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Star Trek: Strange New Worlds
S2.E2
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Ad Astra Per Aspera

  • Episode aired Jun 22, 2023
  • TV-PG
  • 57m
IMDb RATING
8.5/10
6.4K
YOUR RATING
Ethan Peck, Babs Olusanmokun, and Melissa Navia in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (2022)
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: Ad Astra per Aspera
Play trailer0:58
2 Videos
3 Photos
ActionAdventureSci-Fi

Commander Una Chin-Riley faces court martial, imprisonment and dishonorable discharge from Starfleet.Commander Una Chin-Riley faces court martial, imprisonment and dishonorable discharge from Starfleet.Commander Una Chin-Riley faces court martial, imprisonment and dishonorable discharge from Starfleet.

  • Director
    • Valerie Weiss
  • Writers
    • Gene Roddenberry
    • Akiva Goldsman
    • Alex Kurtzman
  • Stars
    • Anson Mount
    • Ethan Peck
    • Jess Bush
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    8.5/10
    6.4K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Valerie Weiss
    • Writers
      • Gene Roddenberry
      • Akiva Goldsman
      • Alex Kurtzman
    • Stars
      • Anson Mount
      • Ethan Peck
      • Jess Bush
    • 87User reviews
    • 8Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • Videos2

    Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: Ad Astra per Aspera
    Trailer 0:58
    Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: Ad Astra per Aspera
    Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: All Rise
    Featurette 4:39
    Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: All Rise
    Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: All Rise
    Featurette 4:39
    Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: All Rise

    Photos2

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    View Poster

    Top cast22

    Edit
    Anson Mount
    Anson Mount
    • Captain Christopher Pike
    Ethan Peck
    Ethan Peck
    • Spock
    Jess Bush
    Jess Bush
    • Nurse Christine Chapel
    Christina Chong
    Christina Chong
    • La'an Noonien-Singh
    Celia Rose Gooding
    Celia Rose Gooding
    • Nyota Uhura
    Melissa Navia
    Melissa Navia
    • Erica Ortegas
    Babs Olusanmokun
    Babs Olusanmokun
    • Dr. M'Benga
    Rebecca Romijn
    Rebecca Romijn
    • Una Chin-Riley
    Yetide Badaki
    Yetide Badaki
    • Neera Ketoul
    Adrian Holmes
    Adrian Holmes
    • Admiral Robert April
    Melanie Scrofano
    Melanie Scrofano
    • Captain Batel
    Jim Annan
    Jim Annan
    • Una's Father
    Anna Claire Beitel
    Anna Claire Beitel
    • Young Girl…
    Catherine Black
    Catherine Black
    • Una's Mother
    Eugene Clark
    Eugene Clark
    • Vulcan Judge
    Nicky Guadagni
    Nicky Guadagni
    • Admiral Javas
    Beth Hornby
    Beth Hornby
    • Guard
    Alex Kapp
    Alex Kapp
    • USS Enterprise Computer
    • (voice)
    • Director
      • Valerie Weiss
    • Writers
      • Gene Roddenberry
      • Akiva Goldsman
      • Alex Kurtzman
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews87

    8.56.3K
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    Featured reviews

    9endalayng

    Proper Star Trek

    Have watched Star Trek since the TOS in the 60's. Loved it , also TNG and DS9 in particular.

    Loved the "Measure of the Man" with Data story in TNG. The court case in the Menagerie was also a brilliant episode (2) .

    This is a really good episode , personally I always like a good courtroom drama. Good storyline and acting. All the ensemble contributes well and overall I would rate it a very strong episode.

    I've read some negative reviews , which being honest puzzle me. I hate all the negativity , not really sure what people expect.

    I really prefer New Worlds to Star Trek Discovery and am looking forward to the next few episodes.
    10bruce-spencer-ky

    Star Trek Is Best When It Touches A Nerve

    'Ad Astra Per Aspera' is Star Trek holding a mirror to our society (social criticism), a direct reflection of who we are, and a prescription for who we can be (for the better). That mirror has been part of Star Trek from the beginning and this episode does a great job of giving us a close up look, showing every blemish. Court room episodes have been used many times in Star Trek to make a point, and I believe 'Ad Astra Per Aspera' will stand beside 'The Measure of a Man', and 'The Drumhead' as one of the best.

    To those who don't want to look in that mirror, I remind them that Gene Roddenberry once said, "Star Trek was an attempt to say that humanity will reach maturity and wisdom on the day that it begins not just to tolerate, but take a special delight in differences in ideas and differences in life forms."

    I think Roddenberry would be very proud of this episode.
    10jim6893

    One of the best Trek episodes I have seen in 25 years.

    I agree with the decision to not open with this episode as it is 100% talking and the general audience does need a more action oriented episode to start off the season with.

    With this episode we get to see the core philosophies of Gene Roddenberry's world questioned and held up against itself.

    There is a danger in allowing oneself to come to the belief that the reasons for your decisions are absolute and shouldn't be requestioned, that's exactly what this episode brought to the modern iteration of Star Trek in a way that Discovery constantly faltered.

    The question every Starfleet officer should ask themselves is are my actions in line with the intent of the law, not just the word of it.

    It was wordy, but within those words was a well thought out story that hit to the core of what many of us believe Star Trek is.
    9nerrdrage

    a classic Star Trek episode

    Pike's first introduction to Star Trek was in the famous courtroom episode Menagerie so it's appropriate that SNW should do a standout courtroom episode of its own.

    This was really written in the style of a lawyer show, with a lawyer depicted as being smart and eloquent in defending her client, even if she has misgivings about said client.

    The details of the case seem plausible as an example of future jurisprudence. I was a bit skeptical that the Vulcan admiral would really be allowed to ask the defendant a question to implicate someone else (Pike). Shouldn't that be done in an independent investigation outside the courtroom? But that was the only questionable detail.

    I also appreciated that Uhura actually refused to go along with an illegal command. Imagine that, crew members behaving professionally! But mainly this episode stood out for depicting how this crew has jelled as a team, as friends, and as a family,

    However, I don't think the theme of "genetic modifications are perfectly okay" is going to stand up too long. Even in DS9's time, long after SNW, it was still a taboo. So I figure there's another shoe that's going to drop, maybe not till next season.
    8siahyagraves

    Season 2 has started!

    After a less than stellar season opener this was the episode that season 2 should have started off with. We don't need random super soldier formula, dragged out fights, or even Klingons. All we need is our captain and his crew, and stories of things that remind us of the world around us but told through that Trek lenses that we love so much. Season 2 has started.

    I've always enjoyed when Star Trek tackles deeper real life issues. When things aren't always black and white but have that grey in them. This episode really focused on those issues. Star Trek is at its best when it focuses on things that make you think.

    Storyline

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    Did you know

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    • Trivia
      Una mentions that "Ad Astra Per Aspera" was the motto of Starfleet before the founding of the Federation. The insignia for Starfleet Command, on both arm patches and flags, on Star Trek: Enterprise (2001) consisted of a yellow arrowhead on a blue round star background, which was framed by a thick gray inner border and a thin red outer border. Inside the gray border, there were more white stars and the Latin words "Ad Astra Per Aspera".
    • Goofs
      Admiral Javas, the Judge Advocate General of Starfleet, is a Fleet Admiral according to the rank insignia on her epaulets, and according to Memory Alpha. Fleet Admiral is a five-star flag officer and the highest rank in Starfleet, and not a rank held by the JAG; so likely a prop/costume error, as happened with the last JAG seen onscreen. Previous films and series (plus the novels) have established that only two officers hold this rank: Commander, Starfleet who is in charge of Starfleet Command, oversees fleet operations and is the second-highest ranking officer in Starfleet; and the Commander-in-Chief (C-in-C) of Starfleet, the highest ranking officer in Starfleet who oversees all divisions of Starfleet (Command, Intelligence, Medical, Security etc.) and is the military advisor to the Federation President. Plus the last JAG shown in Doctor Bashir, I Presume (1997) was a two-star Rear Admiral (though the wrong rank insignia prop was used for him), just like how the JAG of the US Navy is a Rear Admiral, which much of Starfleet's hierarchy is modeled after.
    • Quotes

      Captain Batel: Did you ever get the sense that Commander Chin-Riley was hiding something?

      Spock: Yes, I did get the sense that she was hiding something?

      Captain Batel: What was she hiding?

      Spock: An affinity for Gilbert and Sullivan musicals.

    • Connections
      Featured in The Ready Room: Ad Astra Per Aspera (aftershow) (2023)

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • June 22, 2023 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Official site
      • Official Site
    • Language
      • English
    • Filming locations
      • Globe and Mail Centre - 351 King Street East, Toronto, Ontario, Canada(Ketoul's office building - interior & exterior)
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      57 minutes
    • Color
      • Color

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