After a rousing reunion for its Season 2 premiere, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds moves to resolve its shocking cliffhanger from the Season 1 finale in this season’s second episode. Titled "Ad Astra Per Aspera," the sophomore episode gives Rebecca Romijn her grandest showcase as Una Chin-Riley yet as the Enterprise's Number One faces a Starfleet Command tribunal. Though largely staged like a courtroom drama, the episode is no less gripping and effective than any of the more cosmic adventures that the Enterprise normally embarks on as part of their exploration of the final frontier.
After lying about her Illyrian heritage and the illegal genetic augmentations prevalent in her native culture, Chin-Riley faces a military tribunal, with the charges against her carrying steep consequences. Determined to help his colleague and friend, Captain Christopher Pike approaches Chin-Riley's estranged childhood friend Neera Ketoul to provide her legal defense. However, when Chin-Riley rejects Starfleet's plea bargain and faces steeper punishment if prosecuted, the trial quickly evolves into a harrowing look at what Starfleet and the United Federation's supposed ideals truly are.
All of "Ad Astra Per Aspera" falls firmly on the shoulders of Romijn and guest star Yetide Badaki, with the latter appearing as Neera in court case making up the majority of the episode. Fortunately, both actors are more than up to the task, with Romijn giving her finest performance as Number One to date, tackling her role with utter conviction as Chin-Riley stands at the center of a legal debate for the soul of the Federation. This is matched by Badaki's commanding performance, with all eyes on her whenever she’s on-screen, launching into fiery monologues or grilling different figures taking the stand either for or against Chin-Riley's fate.
Even though "Ad Astra Per Aspera" is completely devoid of conventional action set pieces, director Valerie Weiss stages the cinematography in the episode's courtroom scenes as if they're action scenes. There are so many twists and turns playing out, including Neera's true motivations to help Chin-Riley after their past falling out and Starfleet's prosecutors' tactics that viewers are still on the edge of their seats even if a phaser is never fired or a punch is thrown. There's still plenty of levity to ease some of the tension, usually involving Spock as was the case in the Season 2 premiere, continuing the season's shift to more prominent humor.
"Ad Astra Per Aspera" also provides social commentary that is just as timely now as it has been for the entire duration of the franchise, in this specific case regarding prosecution over cultural identity. This sort of messaging has been present in the Star Trek franchise since The Original Series, with some instances more readily apparent than others, but that messaging is certainly a hallmark. Just as Strange New Worlds' series premiere had Pike directly call out contemporary issues facing humanity, complete with real-world footage, "Ad Astra Per Aspera" very much speaks to societal challenges today.
Star Trek has a history of fantastic legal drama episodes, from Spock's trial in "The Menagerie" during The Original Series, to Jean-Luc Picard facing a Starfleet inquisitor in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode, "The Drumhead." "Ad Astra Per Aspera" joins that celebrated pantheon of courtroom-centric episodes while resolving several of the major plot threads coming out of Season 1. The Strange New Worlds main ensemble is whole again once more and ready to face the future together in what is shaping up to be an even more ambitious second season moving forward.
Created by Akiva Goldsman, Alex Kurtzman and Jenny Lumet, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds releases new episodes Thursdays on Paramount+.