143. Star Trek: JAG (SNW 2.02)

Anika and Liz don their dress uniforms and stand trial for the crime of ... oh, something. Background bird noise and that helicopter, probably. But ALSO we are here to talk about season 2, episode 2 of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: "Ad Astra Per Aspera", including... Gene Roddenberry would be SO MAD there's a civil rights lawyer in Star Trek! Which is not the ONLY reason it's great, but it's one! Utopias are hard work and civil rights progress via litigation is incremental, and this episode gets that This is a Neera Ketou Stan Podcast HOWEVER Liz thinks the writing veered into a couple of ugly tropes What's Vice Admiral Pasalk's deal? Is he a Secret Romulan??? It would be interesting to dig further into genetic alteration as a cultural practice versus eugenics as a violation of civil rights It's allegories all the way down! "Aliens hiding among humans" seems to be a theme this season, but NOT in a paranoid way? Aside from our new hobby of Seeing Romulans Everywhere, of course Ortegas has a new facet to her character! She's racist!