WARNING: This article contains SPOILERS for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2, Episode 2, "Ad Astra per Aspera"Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2, episode 2, "Ad Astra per Aspera" s the ranks of Star Trek's best courtroom dramas. There's a long tradition of the Starfleet courtroom drama that runs from Star Trek: The Original Series to Star Trek: Enterprise. Strange New Worlds resurrects the tradition for a stirring episode that puts Commander Una Chin-Riley (Rebecca Romijn) on trial for withholding information about her Illyrian heritage. It's also a powerful civil rights allegory, as Una's trial forces Starfleet to confront the lack of cultural nuance in the Federation's ban on genetic enhancements.
"Ad Astra per Aspera" is a courtroom drama in the vein of Star Trek: The Next Generation's undisputed classic of the form "The Measure of a Man", in which the sentience of Lt. Cmdr. Data (Brent Spiner) is called into question. Star Trek: Voyager's EMH Doctor (Robert Picardo) got his own courtroom drama, "Author, Author", which failed to give him the recognition that Data received. However, Star Trek's courtroom dramas aren't always about the rights of individuals in the complex and diverse institution of Starfleet. Many of the best Star Trek courtroom dramas are episodes that put Starfleet officers on trial for crimes they may or may not have committed, forcing the audience to reassess their opinions of some beloved characters.
11 Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 1, Episode 1, "Encounter at Farpoint"
Star Trek: The Next Generation truly established the courtroom drama as one of the many genres in the franchise's toolbox. In the TNG pilot, "Encounter at Farpoint", the crew of the freshly minted USS Enterprise-D are put on trial by the omnipotent cosmic trickster Q (John de Lancie). It's perhaps down to Patrick Stewart's considerable talents as a theater actor that the TNG courtroom episodes work so well. Stewart is incredibly comfortable delivering courtroom addresses, lending them with the perfect balance of gravitas and comion. The seeds of TNG's greatest trial episodes are sown in "Encounter at Farpoint", as Picard and Q go toe to toe about the value of humanity as a positive force in the galaxy.
10 Star Trek: The Original Series Season 1, Episode 20, "Court Martial"
In the Star Trek: The Original Series movies, Captain James T Kirk (William Shatner) is routinely punished by Starfleet courts for his actions. He's demoted for stealing and destroying the USS Enterprise to save Spock, and then gets framed for a political assassination in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. Before those proceedings, Kirk was court-martialed in Star Trek: TOS when he was accused of the murder of Lt. Commander Benjamin Finney (Richard Webb) and perjuring himself to cover it up. Foreshadowing Star Trek 6, Spock (Leonard Nimoy) never gives up on his friend, and proves his innocence, revealing that Finney faked his death to implicate Kirk.
9 Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 5, Episode 19, "The First Duty"
In another excellent example of Star Trek: The Next Generation's command of the courtroom genre, Cadet Wesley Crusher (Wil Wheaton) is investigated for his role in a fatal accident. It's Wesley's best TNG episode, as he's forced to decide where his loyalties lie as a Starfleet officer. There's some strong courtroom moments, as Wesley finally reveals the truth to the inquiry, finally choosing to do the right thing. It's an emotional coming-of-age moment for Wesley Crusher, that also happens to be a compelling courtroom drama about youthful ambition and its tragic consequences.
8 Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Season 2, Episode 25, "Tribunal"
Some of the best Star Trek courtroom or trial episodes are the ones that reveal terrifying science fiction versions of the justice system. In Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's "Tribunal", Chief Miles O'Brien (Colm Meaney) is put on trial on Cardassia Prime for supplying the Maquis with weapons. Cardassian justice immediately presumes guilt, and it's up to Miles and his DS9 colleagues to prove his innocence. It's revealed that the trial is a political sham by the Obsidian Order to justify increased hostile action against the Maquis. As a former soldier in the Cardassian Border War, Miles became a perfect patsy for the conspiracy, drawing comparisons between O'Brien and Kirk in Star Trek 6.
7 Star Trek: The Original Series, Season 1, Episodes 11 & 12, "The Menagerie"
As a two-parter designed to save time and budget, "The Menagerie" has no right to be as good as it is. Incorporating Star Trek: The Original Series' unaired pilot into an episode that focuses on Spock being court-martialed for hijacking the USS Enterprise was an inspired move. Without it, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' "Ad Astra per Aspera" simply would not exist. "The Menagerie" canonized Captain Christopher Pike (Jeffrey Hunter) and his fateful mission to Talos IV. It also gave SNW its endpoint, by reveaing the tragic fate of Fleet Captain PIke (Sean Kenney) and Spock's part in giving his former commanding officer a brand-new life.
6 Star Trek: The Next Generation, Season 6, Episode 11, "Chain of Command, Part II"
"Chain of Command" is a political thriller that places Captain Jean-Luc Picard behind enemy lines, while the USS Enterprise-D tackles the fallout from his capture. Although Picard isn't placed in a Cardassian court, his brutal interrogation by Gul Madred (David Warner) is effectively putting Jean-Luc on trial for his life. Madred repeatedly asks him the same questions about his mission and the defense plans for the Minos Korva system, believed to be the target of a Cardassian invasion by Starfleet. Picard remained stoic, as evidenced by his repeated assertion that "there are four lights". It was a powerful two-hander between Stewart and Warner, that plays out like a nightmarish courtroom cross-examination.
5 Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Season 4, Episode 18, "Rules of Engagement"
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's courtroom drama "Rules of Engagement" put Lt. Commander Worf (Michael Dorn) on trial after his disastrous first mission in command of the USS Defiant. DS9 foreshadowed Worf's Enterprise-E disaster by interrogating whether his Klingon bloodlust interfered with his command decisions. Like Kirk before him, the trial was an attempt to discredit Worf, and the ship he destroyed was actually empty. It's an episode that's stylishly directed by TNG's LeVar Burton, who shifts the testimonies from the courtroom to the heat of the action, with each witness describing events directly to camera as they happen. It's also possibly the only Star Trek courtroom drama that features the accused punching his prosecutor in the face.
4 Star Trek: The Next Generation, Season 4, Episode 21, "The Drumhead"
"The Drumhead" gives Patrick Stewart one of his very best performances in Star Trek: The Next Generation as he stands accused of treason. Like "Ad Astra per Aspera", this TNG episode is about ignoring one's prejudices to address legal battles in a measured and balanced way. iral Norah Satie (Jean Simmons) first arrived to root out a Romulan saboteur, but grew increasingly paranoid and put Picard on trial for his role as Locutus of Borg. PIcard went toe-to-toe with Satie in the dock, accusing her of being blinded by her xenophobia and prejudice, causing Satie's witch trial to be disbanded by Starfleet Command.
3 Star Trek: Voyager, Season 2, Episode 18, "Death Wish"
Star Trek: Voyager's very best courtroom drama isn't "Author, Author", but an exploration of an immortal omnipotent being's right to die. "Death Wish" introduced Q to Captain Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) when he was sent to deny Quinn (Gerrit Graham) the right to die in a trial held aboard Voyager. Q's unlimited powers enables to bring witnesses from across time and space, as he attempts to prove the positive impact that Quinn has made as a Q, in an attempt to prove he shouldn't die. Ultimately, Q was moved by Quinn's story and helped him end his life at the end of the episode, foreshadowing Q's death in Star Trek: Picard.
2 Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, Season 2, Episode 2, "Ad Astra per Aspera"
"Ad Astra per Aspera" puts Starfleet on trial as it questions its anti-augment prejudice, revealing the cruelty of their ban on genetic augmentations. It's a compelling and harrowing episode that gives a tragic backstory to Una Chin-Riley, who grew up at a time of civil unrest. It also reveals that, to a supposedly egalitarian organization like Starfleet, Una had to suppress her own identity. It's a classic Star Trek courtroom drama that keeps viewers gripped as to how Una will win her case, while also interrogating the moral contradictions at the heart of the show. An instant classic of a Star Trek courtroom drama.