Star Trek: 10 Plot Twists Everyone Saw Coming

7. Show Trial

A blistering courtroom drama with an impressive guest star cast, Ad Astra per Aspera is undeniably one of the best examples of Star Trek of recent years. The piece, like the defence, was practically faultless in its execution. Sadly, the same can't be said about the official promotion of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' second season. The spoilers were such that, like a Cardassian show trial, we knew the verdict for Una in advance.

Season one ended on quite the cliffhanger of quite the episode. Though events had been foreshadowed in the alternate timeline of A Quality of Mercy, the conclusion was still a shock. Commander Chin-Riley was arrested "for violations of [the] anti-genetic modification directive". At that point, we didn't know if we'd ever see Una again outside of prison, let alone back in Starfleet.

It was more than a little baffling, therefore, that teaser and trailer for season two should show Una in uniform, on an away mission, and Una on the bridge. Unlike in said alternate timeline, the 'illicit' Illyrian clearly hadn't been sentenced to a Federation penal colony on Salius VI. In fact, she'd evidently got to keep her commission. In the end, the how of it all was a masterclass. The if could have done with a few lessons in suspense from the brilliant Neera Ketoul.