10 Greatest Star Trek Courtroom Episodes

The most recent entry on this list, Ad Astra Per Aspera is classic Star Trek to its core. The trial of Una Chin-Reilly over her genetic engineering, a fact of her body that she has no control over, is easily spotted as an allegory for the ongoing struggles faced by minorities in society today.

This is something of an interesting episode for the fact that if you go in looking for subtlety, you're going to be disappointed. On the other hand, it shines a stark light on the utter intolerance that some struggle to overcome. Guest star Yetide Badaki delivers an all-time great performance as Neera, Una's defender.

Strange New Worlds has been outstanding in its debut season, and as of writing, its sophomore year is shaping up to be just as strong. The pervious comment on the lack of subtlety notwithstanding, it is taking a very Original Series approach to how it tells its tales - forcing the audience to watch the discomfort that the entire court feels as Una talks about her childhood, and the persecution that she and others like her faced.

The outcome of the trial was never truly in question, in true Trek fashion, but it was how we got to the ending that really shone the most.