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" joins 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.
