1) “The Measure of a Man” – Star Trek: The Next Generation
Look. What else would be here? In the trial episode that all trial episodes aspire to be, Data’s rights as an android are put to task when Starfleet scientist Bruce Maddox boards the Enterprise and demands to take Data apart as part of his research. With fantastic tension when Riker is asked to prosecute his colleague, it’s an episode that tightly balances Star Trek worldbuilding and real-world legal precedents, and of course, once again Patrick Stewart acting the socks off of everyone around him. He’s mostly standing when he does it this time, though.
