Courtroom Episode: Difference between revisions

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This is an episode that's structured around a court case, in a series not normally focused on litigation. In other words, it's an [[Out-of-Genre Experience]] where the genre being shifted into is "[[Law Procedural]]." Sometimes this is a serious matter, and ~~sometimes -- almost~~ all the time on [[Sit Com]]~~s -- it~~'s because of a [[Frivolous Lawsuit]].

This is an episode that's structured around a court case, in a series not normally focused on litigation. In other words, it's an [[Out-of-Genre Experience]] where the genre being shifted into is "[[Law Procedural]]." Sometimes this is a serious matter, and sometimes—almost all the time on [[Sit Com]]s—it's because of a [[Frivolous Lawsuit]].

Because lawyers get to have all the fun in court, you can expect a major character to be incongruously forced into playing one. They'll almost always succeed in arguing their case [[Hard Work Hardly Works|despite not actually having a law degree, or indeed starting the episode with any clue about what they're doing]].

You should also expect an [[~~Egregious|egregiously~~]] large number of [[Courtroom Antic]]s, for reasons reminiscent of the [[Second Law of Metafictional Thermodynamics]]: since the writers don't normally have the opportunity to write such things, they'll feel obligated to cram in all their favorite ones.

You should also expect an [[egregious]]ly large number of [[Courtroom Antic]]s, for reasons reminiscent of the [[Second Law of Metafictional Thermodynamics]]: since the writers don't normally have the opportunity to write such things, they'll feel obligated to cram in all their favorite ones.

Compare [[Jury Duty]] and [[Rogue Juror]]. See also [[Prison Episode]], which this sometimes doubles as. (Or is sometimes followed by.)

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** ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine|Star Trek Deep Space Nine]]'':

*** "Dax" looks like it's going to center around the question of whether Jadzia and Curzon [[The Nth Doctor|Dax]] are considered the same person under Bajoran law, much as "The Measure of a Man" centers around the question of whether Data is considered human under Federation law. {{spoiler|In the end, Curzon [[Clear Their Name|gets exonerated]], so it doesn't matter.}}

*** "Tribunal", in which [[The Chew Toy|O'Brien]] is tried as a terrorist on Cardassia, is more of a [[Kangaroo Court~~|Kangaroo Courtroom~~]] Episode.

*** "Tribunal", in which [[The Chew Toy|O'Brien]] is tried as a terrorist on Cardassia, is more of a [[Kangaroo Court]]room Episode.

*** "Rules of Engagement" is about an attempt to extradite Worf to the Klingon empire; Sisko defends him.

** ''[[Star Trek: Voyager|Star Trek Voyager]]'': ''Death Wish'' focuses on a trial deciding whether to grant asylum to a member of the Q Continuum.