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How Strange New Worlds pulled off the first-ever Star Trek musical episode

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Throwing an hour of light comedy into the middle of a 10-episode arc with galactic-level stakes could derail an entire season, but Star Trek: Strange New Worlds dances gracefully from week to week between courtroom drama, time-travel romance, and its latest wild swing: a musical episode.

In “Subspace Rhapsody,” the crew of the USS Enterprise encounters a strange cosmic phenomenon that induces them to break into song and reveal their innermost feelings. The episode features 10 original songs by Kay Hanley and Tom Polce (of Letters to Cleo fame) and highlights the vocal talents of the cast, including Tony nominee and Grammy winner Celia Rose Gooding and singer-songwriter Christina Chong.

Executive Producer Alex Kurtzman, who heads up the franchise at Paramount, has been teasing the possibility of a Star Trek musical since 2020. But at the time, his only venue for bizarre genre experiments was Star Trek: Short Treks , a short subject anthology series that filled the gaps between Discovery and Picard . Short Treks eventually became the launchpad for Strange New Worlds , whose tone has proven equally elastic. After the warm reception to its first season, which contained everything from a screwball body-swap comedy to a grim political drama involving child sacrifice, it was time to set phasers to “sing.”

According to the episode’s director, Dermott Downs, Chong was the cast member who pushed the hardest for a musical episode. Chong, whose debut EP Twin Flames is also out this week, confesses in her Spotify bio that her screen acting career began as a way to raise her profile as a singer and stage actor. “Subspace Rhapsody” would seem to be an important landmark in her career, as she features heavily on the soundtrack, including the solo ballad “How Would That Feel?”

(Chong is unavailable for comment due to the conditions of the ongoing SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes, as is the rest of the cast and the episode’s writers, Dana Horgan and Bill Wolkoff. Songwriters Kay Hanley and Tom Polce also could not be reached via Paramount publicity.)

Indeed, one of the interesting challenges of producing a musical episode of an established television show is tailoring the music to suit the talents of the existing cast. Who’s a belter? Who’s a crooner? Who’s funny? Who might not be comfortable singing at all? The tools at hand impact not only the distribution of the songs, but the shape of the story. The narrative and emotional weight of a musical has to fall on the shoulders of the cast members most prepared to carry it.

So, it’s no surprise that, while “Subspace Rhapsody” gives nearly every regular cast member an opportunity to show off, the heart of the story is Ensign Nyota Uhura, portrayed by Celia Rose Gooding. Gooding’s performance as Frankie in Jagged Little Pill , a Broadway jukebox musical featuring the songs of Alanis Morissette, garnered them a Tony nomination for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical, as well as a Grammy for Best Musical Theater Album (shared with the rest of the cast). Gooding sings the episode’s 11 o’clock number, “Keep Us Connected,” an undeniable earworm that showcases their impressive vocal range and power. Gooding’s Broadway bona fides bring a level of legitimacy to “Subspace Rhapsody” that’s lacking even in top-tier TV musical episodes like Buffy ’s “Once More, With Feeling” and Community ’s “Regional Holiday Music.”

This also isn’t Downs’ first crack at a musical episode, as he also helmed “Duet,” a crossover between The Flash and Supergirl that reunited former Glee castmates Grant Gustin, Melissa Benoist, and Darren Criss. Downs used this experience, as well as his long resume as a music video cinematographer, to secure the “Subspace Rhapsody” gig from the list of episodes in development for Strange New Worlds ’ second season. Combined with his fondness for the original Star Trek , the possibility of working on Trek’s first musical episode was too exciting to pass up, despite the obvious risks.

“There was a great potential to jump the shark,” says Downs, “because if you’re this grounded show, how are you going to do a musical in outer space? And to their credit, they crafted a great story. Once you understand the anomaly and how music pushes forward all of these interior feelings through song, then you have the potential for so many different kinds of songs.”

However, the prospect of singing for the viewing audience was not immediately appealing to every cast member, a fact that is lampshaded within the framework of the episode. Much of the Enterprise crew fears the subspace anomaly’s ability to make them spill their guts through song. Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount) is afraid of getting into an argument with his girlfriend, Captain Marie Batel (Melanie Scrofano), and the pair ends up airing out their relationship issues on the bridge. (This song is, appropriately, entitled “A Private Conversation.”) Mount’s singing role is simpler than his castmates’ on a technical level, but leverages his comedic talents and awkward, boy-next-door charm.

“He crushed it,” says Downs. “It was like a country ballad gone wrong.”

Babs Olusanmokun, who portrays the multifaceted Dr. Joseph M’Benga, sings the bare minimum in the episode, and his character makes a point to tell his shipmates (and the viewer) that he does not sing . For his part, Downs cannot comment on any studio magic that may or may not have been employed to make the less seasoned vocalists in the cast more tuneful, but a listener with an ear for autotune will definitely detect some pitch correction.

Downs says that Ethan Peck, who portrays the young Lieutenant Spock , was among the more apprehensive cast members, but if anything, this becomes an asset to his performance in the episode. Spock has spent this season actively exploring his human feelings, even entering into a romantic relationship with Nurse Christine Chapel (Jess Bush). Spock’s solo “I’m the X” sees Spock retreating into his shell, and the actor’s shyness feeds into the character’s conflict. Peck’s performance of the song, which was written for his smooth baritone, was the production’s most pleasant surprise. The temp track of the song that the crew worked with (until Peck recorded his version over a weekend, like the rest of the cast) featured a bigger, more conventionally Broadway vocal, but Peck performs it in character — superficially steady, but with strong emotional undercurrents just below the surface.

On a character level, however, the musical format might be most revelatory for Rebecca Romijn’s Commander Una Chin-Riley, aka Number One. Una began the series as a very guarded person harboring a secret that could end her career. Even as far back as her appearance in the 2019 Short Treks episode “Q&A,” her advice to new arrival Spock was to “keep your ‘freaky’ to yourself,” in this case referring to her love for Gilbert and Sullivan ( inherited from Romijn herself ). Since then, her much more consequential secrets have been revealed, and she finds herself unburdened, and uses the opportunity presented by the musical anomaly to encourage her mentees to do the same. Una’s songs, “Connect to Your Truth”’ and “Keeping Secrets,” see her offering advice to rising first officer James T. Kirk (Paul Wesley) and her protege La’an (Chong), respectively, about the futility of withholding your full self from others.

“Subspace Rhapsody” concludes with an ensemble number about the crew’s common purpose and fellowship — an appropriate sentiment not only for a musical episode but for Strange New Worlds . Star Trek has always been about friendship and cooperation, but no previous incarnation (save, perhaps, for Deep Space Nine ) has granted each member of the cast such even amounts of attention and importance, from Captain Pike to Ensign Uhura. Previous Trek series could perhaps have sustained a musical episode (Ronald D. Moore even pitched one for DS9 back in the ’90s). For a series sold to fans as a return to “old-school Star Trek,” Strange New Worlds has taken some wild creative risks. While the show has resumed its time-tested episodic “problem of the week” format, its writers and producers have used this structure to experiment in ways that its sister shows, Discovery and Picard , could never have gotten away with. As corny as it might be, on Strange New Worlds it feels particularly appropriate to close a story with the entire crew singing about their trust in each other, in perfect harmony.

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How ‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ Brought Its Delightful Musical Episode to Life: ‘You’re Like, Wait, Spock Is Singing Now?!’

By Adam B. Vary

Adam B. Vary

Senior Entertainment Writer

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SPOILER ALERT: This story discusses plot — and musical! — developments in Season 2, Episode 9 of “ Star Trek: Strange New Worlds ,” currently streaming on Paramount+.

Since premiering in 2022, “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds” has already embraced body-swapping comedy, storybook fantasy and a crossover episode with the animated series “Star Trek: Lower Decks.” So perhaps it’s not surprising that for the penultimate episode for Season 2 of “Strange New Worlds,” executive producers Henry Alonso Myers and Akiva Goldsman would mount the first-ever full-on musical episode in “Trek” history.

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As Myers and Goldsman explain to Variety , “Subspace Rhapsody” was the result of more than six months of intense work by the cast and crew, as the songs were built around the actors’ respective vocal abilities by composers Kay Hanley (Letters to Cleo) and Tom Polce (Letters to Cleo, “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend”), in partnership with writers Dana Horgan and Bill Wolkoff. 

The showrunners also revealed which performance ultimately did not make the episode, and what to make of Kirk’s allusion to an it’s-complicated relationship with a woman named Carol.

How did the idea for this episode first arise?

Akiva Goldsman: The truth is it goes all the way back to Season 1 of “Star Trek: Picard.” We were sitting on set and [co-showrunner Michael] Chabon and I were talking about a musical [episode], and Chabon goes, “I know Lin-Manuel Miranda.” [Actor] Michelle Hurd was there and she was like, “Oh my God, call him!” And so then, like, three days later, Michael came in. And we said, “Did you call him?” And he goes, “Yeah, he didn’t call me back.” And so died the musical idea for that series. 

I love musicals, but know nothing about them. And then it turns out my partner Henry has done this before, and well. And so what a fucking delight! I mean, I had no idea what we were biting off. Henry clearly did.

So how did it finally happen for “Strange New Worlds”?

Myers: The idea for it came when were pitching what Season 2 should be. I remember, Bill [Wolkoff], one of our writers had a crazy idea, and we were like, ‘Well, that’s interesting, let’s try that!’ I did a bunch of musicals on “The Magicians,” and I did one on “Ugly Betty.” And so I just knew what a giant pain it would be — I mean, how difficult it was. I started making calls probably about six months before production.

Goldsman: We were lucky enough to suddenly have a cohort that knew how to do all these things, and they were collaborative. It was built around story and theme, and it was tailored to the vocal ranges of the particular actors. We ended up with an absurdly good cast on “Strange New Worlds.” Like, it makes no sense whatsoever. Usually, there’s a dud in the bunch. It was as if they all secretly had been coveting the idea of a musical their entire lives. So it was really good fortune how much everybody liked doing it.

There are so many threads in this episode that originated much earlier in the season: Spock and Chapel’s break-up, La’an’s feelings for Kirk, Uhura’s feelings of isolation. How did you build this episode’s the story around them?

Goldsman: We don’t break them episodically. We break the season first, so we know what our 10 episodes are — in terms of character development, really. We’re a hybridized object. We are episodic, fundamentally, in terms of plot, but serialized in terms of character arc. So we knew what the characters had to go through in the episode and that was connected to where they had come from and where they were going.

What was the most important thing for you to get right?

That was all that I came in pushing. And then everyone else jumped in and actually did it. We had someone to teach the people to sing. We had someone to teach them how to dance. The actual shooting of it, weirdly, was not as hard as you’d think, but only because it has months and months of work to lead up to it.

How much of that was happening in parallel with production and all the other episodes?

Myers: All of it! A lot of our cast were walking around set, shooting previous episodes, looking at what they were going to be singing, playing with each other. They would come in on the weekend and work on the dancing. 

How did you bridge the songs and the story?

Myers: We had broken an early concept of what the story would be, which we then shared with our composer and lyricist, and they would send it back to us and then we would give them thoughts. The two writers who wrote the episode were deeply involved in that. We were trying to make sure that all of the stuff that they were coming up with linked with what we were coming up with. They wanted the show to feel like the show, and we wanted the show to feel like a musical. So we kind of found this great place in the middle.

So, for example, who was the person who realized Spock could sing about being both Chapel’s ex and the x variable in an emotional equation?

Myers: I think that came from our composer and our lyricist. Usually, we’d say, “Here’s the emotional thing that’s supposed to happen. We know the beginning. And we know the end.” Because these are story scenes. It can’t be just a song that describes everything you know. This has to be a scene that reveals something. So we knew what was generally supposed to happen. And then we were like, “Now that you have that, go have fun. Come back to us when you have something.”

Celia Rose Gooding, Rebecca Romijn and Christina Chong are all singers, but did you know that the rest of the cast could sing as well?

Goldsman: No! Our composer played with all of them to see what their range was, and we wrote for them. I mean, I didn’t know Ethan could sing until I went, “Holy fuck, Ethan can sing!” Which is, by the way, kind of what happens when you watch the episode. You’re like, “Wait, Spock is singing now?”

Are there any musical areas that you explored that ultimately didn’t make it into the episode?

Goldsman: Well, we had one fantastic moment of contention, which we won. There’s two versions of the Klingons at the end.

Myers: And we did them both because we were like, we’ll try out everything. The other version is great, too. But this was the one that really kind of, you know, knocked us out. That’s why we wanted it.

What we see are the Klingons performing like they’re in a pop boy band, but you shot another genre with them as well?

Myers: We did an operatic one which was also great because the Klingons have a history with that. And it was also good. 

Myers: The boy band took you by surprise. It was not what you thought was going to happen. I’m delighted by it.

At one point, Kirk tells La’an that he’s in a complicated relationship with a woman named Carol, who is pregnant with his son — which “Trek” fans know is Dr. Carol Marcus, who first appears with Kirk’s grown son David in 1982’s “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.” Would that suggest we’ll meet Carol in Season 3 of “Strange New Worlds”?

Goldsman: I think what we can say is the conversation about James T. Kirk’s love life is not over.

Myers: There’s a lot of known history about his love life, and this part had never really been explored. So we thought, what an opportunity. That’s really what we try to do on the show: None of these things that we know about happening later are known to the people in it.

I will ask the very nerdy question: Did you do the math as far as when Kirk’s son is supposed to have been born vis-a-vis the timeline of the show?

Goldsman: Oh, we always do the math. Anytime we can make canon work, we do. I mean, we’ll body English around it now and then for the sake of a story. But fundamentally, we really try to adhere.

So would you do another musical episode? 

Goldsman: In a heartbeat. 

Myers: Absolutely. But now that’s a high bar. It has to earn itself and be purposeful and feel like a great thing to do. But we loved it.

This interview has been edited and condensed.

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'Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' Season 2 Episode 9 Recap: A Musical That Ends on a High Note

The cast of 'Strange New Worlds' brings their A-game to "Subspace Rhapsody," locking it in as one of the best episodes in the franchise.

Strange New Worlds has officially taken Star Trek where no other series within the franchise has gone before with its very first musical episode. The penultimate episode of Season 2, "Subspace Rhapsody," sees the crew of the USS Enterprise collide with an anomaly that sends the entire federation into an alternate dimension powered by song. As each member of the crew from Captain Pike ( Anson Mount ) to visiting officer Jim Kirk ( Paul Wesley ) begins singing about their innermost thoughts, Uhura ( Celia Rose Gooding ) must race against the clock to reset their reality before the Klingons arrive to destroy the source of their dishonor.

Written by Dana Horgon and Bill Wolkoff , "Subspace Rhapsody," while delivering a whacky off-the-wall musical, still drives several plot points forward as the end of Season 2 draws near, and delivers some truly quintessential Star Trek . The episode is directed by Dermott Downs , who previously helmed the musical crossover for Supergirl and The Flash , as well as several episodes of Fire Country . The ten new songs, which will be available on Spotify and Apple Music, were penned by Letters to Cleo's Kay Hanley and Tom Polce with some stellar choreography from Roberto Campanella . The episode also features an acapella rendition of the show's theme song.

Musical episodes can easily spiral out of control and turn into a cringey mess, but thankfully that's not the case with Strange New Worlds . Star Trek is known for pushing the boundaries and delivering outside-the-box ideas with style and just the right touch of campiness, and that's exactly what "Subspace Rhapsody" does. With a grand range of genres, the episode moves easily between comedic moments and sweeping emotional ballads. Already accomplished singers in their own right, Gooding and Christina Chong are strong standouts as Uhura and La'an deliver the most impactful numbers from the episode. However, the whole cast of Strange New Worlds brings their A-game to "Subspace Rhapsody," locking it in as one of the best episodes in a franchise filled with hits.

RELATED: ‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ Paul Wesley & Ethan Peck on Season 2 and ‘TOS’ Homages

'Strange New Worlds' Season 2 Sets the Stage for a Lyrical Adventure

Uhura opens the episode with a communications officer's log detailing the new subspace fold the crew of the Enterprise has found in the far reaches of Federation space. Spock ( Ethan Peck ) believes that it can be used to speed up subspace communication, but while they experiment on the anomaly, the crew must communicate the old-fashioned way — exclusively through her station. The musicality of Uhura's role on the ship is immediately evident as she effortlessly conducts every bit of communication among the crew.

Pike is looking to move things with Captain Marie Batel ( Melanie Scrofano ) to the next level as the two attempt to plan their first vacation together; however, it's not going very well, as the two clearly have different ideas about what makes for the ideal getaway. Elsewhere, La'an and Una ( Rebecca Romijn ) prepare to welcome Kirk aboard in order to "show him the ropes" before he begins his official commission as first officer of the USS Farragut. Una immediately clocks La'an's unusually flustered nature as the security officer prepares to work with Kirk for the first time since her trip to the past with an alternate version of the future captain .

In Sickbay, Chapel ( Jess Bush ) anxiously prepares to open a message from Dr. Korby — whom TOS fans will recognize as her future fiancé. She's applied to an archeological medicine fellowship to further her career, and this time, she's gotten in. She's over the moon to have gotten into the program which will take her away from the Enterprise for at least three months, but her feelings are muddied when she realizes she doesn't know how to tell Spock she's leaving.

Speaking of Spock, the science officer has teamed up with Uhura and Pelia ( Carol Kane ) in engineering. As their efforts continue to come back fruitless, Pelia suggests that they try sending music through the subspace fold — if regular communications aren't working, perhaps "fundamental harmonics" will do the trick. Uhura chooses a classic from Anything Goes , a fitting sentiment for Star Trek , and as they send the song through it reverberates back throughout the ship. Almost immediately, Spock begins singing uncontrollably as he attempts to give a status report to the Captain. The phenomenon continues through the entire crew as everyone begins to harmonize about their unique roles and positions on the ship. Aside from their sudden theatrical nature, nothing appears to be out of the ordinary.

The Crew of the Enterprise Can't Stop Singing on 'Strange New Worlds' Season 2

The crew gathers for an emergency meeting in the ready room as they try to understand what just happened. Spock explains that sending a song into the subspace field essentially caused the ship to slip into a musical reality, one to which they've become tethered, so their random bouts of singing are likely far from over. Together Uhura and Spock attempt to find a way to fix the problem, and when Spock notices that Chapel has received a response from Dr. Korby. When Uhura realizes that they're dating, he suggests that he ask her about it himself instead of waiting, but he tells her that they've had trouble communicating lately following Chapel's PTSD in the previous episode .

Elsewhere, Kirk and Una tune up the ship while discussing the best way to go about being a first officer in Starfleet. While Una has quite the reputation for keeping her distance, she reveals that lately she's been trying a new, more hands-on approach. Once again, a flight of fancy takes over the pair of officers as Una finds herself in the middle of a Gilbert and Sullivan -style number, referencing her love for The Pirates of Penzance ( established in the Short Trek "Q&A" ). Romijn and Wesley give a delightful performance as they twirl through the hallways, professing the benefits of being their authentic selves.

Having witnessed the moment by happenstance, La'an races to her own quarters as she finds herself overcome with emotion and driven to belt out her own innermost feelings. Chong is outstanding as she shows a more vulnerable side of La'an than we're used to seeing on Strange New Worlds . The lyrics for "How Would That Feel" also really stand apart, working as a beautiful heart-song while effortlessly highlighting elements specific to La'an — like her genetic modifications and her alternate timeline romance . Afterward, she promptly informs the Captain that the sooner they get out of this reality the better, as the uncontrollable urge to sing about their personal feelings could pose a security risk to the ship.

When their attempt to close the anomaly backfires, Batel hails the Enterprise from the Cayuga, immediately showing that their experiments have far-reaching consequences as she engages Pike in a Bad Country-style duet. Proving La'an's point about the anomaly posing a security risk, Pike and Batel sing a rather "Private Conversation" on the bridge, as he confesses his feelings for her in front of the crew.

Music Compels the Crew of 'Strange New Worlds' Season 2 to Confess Their Inner Feelings

In another emergency meeting, they learn that the anomaly has begun to spread throughout the fleet. Uhura suggests that because they're in a musical reality, they're following the logic of a typical musical — when their emotions are heightened, they find themselves compelled to sing about them. Embarrassed by his own emotional confession, Pike promptly (and hilariously) suggests that they blow up the subspace fold. Spock notes that his ridiculous suggestion actually has merit, and Kirk promptly volunteers himself and La'an to test that theory. However, La'an is afraid she's going to confess her feelings to Kirk, prompting her to attempt to refuse the assignment. In the next musical number, Una offers some sage advice to La'an about how suppressing your feelings can actually do more harm than good. It's a smoky piano number that sees La'an and Una floating through space, in a moment of vulnerability that calls back to their Enterprise Bingo adventure from Season 1 .

La'an agrees to work with Kirk and when he tells her they should team up more often, she nearly tells him how she feels. Unfortunately, she's cut off immediately as an explosion reverberates through the entire ship. The test to see if they could simply destroy the fold has also backfired, nearly destroying engineering in the process. Spock explains that if they were to attempt to go through with that plan they would obliterate every ship affected by the anomaly. To make matters worse, they receive a message from the Klingons who make it clear they're on a mission to destroy the fold which they've calculated is the source of their dishonor.

Spock and Uhura go to trigger another song so that they can study elements like frequency and tone that they may be able to use to solve their predicament. Conveniently, they happen upon Chapel celebrating with Ortegas ( Melissa Navia ) and Sam Kirk ( Dan Jeannotte ) in the bar. In a rather inconvenient, and insensitive even, song Chapel publicly breaks up with Spock as she tells him that she's ready to leave him to pursue her career. It's an entertaining number, but their short-lived relationship certainly suffers for it. Though they were a controversial pairing at best , Chapel and Spock's whirlwind romance appears to have ended before it even really began. They're promptly driven apart by the narrative, despite Chapel having pined for Spock for a season and a half before confessing her feelings.

Elsewhere, La'an takes control of her own feelings to explain to Kirk why she's been acting so strange. Despite both of them being fully aware of the consequences of her telling him about the alternate timeline, she forges forward and explains the way that Kirk fundamentally altered her brain chemistry by showing her the potential of who she could be. He made her realize that she could dare to hope, take chances, and make romantic connections with other people. She tells him that while he's not exactly like that version of himself ; this Kirk also looks at her like he genuinely sees her. Unfortunately, as much as Kirk feels drawn to her too, he confesses that he's currently in a relationship with a scientist on Starbase 1. TOS fans will recognize his romantic partner as Carol Marcus, and it just so happens that she's currently pregnant with their son — who first appeared in The Wrath of Khan .

'Strange New Worlds' Season 2 Strengthens the Connection Between Classic Star Trek Characters

Elsewhere, Spock is still reeling from getting dumped, while trying to analyze the data that he gathered with Uhura. Spock's break-up ballad is filled with math puns, as he logically processes his feelings and strengthens his friendship with Uhura by showing her a vulnerability he doesn't share with anyone else. Clearly going through it, he leaves her alone after the song ends, and she swiftly finds herself wrapped up in her own emotional number. Picking up on the tune she was humming at the beginning of the episode, Uhura goes back over her own isolation before realizing the answer lies in connection. Gooding is phenomenal throughout the entire episode, but this particular number gives them a well-deserved spotlight at the turning point of the musical.

Uhura brings her realization to the Captain, explaining that in order to break out of the musical reality, the entire crew needs to rally together for a grand finale in an ensemble number. Pike, known for his own inspiring speeches , opens the channel for her and gives Uhura the courage to be the one to motivate the entire crew to sing together in unison. The final number is as grand as it should be, as Uhura calls upon the connections between them to show everyone that they can accomplish literally anything when they work together. The song features several solo moments and fun references to Star Trek canon, like the Prime Directive and more. In a hilarious twist, we also get a glimpse of why the Klingons are so determined to destroy the anomaly as they hail the Enterprise in the midst of a '90s boy band, K-pop fusion number.

Finally, with every voice on the ship harmonizing as one, they're able to break free, and the crew revels in the elation and endorphins that come from performing together. "Subspace Rhapsody" ends on a high note — despite the emotional turmoil it caused in many of the characters, they're left looking at a brighter future. Though things appear to be over for Spock and Chapel, La'an is ready to let herself take more risks, and Pike is able to communicate more honestly with Batel. However, their vacation is postponed once more as she's assigned to a priority one mission, which may incidentally spell trouble for the Season 2 finale. The episode is capped off with the delightful running gag that the Enterprise's most reliable way to keep the Klingons satisfied is to send Spock in to negotiate over many gauntlets of blood wine.

The Season 2 finale of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds air on Paramount+ on August 10.

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Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Recap: Stardust Melody

Star trek: strange new worlds.

Hi, I’m Sophie, your guest recapper. Keith will be back to cover the season finale next week, and I’ve promised not to trash the place while he’s away. As they say, both on Broadway and in outer space, on with the show!

The writers of  Star Trek: Strange New Worlds  did not have to go so hard. They could have written a perfectly respectable penultimate episode, where the themes this season has explored — the challenges of navigating collegial, platonic, and romantic relationships; balancing one’s own dreams and ambitions against the dreams of those we love; processing past grief and trauma — would all be folded into an adventure with genuine heart and emotional heft.

Instead, Dana Horgan and Bill Wolkoff took a big swing and ratcheted up the episode’s degree of difficulty for everyone by writing a musical episode. Not even a supersize portion of hand-wavy, “It’s SCIENCE, okay?!” expository dialogue can fray the elegant weave of all of the character arcs and thematic threads that give “Subspace Rhapsody” its narrative sturdiness. The delightful, often moving, and deeply earworm-y songs furnished by songwriting team Tom Polce and Kay Hanley elevate the whole affair. You may recall their work from the effervescent oeuvre of Letters to Cleo and from appearances in films such as  10 Things I Hate About You  and  Josie & the Pussycats .

It’s so fun to watch the crew members being hypercompetent. Uhura’s zipping through the  Star Trek  version of every fun 1940s switchboard-operator montage we’ve ever seen to clear the electronic decks for this experiment and excitement about a naturally occurring subspace fold is matched by Spock’s eagerness to test a hypothesis. What if the naturally occurring subspace fold could triple the speed of subspace communications? They could invent interstellar texting! Uhura’s unconscious humming to herself as she works gives Pelia a brilliant idea: Since the fold operates under a different set of physics laws than they’re used to, maybe a different type of communication will unlock the speed they’re hoping for. Perhaps dynamic harmonics (a.k.a. songs) would work? Pelia is a bit cheeky and is still a somewhat mysterious character. Is she being a sincerely helpful, nearly immortal physics genius, or a trickster? Maybe it’s a bit of both.

The confidence of this episode is further emphasized by its patience: The first song doesn’t arrive until seven minutes in. With the ship reeling from a mysterious wave sent from the fold, Spock, of all people, kicks off the first song with the Spock-iest lyrics imaginable, “The intermix chamber and containment field are stable / I’ll get to the warp core and assess its state when I’m able,” and we are off to the races. It is, as they repeat several times, so peculiar.

Everyone in this cast can sing, and even those with modest vocal gifts acquit themselves well and then make room for powerhouse vocalists like the Grammy-winning and Tony-nominated Celia Rose Gooding and classically trained dancer Christina Chong. Shout-out to Polce and Hanley for writing toward their cast members’ skills. The most surprising new-to-me tidbit I learned on a little dive into their Wikipedia entries is that Rebecca Romijn studied voice at UC Santa Cruz. Actor, supermodel, singer — she can do it all!

Upon returning from the credits — this week featuring a special choral arrangement, a true gift to collegiate a cappella groups everywhere — everyone learns that by sending the fold “Anything Goes” and giving it a taste of the Great American Songbook, the Enterprise prompted the fold to unleash a very unlikely alternate musical-theatre reality. This scene includes a sweet little Easter egg for all the  Buffy the Vampire Slayer  fans out there, with La’an and Dr. M’Benga fretting about being turned into bunnies. Seems unlikely, but at least they’re not terrified of bunnies like  Buffy ’s resident vengeance demon and  leporiphobia sufferer, Anya .

Captain Pike wants solutions, and the team set to work with their first attempt, zipping the fold shut. This leads to a trio of related songs about balancing the responsibilities of leadership with one’s feelings. The first, Number One’s charming waltz with the visiting Jim Kirk, “Connect to Your Crew,” furnishes some genuinely helpful life advice about drawing on one’s authentic self to make and maintain meaningful relationships. It’s a tiny slice of Rodgers and Hammerstein in the midst of an episode that leans far more toward the (also lovely) contemporary style of  Waitress .

Throughout this song, the camera keeps panning to La’an, crouched behind a hallway buttress. Her face is a picture of jealous anguish as she observes her hero-friend, Una, casually sharing confidences with Jim, for whom she harbors feelings she’s obliged not to name due to space-time reasons. She’s been trapped in this ” Conceal, don’t feel ” place for too long, and as she puts it in her big number, as valuable as being cool, methodical, and responsible is, “it might be time to change [her] paradigm / if only [she] can let go of the wheel.” Can La’an merge the parts of herself that keep the watch — her one memento of “ Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow ” — under a double lock and key with the part that conjures a little flight of fancy where she and Kirk are in love and she can let herself be vulnerable and happy? Is it any wonder that La’an raises the alarm about the crew’s emotions being a security threat?

She knows she needs to nip the possibility of singing to Jim in the bud, but to do so is also to come clean about how she knew Alternate Timeline Jim. Number One, opening up to La’an in exactly the way she’d hoped for earlier, counsels a Marie Kondo approach to her skills and habits. They’re not in a desperate struggle for survival anymore, so perhaps it’s time to thank secret-keeping and emotion-crushing for their valuable service and let them go. Wanting to avoid the whole thing coming out in the form of a 17th-century sea shanty (for the record, I would  love  to hear that), La’an does what she must, leading to the episode’s best scene. Kudos to Christina Chong and Paul Wesley for leaning into the maybe-next-lifetime of it all. In lesser hands, this scene could have been kind of maudlin, but they transform it into well-earned heartache.

All that honesty may be for naught, though. The musical logic anomaly’s expansion across the entire subspace communications network could overwhelm the entire fleet’s logical thinking and drive them to the brink of war. The threat of total communications annihilation grows more intense now that even the Klingons are affected. General Garkog cannot abide “the abominable source of our dishonor” and intends to destroy it immediately upon arriving at the fold in about two hours.

Spock’s next gambit, generating a song-prompting moment, leads into another pair of songs: Chapel’s big ensemble number, followed by his own response song. Chapel’s is the most fun song of the episode so far, and yet it also raises some questions. She’s usually pretty easygoing, and perhaps some of that easy-breeziness is as much a survival tactic as Number One’s secret keeping. Her song underlines the professional ambition that led her to apply for (and get) another prestigious fellowship with a leading archaeological medicine specialist. She’s ready for what the future holds, even if it includes leaving Spock behind entirely, though I note that she’s still keeping her rationale a secret from everyone. Spock’s response song, back in the emotionally safe space of Engineering, uses the same melody as Chapel’s, and is every bit as lovelorn as hers is (mostly) triumphant. It’s such a bummer to see Spock describe his behavior in their relationship as “dysfunctional, weak, and emotional” when that relationship prompting him to let his human side take precedence seemed to be a boon for him.

Thank goodness for Uhura, whose song is the barn burner of the episode, making the most of Celia Rose Gooding’s gorgeous voice and presence as she sings about finding patterns in both data and in her heart. As a person who’s always been devoted to helping everyone else maintain their connections, can she marshal those skills to include herself in that everyone and find a way out of the potential impending disaster as a member of a team? Uhura is the youngest member of the Enterprise crew, and the degree to which they rely on her is  staggering .

She leads the crew to the unified emotional heights they’ll need to scale to reverse the effects of the improbability field with a  Back to the Future –style jolt of emotion of 344 giga electronvolts. The grand finale works because Uhura is able to inspire all 200 or so crew members to sing together. As ever, teamwork makes the dream work, and each person contributes all they can — including dancing! — in spite of the real challenges they’ve been singing about. The triumphant climax of the song is delayed a tiny bit by a check-in from the Klingons, who are led in song by General Garkog, who … can’t possibly be familiar with  T-Pain’s oeuvre , but who nonetheless delivers a flawless impression of the greatest practitioner of Auto-Tune. A+ silliness by Bruce Horak, who played Hemmer last season.

The song does the trick, and everyone on board is relieved to get back to their new normal of being more in touch with their feelings and chance-taking. They’re still sensitive enough to be struck with momentary dread when Uhura hums the tune of Chapel’s and Spock’s songs, but it passes, as every feeling does.

Space Tidbits

• As JTK is about to arrive, Number One tells La’an, “You have … an energy. You came in hot. On fire. It’s making me sweat.” I love this line delivery so much and have been waiting all season for it.

• Musical Pun Watch: Pike tells Uhura and Spock, “You’re applying old rules to a new reality. I suggest you find a different tempo.” LOL.

• A prize for the best bit of business in the background goes to Sam Kirk’s tiny body rolls, which I’m pretty sure only Uhura notices.

• Does the grand finale include an homage to  The Muppet Show  theme song? You be the judge: The crew sings that “We’re unbreakable, unshakeable, improbable, unstoppable, sensational, ovational, we, the fully explorational crew of the Enterprise!” Their Muppet forebears always sang about “the most sensational, inspirational, celebrational, Muppetational / This is what we call  The Muppet Show !”

• star trek: strange new worlds

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Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2 Episode 9 Review – Subspace Rhapsody

Star Trek's first musical installment is silly, heartfelt, and perhaps the most fun the show's ever been.

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This Star Trek: Strange New Worlds review contains spoilers.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2 Episode 9

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds continues to swing for the fences in its second season, repeatedly going where literally no one has gone before in this franchise. And if you thought that things couldn’t possibly get more delightfully chaotic than the episode that brought several Lower Decks animated characters into the world of live action, you definitely weren’t prepared for the series’ foray into musical storytelling, an installment that is potentially the most purely fun hour of Star Trek I’ve ever watched. Is it silly? Absolutely. Occasionally cringe-worthy? Kind of. But somehow still perfect in spite of it all? 100% yes.

Most viewers likely assumed that the much-ballyhooed Star Trek musical episode would basically be a marketing gimmick, a silly, largely disposable hour with little to offer besides the chance to see our faves sing and dance together. And I don’t know that any of us would have actually minded too much if that’s all it had turned out to be! But instead, “Subspace Rhapsody” is a surprisingly thoughtful exploration of community and connection, an hour that’s not only wildly fun to watch, but that wholeheartedly embraces the format it’s chosen, using the larger narrative framework of traditional musical theater to say something meaningful about its characters and their various journeys this season. 

Life in Starfleet doesn’t often lend itself to overt emotion, which is probably why so many of its members are closet alcoholics. I kid, I kid—mostly—but while Strange New Worlds is a show that literally runs on heart, a certain brand of stoicism does tend to rule the day on the Enterprise . Yes, there are certainly plenty of emotional moments , but getting people freely admitting and talking about their feelings isn’t something that happens particularly often. (I mean, Una basically reverse engineered her own arrest in order to come clean about her Illyrian heritage and her reasons for lying to Starfleet. We just found out about M’Benga’s dark past as a sort of Special Forces assassin last week .) And musicals are made for big, messy, emotions—we sing when we feel so much we can’t keep it inside anymore, when it’s the only way to possibly convey what’s in the depths of hearts. So this is an hour that’s over the top entertainment, yes, but one that’s also full of deep seated and necessary truths. 

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Smartly, Strange New Worlds fully leans into the ridiculousness of the situation the Enterprise crew finds itself in, a phenomenon brought about by a rare subspace fold and the unfortunate application of a classic Cole Porter track. The songs are hilariously peppered with references to deflector shields and phaser banks, simultaneously incredibly broad and hyper specific. And the episode repeatedly underlines how much no one actually wants to be singing their feelings out in front of their crewmates, gleefully giving various characters cringe-worthy and painfully self-aware public confessionals. Anson Mount, truly making a solid case that someone should just cast him in a romantic comedy already, continues to be the show’s MVP when it comes to subtle humor and deadpan reaction shots.

The overall quality of the episode’s musical numbers is…well, it’s a Star Trek musical, it’s about what you’d expect, with songs about connecting to your true self and the importance of trusting one another. The series’ cast is game for anything, and most of them are fairly decent singers, though Strange New Worlds is smart enough to understand that large ensemble numbers can cover a multitude of sins. 

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds “Subspace Rhapsody” Soundtrack and Musical Influences

Strange New Worlds Easter Eggs Call Back to a Major Star Trek: Wrath of Khan Character

Celia Rose Gooding gets the biggest and best solo number, a showstopper of a self-actualization anthem that’s a lovely celebration of how far Uhura’s come since the series began. Christina Chong, also a professional singer, gets a nice introspective piece about La’an’s internal struggle with control. And while Jess Bush doesn’t necessarily have the strongest voice among the crew, Chapel gets one of the episode’s best ensemble numbers as she rediscovers her free spirit while celebrating her acceptance into a three month fellowship with archeological medical expert Dr. Korby. (Who I assume she’s also going to get engaged to sometime in the not too distant future.)

Vocal performances aside, the high drama and heightened emotions of musical theater make for a perfect backdrop for a surprisingly thoughtful exploration of several of season 2’s key relationships, including La’an’s lingering feelings for James Kirk to Chapel and Spock’s nascent connection. Even Pike and Batel’s one step forward two steps back long distance courtship comes under the spotlight. Granted, I’m not sure how truly invested any of us are in that particular pairing no matter how fabulous Melanie Scrafano is, and this hour does nothing so much as indicate that Pike isn’t really willing to put in the work their relationship needs, whatever he says to the contrary. But, hey, at least we confirmed Batel’s first name is Marie.

Viewers knew that the Spock/Chapel relationship was doomed long before Boimler told the Enterprise’s chief nurse the truth about the Spock history will remember, but its doubtful that any of us expected a break-up between them to happen so soon. Happily, the end of their romantic relationship isn’t about Spock’s nebulous future but Chapel’s very real present, and it’s a relief not only to see her choose herself in the end, but to do so with such a total lack of guilt or uncertainty about it. We love a woman who knows her worth. Of course, it seems more than likely Strange New Worlds will revisit these two at some (multiple?) point(s) in the future, and her choice—as well as his response to it—will surely complicate things between them even further. 

Speaking of complicated, this is also the episode in which La’an comes clean about her alternate past history with a different version of James Kirk, fearing quite rightly that the odds of her blurting it out in song at some point are not zero. (Since she so clearly also has feelings for his prime timeline counterpart.) Kirk is surprisingly cool about both the revelation that La’an’s into him and that she watched a different version of him die in front of her , and, to his credit doesn’t take advantage of the opportunity. Instead, he confesses that while he’s drawn to her too for reasons he doesn’t entirely understand, he can’t act on any of those feelings because he has a girlfriend at the moment and said girlfriend is pregnant. Whether this is merely meant to serve as a fun Carol Marcus pseudo-cameo for fans, or if it’s a hint that we might actually get to see some version of this character (and her relationship with Kirk) fleshed out more thoroughly in future episodes, is a question for another day. But why not? I’m pretty sure Strange New Worlds has already proved there’s nothing it can’t do.

4.5 out of 5

Lacy Baugher

Lacy Baugher is a digital producer by day, but a television enthusiast pretty much all the time. Her writing has been featured in Paste Magazine, Collider,…

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Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2 Episode 9 Review – ‘Subspace Rhapsody’

August 3, 2023 by Chris Connor

Chris Connor reviews the ninth episode of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2…

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds  has tinkered with the Star Trek formula across its two seasons, with an episode where a storybook comes to life, several alternate reality based storylines and a comedic crossover with Lower Decks . Perhaps the most radical departure yet is a full blown musical that oddly enough succeeds at exploring some of the core emotional beats from across the two seasons, developing a number of central relationships and driving the narrative forward, all while acting as a musical interlude that could quite easily be dismissed as a throwaway gimmick.

The scenario arises after Uhura and some of the crew listen to the old Jazz standard Anything Goes , creating an improbability field where the Enterprise crew spontaneously start singing about their emotions. This seems to mirror the events of a musical. Rather than make light of what is a seemingly preposterous plotline, all involved double down on the story-beats and how to integrate this into the overarching themes and narratives of the season.

Spock learning of Nurse Chapel’s research fellowship and La’an and Kirk’s relationship are addressed through the medium of song but handled in a way that feels natural and handles the difficult nature of both sets of relationships that have been lurking in the background across the season, in a sensitive and fun manner. It helps that the cast have clearly put their heart and soul into performing the songs and the associated choreography making them hugely entertaining and not awful musical numbers meaning their subtext for each of the crew doesn’t suffer.

It is another hugely inventive episode that is the latest in a long line for this particular stretch of the Trek universe and the most ensemble episode of the season to date. While this means we get closure or further developments for a number of sub plots, the only slight drawback is a more limited amount of screentime for Anson Mount and his compelling work as Christopher Pike, something that will hopefully be addressed in the in-development third season.

‘Subspace Rhapsody’ is a terrific musical episode of Star Trek and far from being a betrayal of Trek or a departure too far, feels wholly at home in the more expansive and experimental second season of the show.  What could quite easily have been a horrid misfire, excels due to its performances and the commitment of the crew to make this radical experiment, live up to its maximum potential. Fans will no doubt wait with anticipation for what the next genre episode might be and how this stellar series will wrap up with its finale.

Chris Connor

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Every Episode of Star Trek: Picard Season 2, Ranked

Star Trek: Picard Season 2 was a varied and emotionally heavy season, and here's how critics and fans ranked each episode in the time-travel saga.

This article contains a brief mention of suicide.

The return of Jean-Luc Picard to the Star Trek universe was always meant to be a three-season affair. The second season was filmed during the height of the pandemic, and went through many iterations under the direction of three executive producers. In more ways than one, it was a tonal shift from the seasons on either side of it. How critics and fans ranked every episode of Star Trek: Picard Season 2 shows how challenging and contentious the middle chapter of this saga was. The story explored time travel, introduced an alternate timeline, and was bookended by a massively important moment in Starfleet's present.

Picard Season 2 was an emotionally heavy season with a clear political point of view and a sense of fun that comes with setting sci-fi characters in the contemporaneous present. In both the special features of The Complete Star Trek: Picard home release and the making-of book Star Trek: Picard: The Art and Making of the Series , the challenges in making this season are laid bare. With Rotten Tomatoes representing the critics and IMDB's user ratings representing the audience, each episode of Star Trek: Picard Season 2 is ranked based on the story it told and the impact it had on both the characters and audience.

10 The Picard Season 2 Premiere Was Full of Promise

Star trek: picard season 2, episode 1 "the star gazer", star trek theory: picard retconned the divisive enterprise series finale.

Of all Star Trek: Picard 's ten sophomore episodes, "The Star Gazer" ranks the highest among its peers in Season 2 . It's a fantastic beginning to the story, which both ties up loose ends from Season 1 and sets the characters on a new adventure. Most importantly, however, it brings Starfleet back into the fold in a big way. Picard delivers a Starfleet Academy commencement address, and he is then summoned to the USS Stargazer to answer a plea for help.

The episode sends off Soji, an ambassador for her synthetic siblings on the galactic stage. Dr. Agnes Jurati is with her, but quickly beams aboard the Stargazer, commanded by (her ex) Captain Cristobal Rios. Raffi, Elnor and Laris return, the first two also in Starfleet and the latter still with Jean-Luc but yearning for something more. It ends with the return of Q who, at the last moment, whisks Picard away from certain death.

9 Picard Season 2 Almost Took Place in an Alternate Timeline

Star trek: picard season 2, episode 2, "penance".

The first two episodes of Star Trek: Picard Season 2 debuted the same day, so it makes sense they are ranked close together. The strange new world this episode introduces may be why some viewers became disillusioned with the rest of the season's 21st Century setting. Executive Producer Terry Matalas said on Inglorious Treksperts that this episode mostly came from the Season 1 showrunner Michael Chabon before he left to adapt one of his novels for Paramount.

The characters were meant to spend more time in this alternate timeline , which reveres Adam Soong, one of many Brent Spiner lookalikes related to the creation of Data. The Earth is ravaged by climate change and seems very similar to the xenophobic Mirror Universe. Picard, Raffi, Seven of Nine, Elnor, Jurati and Rios have to bust a Borg Queen out of prison so that they can time travel and fix the past. Still, it might have been fun to spend more time in this evil, alternate future.

8 Season 2 Teamed Picard Up With a Character Tying TOS to TNG

Star trek: picard season 2, episode 5, "fly me to the moon".

Actor Orla Brady played Laris, who is absent from the season save for the first and final episodes. However, she returned to the cast as Talinn, the Romulan successor to Gary Seven from The Original Series . The character known as a "Watcher" was introduced as a potential spinoff from Gene Roddenberry for NBC. While it didn't take off, it did create an interesting bit of Star Trek lore. While Gary Seven was a human with access to advanced alien technology, Talinn is a Romulan tasked with protecting the timeline on Earth.

Laris is primarily responsible for the safety of Renée Picard, ancestor of Jean-Luc and the woman who discovers "a sentient microbe" on Europa that helps fix climate change. It's also the episode where the other political storyline (Rios and the present-day "Butterflies" being persecuted by ICE for helping undocumented migrants) are broken out of custody in a fun action sequence. It's also the episode where Agnes is injected with Borg nanoprobes by the queen, setting up the next episode in the Star Trek: Picard Season 2 ranked list.

7 A Gala, a Sassy Borg Queen and a Musical Number Shook Up Picard Season 2

Star trek: picard season 2, episode 6, "two of one", 'keep being noisy': picard star provides star trek: legacy update.

This version of the Borg Queen was played by Annie Wersching , who passed away in January 2023 from cancer. Great throughout the series, this episode features the Borg Queen and Jurati sharing a mind. As the Borg Queen tries to take over her body (reliant on emotional responses for control), the two make a great inside woman as they help Team Picard sneak into a gala. Allison Pill also does a rendition of the great Pat Benatar song, "Shadows of the Night."

"Two of One" doesn't just refer to the Borg-ified Jurati, either. This episode features Jean-Luc have a touching heart-to-heart conversation with his ancestor Renée. They are also two of a kind. Picard also faces off with Adam Soong, though he runs the Admiral down with his car. Because of his synthetic body, Rios, Raffi and his friends take him to Dr. Teresa Ramirez, leader of the Butterflies and physician who doesn't ask a lot of questions.

6 Picard Season 2 Does 'Star Trek: The Voyage Home'

Star trek: picard season 2 episode 3, "assimilation".

The third episode of Picard Season 2 is ranked high because it continued the breakneck pace established by the first two episodes. Team Picard time travels to the past with the help of the Borg queen, presenting the third new locale for the series: the 21st Century . However, this is where the bulk of the season takes place, much like Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home was mostly set in the then-contemporaneous present.

A lot happened in this episode. Seven of Nine and Raffi try to blend in to the 21st Century and scan for a person using technology too advanced for the time. Rios is meant to help, but he's injured and ends up in a clinic with Dr. Teresa Ramirez and her son Ricardo, who are eventually arrested by ICE. Agnes and Picard try to outwit the Borg Queen. However, the most important moment in the episode was the death of Elnor. Fatally wounded by Seven of Nine's alternate timeline husband, his death devastates Raffi.

5 Guinan Brought the Return of an Old Friend With a New Face

Star trek: picard season 2 episode 4, "watcher".

Whoopi Goldberg's affable bartender Guinan returned in the Picard Season 2 premiere , but the character returned in a big way played by Ito Aghayere. The first episode established that Guinan, an ageless El Aurian, can alter her appearance to older or younger as she sees fit. Picard has to convince her to help him save humanity, even though she doesn't think Earthlings are worth the effort.

This is the episode which focuses most heavily on the immigration story in Season 2, with Rios in ICE custody trying to explain why he has no identification. As Seven of Nine and Raffi try to find him, they discover how migrants can fall through the cracks of the system. This plays out while juxtaposed with Guinan's condemnation of humanity. However, Picard is able to make a plea based on what he knows of where humanity can go in the future, in a very Roddenberry-esque Star Trek moment.

4 Picard and Guinan Find Mercy and Vulcans from Agent Wells

Star trek: picard season 2 episode 8, "mercy", star trek's wil wheaton wants a crusher brothers spinoff series.

Introduced at the end of the previous episode, Jay Karnes makes his return to Star Trek . Having previously played a time agent in Star Trek: Voyager , in Picard Season 2, he plays FBI Agent Wells, who is a firm believer in alien activity and arrests both Guinan and Picard based on video footage he has of the latter transporting onto the street. He questions them both, threatening the mission and the timeline. It's revealed that he had a pre- First Contact Vulcan encounter as a child . He ultimately lets Picard and Guinan go, seemingly fired for bringing them in at all.

Meanwhile, the Borg Queen has control of Agnes, and Seven of Nine and Raffi have to try to find and capture her. They find her consuming metals from car batteries, which is toxic to Agnes, but is what the Borg Queen needs to assimilate more people. She doesn't kill Seven or Raffi, proving Agnes still has some measure of control. Borg Jurati then goes to Adam Soong, convincing him to help her steal La Sirena and strand Team Picard in the 21st Century.

3 Season 2 Brought Picard Face-to-Face With His Greatest Fear and Regret

Star trek: picard season 2 episode 7, "monsters".

This episode is ranked one of the lowest by Picard viewers, and it's understandable. Not a lot happens in the episode, despite the introduction of James Callis as a hallucination of a therapist and Picard's father . This episode dives deeply into the memories of guilt and the mystery of what happened to Jean-Luc's mother. It's emotionally heavy and does somewhat lag on the breathless urgency of trying to find Agnes and stop Adam Soong.

Still, this is an emotionally powerful episode that recontextualizes what viewers have been seeing about Picard's past. His father is revealed to not be the abusive villain fans thought. Picard's mother is not a victimized woman trying to be free, but rather someone suffering from mental illness or injury. It's a traumatic, frightening event and (with help of Watcher Talinn and some sci-fi telepathic technology), Picard works through it.

2 The New Borg Were the Best Thing Picard Season 2 Brought to Star Trek

Star trek: picard season 2 episode 10, "farewell".

While the finale of Picard Season 2, "Farewell" is mostly about denouement, outside of the last mission to ensure that Adam Soong doesn't kill Renée Picard. Talinn sacrifices herself. Rios decides to stay behind in the 21st Century. Wesley Crusher returns as a Watcher , and Q and Picard have a final heart-to-heart chat, just before he sends them all back to the proper future. He's even able to resurrect Elnor since he had a little power left over because Rios stayed behind.

The best part of the finale was the reveal that Agnes Jurati was the Borg Queen from the first episode of Picard Season 2. With the alternate timeline Borg Queen, she created a new kind of collective. People choose to join the Borg, and even retain some measure of individuality . These new Borg agree to stand guard against a rupture in spacetime through which an unknown threat has yet to emerge. They become provisional members of the Federation, continuing the Star Trek tradition of old enemies, eventually becoming allies.

1 Star Trek's Most Emotionally Heavy Episode Is About Picard's Guilt

Star trek: picard season 2 episode, "hide and seek".

The penultimate episode of Star Trek: Picard Season 2 is a massive episode, both for its action and its emotional weight. There is a big battle at Chateau Picard where the new Jurati Borg assimilate mercenaries hired by Adam Soong. They try to kill Picard and his friends, but Agnes eventually convinces the Queen to try a different way than she had in the past, since in every timeline assimilation and violence leads to the Borg's destruction.

Most importantly, this episode reveals how Picard's mother died and why Jean-Luc felt so much guilt for it. His father locked her in a room to stop her from hurting herself. Jean-Luc unlocked the door and went to lie with his mother and comfort her. After he fell asleep, she took her own life. As much as Picard Season 2 was about fixing the past, outsmarting the Borg and other Star Trek things, Picard's revelation was the true mission . He had to forgive himself by letting go of the guilt that kept him at arm's length from people and preparing him to be a father.

The complete Star Trek: Picard is available to own on Blu-ray, DVD, digital and streams on Paramount+ .

Star Trek: Picard

Star Trek: Picard Season 2 pits the iconic Admiral against his greatest nemesis Q for a time-travel adventure that exposes Jean-Luc's deepest secret.

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Prep Begins For ‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ Season 3 Finale; Cast And Directors Share BTS Images

| April 25, 2024 | By: Anthony Pascale 15 comments so far

Work on the third season of  Star Trek: Strange New Worlds  continues to move swiftly in Toronto and looks to be set to wrap up next month. We have some fun bits from the set shared by the cast and a couple of directors, as well as some details on the production.

2 more episodes to go

First up, a selfie from director Jordan Canning, who previously directed the season 2 episode “Charades.” The image posted earlier this week shows the director with Ethan Peck and Rebecca Romijn and has the message, “Always happy to be the redshirt between these two.”

  View this post on Instagram   A post shared by Jordan Canning (@jjhcanning)

TrekMovie has confirmed that Canning directed episode 8, which has wrapped. Filming for episode 9 has already begun, with Andrew Coutts directing. This will be the directorial debut for Coutts, a co-producer and editor on the show. The 10th and final episode of the season will be directed by Maja Vrvilo, a Paramount+ Trek veteran who has directed episodes of Discovery , Picard , and Strange New Worlds . Earlier this week, she posted an image of her office door, indicated prep work for her episode had already begun.

  View this post on Instagram   A post shared by Maja Vrvilo (@majavrvilo)

Anson has a challenge for cosplayers

There have also been a couple of fun recent social media updates from the cast. First up, Anson Mount posted on Twitter/X that season 3 will require cosplayers to bring their “A-game” as he shared some creative fan costumes.

I will say this about season 3 of #StarTrek #StrangeNewWorlds : Cos-players, you better be ready to bring your A-game. #Cosplay @StarTrek @StarTrekOnPPlus pic.twitter.com/mZ9gMmIhsL — Anson Mount 🖖 (@ansonmount) April 16, 2024

One new look for cosplayers to try is an armed Nurse Chapel, as seen in this short video from Jess Bush showing off her phaser holster.

  View this post on Instagram   A post shared by Jess Bush (@onejessa)

Finally, on the day of the big eclipse, some of the Strange New Worlds team took a moment to check it out. Bush shared an Instagram story with herself and co-star Melissa Navia rocking their eclipse glasses. (They had 90% totality in Toronto.)

Last week brought big news for Strange New Worlds: It’s been renewed for a fourth season. Paramount+ recently confirmed season 3 will debut in 2025.

Keep up with news about the  Star Trek Universe at TrekMovie.com .

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I LOVE holodeck dude in cosplay!

I’m curious how long their entire season shooting period actually is.

Usually 5 to 6 months. This one started just before Christmas.

I know I’ll end up watching it, but I’m just not excited for the next season. Season 2 was all over the place, in my opinion. For every episode like Those Old Scientists or Ad Astra Per Aspera, there was rubbish like The Broken Circle and Under the Cloak of War and Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow. I like the cast, but the quality isn’t there- and for all the talk of “big swings” and pushing the envelope- Season 2 was almost painfully generic.

Same here. I’ll be tuning in, but it’s not up there on my ‘must-see right away’ list. I feel like overall, the storytelling floundered during S2, legacy characters written badly, and a distinct corny popcorn feel to it. Both Spock and Pike were reduced to bumbling sidekicks. Hoping S3 has a bit more gravitas to it. Like you said, not the fault of the cast. All blame goes back to the writer’s room. I’m more than happy to consider this show as existing in its own separate timeline, as has been confirmed.

I still can’t get over how *boring* the finale was. It felt like it went on for hours and yet nothing actually happened besides a super-quick and appallingly shot fight in zero-g. Season Two really dropped the ball.

I agree. I don’t even remember what happened in the finale, except Pike at the end hesitating like a scared junior officer when the situation called for fast decisive action. As for the season in general, it feels empty, like nothing really happens in the episodes. I hate the way they turned Spock into a moron. There are better ways if the writers wanted to put some humor in… I’m sure the 12 year olds found it funny but adults are watching too…

They seem to be testing the water for the Academy show with teen romances also. Spock, Chapel / La’an, Kirk and Pike, Batel were all shallow romances and just really boring that took up way too much time in the season. They seriously need to get back to writing some good sci fi stories or this show will go down as one of the worse Star Trek series for me. It seems more of a comedy starship show than the Orville at times. And season 1 had so much promise as well.

The SNW writers room has a chalk board titled Gimmick Board only they misspelt it Big Swing Board. Hopefully they can’t destroy Spock’s character anymore as they have already scraped the bottom of the barrel with their writing of his character.

So relieved I’m not the only one who felt this way. I hear “game changer” and “big swing” and I think “great, they’re effing with my show again to bring in the non-Trek fans”!

Yes, to them “big swing” means having the characters do things completely out of character and turning Star Trek into a Broadway play. Sure the musical was original and unexpected, but really out of place, and I will never be able to get the K-Pop Klingons out of my head.

I didn’t mind the musical episode (probably because I love musicals!) but on the whole, the season felt soulless and devoid of anything interesting to say (outside of Ad Astra Per Aspera). It’s as though the entire season was written by committee and was deathly afraid of offending the fandom by doing anything even slightly controversial.

I’ve had this feeling since the first season. Anson Mount is a wonderful lead, but they’ve completed destroyed the character that we got to know in Season 2 of Discovery. And they need to do something with Spock besides him being a complete and utter pig to women.

I’m absolutely giddy for this next season. Season two was fantastic and I cannot wait for this next season.

I really wish studios would get it together. They used to be able to turn out twice the number of eps or sometimes more every year without year-long pauses between seasons.

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Constable Odo's 10 Best Star Trek: DS9 Episodes

• Odo's best DS9 episodes focus on criminal investigations, his origins, and ideological clashes with Changeling Founders.
• Odo's relationships with Quark and Kira define many episodes, showcasing his softer side and developing romantic connections.
• Odo's characterization shines in episodes like "The Begotten" and "Treachery, Faith and the Great River" with emotional depth.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine 's best episodes about Constable Odo (Rene Auberjonois) focus on his criminal investigations, the search for his origins, and his ideological clash with the Changeling Founders. Played by acclaimed actor Rene Auberjonois, Odo's best episodes of DS9 are characterized by some incredible acting, delivered from underneath heavy layers of prosthetics . Across seven seasons, the beloved Star Trek: DS9 character had to grapple with prejudice, unrequited love, and the sins of his past in episodes that showcased the thematic heft of the Star Trek: The Next Generation spinoff.

Odo's relationships with Quark (Armin Shimerman) and Major Kira Nerys (Nana Visitor) also define many of the Constable's best Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episodes . As DS9's Chief of Security, Odo was the perfect foil for the Ferengi bartender, but Quark and Odo's rivalry had an undercurrent of mutual respect that bordered on affection . Odo also had a close friendship with Kira, formed by a fateful moment from years earlier. Odo and Kira's friendship eventually developed into a romantic relationship, and that progression can be seen in some of the Constable's best DS9 episodes.

Every Star Trek: DS9 Episode Directed By Rene Auberjonois

Star trek: ds9 season 1, episode 17, "the forsaken", teleplay by don carlos dunaway & michael piller, story by jim trombetta.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 1, episode 17, "The Forsaken" is one of the more successful DS9 and Star Trek: The Next Generation crossover episodes . The episode paired up the unlikely duo of Constable Odo and Lwaxana Troi (Majel Barrett) for a two-hander that revealed the insecurities of both characters. Odo's relationship with Lwaxana allowed DS9 's gruff Chief of Security to show his softer and more vulnerable side , improving the character as a result.

In the episode, the incorrigible Lwaxana Troi falls in love with Odo, and tries to woo the irascible Constable. Lwaxana's attempts are hindered by an alien intelligence that saps Deep Space Nine's power, stranding her in a lift with Odo. "The Forsaken" was one of Rene Auberjonois' favorite episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine . Discussing the episode in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion , Auberjonois stated that:

" It helped to establish Odo and give him more dimension than he'd had up to that point "

Star Trek: DS9, Season 7, Episode 22, "Tacking into the Wind"

Written by ronald d. moore.

"Tacking into the Wind" is one of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine 's best Worf episodes , as it primarily focuses on his attempts to bring Chancellor Gowron (Robert O'Reilly) into line. However, there's also some very strong and emotional material for Odo and Kira as the morphogenic virus continues to ravage the Changeling's system . Kira, Odo, and Garak (Andrew Robinson) are sent on a dangerous mission to retrieve information about a devastating Breen weapon.

By infecting Odo, Section 31 effectively prove the Founders' belief that the "Solids" are barbaric and cruel.

Odo's determination to continue the mission despite his worsening health is heartbreaking. However, it speaks to the strength of Odo's character that he never lets Section 31's betrayal cloud his feelings about the "Solids". By infecting Odo, Section 31 effectively prove the Founders' belief that the "Solids" are barbaric and cruel , but despite the cruelty meted out to him by Section 31, Odo knows that it's wrong to reduce all of Starfleet to the actions of some rogue operatives.

Section 31s 5 Worst Crimes During Star Trek DS9s Dominion War

Star trek: ds9, season 7, episode 6, "treachery, faith and the great river", teleplay by david weddle & bradley thompson, story by philip kim.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , season 7, episode 6, "Treachery, Faith and the Great River" explores Odo's status as a god . Odo is shocked to discover that Weyoun ( Jeffrey Combs ) wishes to defect from the Dominion to the Federation. However, the Dominion and the Cardassians are determined that Odo and Weyoun 6 never return to DS9.

What follows is an exciting prisoner transport thriller that also tackles some big themes around religious belief. "Treachery, Faith and the Great River" showcases Odo's courage under fire , as he tries every trick in the book to avoid the combined forces of the Cardassians and the Jem'Hadar. Weyoun 6 eventually sacrifices his life to save Odo in the episode's heartbreaking climax, forcing the Changeling to confront how his people have turned themselves into deities.

Star Trek: DS9, Season 3, Episode 14, "Heart of Stone"

Written by ira steven behr & robert hewitt wolfe.

For the majority of "Heart of Stone", Odo believes that Kira has become trapped in an expanding silicon rock formation. The more the formation increases in size, the more it consumes Kira, slowly crushing her to death. Tragically, Odo realizes that he's not trying to save the real Kira when the Major professes her love for him , revealing that it's an elaborate ruse by the Female Changeling (Salome Jens).

"Heart of Stone" is a great Odo episode because the impossible situation forces him to confront, and finally vocalize, his feelings for Kira . That journey is fascinating to watch, and Rene Auberjonois' performance of Odo, recognizing that he's been duped, is incredible. Veering from pragmatism about how Kira sees him as a friend to fury at the Female Changeling's plan, it's exactly the sort of multi-faceted performance that audiences have come to expect from Rene Auberjonois at this point in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine .

Nana Visitor wasn't a fan of the rock prop in "Heart of Stone", telling the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion that it made her look " like a big old hot fudge sundae ".

DS9's 7 Best Love Stories & Romances Ranked

Star trek: ds9, season 2, episode 12, "the alternate", teleplay by bill dial, story by jim trombetti and bill dial.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 2, episode 12, "The Alternate" is an early episode that sheds more light on Odo's origins. It introduces the character of Dr. Mora Pol (James Sloyan), the Bajoran scientist who first discovered Odo in his liquid form . Dr. Mora believes that he's found clues as to where Odo originated from, but their research mission is cut short when the away team are stricken by some noxious gas, triggered by the removal of an ancient monument. The gas also has an adverse effect on Odo, turning him into a terrifying monster.

[Odo] comes to realize that this problematic scientist is actually the closest thing he's ever had to a father figure.

"The Alternate" is a brilliant take on Robert Louis Stevenson's Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde , that gives Odo actor Rene Auberjonois some challenging material to perform. The scenes between Odo and Mora are incredibly powerful, as the Changeling comes to realize that this problematic scientist is actually the closest thing he's ever had to a father figure. The scene in which Odo implies that he doesn't trust Mora while becoming the monster is an incredible moment .

Star Trek: DS9, Season 6, Episode 20, "His Way"

Written by ira steven behr & hans beimler.

When Odo hears that holographic lounge singer Vic Fontaine (James Darren) gave Dr. Julian Bashir (Alexander Siddig) some helpful pointers on love, he decides to seek the singer's advice about Kira. Fontaine helps to bring Odo out of his shell, turning him into a suave pianist, while also making him more at ease socially. Eventually, Vic orchestrates a first date for Kira and Odo, albeit under false pretenses .

"His Way" was the first appearance of Vic Fontaine in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine .

By showing a completely new side of Odo in "His Way", Star Trek: Deep Space Nine showrunner Ira Steven Behr and writer Hans Beimler make this one of the character's best episodes. The transition from the drab brown Bajoran security uniform into a sharp tuxedo is a hugely positive one for Odo , not least because it finally allows Kira to see just how charismatic and charming he can actually be.

Nana Visitor and Rene Auberjonois never wanted Kira and Odo to become a couple in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , preferring their bond to be purely platonic.

Star Trek: DS9, Season 5, Episode 12, "The Begotten"

Written by rené echevarria.

For the first half of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , Odo is turned into a "Solid" . It's fascinating to see how Odo contends with the frailty of a humanoid body, but it's equally fascinating to see how this plot thread is resolved. After he buys an ailing Changeling infant from Quark, Odo teams up with Doctors Bashir and Maura to cure the sick child and teach it to shapeshift. Odo becomes a doting father, and it's a strong sequel to "The Alternate", as he seeks to avoid the mistakes made by his own surrogate father.

Tragically, the infant Changeling in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is too sick to live, but it does give Odo a parting gift. By bonding with the infant, Odo regains his shapeshifting abilities, giving him a renewed sense of purpose. It's a touching metaphor for parenthood that finally allows Odo and Mora Pol to reconcile their differences. "The Begotten" is a standout episode for Rene Auberjonois in a strong season for the character of Odo .

Star Trek: DS9, Season 5, Episode 9, "The Ascent"

"The Ascent" is the best Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode about Quark and Odo's antagonistic relationship. Transporting Quark to testify against the Orion Syndicate, Odo's runabout explodes and strands the two old enemies on a barren planet. Watching Odo and Quark work together to survive is an absolute joy , and Rene Auberjonois gets some fine opportunities to deploy his dry wit. The scene in which Odo requests his ashes be tossed into his bucket and launched into the Gamma Quadrant is darkly funny.

The final scene of "The Ascent" is one of the best moments, as it sees Odo and Quark come closer than ever to telling each other how they feel. While they both say they hate each other, it's very clear from their laughter that the two Star Trek: Deep Space Nine characters love each other. "The Ascent" is also a great Odo episode because it shows a new side to him, as he has to deal with the fragility of his humanoid body , succumbing to the cold and breaking his leg.

Star Trek: DS9, Season 5, Episode 8 "Things Past"

Written by michael taylor.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 5 has two classic Odo episodes in a row, as "The Ascent" is preceded by "Things Past". The episode sends Odo, Captain Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks), Lt. Commander Jadzia Dax (Terry Farrell) and Elim Garak (Andrew Robinson) back in time to when DS9 was Terok Nor . They're forced to live through a brutal tragedy from Odo's past, when he accidentally condemned three Bajoran men to death .

Rene Auberjonois is excellent as a repentant Odo, who is realizing with gut-churning inevitability what's about to happen. The final scene, in which Odo and Kira discuss his culpability in the execution is a quietly devastating exchange between the two friends. "Things Past" is, therefore, a spiritual sequel to the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "Necessary Evil" , which revealed how Odo and Kira first met.

Star Trek: DS9, Season 2, Episode 8, "Necessary Evil"

Written by peter allan fields.

"Necessary Evil" is the best Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode about Odo , because it firmly establishes the Constable's moral code. While investigating the attempted murder of Quark, Odo discovers that the crime is linked to his first case. Through flashbacks, "Necessary Evil" reveals how Odo came to Terok Nor, employed by Gul Dukat (Marc Alaimo) as a security officer. Tasked with investigating the murder of a Bajoran collaborator, Odo was unable to close the case, letting the killer walk free.

The killer is revealed to be Major Kira Nerys, and in one of the most complicated scenes in all of Star Trek , Odo and Kira contend with this new information. It's a crucial episode in Odo's Star Trek: Deep Space Nine story. Not only does it establish his origins as Chief of Security, it also reveals the depth of Odo's relationship with Kira, and how it's strong enough to weather the storm of her past crimes.

All episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine are available to stream on Paramount

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, also known as DS9, is the fourth series in the long-running Sci-Fi franchise, Star Trek. DS9 was created by Rick Berman and Michael Piller, and stars Avery Brooks, René Auberjonois, Terry Farrell, and Cirroc Lofton. This particular series follows a group of individuals in a space station near a planet called Bajor.

Cast Cirroc Lofton, Rene Auberjonois, Nicole de Boer, Michael Dorn, Nana Visitor, Avery Brooks, Colm Meaney, Armin Shimerman, Alexander Siddig

Release Date January 3, 1993

Network CBS

Streaming Service(s) Paramount+

Showrunner Ira Steven Behr, Michael Piller

Screen Rant

I'm glad star trek: tng never did a mirror universe episode.

The Mirror Universe worked great on Star Trek: The Original Series, but it would have felt out of place on Star Trek: The Next Generation.

• TNG's moral crew would clash with a dark Mirror Universe, making an episode feel out of place.
• Mirror Universe concept worked for TOS but wouldn't fit TNG's serious and optimistic tone.
• TNG found other ways to explore alternate realities without resorting to Mirror Universe episodes.

Star Trek: The Next Generation never did a Mirror Universe episode, and that ultimately worked in the show's favor. Star Trek's Mirror Universe first debuted in the classic Star Trek: The Original Series episode, "Mirror, Mirror," in which Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) and some of his crew find themselves in a dark alternate universe that mirrors their own. In the Mirror Universe, the ISS Enterprise serves the Terran Empire instead of the USS Enterprise as part of the United Federation of Planets' Starfleet. Crew members are tortured when they make a mistake and the chain of command is often determined by officers murdering their superiors.

Despite the divergence of events in Star Trek' s Prime Universe and the Mirror Universe, many people ended up in the same place in both realities. For example, the entire crew of the USS Enterprise was the same in both universes, but their personalities were drastically different. Simply put, t he Mirror Universe is a world of opposites , although Spock (Leonard Nimoy) is logical in every universe. While the Mirror concept worked well for a one-off story with Captain Kirk and his Enterprise crew , the Mirror Universe would have felt out of place on Star Trek: The Next Generation for a number of reasons.

In Star Trek: Picard season 2, Q (John de Lancie) altered the past of the Prime Universe, which resulted in the

Confederation of Earth, a "xenophobic authoritarian regime" much like the Mirror Universe.

Star Trek 10’s Best Mirror Universe Variants

Why a star trek: tng mirror universe episode wouldn't have worked, the mirror universe clashes with the tone of tng and its characters..

Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) and the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation represent the most moral Star Trek crew, and "evil" versions of those characters would have felt cartoonish. The Mirror Universe worked with the campy tone of Star Trek: The Original Series and Kirk was already an emotional Captain, so it wasn't that hard to imagine an evil version of him. TNG , on the other hand, had a more serious and optimistic tone, and an evil Captain Picard would have likely been either too dark or too over-the-top. TNG did tell alternate universe stories, such as "Yesterday's Enterprise" and "Parallels," but they did it in a way that was new and unique rather than rehashing TOS ' Mirror Universe concept.

Although Star Trek: The Next Generation had some callbacks to Star Trek: The Original Series in its early seasons, Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry wanted to distance TNG from TOS . "Mirror, Mirror" is generally regarded as one of classic Star Trek's best episodes, and it would have been difficult for any TNG episode to live up to that. Despite not doing a Mirror Universe episode, TNG found other ways to allow its actors to play different, and even evil, versions of their characters. Lt. Commander Data (Brent Spiner), for example, faced off against his evil twin brother Lore more than once, and multiple characters were possessed by alien entities.

Various non-canon tie-in novels and comic books have told Mirror Universe stories with Star Trek: The Next Generation's characters, beginning with Diane Duane's novel Dark Mirror in 1993.

Some Star Trek Shows Overused The Mirror Universe

The mirror universe began as a good concept but offers diminishing returns..

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine had five Mirror Universe episodes, beginning with DS9 season 2, episode 23, "Crossover." This episode revealed that Mirror Universe Spock had reformed the Terran Empire after Captain Kirk and his crew visited there in "Mirror, Mirror." Although his reforms initially proved successful, they led to the occupation of the Empire by the Klingon-Cardassian Alliance, which then became the dominant power. In the Mirror Universe, Terok Nor (space station Deep Space Nine) was commanded by Intendant Kira Nerys (Nana Visitor) , and Nana Visitor clearly had fun playing an evil version of Kira. However, with its overly sexualized characters and general campiness, the Mirror Universe storyline offered diminishing returns after the novelty wore off.

Star Trek: Enterprise's two-part "In a Mirror, Darkly" faired a bit better than DS9's Mirror Universe adventures, as it presented a self-contained story that took place entirely in the Mirror Universe and connected with TOS.

The Mirror Universe made more sense combined with the darker tone of Star Trek: Discovery , but it sometimes felt like too much for a Star Trek show. Still, the Mirror Universe of Discovery did provide the characters of Captain Gabriel Lorca (Jason Isaacs) and Emperor Philippa Georgiou (Michelle Yeoh), two of Star Trek's best new villains. After its appearance in multiple Star Trek shows, the Mirror Universe began to feel too much like a gimmick. It's a concept that works better when used sparingly, and it would have felt tonally out of place on Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Enterprise, & Star Trek: Discovery are available to stream on Paramount+.

Star Trek: The Next Generation

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Dwayne johnson to produce ‘who killed wcw’ docuseries for vice tv, breaking news.

HBO Dropping ‘Last Week Tonight With John Oliver’ Season 1 Episodes On YouTube With Seasons 2-8 Coming Soon

By Armando Tinoco

Armando Tinoco

Night & Weekend Editor

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HBO is releasing the entire first season of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver on YouTube.

The premium cable network didn’t air a new episode of the weekly talk show on Sunday, April 28 but instead dropped all of Season 1 for viewers to watch for free.

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A supercut of some of the best moments from the first season of Last Week Tonight followed, which you can see below.

There’s no new episode this week! But we still have current events. From 10 years ago. This Sunday we’ll be dropping all of season 1 for free on YouTube! Seasons 2-8 to come, whenever we don’t have a new episode. Trust us, some of this is still completely relevant. Some. pic.twitter.com/phgfU933FY — Last Week Tonight (@LastWeekTonight) April 26, 2024

In years past, Last Week Tonight was made available on YouTube the following day but starting with its current Season 11, HBO opted to delay its release on social media platforms.

“HBO has decided they’re going to wait until Thursday to post them to YouTube from now on,” Oliver wrote on X earlier this year. “I hope they change their mind, but until then, you can see our piece about the Supreme Court on HBO, on MAX, and on YouTube in a few days.”

The network decided to delay the release of the episodes to boost viewership on Max, with a spokesperson for HBO saying in a statement, “When Last Week Tonight with John Oliver premiered on HBO, the convenience of watching on Max did not exist so YouTube allowed flexible viewing for the main story as well as promotional exposure. We are now delaying that availability and hope those fans choose to watch the entire show on Max.”

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Dwayne johnson to produce vice tv docuseries ‘who killed wcw’, no. 7 ‘taylor swift: the eras tour’ put swifties in the seats en masse.

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Star Trek: Voyager – Season 2, Episode 9

Where to watch, star trek: voyager — season 2, episode 9.

Watch Star Trek: Voyager — Season 2, Episode 9 with a subscription on Paramount+, or buy it on Fandango at Home, Prime Video, Apple TV.

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Cast & crew.

Kate Mulgrew

Capt. Kathryn Janeway

Robert Beltran

Roxann Dawson

B'Elanna Torres

Robert Duncan McNeill

Jennifer Lien

Ethan Phillips

Episode Info