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Star trek: strange new worlds season 2 episode 9 review: subspace rhapsody.

There has never been Trek like Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2 Episode 9 , and there may never be again, which would be a galactic shame.

Ever since Paramount+ released the news at San Diego Comic-Con 2023 that the penultimate offering of the season would be a musical, the fanbase has been split between the canonical stick-in-the-warp-core gatekeepers and those who embrace all that Trek can be.

Haters can just jettison their vitriol now. This is the biggest swing the series -- nay, the franchise -- has ever taken, and they blast it so far out there they probably broke temporal protocols.

It was always meant to be.

Ever since Una confessed her love of Gilbert & Sullivan to Spock on Star Trek: Short Treks Season 2 Episode 1 , treating him to a performance of the "Major-General's Song" from The Pirates of Penzance, we've itched to know what Spock would sing, given the chance.

But then Strange New Worlds manifested a cast that includes Grammy Award-winning, Tony-nominated Celia Rose Gooding and the unbelievably versatile Christina Chong, who has her debut EP dropping later this month.

Given the depth of talent present on set, the writers and showrunners would've been out of their minds not to do a musical.

Pike: So… That happened. La’an: Reports of musical outbreaks have come in from every deck. James Kirk: Honestly, I thought it was something you had all rehearsed, but I sang too. M’Benga: So did I. And I do not sing. Permalink: So did I. And I do not sing.

Framing it as the effect of an improbability field is as perfectly Trek as having a demon compelling musical numbers on Buffy the Vampire Slayer .

And just like in "Once More With Feeling," the characters find their secrets exposed and their plotlines advanced as the field effect causes them to sing their truths, driven by emotional spikes and some fabulous orchestration.

If the trolls would settle down for a moment, they'd realize there's more TOS canon here than in any script this season.

Chapel's fellowship is with Dr. Roger Korby, a character played on Star Trek: The Original Series Season 1 Episode 9 by Michael Strong.

Chapel: What if it’s another rejection? Ortegas: Forget those Vulcans and their Science Academy. They don’t deserve you. Chapel: But this fellowship is different. Dr. Korby’s a genius. Ortegas: I’m supposed to know who that is? M’Benga: He’s the Louis Pasteur of archeological medicine. Ortegas: Yeah, no. Still means nothing. Permalink: Yeah, no. Still means nothing.

Trek lore aficionados will regale you with the #SPOILER that when Chapel joins Kirk's Enterprise in a few years, it's with the secret purpose to find her former professor and fiancé, Dr. Korby, who goes missing while leading an expedition on Exo-3.

If you've been paying attention, Korby's already been mentioned this season. On Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2 Episode 5 , Chapel's friends drill her on Korby's three principles of archeological medicine in preparation for her interview with the Vulcan Science Academy.

The other canon drop is when James Kirk explains to La'an how complicated his love life already is without having her time-traveling lost love emotions added to the mix.

It's all a bit mind-bendy, but follow me down this wormhole. #SPOILERS below for TOS canon.

James Kirk and Carol Marcus will have a son, David. David grows up to become part of his mother's scientific research team working on the Genesis project.

In the meantime, James Kirk, having no part in David's upbringing at Carol's insistence, brings La'an's ancestor, Khan Noonien-Singh, out of his centuries-long suspension and then makes a mortal enemy of him.

Khan then seeks to lure Kirk to him by attacking David and Carol. Spock dies in the conflict, only to be resurrected by David and Carol's Genesis planet.

So yeah, the idea of Kirk and La'an hooking up is such a canon grenade that there's a collective sigh of relief when that's nipped in the bud.

Besides the Trek canon, there are several cross-references to other television musical episodes.

Spock: Imagine an area of space where quantum uncertainties collapse so rapidly and randomly that new realities are created. In one such reality, people sing… uncontrollably. Pelia: A musical reality. Spock: Indeed. La’an: So what’s next? More improbability? Or will we just suddenly poof into bunnies. M’Benga: I would prefer not to be a bunny either. Permalink: I would prefer not to be a bunny either.

The mention of bunnies touches on Buffy's "I've Got a Theory / Bunnies / If We're Together" medley, while Una's explanation of how musicals work rings more recently familiar.

Uhura: I have a theory. I think since we’re in a musical reality, we actually following the rules of musicals. Pike: So when do characters in musicals usually begin to sing? Una: When their emotions are so heightened, that words won’t suffice. Permalink: When their emotions are so heightened, that words won’t suffice.

Let's think about that for a moment, where have we heard something like that before?

Melissa: You're in a musical. That's how musicals work. When you're too emotional to talk, you sing. When you're too emotional to sing, you dance. Josh: What happens when you're too emotional to dance? Does it loop back around to talking? Cause I feel like that's where I'm at right now. Permalink: What happens when you're too emotional to dance? Does it loop back around to talking? Cause I...

Right, Melissa has to school Josh in how musicals work on Schmigadoon! Season 1 , when they first land in their own -- season-long -- improbability field.

Oh, that was a fun summer.

Everyone gets their hearts stomped on as the Enterprise moves through its Act 2.

Pike and Batel have it out in front of their crew.

I promise you even Julia Child’s boeuf bourguignon itself will not make me forget that you sang about lying to me. Batel Permalink: I promise you even Julia Child’s boeuf bourguignon itself will not make me forget that you...

La'an has to lower her proverbial shields -- although you never know with Augments, she might have real ones -- to explain to James Kirk her attachment to Other Timeline Him.

Admiral April’s last message confirmed that the improbability field has now spread to twelve Federation ships. He let me know in a surprisingly beautiful baritone that he wants us to stop this now, by the way. Una Permalink: Admiral April’s last message confirmed that the improbability field has now spread to twelve...

Una shares with La'an the life lesson she's learned about keeping secrets while mentoring Kirk on how to be a connected First Officer to his crew. AND singing about Gilbert & Sullivan. She really is amazing. #NumeroUna

Spock and Chapel come to a parting of ways. Spock feels heartbreak for the first time.

(It's fascinating to note that Spock actually gets the first line of song in the whole shebang. Of the entire cast, I was most surprised by how great a singing voice Ethan Peck has. I guess I've just never imagined Vulcans singing.)

And Uhura comes into her own, taking that first step towards the Uhura that will inspire Beckett Mariner enough to fangirl over her on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2 Episode 7 .

From orphan to Starfleet prodigy to Hemmer's apprentice to the Voice of the Enterprise, Uhura's path has been one of both personal and professional blossoming.

The finale does everything a good finale needs to do.

It unites the cast -- in this case, crew -- into a synchronous, harmonized union.

Uhura: That was just a solo with backup vocals. Maybe four voices, max? So we need to do that again but with more, a lot more. Pike: You mean, like an ensemble number? Uhura: Not just an ensemble number. A grand finale. We need melodies and harmonies with tone ratios that achieve both algorithmic and logarithmic balance on a mass scale. Permalink: Not just an ensemble number. A grand finale. We need melodies and harmonies with tone ratios...

There is a central thematic message that inspires and energizes the audience.

And it brings the house down. Well, in this case, it blows the improbability field up, but for all intents and purposes, those are equivalent effects.

While La'an's solo "How Would That Feel" is the emotional showstopper here, the Klingon dance break is the most inspired bit of musical schtick thrown in to demonstrate the field's spreading effect throughout the quadrant.

Spock: There appears to be an incoming warp signal heading our way fast. The signal has Klingon encryption. Una: The last thing anyone wants is singing Klingons. Permalink: The last thing anyone wants is singing Klingons.

It's a production that benefits from multiple viewings (and hopefully, a stage adaptation one day), as there are layers of meaning infused into the lyrics, and the music distracts the first time through.

With only the season finale left, chime in down in the comments with what epic adventure you think they'll leave us with.

My money's on the Gorn, but with Chapel and Spock's relationship ending, we may see T'Pring again and her work with Sybok at the Ankeshtan K'til Vulcan criminal rehabilitation center means Spock's half-brother may make his official entrance.

While you're there, be sure to mention which song you'll have on repeat when the soundtrack drops on all the platforms this week, Fanatics! We could call it an ear worm hole ! (But we won't.)

Subspace Rhapsody Review

Diana Keng was a staff writer for TV Fanatic. She is a lifelong fan of smart sci-fi and fantasy media, an upstanding citizen of the United Federation of Planets, and a supporter of AFC Richmond 'til she dies. Her guilty pleasures include female-led procedurals, old-school sitcoms, and Bluey. She teaches, knits, and dreams big. Follow her on X .

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2 Episode 9 Quotes

Pelia: Have you tried sending music through? Spock: We have not. Do you believe music may yield a different result? Pelia: Well, you are trying to communicate through a medium with different laws of physics so perhaps fundamental harmonics are the answer. Permalink: Well, you are trying to communicate through a medium with different laws of physics so... Added: August 02, 2023

Chapel: What if it’s another rejection? Ortegas: Forget those Vulcans and their Science Academy. They don’t deserve you. Chapel: But this fellowship is different. Dr. Korby’s a genius. Ortegas: I’m supposed to know who that is? M’Benga: He’s the Louis Pasteur of archeological medicine. Ortegas: Yeah, no. Still means nothing. Permalink: Yeah, no. Still means nothing. Added: August 02, 2023

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2 Episode 9 Photos

8/3/23 Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2 Episode 9 Subspace Rhapsody

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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 !”

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‘Subspace Rhapsody’ Is a Fascinating and Flawed Star Trek Musical

This discussion and review contains spoilers for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2, episode 9, “Subspace Rhapsody” (a musical), on Paramount+.

It is surprising that it took Star Trek so long to do a musical episode.

After all, John Ford wrote a musical Star Trek tie-in novel in October 1987. William Shatner reportedly considered staging a musical variety show to celebrate the franchise’s 50th anniversary. Fans performed a loving stage musical Boldly Go! , which is available in its entirety on YouTube. Pop songs like The Firm’s “ Star Trekkin’ ” translate the franchise’s iconography to music. The franchise has given musical set pieces to stars like Brent Spiner , Avery Brooks , and Robert Picardo .

More than that, the musical episode was a staple of turn-of-the-millennium television. The most famous example might be “Once More, with Feeling,” the musical episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer that aired in November 2001. However, this was the culmination of a larger trend that included episodes like “ The Musical, Almost ” on Ally McBeal , “ Brain Salad Surgery ” on Chicago Hope , “ Old Tree ” on Northern Exposure , “ The Bitter Suite ” on Xena: Warrior Princess , and many more.

As such, “Subspace Rhapsody,” the much anticipated Strange New Worlds musical episode, fits firmly within the show’s nostalgia for the 1990s. As with “ Ad Astra Per Aspera ” earlier in the season, there is a sense that the franchise is finally doing something that would have been cutting-edge 30 years ago. Of course, while “Ad Astra Per Aspera” was confronting one of the franchise’s long-standing blind spots on civil rights, “Subspace Rhapsody” is really just doing something cute and fun.

As with “ Those Old Scientists ” earlier in the season, it is easier to admire “Subspace Rhapsody” on a technical level than it is to enjoy it as a satisfying piece of television. “Subspace Rhapsody” is clearly a labor of love for the cast and crew. It features original songs by Kay Hanley and Tom Polce, members of the band Letters to Cleo . It showcases choreography from stage and screen veteran Robert Campanella , whose past credits include Oscar-winning The Shape of Water .

On a purely technical level, “Subspace Rhapsody” is a showcase for an incredibly talented ensemble cast. It’s obvious that a lot of the series regulars have some experience with the form. Christine Chong has talked about how it “ was always (her) dream to do musical theatre .” Rebecca Romijn starred in The Producers opposite Richard Kind at the Hollywood Bowl . Before joining Strange New Worlds , Celia Rose Gooding broke out performing the Alanis Morissette musical Jagged Little Pill .

More than that, Star Trek should be doing more stuff like this. It is a gigantic multimedia franchise with a built-in fan base and high production values, with Nicole Clemens, president of original scripted series at Paramount+, talking openly about wanting an “ always on slate .” With that level of creative freedom and that volume of content, there is absolutely no reason for Star Trek to be as aesthetically conservative as it has been over the past few years.

Fans and critics have been quick to praise Strange New Worlds as “ a return to an episodic vision ,” but the show has failed to take advantage of that. The beauty of the episodic television model was the freedom that it afforded for experimentation. To pick a random example, The X-Files could do a black-and-white creature feature in “ The Post-Modern Prometheus ,” a found-footage crossover with Cops in “ X-Cops ,” and a series of long-take sequences broken up by commercial breaks in “ Triangle .”

Star Trek should be willing to play with its form. Strange New Worlds should be willing to be both strange and new. With the move to digital cameras and with no commercial breaks on streaming, why not do an episode in a single extended take? What about an episode in the “ screenlife ” style? Strange New Worlds should be taking full advantage of the opportunities presented by the episodic model, where every installment is a chance to do something exciting and interesting.

In that sense, both “Those Old Scientists” and “Subspace Rhapsody” are welcome additions to the Star Trek canon, in that they push the limits of what is possible within the established Star Trek format. “Those Old Scientists” proves that it is possible to blend animation and live action in a single Star Trek episode. “Subspace Rhapsody” proves that the production team can stage what is effectively an hour-long musical. That is commendable.

At the same time, it is frustrating to watch “Subspace Rhapsody” and wish that it was… well, better. As with “Those Old Scientists,” the episode is so thrilled to be playing with a new set of toys that it fails to really build a compelling narrative around them. There is no sense of stakes. There is no sense of momentum. There are some vaguely interesting thematic dynamics at play, but even those end up muddled at the end.

“Subspace Rhapsody” is a relationship episode. The character arcs running through “Subspace Rhapsody” focus on three potential couples: Captain Pike (Anson Mount) and Captain Batel (Melanie Scrofano), Lieutenant Spock (Ethan Peck) and Nurse Chapel (Jess Bush), Lieutenant Noonien-Singh (Christina Chong) and Lieutenant Kirk (Paul Wesley). However, it’s frustrating that the episode ultimately shelves two of these three relationships.

To be fair, this is an issue with both the episodic format and the prequel nature of Strange New Worlds . Without long-form serialization, it’s not really possible to watch relationships grow and develop as they did with characters like Sisko (Avery Brooks) and Yates (Penny Johnson Jerald), Kira (Nana Visitor) and Odo (René Auberjonois), or Worf (Michael Dorn) and Dax (Terry Farrell) on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine . If each story has to be self-contained, the characters cannot truly change between installments.

Similarly, most of the key characters in Strange New Worlds already have a predetermined path through the established canon. Based on their knowledge of existing Star Trek media, fans know that Spock and Chapel or Kirk and Noonien-Singh cannot end up together. This has the effect of undermining any attempt to wring drama from their interpersonal relationships. More than that, it makes the choice seem deeply cynical, an attempt to get the audience to invest in an impossibility. It feels like a waste of everybody’s time.

As such, “Subspace Rhapsody” literally makes a song and dance about two relationships that cannot go anywhere. The “will they / won’t they?” dynamic between Noonien-Singh and Kirk that was first teased only a few episodes ago in “ Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow ” ends in a simple “they won’t.” The Spock and Chapel romance that only began at the end of “ Charades ,” four episodes ago, is cut short as it would always have to be.

The only real character development that comes from “Subspace Rhapsody” is that Pike and Batel are pretty much in the exact same place that they were at the end of “ Among the Lotus Eaters .” They are in a relationship, but not so committed that it will meaningfully impact the show, as Batel is on another ship. There is nothing wrong with Star Trek asking its audience to embrace interpersonal dynamics, but those dynamics must actually have weight. Otherwise, it feels like watching pieces being shuffled aimlessly around a board.

This is where the themes of “Subspace Rhapsody” get a little muddled. One of the more interesting aspects of Strange New Worlds is its recurring fascination with the idea of gender and performance. This is most obvious with Spock, particularly in episodes like “ Spock Amok ” and “ The Serene Squall .” The show returns time and again to the idea of gendered archetypes and the idea of heterosexuality as a sort of performance. “Ad Astra Per Aspera” and “Charades” are both episodes about “ passing .”

Whether fairly or not, stage musicals and pop music are not seen as stereotypically or conventionally heteronormative masculine spaces. As Kelly Kessler argued , “The performance of song and dance – as well as musical theatre – culturally has been associated with non-hegemonic or queered masculinity.” It is such an accepted cliché that Neil Patrick Harris famously opened the 2011 Tony Awards by jokingly assuring straight audiences that Broadway is “ not just for gays anymore .”

“Subspace Rhapsody” is obviously playing with this. A subspace fold prompts big musical numbers, and those songs find characters expressing their emotional inner lives. The crew find that emotional openness to be an existential threat. “Lieutenant, are you telling us that our emotions constitute a security threat?” Pike asks Noonien-Singh incredulously early in the episode. However, after performing his own musical number to Batel, Pike seems to agree. “The subspace fold, I think we should blow it up,” he states bluntly.

Obviously, it is not only male characters affected – Noonien-Singh is among those most horrified at the thought of being rendered emotionally vulnerable. However, it does tie into longstanding tensions about how men are socialized to repress their emotions . After all, the episode’s stakes only really escalate when the stereotypically macho Klingons are affected. One of the episode’s best gags features a deeply humiliated Klingon boy band, with the Empire vowing to destroy “the abominable source of our dishonor.”

It’s clever and well intentioned, but it is also shallow. As with so much of the show’s interrogation and subversion of gender roles, there’s a lack of diversity of perspective. All three primary couples in the episode are heterosexual, with no queer perspectives represented in what has traditionally been seen — as James Lovelock points out — as “ a safe ‘queer space’. ” More than that, the episode ends with the rift closed. Spock goes back to being his stoic and repressed self, with no sense that he has grown or learned anything.

It’s easier to appreciate “Subspace Rhapsody” as pure spectacle. There is a lot of fun to be had in rhyming technobabble — “inertia dampeners” with “hampered,” “your last breath” with “mek’leth.” The choreography makes impressive use of the show’s sets, with Chapel getting a big crowd number in the crew lounge and Spock using the safety railing in engineering like a balcony. Indeed, there’s something charming in the Enterprise and Klingon ships literally dancing in space like they’re in a Busby Berkeley number.

“Subspace Rhapsody” is an episode that it’s easier to admire than to enjoy. It’s a pleasant enough tune, but it’s not a showstopping success.

‘Star Trek’ made its first ever musical episode, but was it any good? Our writers discuss

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This article contains spoilers for “Subspace Rhapsody,” the ninth episode of Season 2 of “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds .”

On Thursday, “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds” (Paramount+) debuted “Subspace Rhapsody,” which has been announced as the first musical episode in the franchise . (Some will, of course, remember Spock strumming on a Vulcan lute and Uhura singing in the original series or Data’s rendition of “Blue Skies” at Will and Deanna’s wedding in “Star Trek: Nemesis.”)

Whether or not one views this as an insult to or a delightful expansion of the series, it has become, if not quite de rigueur, not unusual for a comedy or drama or even a soap opera to get its inner “Rent” on. “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” was perhaps the most ballyhooed show to take this step toward Broadway, but all sorts of series have danced into the footlights: “Fringe,” “Psych,” “Xena: Warrior Princess,” “Futurama,” “One Life to Live,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Community,” “Transparent” and more.

Entertainment and arts reporter Ashley Lee, who knows a lot about musicals but little about “Star Trek,” and television critic Robert Lloyd, who knows quite a bit about “Star Trek” and less about musicals (at least any written after 1970), got together to discuss the episode.

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Ashley Lee: Because I love musical theater, I’m always intrigued when TV shows take the risk to make a musical episode. The task of creating original songs for the screen is already tricky enough, especially in a way that invites along the show’s weekly audience and still moves its stories forward. And then there’s the task of asking the actors to perform them, whether or not they’ve ever sung or danced onscreen before. It’s an episodic experiment that, over the years, only some shows have gotten right.

I admittedly put on the musical episode of “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds” with low expectations because, outside of “Little Shop of Horrors,” putting sci-fi to song hasn’t historically been so harmonious (R.I.P., “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark”). Even though I had no prior connection to any of these characters, I found “Subspace Rhapsody” to be a pleasant surprise.

I loved how the songs, written by Kay Hanley and Tom Polce of the ’90s alt-rock band Letters to Cleo, poked enough fun at the oddity of suddenly breaking out into song without insulting the TV tradition. And I found it hilarious that the episode, directed by Dermott Downs and written by Dana Horgan and Bill Wolkoff, deemed “confessing highly personal, emotional information” a legitimate security threat. (When you think about it, such can definitely be true in the real world!)

I’m surprised that, after all these years, this is the first ever “Star Trek” musical episode. Robert, as a longtime fan of the franchise, were you open to the idea?

Robert Lloyd: In sci-fi fandom, any unusual step is bound to raise some hackles. But as a TV critic since before flat screens, I have seen at least a few of these “special musical episodes” mounted in otherwise nonmusical series. I suspect the impetus came not from viewer demand but from the producers or the writers, who are always looking for something new to entertain the audience and, not incidentally, themselves and was seized upon happily by cast members, many of whom will have had backgrounds in or at least a love of musical theater, even if only from their high school production of “Guys and Dolls” (which I mention because it was produced at my high school — not with me).

History shows there’s no sort of show more likely than another to take on this challenge, but of all the “Star Trek” series, “Strange New Worlds” is perhaps the one most amenable to it. It’s got a strong vein of humor, and, as a highly episodic show, it’s subject to — in fact, embraces — tonal shifts from week to week. This season has been particularly … goofy? Two weeks prior to “Subspace Rhapsody,” they aired a crossover with the animated spinoff “Star Trek: Lower Decks,” in which cartoon characters became flesh and fleshly characters cartoons.

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I thought it was smart to give the musical element of the show a “scientific” rationale — if the usual “Trek” technobabble — with the Enterprise overwhelmed by feedback from a substance fault into which, on the inspiration of Carol Kane’s Pelia, they sent a playlist in an attempt to communicate musically.

And it’s quite appropriate for a season full of romantic subplots, including Ethan Peck’s Spock — who, you must know, is more about logic than feeling — having a thing with Jess Bush’s Nurse Chapel, and security chief Noonien-Singh’s (Christina Chong) awkward reunion with a young James T. Kirk (Paul Wesley), who doesn’t recall their relationship from an alternative timeline. (That bit may have made no sense to you, Ash.) Appropriately, the story makes it clear that heightened emotion is what causes the characters to sing — which is, of course, the underlying rationale of music theater.

All else aside, how did the music strike you? It was odd that although the music they fed into the fault was the “Great American Songbook” — the standards of early to mid-20th century popular song, often written for musicals — none of the songs in the episode were actually modeled on that tradition. Not much in the way of Jerome Kern or Rodgers and Hart there. It all sounded post-Andrew Lloyd Webber to me.

Lee: Haha, you’re right! While I did appreciate the use of Cole Porter’s show tune “Anything Goes” as a very literal cue to the audience of the storytelling “rules” ahead, many of the tunes were more contemporary than Golden Age. The one that’s most “vintage” in style was the sweet duet “Connect to Your Truth,” when Una Chin-Riley (Rebecca Romijn) shared key leadership advice with Lt. Kirk.

Regarding the romances, I admittedly became deeply invested in these will-they-won’t-theys by the end of their musical numbers. I particularly loved La’an Noonien-Singh‘s song “How Would That Feel,” about contemplating vulnerability; it was like an introspective, angsty version of “Company’s” “Being Alive” in the musical style of “Wicked” (and is a promising preview of her music — Chong just released a debut EP). And the stark differences in genre between Spock’s brooding electropop ballad “I’m the X” and Nurse Chapel’s Amy Winehouse-esque fellowship celebration “I’m Ready” definitely maximized the tension amid their miscommunication.

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Beyond those, the opening number titled “Status Report” was so strong — a perfect example of musicalizing a familiar routine of the world (think “Opening Up” from “Waitress” or “Good Morning Baltimore” from “Hairspray”) — and the choral, orchestral rendition of the show’s main title was a delight. Also, the double meaning of communications officer Nyota Uhura’s anthem “Keep Us Connected” was very satisfying and, in my opinion, only scratched the surface of Celia Rose Gooding’s vocal abilities (she earned a Tony nomination for her performance in “Jagged Little Pill”).

If “Star Trek” ever officially makes the leap to the stage, I imagine these three songs in particular would transfer well. (Though if so, I’m gonna need a full expansion of that brief interlude of autotuned, rapping Klingons.) Bravo to Hanley and Polce for writing all the music and lyrics of this episode; while many have attempted it over the years, only a few pop stars and rockers have successfully walked the tightrope of writing effective and entertaining stage musicals (e.g., Cyndi Lauper, David Byrne and Elton John).

Overall, did you enjoy “Subspace Rhapsody”? Was the first musical episode of the franchise worth the wait?

Lloyd: I can’t say I was waiting for it, but I certainly enjoyed it. I’m all about nutty “Star Trek,” going back to “The Trouble With Tribbles,” and also found it a really effective way to embody the emotional crises being faced by “Strange New Worlds’” eminently likable characters. Certainly, the cast bursting into song (and the occasional dance), with music dropping in from … somewhere, is no more nonsensical than about, oh, a hundred things that have happened to the various starship crews over nearly six decades.

But let me ask you, did it make you liable to keep watching the series? (No judgment.)

Lee: Robert, these subplots were so genuinely compelling, even when concisely moved forward in song, that I’ll likely start this series from the beginning and continue on past this episode. Plus, I’m so intrigued by Lt. Kirk and Noonien-Singh’s romance in that alternate timeline!

‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’

Where: Paramount + When: Anytime, starting Thursday

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Ashley Lee is a staff reporter at the Los Angeles Times, where she writes about theater, movies, television and the bustling intersection of the stage and the screen. An alum of the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center’s National Critics Institute and Poynter’s Power of Diverse Voices, she leads workshops on arts journalism at the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival. She was previously a New York-based editor at the Hollywood Reporter and has written for the Washington Post, Backstage and American Theatre, among others. She is currently working remotely alongside her dog, Oliver.

Robert Lloyd has been a Los Angeles Times television critic since 2003.

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

So… that happened.

For the first time in its 890-episode history, Star Trek did a musical episode. If you didn’t know what to expect upon first learning Strange New Worlds would tackle this genre, you’re not alone. We were skeptical. Optimistic, but skeptical. But here’s the nice surprise: “Subspace Rhapsody” was generally quite an enjoyable affair, since we were going into it knowing it would be silly. It would have to be, right? What possible reason could there be for a starship crew to break out in song?

Well, there’s a scientific explanation. The episode begins with the Enterprise encountering a quantum fissure in space, and the crew thinks this discovery could be a quantum leap forward in trans-quadrant communications. But, Spock ( Ethan Peck ) and Nyota Uhura ( Celia Rose Gooding ) are having a tough time getting signals through the fissure, so they resort to Lt. Pelia’s ( Carol Kane ) outlandish idea: send music through.

The fissure definitely reacts to a tune from the good old American Song Book, and it distorts the surrounding space, including the Enterprise , so that the crew now exists in a realm where music can break out at any moment. We first see this with a bewildered Spock, who breaks out into tune while discussing the effects of the fissure. Soon enough, the crew from around the ship are rhyming and dancing, culminating in a scene on the bridge where everyone, including Captain Christopher Pike ( Anson Mount ) and visiting officer James T. Kirk ( Paul Wesley ), are musically arriving at the same conclusion: the universe has thrown them a curveball and now they are trapped in a space where singing is the norm.

“Honestly, I assumed it was something you all rehearsed, but… I sang, too.” “So did I. And I do not sing.” – Kirk and M’Benga ( Babs Olusanmokun ) after the episode’s first musical number.

There are 10 songs in “Subspace Rhapsody,” and to our great surprise, Strange New Worlds uses each one to inform our understanding of various crew members and their relationships. Moreover, this is an ensemble episode the likes of which we really haven’t seen yet this season, so everyone in the main cast has a moment to shine, if not have a whole song to themselves.

The driving force behind this music, and a rule of the space the crew learns eventually, is that music breaks out whenever strong emotions are in play. So, we hear musical numbers from Uhura about her loneliness, her ill-fated family, and the importance of connection in her life; Nurse Christine Chapel ( Jess Bush ) about her being accepted into a prestigious fellowship and thus being okay leaving Spock behind (poor Spock!); Spock singing about how hurt he is by Chapel; Captain Pike and his girlfriend, Captain Batel ( Melanie Scrofano ), on the frustrations of their long-distance relationship; the normally stoic La’an Noonien-Singh ( Christina Chong ) about her ill-fated romance with Kirk; and Una Chin-Riley ( Rebecca Romijn ) about keeping secrets, and then another song dueting with Kirk about how to be a good command officer.

One unexpected development from the La’an storyline in this episode is her telling Kirk about her experience with the alternate reality Kirk in “ Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow .” This disclosure breaks rules set by the Department of Temporal Investigations, but the potency of La’an’s music-driven emotions make her decide to express her feelings to Kirk. Kirk takes the revelation good-naturedly and has a surprise of his own for La’an: he is in a “sometimes” relationship with a woman named Carol Marcus, and she is pregnant. This is a neat revelation for Star Trek fans, as those who have seen Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and Star Trek III: The Search for Spock know about Kirk’s later-in-life experience with Carol and his ill-fated grown son, David. We’re curious if Strange New Worlds continues filling in Kirk’s backstory.

The Enterprise crew being trapped in a music-filled fissure isn’t enough, as it appears the fissure’s influence is spreading through subspace, infecting many other Federation and non-Federation ships. The crew also realizes their bouts of singing are seemingly following a rule of musicals: when characters have so much pent-up emotion, they resort to song.

“Admiral April’s last message confirmed that the improbability field has now spread to 12 Federation ships. He let me know in surprisingly beautiful baritone that he wants us to stop this now.” – Una

The Klingons, who don’t take kindly to breaking out in song, send battlecruisers to destroy the fissure, and the Enterprise crew knows if the fissure is destroyed, anybody who has suffered its effects will also perish. Uhura and Spock seek to discover a way to break the improbability matrix, and they do so through studying the songs themselves. Uhura, with her careful eyes and ears, finds a connection in the raw data presented by the fissure. It’s a simple solution: the entire crew must sing.

Pike asserts Uhura, who is someone who can bind the Enterprise crew together thanks to her ability to connect people, should lead the ship in song to get the fissure’s “improbability level” high enough to close it. Music hitherto was being used to push people away from each other, but Uhura recognizes music is also great for bringing people together. It’s a clever message couched in dumb science, but again, if you go into this episode knowing it’s silly, things won’t seem so absurd. The episode doesn’t take itself too seriously, and neither should we.

In a grand finale number, with the Klingons just about ready to fire their weapons, the Enterprise crew rallies in song. and even gets the Klingons to join in. We’ll give one critique here: Klingons dancing in a way you might see at, say, a Tayler Swift concert, is really disconcerting and cringy – but at least the uncomfortable moment is acknowledged by the Enterprise bridge crew and played for laughs. Otherwise, the finale number is appropriately explosive, with members of the entire crew singing and dancing together to close the fissure. With the tear in space closed, all is well.

Taken together, the experiment “Subspace Rhapsody” poses to its audience works surprisingly well. Using each song to expand our understanding of our main characters, and in some cases move their respective plotlines forward, is a creatively smart way to balance storytelling and music. While only a few numbers present choreography worth writing home about, the songs themselves are varied and enjoyable to listen to; we have members of the American alternative rock band Letters to Cleo to thank for that. We’ll look forward to the songs from this episode showing up on streaming services, which is as good a compliment as any musical can expect.

On a thematic level, we appreciate how Strange New Worlds asserts a well-known understanding of music and emotions; that is, the two go hand in hand. Such is a fundamental aspect of the human condition that we all can relate to; who doesn’t appreciate it when an artist bears their soul through song?  It’s like what Elton John once said: “Guess there are times when we all need to share a little pain…And it’s times like these when we all need to hear the radio/’Cause from the lips of some old singer/We can share the troubles we already know.” Such is the understanding “Subspace Rhapsody” has of the healing power of music, and this power allowed us to see a more honest side of our characters than we would have otherwise.  For that reason, we consider this Star Trek musical a success, even if some people may scoff at the abnormality of the episode.

Stray Thoughts:

• Chapel is awaiting a message from Dr. Korby, who is likely the same Roger Korby as in TOS ’ “What Are Little Girls Made Of?” M’Benga describes Korby as the “Louis Pasteur of archaeological medicine,” which is the same language Spock used to describe him in the aforementioned episode. We know Chapel eventually becomes Korby’s fiancé, so… will Strange New Worlds show us how that happens?
• The song Uhura sends through the fissure is, appropriately, “Anything Goes,” written by Cole Porter for the 1934 musical of the same name.
• Don’t skip this episode’s intro sequence, as it features a unique rendition of the SNW theme song.
• We confirmed with Paramount+ that these songs were performed by the actors themselves.
• The watch La’an holds while singing about Kirk is the watch the pair used to track down the reactor in “Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow.”
• On the map of the area surrounding the fissure, we see the Republic , the ship James Kirk served on as ensign.
• Check out DS9 ’s “Rivals” for another sci-fi story that involves unusual improbability.
• Writers Dana Horgan and Bill Wolkoff are sure to reference through character dialogue how silly the idea of a Star Trek musical is, and the noticeable reprisal of the TOS theme after the grand finale number helps us recall when TOS could sometimes get off the rails.
• Why do we get the feeling Batel is not long for this world? At the end of the episode, she’s off on a priority one mission, and we know the Gorn must figure into the season finale.

New episodes of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds are made available to stream Thursdays on Paramount+ .

Stay tuned to TrekNews.net for all the latest news on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds , Star Trek: Picard , Star Trek: Discovery , Star Trek: Lower Decks , Star Trek: Prodigy , and more.

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Kyle Hadyniak has been a lifelong Star Trek fan, and isn't ashamed to admit that Star Trek V: The Final Frontier and Star Trek: Nemesis are his favorite Star Trek movies. You can follow Kyle on Twitter @khady93 .

Martin Jacobs

August 3, 2023 at 10:18 am

especially since in Star Trek II, Kirk was only then learning about his son.

He knew he had a son. He told Carol that he stayed away at her request.

August 3, 2023 at 10:31 am

Echoing what Martin said above; Kirk knew about David. He was told to stay away

Antonio Relyea

August 3, 2023 at 2:48 pm

I came here to make the same comment. David new about Kirk too. “Remember that overgrown boy scout you used to hang around with?” to which Carol replied “Listen kiddo, Jim Kirk was many things but he was never a boy scout.”

August 3, 2023 at 5:53 pm

Ah yes, thank you for that reminder. I must have a leaky memory bank. Will edit. 🙂

Jared McCubbin

August 4, 2023 at 9:27 am

Can any of them sing though?

Christine Granados

August 6, 2023 at 2:16 pm

This episode was just plain stupid… and the end with the Klingons as a weak, sad Boy Band was just pathetic and so off-putting as to be a bit vomit inducing. Really guys, this was possibly one of the stupidest ideas for a show ever….. EVER EVER EVER. Spare me. I had to watch two hours of other mindless TV just to blot the vision of singing Klingons ala a sad little Boy Band. This episode was the thing that nightmares are made of and lurk in your mind waiting to spring up and make you puke.

August 6, 2023 at 4:48 pm

This episode was so hard to watch – I had to fast forward through all the singing. I would say there is some truth in saying that Star Trek fans do not want to sit through a musical. It was very cringeworthy.

August 6, 2023 at 7:59 pm

I loved the musical. The songs were perfect and on point. Star Trek – Strange New Worlds is just what the doctor ordered. I’m loving it!

August 13, 2023 at 7:16 pm

SNW was supposed to appeal to those of us that wanted an episodic sci-fi series again. Its not working and they have already lost their focus. I really want to love it(I suppose because of the nostalgic characters), but they are losing me. Another silly episode !

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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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Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2 Episode 9 Is The Silly One Among Silly Ones (And A Musical, Too)

Yes, "Star Trek" can be silly sometimes. One might recall the original series episode "Shore Leave" (December 29, 1966) wherein the crew of the Enterprise saw their thoughts and fantasies — including knights and anthropomorphic white rabbits and samurai — manifested in android form. Then there's the "Next Generation" episode "QPid" (April 21, 1991) wherein the Enterprise-D crew were magically transformed into characters from Robin Hood. There's also the "Deep Space Nine" episode "If Wishes Were Horses" (May 17, 1993) wherein the DS9 crew unwittingly manifested characters out of their brains, like Rumpelstiltskin and ultra-horny doppelgängers of their co-workers. And then we have the "Voyager" episode "Bride of Chaotica!" (January 27, 1999) wherein the Voyager crew re-enacted a 1950s sci-fi serial, complete with cheesy special effects and black-and-white photography. 

These "wacky" comedy episodes, while not always necessarily funny, tend to serve an important function in "Star Trek." Specifically, they break up the monotony. Both the viewers and the makers of the show may tire of staring at the same six Enterprise sets over and over, and, for sanity's sake, throw in something unexpected and fun to provide visual and tonal variety. Trekkies who are fans of the more stern, serious episodes of "Star Trek" may find themselves irked by the whimsey, while others might appreciate the sight of ordinarily well-mannered characters behaving in a kooky fashion. 

The most recent episode of "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds," called "Subspace Rhapsody," is the kookiest the franchise has ever been, and that's saying something. It's a full-bore musical episode wherein the Enterprise crew is psychically affected by a mysterious subspace fold that forces them to sing and dance — and sing their innermost emotions — against their will. 

It's not completely successful, but the variety is appreciated. 

The threat of whimsey

The premise of "Subspace Rhapsody" is paper-thin, and worthy of an episode of a sitcom. The Enterprise has come upon a colossal negative space wedgie they call a subspace fold. The figure they can send communication signals down the fold and communicate with other nearby ships at thrice the speed. Chief Engineer Pelia ( Carol Kane ) suggests to Uhura (Celia Rose Gooding) that they test the signal by broadcasting music into the phenomenon. Uhura chooses a recording of Cole Porter's "Anything Goes," making a brief reference to the Great American Songbook. It seems that Irving Berlin and Benny Goodman will handily survive into the 23rd century. If one is choosing between "Baby, It's Cold Outside" and "Lucky Be a Lady," however, remember to choose the evil of two Loessers. 

The negative space wedgie responds to Cole Porter by beaming music into the brains of the entire crew, and Spock (Ethan Peck) begins singing along to the show's previously non-diegetic background music. The crew is shocked to find themselves singing, and are baffled by the phenomenon. The music also forces them to sing their most private feelings out loud, causing a few minor social complications. Nurse Chapel (Jess Bush) sings about how she's in love with Spock but is kind of getting over him. Captain Pike (Anson Mount) sings to his would-be paramour Captain Batel (Melanie Srofano) that her romantic vacation idea is boring. La'an (Christina Chong) sings that she's romantically attracted to James Kirk (Paul Wesley), once again visiting the Enterprise. 

Ordinarily, even Trek's comedy episodes possess an element of threat, and it's usually said that if the whimsey is not soon extinguished, the crew may die. The same dangers aren't really present in "Subspace Rhapsody." The big threat is "we may be emotional."

Frustratingly in character

Given that "Strange New Worlds" is, as a whole, a lightweight, somewhat comedic, openly emotional show to begin with, the sight of seeing the crew sing and dance hardly feels novel. The Spock in this show, for instance, has already been experimenting with emotion, and was even smiling and making jokes in "Those Old Scientists." Pike is a warm, affable captain who regularly welcomes his crew into his private mess for breakfast. Even the show's two most "serious" characters, La'an and Commander Chin-Riley (Rebecca Romijn) have pledged to be more open and jocular with the crew and have displayed their hearts on more than one occasion. 

As such, being struck by an attack of singing feels frustratingly natural. The thrill of watching stiff-upper-lipped, staid "Star Trek" characters break into song has less of an impact if the characters aren't entirely staid to begin with. The cast is clearly having fun, but the audience might be able to take the genre in stride. That makes the presumed appealing juxtaposition of a "musical Star Trek episode" less daring than it might be on, say "Next Generation." 

Trekkies have likely seen the video, but Patrick Stewart once performed Perry Como's "A, You're Adorable" dressed as Captain Picard on the set of "Star Trek: The Next Generation." It was striking and strange because such behavior was not expected from that character on that set. Meanwhile, any of the cast of "Strange New Worlds" could release a similar video, and no one would bat an eye. Indeed, Chin-Riley and Spock already sang Gilbert and Sullivan on an episode of "Short Treks." It may seem daring to release a musical episode of "Star Trek," but here, it's another Thursday. 

Red Dwarf: Strange New Worlds

"Subspace Rhapsody" also doesn't bother to make its silly pseudo-science feel convincing. They feed music into a space wedgie, and they become singers? There's a lot of talk as to how the crew might free the Enterprise from the ribbon's effect, but there's little exploration as to how this nonsense works. Ordinarily, "Star Trek" is very good at painting multisyllabic technobabble over their fantastical stories. Here, they barely explain anything. In this regard, "Subspace Rhapsody" is less a "Star Trek" episode, and much more closely resembles an episode of "Red Dwarf," the 1988 sci-fi sitcom that played like a Douglas Adams-inflected riff on "Star Trek." That series wouldn't bat an eye at being goofy and featured musical numbers throughout . Fast-forward to 2023, and "Star Trek" has finally caught up with "Red Dwarf." 

The most damning complaint I might have about "Subspace Rhapsody," however, is directed at the music itself. Uhura feeds Cole Porter into the space wedgie, but the crew does not emerge singing the Great American Songbook. Instead, they sing kind of mealy, unmemorable pop ballads about aching hearts and other bland emotional states. Kirk and Chin-Riley do get a somewhat whimsical number about doing their jobs well, but none of the numbers have the earworm qualities of "Anything Goes." 

The cast avails themselves well enough, and some of them actually have excellent singing voices. Indeed, Gooding has won a Grammy for her performance in Broadway's "Jagged Little Pill." Others, however, strain a little through their numbers. Luckily, they emerge largely unscathed. I just wish "Subspace Rhapsody" warranted the purchase of a soundtrack record. 

"Subspace Rhapsody" is perhaps the least episode of "Strange New Worlds" to date. But given how strong that series has been, this is no major damnation.

'Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' season two's musical may be the best Trek episode ever made

Set phasers to MUSICAL!

Warning: Spoilers ahead for "Strange New Worlds" Season 2, episode 9

We've talked before about refreshing it is when "Star Trek" doesn't take itself too seriously; the most obvious example of that was probably the epic "Deep Space Nine" (DS9) crossover with "The Original Series" (TOS) in the episode "Trials and Tribble-ations" (S05, E06) that aired in 1996 as part of the 30th anniversary celebrations.

You could also probably include quite a few episodes of TOS as examples of when the show didn't take itself too seriously, like "The Squire of Gothos" (S01, E17) and thankfully " Strange New Worlds " has continued this tradition. However, one might have thought that in a season that's only 10 episodes long — both "DS9" and "TOS" average 26 episodes per season — there might really only be enough room for one epically entertaining and irreverent episode. And in the past, it's typically been per show , not even per season . 

Let's face facts. "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" popularized the musical episode with the phenomenal installment "Once More, With Feeling" (S06, E07) and this was way back in November 2001, nearly 22 years ago. If it wasn't the first time it had ever been done, it certainly became the most well known. And after the "Lower Decks" crossover just two weeks ago came a moderate case of whiplash as we were snapped back into the grim, gritty horrors of war. And now we're suddenly back at the London Palladium once again for a impromptu musical number. Being a fan of "Strange New Worlds" at the moment kind of feels a little like being at the end of long piece of emotional elastic.

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It needs to be stressed that none of this is a reflection of the quality of this installment, on the contrary, we're going to go out on a limb here and say that this might very well be the best episode of "Star Trek" that's ever been made. But, when the cherry is already on top of a generous helping of strawberry sauce, which itself adorns several scoops of whipped cream that sits in the middle of a lake of melted chocolate, dripping over a mountain of melt-in-your-mouth ice cream, all covered in a monsoon of hundreds and thousands , you might forget about the cherry. What's needed is a layer or two of sponge and maybe even a biscuit base. It's all about equal proportions and this second season is not of equal proportions. 

Consequently, the full impact of this has been less than it could have — and should have — been. "Strange New Worlds" is adapting and showing it has an impressive range, but it's potential is being squandered by rushing. So, what's the reason behind the rush? 

Well, last week we mentioned how unusual it was to a) have the character of Kirk popping up quite so much, b) how little focus there had been on Pike himself and finally c) we seem to discovering quite quickly all the reasons why the new characters weren't on the Enterprise in "TOS." You may recall that we speculated a clock with considerably less time on it than we would want, is already ticking down. And sadly, that theory was supported further by events in this episode. 

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Lieutenant James Kirk (Paul Wesley) references his request for a command commission — his first command will of course be the USS Enterprise. Kirk also makes a reference to Dr Carol Marcus, his love interest from "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan" and played by Bibi Besch in the movie. And in doing so, he also makes reference to the fact that she's pregnant with his kid, who will of course turn out to be David Marcus, played by Merritt Butrick, before he's killed with a Klingon D'k tahg in "Star Trek III: The Search for Spock." Oh, spoiler alert. 

The in-universe date for the events of "The Wrath of Khan" is 2285, the actor was aged 21 and the in-universe date for this episode is 2259. According to canon, that would make David 26 when we're introduced to him in "The Wrath of Khan." If she's just pregnant, then it's plausible, but it was always implied that Kirk never had time to spend with his son, choosing to chase through the universe instead and that was a result of being in command of a Federation starship. 

According to Memory Alpha , the events of "The Motion Picture" are assumed to be in the mid 2270s, approximately two and a half years after Kirk finished his five-year mission on the USS Enterprise. Memory Alpha also suggests that Kirk didn't take command of the NCC-1701 until 2265, "at the age of 32, Kirk assumed command of the Constitution-class USS Enterprise from Fleet Captain Pike." And that leaves a six-year gap, which makes it even harder to guess where this show is going. Plus Nurse Christine Chapel (Jess Bush) makes a reference to studying with Dr. Roger Korby and the forthcoming events of TOS episode "What Are Little Girls Made Of" (S01, E07).

 —  'Strange New Worlds' season 2 episode 7's wild crossover with 'Lower Decks'

 — The Chapel-Spock-T'Pring love triangle takes a turn in episode 5

 —  'Strange New Worlds is suffering from an episode order affliction

But enough of this second guessing shenanigans. 

The choice of tunes was great, with some lengthy vocal numbers, plus a more up-beat routine with Jess Bush (Nurse Christine Chapel) all the way to the Klingon warrior boyband snippet, which was nothing short of inspired genius. Although a more varied mix of styles might have been fun. We already know Celia Rose Gooding (Ensign Nyota Uhura) can sing like a heavenly angel, one can help but wonder who out of the cast is actually singing and who is lip·synching to a similar-sounding voice?!

When you think back to "TOS" episodes like "The Squire of Gothos" as we've mentioned above or even "The Way to Eden" (S03, E20), an episode like this is exactly in the vein of "Star Trek," it's just a damn shame that Joss Whedon got there first and forever put his stamp on the idea. Bravo sir, bravo. 

The next episode is the season finale, and given the back-and-forth and up-and-down and round-and-round nature of this second season, hold on to your potatoes, 'cause just about anything could happen. 

"Strange New Worlds" and every episode of nearly every "Star Trek" show currently airing streams exclusively on Paramount Plus in the US. Internationally, the shows are available on Paramount Plus in Australia, Latin America, the UK and South Korea, as well as on Pluto TV in Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Switzerland on the Pluto TV Sci-Fi channel. They also stream exclusively on Paramount Plus in Italy, France, Germany, Switzerland and Austria. In Canada, they air on Bell Media's CTV Sci-Fi Channel and stream on Crave.

Follow Scott Snowden on  Twitter . Follow us on Twitter  @Spacedotcom  and on  Facebook . 

 —  'Strange New Worlds' S02, E04 refers to an incident from the TOS pilot

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When Scott's application to the NASA astronaut training program was turned down, he was naturally upset...as any 6-year-old boy would be. He chose instead to write as much as he possibly could about science, technology and space exploration. He graduated from The University of Coventry and received his training on Fleet Street in London. He still hopes to be the first journalist in space.

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• JohnnyBoy230 STAR TREK IS NOT A MUSICAL! That episode was horrifically bad, barely made it through it. Also, please don’t encourage them to make another one and calling it the best episode ever is hyperbolic at the least and downright silly. Boo this man! Reply
• Bagofwisdom This isn't even close to the quality of DS9's "The visitor" or "In the Pale Moon Light." Nor is it close to TNG's "Inner Light" I don't hold it in as high regard as the Lower Decks crossover either. This episode wasn't TNG season 2 finale or Spock's brain bad, but it's not what I'd call good either. Reply
• Classical Motion That was the best star trek episode I've seen in a long long time. It was great. Reply
• COLGeek For those that take ST way too seriously... syV2LkGpQB0 View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syV2LkGpQB0 'Tis but a light moment, or two, before things will obviously go dark. Remember the Gorn? Reply
• Classical Motion Especially those high pitched Klingons. Knocked me over. Reply
• billslugg They lost me Dec 29, 1967. "Trouble With Tribbles". It was just not "Star Trek". It's like when Fonzie went water skiing with his leather jacket on and jumped over a shark. Reply
• Paranoimia I don't think so. I usually really enjoy the show, but I lasted 15 minutes before I had to switch this episode off. I just can't abide musicals. Reply
• Classical Motion Classic western, a young Clint Eastwood and Lee Marvin and Jean Seberg. Paint Your Wagon. All real cowboys sing. Always have. Reply
• billslugg At an affair in Phila ca 1968. Clint Eastwood: "Hi, Clint Eastwood, good to meet you." My Dad: "Bill Smith, good to meet you. So, Mr. Eastman, what line of work are you in?" Clint Eastwood: Big Smile. Stayed right by Dad the whole evening. Reply
• Cgray77 "Strange New Worlds' season 2's musical episode may be the best 'Star Trek' show ever made" If you say so, friend. 😞 Reply
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REVIEW: ‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ Season 2 Episode 9 — “Subspace Rhapsody”

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds once again pushes the boundaries of the sci-fi genre with its ninth episode of Season 2, titled “Subspace Rhapsody.” This week viewers are taken to the far edges of the Alpha Quadrant, where a remarkable discovery awaits the crew of the Enterprise. There they find a subspace fold, capable of tripling the speed of subspace communications, sparking an unexpected chain of events, leaving the crew singing their way through a musical odyssey. Directed by Dermott Downs and written by Dana Horgan and Bill Wolkoff, take the helm of this milestone episode in Star Trek   history as  Strange New Worlds Season 2 Episode 9 becomes the first full-fledged musical episode in the franchise.

Strange New Worlds Season 2 Episode 9 opens with Spock’s (Ethan Peck) experiment attempting to harness the power of the subspace fold. However, when the experiment fails, Commander Pelia (Carol Kane) suggests using harmonics for communication, an idea previously explored in season one by Nyota Uhura (Celia Rose Gooding). Their hypothesis yields results as an energy wave hits the Enterprise. As the crew faces this unusual phenomenon, they find themselves singing while performing their regular duties. The seemingly random bursts of musical numbers leave everyone wondering about the cause behind this unprecedented phenomenon. Following the opening number, the episode opens with an acapella version of the series’s theme, setting the stage for a wild ride of an episode.

As Spock’s logical explanation unfolds, it is revealed that the subspace fold unleashed an energy wave, trapping the Enterprise in a reality where everyone bursts into song sporadically. To prevent the energy ripple from spreading across all subspace communications within the Federation, the Enterprise crew must find a way to close the subspace fold, but doing so while singing presents numerous challenges. The musical numbers strike unexpectedly, leading to candid expressions of feelings that challenge the characters’ control over their emotions. The episode cleverly uses the music to unveil long-awaited character moments, showcasing the talents of the cast.

What initially seems like a fun and lighthearted musical episode quickly unfolds into a character-driven exploration of emotions and relationships. As the crew faces the pressures of singing their truths unintentionally, their emotions run high, resulting in a plethora of character moments expressed through solos, duets, and ensembles. The stakes escalate when the subspace fold’s unexpected benefits improve communications in the region but also put the Federation at risk of revealing their secrets through song. The crew must confront their feelings and find a way to close the fold while preserving the security of Starfleet.

The musical numbers serve as a vehicle for the characters to express thoughts and emotions that they might not otherwise have the courage to share. The episode highlights the growth of various relationships throughout the season, including those of Spock and Nurse Chapel (Jess Bush), Captain Pike (Anson Mount) and Captain Batel (Melanie Scrofano), La’an ( Christina Chong ) and James Kirk (Paul Wesley). The musical energy opens the door to honesty and vulnerability, offering a glimpse into the characters’ innermost thoughts. As characters confront their feelings and desires, some previously burgeoning relationships come to the forefront, while others encounter obstacles.

Underneath the layers of musicality and heartfelt moments lies a central theme of finding purpose. At the heart of this musical extravaganza, the episode reinforces the unity of the Enterprise crew and their commitment to Starfleet’s mission. Despite their diverse backgrounds and experiences, they are all bound together by a shared purpose, reminding viewers of the core values that Star Trek embodies. However, getting to that point isn’t easy. The portrayal of the characters’ struggles to maintain these relationships amidst constant duty changes and reassignments feels heartbreakingly authentic.

In particular, the performances of La’an and Spock stand out, as they convey intense emotions despite their stoic exterior. While Peck’s impeccable acting is to be expected at this point, I was blown away by Christina Chong’s range in not only voice but the emotional depth she was able to get across with minimal changes to her facial expression as she fights to keep her tough demeanor despite the song that is pouring out of her.

Throughout the relationship turmoil on the ship, La’an and Kirk’s “will they won’t they” dynamic takes center stage, delving into their complicated connection shaped by their alternate timeline encounter. La’an’s poignant solo beautifully illustrates her inner conflict as she ponders if her reserved nature can adapt to a potential future with Kirk and the chances she is willing to take. Chong’s voice is powerful yet fragile, showcasing her ability as a singer but also capturing the depth of La’an’s character. These heartfelt character moments add emotional weight to the episode, making the relationships feel more genuine and human, despite the fantastical setting. As someone who was critical of their kiss earlier in the season, I am glad to see that the payoff was for more than just shipping purposes. La’an finds her voice without needing the music to tell her true feelings and for better or worse, La’an is better for it adding depth to her character overall.

With that said, I am sure the episode will also leave viewers questioning the overall direction of the season and the series. With only 10 episodes in the season and a lack of a strong throughline plot compared to the previous season, some may wonder if Strange New Worlds will follow a “genre of the week” format or if the central focus will be on the relationships within the Enterprise crew, eventually transitioning to Captain Kirk taking the helm. Further, the decision to yet again follow a very serious and dark episode with another more upbeat, fun episode is certainly a choice.

Regardless, the current format of the series focused on relationships and character development, has proven to be a captivating approach. As the crew faces a wide range of challenges, the characters find their voices and grow, allowing the audience to form deeper connections with them. While there might not be a ticking clock like in season one, season two has without a doubt grown the viewer’s relationship with these characters making me excited for what’s to come in future seasons.

“Subspace Rhapsody” reflects the power of music and the effectiveness of the musical genre in storytelling. The episode may not appeal to those who are not fans of musicals, as the musical numbers are anything but subtle. However, it stands as a testament to the series’ versatility and creativity . The episode’s clever explanation for the musical phenomenon stays true to the show’s themes and provides a unique way to heighten character moments. As a character-driven episode, it enriches the connections between the crew members, reinforcing their unity as they tackle various themes and genres throughout the series. While the musical numbers may not resonate with everyone, those who appreciate character-driven storytelling and the power of music will find this episode particularly enjoyable. Strange New Worlds ‘ willingness to take creative risks and experiment with different genres continues to make it a standout series in the Star Trek franchise.

Overall, Strange New Worlds Season 2 Episode 9  is a testament to the creative freedom given to writers and actors, allowing them to have fun with their work and take bold creative leaps, such as embracing a musical episode. Fans who enjoy musicals will undoubtedly relish this episode’s energetic and vibrant numbers, showcasing the actors’ talents as they embrace their characters’ emotions and express themselves through song. On the other hand, those less inclined toward musicals might find the musical numbers overwhelming. However, “Subspace Rhapsody” ultimately showcases Strange New Worlds ‘ ability to tackle diverse genres and deliver a satisfying hour of television that is both fun and creatively daring.

As we approach the season’s conclusion, the series proves its commitment to strong character-driven storytelling and an exploration of relationships, promising exciting possibilities for the future of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds .

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2 Episode 9 is streaming exclusively on Paramount+ with new episodes every Thursday.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2 Episode 9 — "Subspace Rhapsody"

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‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ season 2 episode 9 – ‘Subspace Rhapsody’ review

This week’s Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is the first musical episode in the franchise.

This piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, the work being covered here wouldn’t exist.

When I first learned that a Tony Award nominee was cast to play Nyota Uhura on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds it first crossed my mind that, in 50+ years, Star Trek never did a full-on musical episode. Now that time has finally come and, sure enough, Celia Rose Gooding’s Uhura is at its center.

A musical episode probably wouldn’t have worked on most of the other Trek series because this is a franchise that has often focused more on the missions than on the characters’ personal lives. Deep Space Nine seems like the only previous show with developed enough relationships to build a musical off of, but I’m not sure if any of its cast had a musical background. Strange New World ‘s lighter tone, combined with its willingness to take big swings — especially in season two — as evidenced by the recent Lower Decks crossover, makes it the ideal choice to experiment with a bold, campy musical episode.

I’m not the right person to judge the individual song and dance performances of each actor here, but unsurprisingly, Gooding was the clear standout. Writers Dana Horgan and Bill Wolkoff wisely saved their solo “Keep Us Connected” for late in the story and then tasked Uhura with leading the big ensemble finale to save the day.

Jess Bush is also well served here. Earlier this season, I expressed some frustration with the writer’s limiting Bush’s Chapel to merely Spock’s love interest and said I looked forward to the writers giving her more to do. Last week definitely delivered a very different side to Chapel. And while “Subspace Rhapsody” does again focus her story around her relationship with Spock, Bush’s vocal and dance talents are on full display when performing the Chapel-centered song, “I’m Ready.”

Photo: Paramount+

The other star of this episode is the Enterprise sets. I don’t think we’ve gotten this intimate a look at them before. The workstation area of Engineering, the crew lounge, and the vast, seemingly endless hallway sets have never looked better. Watching the cast gracefully dance through them and use the spaces like never before made me realize this really is the best set design in a Trek series since Deep Space Nine ‘s glorious Cardassian architecture.

“Subspace Rhapsody” may seem like a strange — no pun intended — choice for the season’s penultimate episode at first glance, but it moves several storylines forward in significant ways. First, there’s Chapel’s acceptance into Dr. Korby’s fellowship program. Long-time Trek fans will recognize that name. In The Original Series episode “What Are Little Girls Made Of,” where Dr. Roger Korby plays a central role, he’s established as having been both a mentor and ex-fiancé to Nurse Chapel. As it looks like her relationship with Spock has deteriorated before it got a chance to get off the ground, I suspect she’ll return to Enterprise in Season 3 well into this new relationship if not already engaged to Korby.

La’an finally confesses to Jim Kirk her experience and deep connection with the alternate timeline Kirk from “Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow.” And while this Kirk seems to see La’an for who she is in similar ways, he reveals he’s also unavailable. At present, his relationship status with a scientist named Carol is complicated and made even more so by his learning that she’s pregnant. Of course, this is Carol Marcus, introduced in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and last seen played by Alice Eve in Star Trek: Into Darkness . So that’s a second potential romantic pairing that ends in some degree of heartbreak this week.

Then there’s the third couple: Captains Pike and Batel. Not a lot changed this week. Pike again shows difficulty communicating honestly with his partner, a theme we’ve already observed. But perhaps most relevant was a passing line at the episode’s end by Batel that she’s being called away on a priority mission. This no doubt will tie in with the season finale. Is this related to the Gorn threat teased in the season premiere or is the show finally ready to pay off that Sybok tease from season one?

“Subspace Rhapsody” is an inherently silly episode built around a silly conceit. Everyone involved seems to have been having fun. At one point, Rebecca Romijn’s Una delivers the ridiculous, almost fourth-wall-breaking line, “The last thing anyone wants is singing Klingons,” only for the episode to later deliver a quick glimpse at the Bridge of the Klingon ship in full Broadway mode in one of the most surreal and absurdly comic moments you’ll find in any Trek series.

As with my review of this season’s “ Charades ,” this is likely to be a divisive episode. Some fans demand Star Trek remain serious, and “Subspace Rhapsody” marks the third heavily comedic episode of season two alone. But I think the writers have balanced out the season nicely. Last week gave us maybe the darkest episode of Strange New Worlds yet, and “Ad Astra Per Aspera” provided a truly excellent courtroom drama. This series has proven it can run the gamut from telling serious dramas about war trauma to screwball comedy. And in that sense, it is in line with the earlier Trek series. I think modern audiences forget just how often The Original Series and The Next Generation would cut loose and embrace campiness. I found “Subspace Rhapsody” to be another fun and refreshing experiment.

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Star Trek: Picard season 2 episode 9 review: "How do you solve a problem like the Borg Queen?"

GamesRadar+ Verdict

With no Q, no Renée Picard, and no Europa mission, ‘Hide and Seek’ is an unnecessary detour from the season’s core arc. It has enough entertaining moments to pass the time, but next week’s finale needs to up its game.

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Warning: This Star Trek: Picard season 2, episode 9 review contains major spoilers – many of them set to stun. Boldly go further at your own risk…

The penultimate episode of Star Trek: Picard season 2 is titled ‘Hide and Seek’, but a more accurate name might have been ‘How do you solve a problem like the Borg Queen?’ The figurehead of the cyborg Collective has been one of the standout characters of the season – whether she’s inhabiting Agnes Jurati’s body or not – but as the story arc gets closer to its conclusion, she’s turned into something of a distraction. 

The Queen’s presence in the 21st century was always an entertaining narrative convenience, her mastery of the space-time continuum the means by which Picard and co. traveled back in order to save the future. But with her impressive arsenal of witty putdowns and knack for stirring things up, she’s been a welcome – if antagonistic – addition to the crew. Unfortunately, in ‘Hide and Seek’ she’s starting to get in the way.

It’s as if the writing team didn’t want to deal with the Q/Soong/Renée Picard conundrum until the Borg interloper was safely removed from the equation, and her over-involvement here makes the episode feel rather anticlimactic and flat. This is the TV equivalent of a holding pattern, when the story should be warping towards the finish line. 

That’s not to say the episode is quiet or dull. In fact, this is the most action-packed outing of the season so far, as Queen Agnes’s army of insta-drones goes into full-on attack mode in a bid to take control of La Sirena. Nods to the likes of Aliens and Star Trek: First Contact are everywhere – the repeated use of very Borgy lasers, albeit green rather than red, is a neat touch – though it’s nowhere near as accomplished as the action classics it imitates.

As the crew of La Sirena reluctantly play soldiers, Picard uses his knowledge of the chateau and its numerous secret passages to marshal the fight back. Leading the opposition is Adam Soong, who has – rather unconvincingly – morphed from disgraced scientist to military leader in what seems like the blink of an eye. As with the Borg Queen, a promising character has become surplus to requirements as the story strains to keep him relevant.

While it makes sense that a man as ruthlessly ambitious as Soong would be desperate to ensure his legacy – especially now that the product of his life’s work, Kore, has rejected him – it doesn’t ring true that he’s betting everything on the word of a strange cyborg woman he’s only just met, however appealing the idea of being the ‘saviour’ of a dystopian future might be. Indeed, If Soong wasn’t played by Star Trek legend Brent Spiner, it’s unlikely he’d still have a part to play in the story.

And if you were expecting that big showdown between Q and his old sparring partner Jean-Luc, well, that’s going to have to wait. Instead, the legendary former captain of the Enterprise is distracted by further trips down memory lane, as the episode continues ‘ Monsters ’’ excessive flashbacks to his childhood. This is somewhat problematic.

Firstly, the idea that Picard would start to daydream in the midst of a heated battle is insulting to both the character and the audience. But more importantly, everything we learn about his past adds little to Trek mythology.

‘Monsters’ made it pretty clear that Picard lost his mother in tragic circumstances, so the revelation that she hanged herself – and that he feels responsible for her death – isn’t quite the bombshell the writers clearly think it is. It’s also questionable whether Jean-Luc Picard needed a tragic backstory – if this is the show’s way of explaining away his subsequent well-publicised attachment issues, it’s an over-simplistic and cheap move.

With Picard spending most of the episode indulging in painful nostalgia, it’s left to Raffi and Seven to save the day on La Sirena, where Queen Agnes is plotting to use the ship to establish a new Collective. Unexpected help comes in the form of a holographic Elnor, conjured up by Jurati (still lurking inside that shared mind) to keep the Queen from the ship’s security codes. Whether his return is the most ridiculous element of the episode is debatable – it’s a competitive field – but he does, at least, help Raffi confront her guilt over his death. That said, if La Sirena has the ability to recreate any crew member as an emergency hologram, you have to wonder why the 25th century isn’t packed with virtual avatars of resurrected dead people. And whether – after the ridiculous plot twists in the Discovery season 4 finale – it’s possible for a key Trek character to die and stay dead.

At least, in what would seem to be her final appearance, Queen Agnes manages to make a nuisance of herself. And after leaving Seven critically wounded with one of her tentacles, she seemingly has the upper hand, until Jurati employs a tactic that rarely works on the traditionally ruthless Borg – diplomacy.

Voyager’s numerous encounters with the Collective did plenty to neuter Star Trek’s greatest villains, but this week’s resolution is up there with the most contrived. Despite previous episodes’ efforts to establish the Queen’s constant desire for connection, there’s been little hint that she might actually listen to the owner of her host body. So Agnes persuades her to head into the galaxy to create a new, altruistic Collective, it feels we’ve crossed over into a bizarre parallel dimension.

How do you solve a problem like the Borg Queen? On the evidence of ‘Hide and Seek’, we’re still looking for an answer.

New episodes of Star Trek: Picard season 2 beam onto Paramount Plus (US) and Crave (Canada) on Thursdays. Viewers elsewhere can watch the show on Amazon Prime Video on Fridays. For more Trek action, check out our reviews of Star Trek: Discovery season 4 .

Richard is a freelancer journalist and editor, and was once a physicist. Rich is the former editor of SFX Magazine, but has since gone freelance, writing for websites and publications including GamesRadar+, SFX, Total Film, and more. He also co-hosts the podcast, Robby the Robot's Waiting, which is focused on sci-fi and fantasy. 

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Star Trek: Discovery review: Season 5 Episode 2, "Under The Twin Moons"

C aptain Rayner will either go full villain or turn out to have a heart of gold. The mysterious obnoxious jerk character trope can only go one of two ways.

This season of Star Trek: Discovery could easily get exhausting if they kept up the pace of the premiere. So while "Under the Twin Moons" is a slight return to the old ponderous Star Trek: Discovery, it's forgiven.

We start with one of Captain Burnham's signature profound but meaningless monologues about the meaning of it all, same old Discovery . But we're soon reminded that she has reason to be having an existential crisis because this season's mission deals with an ancient mystery that goes to the very creation of all humanoid life in the galaxy. So this too is forgivable.

Discovery has always felt apart from the rest of the Star Trek universe, even when it's trying to link itself back to canon. This ancient mystery is a big honking reference, not only to Star Trek: The Next Generation but to one of TNG's most beloved episodes, "The Chase," so expect to see frequent reminders of that TNG link.

We're then taken to a disciplinary hearing where Captain Rayner is getting grilled about his decision in the last episode to torpedo the bad guy's escape route from space, prompting the bad guys to let off their own torpedoes and nearly destroy a village. We've established that Burnham is a master diplomat, but she's struggling here not to call his plan really really stupid, and in front of the president of the Federation no less. You may have screwed up in the past, but have you ever screwed up so bad the president turns up and forcefully nudges you into retirement?

Rayner then loses his cool and goes on a rant about how he "doesn't have time for diplomacy and rules," but he "gets results, damnit!" This makes me think he's a villain, but Discovery likes to zig when you expect it to zag. The big revelation about Rayner could simply be that he was having a bad day that day.

Burnham is then informed that her ex-boyfriend Booker and his cat Grudge will be assigned to the Discovery full-time because of his expertise with these particular bad guys, who I am trying to not think of as Mickey and Mallory from Natural Born Killers , because they're real names are Moll and L'ak. Booker is getting settled in his quarters when Burnham comes by with a gift of a remote control holographic mouse that Grudge is adorably disinterested in. (Didn't we establish last season that Grudge is freaked out by holograms, because she can't smell them?)

This reminds us how good Burnham and Booker are together when not in a motorcycle chase. Star Trek has been notoriously bad with couples, pairing up characters with no chemistry for reasons that elude even the writers and stars. But actors Sonequa Martin-Green and David Adjala have so much chemistry that it feels wrong that they're not together. They're not so much a will-they-won't-they, as a why-on-Earth-aren't-they? Every single interaction between them foreshadows that they won't be exes for long.

We're seeing a different side of Captain Burnham on this new season of Discovery, and though Sonequa Martin-Green is having fun with it, she's having trouble adapting. She's a born action star, and in many ways this is the role she was born to play, but her comic instincts could use a little developing. Despite the easy chemistry with Booker, she's still not comfortable landing a joke.

Apparently this season wasn't initially written as the final season, and reshoots were ordered when they announced that Discovery was coming to an end, to retcon it into a send-off. We start to see that with this episode, as characters have impromptu heart-to-hearts with each other about how much they'll miss each other. This feels a little forced, but it's certainly effective. And of course Tilly and Adira bond over being super awkward; how had this not happened until now? I just hope the Tilly/Adira bonding doesn't crowd out the Adira/Stamets/Culber queer found family.

Meanwhile, Burnham and Saru are on a planet that the Romulan diary they found last week has lead them to, looking for the next piece in the puzzle. But there's an electromagnetic field that prevents transporters from working in the area where they're looking. Hiking to the site gives them an excuse for their own heart-to-heart. Their conversation is a handy reminder of some of the crazier stuff that's happened on Discovery. We're reminded that Saru can shoot darts from the back of his head, that Burnham first came on board as a prisoner after attempting a mutiny that got her captain and mother figure Captain Georgiou killed, and that Tin Natoro's Commander Jett Reno exists!

As much as Discovery needs to embrace being Star Trek, it's great to see that it's not trying to pretend its crazy digressions never happened. This conversation feels like a homage to those crazy digressions. Plus, the head darts thing is about to come in handy.

That's when they're set upon by drones that were part of the ancient security system, built by a long-dead civilization who considered this sacred ground. They can't be beamed out, so Tilly and Adira start frantically brainstorming a plan to get them out, but they're getting nowhere until Rayner appears as a hologram and tells them that to understand an ancient alien security system, they must think like an ancient alien. Somehow this is actually helpful, and they're able to disable the system's power source. But the Rayner hologram mysteriously disappears before the action is over like the big mysterious jerk that he is.

Booker has worked up a psychological profile on Mickey and Mallory and posts something on the galactic dark web designed to get their attention. They promptly call him up via holographic phone while Stamets does the old thriller trope where he has to keep them on the phone long enough for the call to be traced. But unfortunately they were using a wormhole as a VPN and they can't be traced. After talking wistfully about how he understands the baddies because they're young risk takers and in love, Booker leaves in a huff. Gee, I wonder if he's perhaps missing being in love...but it turns out there's something else going on there as well.

The mystery is beginning to take shape as Burnham and Saru return with a thing that fits into a 3D-printed version of a thing that was scrawled into the Romulan's diary. There was also a Romulan nursery rhyme with directions to the next clue. I think we're going to have to acknowledge the debt Discovery season 5 owes to The Da Vinci Code , as our heroes realise that the chase will take them to Westminster Abby and the Louvre...I mean Betazed and Trill.

The show ends with Booker revealing that Mallory is his fourth cousin thrice removed, or something. This reveal doesn't feel terribly significant; they didn't sell it well. Mallory is Booker's only family after his planet was destroyed last season. Could this strain his loyalty to Burnham and Starfleet, mirroring last season's arc? This would add some tension to their relationship. Their flirtations are far more compelling if their reconciliation isn't so inevitable.

This reveal makes Mickey and Mallory more compelling. Two bandits in way over their heads didn't seem like much of a match for Starfleet. But if their role is to provide emotional turmoil, then all of a sudden they make a lot more sense.

Finally, with Saru quitting to marry T'rina, Burnham appoints Rayner as her new first officer after Admiral Vance tells her that he's losing it. What could possibly go wrong with having a short-tempered jerk with poor judgement and nothing to lose on the bridge? She says she's giving him a second chance like Saru gave her. While Burnham is often annoyingly competent, being a poor judge of character when sentiment is involved has been her one consistent flaw. Along with the funner faster story, we're seeing a looser, more relaxed Burnham. Could we also be seeing a repeatably fallible Burnham whose poor choice for first officer dooms the mission?

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This article was originally published on winteriscoming.com as Star Trek: Discovery review: Season 5 Episode 2, "Under The Twin Moons" .

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Or, they try to. And okay, it turns out the gratuitous beaming was for good reason, story-wise, because in the instant that the pair attempt to beam back to the bridge, Discovery plunges through time, and only their mid-transport timing protects them from the ship’s time-hopping. Everyone else aboard Discovery is experiencing “regular” time travel, as it were, unaware of their movement and remaining “of the time” they jump to.

Everyone, that is, except for Paul Stamets (Anthony Rapp), who thanks to his tardigrade DNA infusion all the way back in Season 1, the scientist is bouncing through time like the rest of the crew — but he’s mentally aware of the jumping remains “himself” like Burnham and Rayner.

Like “Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad,” this is another episode about time shenanigans centering on Stamets and Burnham (and now also Rayner), but it doesn’t feel like a repeat of the same story so much as a deliberate permutation on a theme. Discovery , the show, is revisiting its past just the same way Burnham revisits her past self here; in both cases, the future versions have grown and changed in ways their past selves could never have imagined.

Who could have guessed, watching the series’ seventh episode, that original showrunner and creator Bryan Fuller would leave after just one season and a majority of the show would end up taking place in 32nd century? Not me, that’s for sure.

(As a side note, I was hoping one of the pasts they visited would be the “Magic” situation, just because come on, who doesn’t want to see what a time loop within a time loop looks like?)

It takes them all a few time jumps to figure out what’s going on, and a few more after that for all three of them to rendezvous. The second jump takes them back to Discovery mid-construction, sitting in dry dock at the San Francisco Fleet Yards, the Golden Gate Bridge framed nicely in a missing bulkhead section. (Both Star Trek and The Room have one rule: If you’re in San Francisco, the Golden Gate Bridge must be visible at all times!)

Next jump is to the Season 2-ending battle with Control, and finally with three jumps there’s enough of a pattern visible for Rayner to identify what’s going on and what, exactly, is causing it. First, each time they jump Burnham and Rayner always return to the ready room – the place where they beamed themselves out of time — and second, that little mechanical spider that’s been crawling around the ship since it first detached itself from Adira’s uniform is a Krenim chronophage (yes, those Krenim ) left over from more lawless times  when paralyzing a ship by having it randomly cycle through time was a thing that apparently people did.

After a few more jumps, including one where a past version of Jett Reno (Tig Notaro) happens to save Rayner’s hide, he and Burnham land on an empty, dusty Discovery , abandoned by everyone except the one person who can’t leave: Zora (Annabelle Wallace). Listening to “Que Sera, Sera” and convinced that she’s dreaming, Zora explains that in this future, Discovery remained stuck in its time paralysis long enough for the Breen to get their hands on the Progenitor’s technology.

It’s a bleak future to visit, but it’s also very fortuitous that they did, because Zora is able to quickly do the math necessary for Stamets — who they finally meet up with in the next time jump –to figure out how to get them out of this. Just build a chroniton stabilizer and squish the bug with it, easy peasy!

And all Burnham has to do is get a component for it from her quarters without being seen. Not so easy as it turns out, as she runs into Book (David Ajala) who is very much in love with Burnham during this time period — and keen to show it. And she, as we all probably suspected, is still very much in love with him and gives herself a brief moment to indulge in that fact.

In their final final jump — this time to early in Lorca’s captaincy — Burnham runs into her much angrier and more jaded younger self; a Michael Burnham who is so barely out of prison that she still doesn’t even have a combadge and who flat-out does not believe this woman in a strange red uniform who claims to be her. Why? Because there’s no way anyone would ever make Michael Burnham a captain .

After a fight in a thankfully empty corridor, our Burnham ends up victorious and heads to the bridge… where she needs to convince everyone that they should listen to her and do something you never really want to do with a warp engine going at maximum speed: intentionally break the warp bubble and slam yourself back into the effects of general relativity.

Flashbacks are a tried and true way for shows to bring back departed characters, so the choice to include Airiam (Hanna Spear) on the bridge makes sense and is nice for audience members who miss her. What doesn’t really make a whole lot of sense to me is how her presence is used (which is a bit of an unfortunate parallel to her death for me – or at least the impact it was supposed to have).

Burnham knows she needs to convince the crew that she really is herself and that she really is from the future, but instead of, I don’t know, showing them her combadge which is full of 32nd century bells and whistles and exotic alloys that haven’t been invented yet she… convinces Airiam that they know each other because Burnham knows Airiam would sacrifice her life to save the ship? Then someone blurts out a “No she wouldn’t!” like that’s not the first thing any appropriately heroic Starfleet officer would do?

This scene is the one fumble in an otherwise great episode. Two minutes after this weird “I know you and here’s a generic hypothetical that applies to most people in Starfleet to prove it,” Airiam sees Burnham’s fancy holographic combadge and openly gawks at it. See, easily convinced! That would have worked and it wouldn’t have required the show to reexamine the hollowness of Airiam’s death without correcting its mistake.

The fact that Burnham doesn’t have anything better or more personal to say to or about Airiam except “You died, sorry that happened,” underscores just how undeveloped she was as a character. Why bring that up again? But hey, Burnham’s tactic works, and I suppose that’s what really matters here.

Meanwhile, past-Burnham and her era’s Rhys (Patrick Kwok-Choon) show up in engineering, phasers drawn, to try and stop Stamets and this weird guy they’ve never seen before from doing whatever it is that they’re trying to do to the ship. Rayner, solidifying himself as a solid gold example of a favorite character trope of mine — Grumpy Guy who’s a Secret Softie — defuses the situation by being brave as hell (he walks right into Burnham’s drawn phaser) but also emotionally astute.

He doesn’t just tell Burnham personal facts he couldn’t have known if he were really a stranger, he tells her with conviction that she really does deserve to be here on Discovery…  something that sinks to the core of who she is and what she’s battling in this moment in time.

The plan succeeds: the time bug is proverbially squished, and Discovery and her crew are all right back where they belong, minus the six hours they lost during all the jumping. Unfortunately, those six hours were long enough for Moll and L’ak to catch up with them and leave again. Did they find anything, or did they get sick of looking at seemingly empty space and leave? We don’t know yet, so tune in next week.

Which brings us to the beginning of “Face the Strange” — see, I can jump through time too! — when we see Moll (Eve Harlow) and L’ak (Elias Toufexis) acquiring the bug in the first place. While the Progenitors’ technology is enormous in its power and implications and Moll and L’ak are willing to do just about anything to find it, their motivations seem strictly personal.

Sure, if the way Moll takes revenge on the guy who sells her the chronophage is any indication, they’ll get some personal satisfaction out of seeing the Federation burn, but more than anything they’re in it for their freedom. Freedom from someone or something, certainly – though who or what we still don’t know – but, given the themes in “Face the Strange”, I’d guess freedom from their pasts might be the real goal.

OBSERVATION LOUNGE

• “Face the Strange” is a reference to the David Bowie classic “Changes.”
• This episode is a spiritual sequel to Star Trek: Voyager’s “Shattered,” a similar final-season tale which saw Chakotay bouncing through different eras of Voyager adventures.
• Discovery’s time jumps include visits to the ship’s transit through the Red Angel wormhole (leading to the ship’s crash-landing in “Far From Home” ), a time when the starship was under construction in the San Francisco Fleet Yards, the battle with Control ( “Such Sweet Sorrow, Part 2” ), Stardate 865422.4 (during Osyyra’s takover in “There Is A Tide…” ), an unknown date nearly 30 years into the future, a period in early Season 2 (shortly after Jett Reno’s rescue in “Brother” ), a point ahead of the Season 4 premiere after Burnham was promoted to captai), and the encounter with past-Burnham which takes place just ahead of “The Butcher’s Knife Cares Not for the Lamb’s Cry” (denoted by the reference to a still-alive Ellen Landry ).

• Retrofit into corridor after Season 2’s set updates, the passage to the left-rear of Discovery’s command chair returns to its Season 1 “blue blinkies” configuration.
• Captain Pike’s broken wood-and-glass conference table returns to the ready room set during the first time jump, a good touch from the set decoration department.
• We’ve seen the San Francisco bay many times in Star Trek history… so just where in the heck was Discovery’s dry dock located?
• A Krenim chronophage — or “time bug” — snared Discovery in a time bubble, from the species behind Star Trek: Voyager’s “Year of Hell.”
• Season 3-era Reno’s drink of choice is a Vesper martini, served ice cold — and she tells Rayner that he can buy her a drink “at Red’s,” the onboard bar and lounge set added to Discovery during its 32nd century upgrades (though not introduced until Season 4).
• While the ready room set was not built for Discovery until Season 2, the second time jump confirms the room existed as part of the ship’s original construction… but in a continuity goof, the 32nd century version of the Starfleet emblem remains on the Discovery ready room floor in each different time period, instead of the old version seen in Seasons 1 and 2.

• Burnham gives a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it nostalgic smile when Stamets hands her a 23rd century Starfleet communicator, retired after the crew upgraded to 32nd tricombadges in Season 3’s “Scavengers.”
• Saurian officer Linus (David Benjamin Tomlinson) appears in the Season 1 time period, indicating he boarded Discovery long before his first actual appearance in Season 2’s “Brothers.”
• Former Discovery cast members Hannah Cheesman and Ronnie Rowe, Jr. return as Airiam and Bryce, Julianne Grossman returns as the original voice of Discovery’s computer. (While Cheesman portrayed Airiam in Season 2, the role was actually portrayed by Sara Mitich in Discovery’s first season.)
• I forgot just how much Airiam moves like C-3PO. Might have toned down that arm placement there in that wide shot if it were me, yikes.
• Discovery’s viewscreen may be an open window to space, but it features blast doors which can be closed as necessary.
• The future time period Burnham and Rayner visit is reminiscent of the alternate future setting in “Calypso,” where Zora and Discovery sat abandoned for nearly 1000 years. Zora even believes she’s having “another dream” when the officers arrive, perhaps hinting that the events of “Calypso” may have been one of Zora’s dreams — as the “Zora-point-of-view” shots mirror moments from that  Short Trek  tale.

• This episode marks the first time we’ve seen Discovery’s original hull and nacelle configuration since its big 32nd century upgrade in “Scavengers.”
• Even living “outside of time,” it’s curious that Stamets can jump back to a time period before his tardigrade DNA injection occurred.
• Stamets’ tactics for clearing engineering get less and less sophisticated as the episode proceeds — going from making up specific problems with the spore drive containment field to just shouting “I’m grumpy!” It works.
• “Hey Paul, let’s show ‘em how a couple of old dogs still know the best tricks!” Whoever gave Rayner a used copy of a dictionary of idioms from 1962, I thank you for your service.
• Rayner’s hand gets the “Timescape” treatment, aging uncomfortably fast while he squashes the time bug — though thankfully avoiding those awful long fingernails.
• Rayner surmises that Burnham must be the first person in Starfleet to captain a ship she first boarded as a prisoner. He’s probably right, but if we allow for a few technicalities I’d put Seven of Nine in that rare club as well: she’s imprisoned very quickly after boarding Voyager , and while she doesn’t hold a Starfleet rank at the time, she does command that vessel for over a month during the events of “One”.

Even with all the time jumping and the temporal-relativity-heavy plot, “Face the Strange” is a straightforward hour of television that confidently knows exactly what it wants to do – both in terms of the story and the characters. There are almost no extraneous moments, but the episode doesn’t feel rushed or overly full. The pacing is great: quick enough that we get to jump through a lot of different time periods, but relaxed enough that there’s room for smaller moments of comedy and character work.

The pacing and placement of the more emotional moments is especially effective, with characters examining and confronting their past and present selves in a way that’s emotionally resonant but also truly moves the story forward both at the episode and season levels.

A frequent frustration I have with Discovery is that the emotional beats and plot beats feel like they’re competing with each other for the same space, but with “Face the Strange” it feels like the show has finally figured out a way to have them work together and compliment one another.

Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 returns with “Mirrors” on Thursday, April 25.

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'Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' Season 2: Release Date, Trailers, Crossover, and What to Expect

Star Trek's flashiest crew flies into the galaxy with all phasers blazing in Season 2.

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When and where is star trek: strange new worlds season 2 coming out, watch the star trek: strange new worlds season 2 trailers, who are the cast and characters of star trek: strange new worlds season 2, what do we know about star trek: strange new worlds season 2’s story (and the crossover episode), what is the future of star trek: strange new world, who are the creators of star trek: strange new worlds.

The first season of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds was a masterpiece combining nostalgic elements of Star Trek: The Original Series and modern techniques that was a pleasant surprise for fans of all ages. It had an excellent reception from both critics and audiences, mostly because of its amazing cast, and in many ways, it's a return to what fans loved about much of the original series. Season 2 is coming out fairly soon, and we can hope that it will keep up the excellent quality from the first season. It is another chance for us to see what the Enterprise is up to before Kirk and another excellent saga in the Federation's bid to explore the galaxy. Now without further ado, let's get into everything we know so far about Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2.

Editor's Note: This article was last updated on June 4.

Related: 'Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' Season 2 Character Posters Show the USS Enterprise Crew Ready For Intergalactic Adventures

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2 will be hitting screens on June 15, 2023 . As of right now, Season 2 has already finished production, and small bits of information have been leaking out to the public via formal and informal channels. As with the rest of the Star Trek franchise, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2 will be released on Paramount+. The first season of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds was on a Thursday release cycle, running from May 10, 2022, to July 7, 2022, and is available for free on Paramount's YouTube Channel .

Watch on Paramount+

Ahead of the official trailer, we got to see two sneak peeks for the season. The first of these sneak peeks features Lieutenant Erica Ortegas (played by Melissa Navia ) on her way to an away mission. It seems the tempo of the crew has hardly changed even though Number One Una Chin-Riley (played by Rebecca Romijn ) is no longer with the crew. We also have some more pithy wordplay with Spock as he continues to grow his ability to interact more naturally with others.

The second sneak peek is more of a behind-the-scenes look. In the previous series, such as Star Trek: The Next Generation , we often see casual places for the crew to relax around the ships. The showrunners thought the mess hall that we saw in the first season was too sparse and have introduced a new area for the ship. The video features Will Wheaton , formerly TNG's Wesley Crusher, and the production designer Jonathan Lee showing off the impressive new set piece. It looks somewhat familiar to Ten Forward and has that modernized 1960s look. This new set is supposed to feature a lot more intimate conversations between characters and includes a ton of easter eggs. One that was immediately picked up by Will Wheaton was the Saurian Brandy from Star Trek: Picard . We see Guinan and Picard drinking it from a similar bottle in Picard Season 2 Episode 1 "The Star Grazer".

The first trailer for Strange New Worlds Season 2 was released on April 19, 2023. The roughly two-minute trailer serves as a teaser for the events to come. Check it out here:

More recently, we got the official trailer for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2 on May 24. The new trailer showcases a lot more of the action to come, and gives us our first proper look at the series' upcoming crossover with a certain other Star Trek show. See the trailer in the player below and stay tuned for more:

We received a clip from the upcoming season of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds . In this clip of Episode 2, Una stands on trial. It's a very entertaining albeit brief video.

Most of the cast from the previous season is returning, which is to be expected given the state the show was left in. Given the events of the last season, the Enterprise will be in need of a new head engineer. The newcomer to the enterprise will be played by the iconic Carol Kane . Kane is well known for roles in the TV series Taxi and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt as well as various film roles, usually playing a more comedic motherly character. It seems that this time around she will be a no-nonsense engineer, but perhaps we will see some of that comedic side as well.

The full list of main cast members in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2 includes Anson Mount as Christopher Pike, Ethan Peck as Spock, Jess Bush as Christine Chapel, Christina Chong as La'an Noonien-Singh, Celia Rose Gooding as Nyota Uhura, Melissa Navia as Erica Ortegas, Babs Olusanmokun as Joseph M'Benga, Rebecca Romijn as Una Chin-Riley / Number One, and Carol Kane as Pelia, among others.

Related: 'Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ Should Boldly Go in Its Own Direction

One of the major storylines that we can expect to see is what exactly happened to Number One. One of the highlights of the first season was finding out that she was genetically engineered (one of the recurring issues in Star Trek with characters such as Deep Space Nine ’s Dr. Bashier) and that she has been taken away from her position on the Enterprise. Captain Pike and the rest of the crew definitely support her, but with her position unfilled, someone will have to step in to fill her shoes in the interim.

We also have a first occurrence in the Star Trek Universe, a combined crossover episode with the animated series Star Trek: Lower Decks . Tawny Newsome (who plays Ensign Beckett Mariner in the animated show) and Jack Quaid (who stars alongside Newsome as Ensign Brad Boimler) will be making their live-action debut during the new season of Strange New Worlds . Given that Mariner and Boimler both originate from a timeline much closer to that of Star Trek: The Next Generation , we are certainly left with more than just a few questions. So far, we know that the series will have combined animated and live-action scenes. That episode will be directed by Star Trek veteran Jonathan Frakes .

With characters such as Paul Wesley ’s Captain Kirk appearing in Season 2 , there is certainly a lot of potential for a Season 3. And clearly, Paramount+ has taken note, as it has been confirmed that Strange New Worlds will be getting a Season 3 . The show has plenty of storylines left to explore and has proven to be among the more successful shows in the franchise, so this hardly comes as a surprise. From the tension between Spock and Nurse Chapel to Uhura’s hesitation to continue in Starfleet, not to mention La'an’s murky past, there is plenty left to unpack on this amazing show.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds was created by Akiva Goldsman , Alex Kurtzman , and Jenny Lumet . Henry Alonso Myers and Akiva Goldsman are the showrunners for the season. Season 2's directors include Chris Fisher , Amanda Row , Eduardo Sánchez , Dan Liu , Jonathan Frakes, and Valerie Weiss . The episodes were written by Henry Alonso Myers, Akiva Goldsman, Dana Horgan , David Reed , Kirsten Beyer , Davy Perez , Kathryn Lyn , and Onitra Johnson . The score for Season 2 was composed by Season 1 and Star Trek: Prodigy composer Nami Melumad . Executive producers on the show include Eugene Roddenberry , Trevor Roth , Jenny Lumet, Frank Siracusa , John Weber , Aaron Baiers , Heather Kadin , Henry Alonso Myers, Akiva Goldsman, and Alex Kurtzman.

Den of Geek

Star Trek: Discovery Season 2 Episode 9 Review: Project Daedalus

Discovery loses one of its own in their increasingly desperate quest to stop the end of all sentient life in the universe.

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This  Star Trek: Discovery   review contains spoilers.

Star Trek: Discovery Season 2 Episode 9

We’re living in a pop culture moment when our mainstream stories are better than ever at visually representing the most horrific of potential outcomes. This had led to a pattern of high-stakes storytelling that tends to desensitize the viewer to the worst eventualities.

Last week, when Spock informed us all that the future of all sentient life in the universe was at stake, intellectually, I knew that was bad… but, emotionally, I didn’t really feel much. This week, Discovery did a much better job at giving those stakes emotional weight. Losing all sentient life is still a high-stakes, high-concept problem that is too big for me to wrap my emotions around, but losing Airiam and possibly losing this Discovery family (which now includes the endearingly dickish Spock) that I have come to care about? Yeah, that’s not cool.

“Project Daedalus” has to get a bit narratively manipulative with the use of Airiam’s death, considering we never really got to know her. They do an impressively good job making us care about her within the course of an episode. We learn her tragic backstory: that she was on her way home from her elopement when the shuttle she was on crashed, killing her new husband and presumably leading to the need for her augmentations.

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We learn about what Airiam’s routine on the ship looks like. She is part of a girl gang with Detmer, Tilly, and  Owosekun, spending a lot of their off-duty time together. They tease, support, and accept each other—they make each other laugh.  On a weekly basis, Airiam must file through her memories, choosing which memories to save and which to delete. It’s fascinating, and I’m sad we’re not going to get to know Airiam better and see more of this future and the Discovery through her unique lens.

Instead, Airiam dies a hero, asking Michael to airlock her into space in order to keep the foreign AI living inside of her and in charge of Starfleet Control from killing Michael, destroying the Discovery, and wiping out all sentient life in the universe. It’s the only choice for a moral person, but it’s also an incredibly brave one.

Personally, I was slightly distracted from the emotional beats in the climactic scene because I had so many questions about Commander Nhan. Was she dead? And more importantly: Why the heck did Michael not check this immediately? Later, we find out it is because Discovery wanted to surprise us with Nhan coming in at the last moment to be the one to airlock Airiam. It was jarring to watch a scene in which Michael valued one co-worker’s life so intensely, yet had seemingly forgotten about her other co-worker, potentially laying dying a few feet away.

Was anyone else disappointed that it wasn’t Michael who ultimately airlocked Airiam? If we knew Nhan a bit better or I had any confidence this show were going to give her more screen time, I would be fine with this twist. How it stands, however, it felt like a cop out, like the show didn’t want to have its main character kill their co-worker. Never mind that it would have been an incredible act of bravery and demonstration of will on Michael’s part, not to mention

Spock works a lot better here than he did last week because he is in a much more complex context. Don’t get me wrong—he’s still being a dick to Michael—but, because we are seeing him interact with characters who are not his family, we get a much more complete picture of who Discovery ‘s Spock is. Michael and Spock’s bickering and then all-out arguing works much better in a context when they are not each other’s only allies on an alien planet and/or on the run from one of the most powerful institutions in the galaxy.

Here, they are in a version of home (at least Michael’s home) surrounded by a version of family, so it makes sense to me that they now have the safety and security to air some of their deepest grievances. They are both allowed to be flawed, arrogant, deeply complex characters who know how to hurt each other in ways that are unique to family and loved ones.

Though I side-eye any “Chosen One” context, I can’t wait to see how Spock will react when he finds out that he is “special” because he is Michael’s brother (I know, Spock—not by blood). A recent episode of The Magicians —a show that, delightfully, never met a Star Trek reference it didn’t want to make—had one character struggling to categorize a woman’s life outside of the context of her relationship to her brother. He is suffering from a case of  “white male protagonism,” as another character tells him. 

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For what feels like the first time this season, Discovery  isn’t suffering from a case of “white male protagonism” when it comes to Spock, Michael, and their relationship to one another. Here, both characters’ motivations, complexities, and personhoods are equally represented in their scenes together—more alike than they know in the sense that they see the people they love so clearly, but are unable to see the traumas they are respectively still running from.

To go along with the excellent character work on display in this episode were some major, game-changing plot developments. It looks like this season’s big villain may be Skynet, or more accurately a power-hungry evolution of Starfleet Control, the AI tasked with  maintaining contact with  Starfleet   vessels  and managing their missions. From the looks of the graveyard that used to be the Section 31 headquarters, Control has been pulling the strings behind most of Starfleet’s recent decision-making, using Section 31 and holograms as ways to utilize Starfleet ships and officers to do its bidding. As its bidding is seemingly to destroy all sentient life, that is going to be an issue.

read more: Who is Star Trek: Discovery’s Red Angel?

It’s a bit of a tired trope, not to mention a pretty pessimistic view of AI, but I’m glad that this twist puts some of Starfleet’s recent behavior into a different context. Basically, Section 31 is still a majorly questionable Starfleet tool, but it hasn’t been the people at the top of Starfleet leadership who have been making some morally-disturbing decisions, but rather the artificial intelligence known as Control.

Where does this leave Discovery? Well, the ship is the galaxy’s only hope. As far as we know, they are the only ship in the galaxy who knows that Control has gone rogue and is in, um, control of Starfleet and Section 31. They are the only ship that knows what is at stake and what could happen if they don’t stop Control. They can expect to be forced to face off against all that Starfleet has to offer, as Control uses Discovery’s own institution against them. I’m in.

Additional thoughts.

Did you catch all of the Star Trek Easter eggs and references in “Project Daedalus”?

Project Daedalus was a 1970s study conducted by the British Interplanetary Society to design a plausible unmanned interstellar spacecraft. Do with this information what you will.

Hi, Cornwell! We missed you. Glad this character got to use some of her psychology skillz on Spock, and that she got to shut Pike’s 

I’m still pulling for the Red Angel to be a corporeal version of the Discovery’s computer we met in the Short Treks episode “Calypso,” but I will also accept: Airiam Somehow Survived & From the Future.

Sorrynotsorry for the shoehorned-in The Magicians reference. I am currently physically incapable of not discussing everything in the context of that show.

It works for me so much that, at this point in his narrative, Spock would be so over Sarek’s “single-mindedness.”

Why does no one on the Enterprise keep their supervisors apprised of their theories and what they are actively working on? “Surprise! I think Airiam might be a sleeper agent.” — Nhan “Surprise! I think Admiral Patar might be a hologram!” — Saru You should not wait to mention these hunches until you’ve confirmed them, Discovery crew.

R.I.P., Admiral Patar. We hardly knew thee, but we knew you had iconic baby bangs, and that is enough to mourn your passing.

Tilly does a lot to sell the cherished vibrancy of Airiam’s personhood in the course of one, heartbreaking monologue. Seriously, whatever CBS All-Access is paying Mary Wiseman, it isn’t enough.

Shout outs to the rest of the cast, especially Sonequa-Martin Green for their devastated reaction shots to Airiam’s death. I felt things about this character whom I barely knew, and that is, in part, down to this phenomenal cast.

Spock has got some guts, bringing up Stamets’ dissolving relationship with Hugh after Stamets gives him some much more superficial advice about his relationship with Michael. Surprisingly, Stamets takes the personal intrusion well, and it’s insightful observation (that Hugh isn’t unsure about his feelings for Stamets, but rather about himself)—see, just because you value stoisim, doesn’t mean you don’t understand emotion.

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Red eye review: itv thriller starts silly, gets great, star trek: discovery season 5 episode 4 review – face the strange, conan o'brien must go reveals conan's natural habitat is everywhere.

The crew’s gravity boots were so cool. I wish I needed gravity boots, just so I could buy this merch.

Captain Pike is still my man, but he makes what may be his first really bad decision in this episode: to ignore Michael’s instincts about Tyler, discounting them as emotionally-driven, as if that negates them altogether, as if Michael doesn’t always take her potential biases into account, especially following the Battle at the Binary Stars. Pike lets his own emotions—namely, his disdain for Section 31 and, to a lesser extent, Tyler—color his decision. Because he is so sure that Tyler is the spy, he stops the investigation that could have potentially saved Airiam’s life. It’s the kind of misstep that is completely understandably, but one that could lead to the end of all sentient life in the universe.

Kayti Burt is a staff editor covering books, TV, movies, and fan culture at Den of Geek . Read more of her work here or follow her on Twitter @kaytiburt .

Kayti Burt | @kaytiburt

Kayti is a pop culture writer, editor, and full-time nerd who comes from a working class background. A member of the Television Critics Association, she specializes…

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Recap/Review: ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Gets The Timing Right In “Face The Strange”

| April 18, 2024 | By: Anthony Pascale 64 comments so far

“Face the Strange”

Star Trek: Discovery Season 5, Episode 4 – Debuted Thursday, April 18, 2024 Written by Sean Cochran Directed by Lee Rose

A classic Trek setup provides a fun canvas for Discovery to explore the big changes behind the characters and foreshadow changes yet to come.

There is nothing suspicious about the way I am holding this bag.

WARNING: Spoilers below!

“Change is hard”

After a quick flashback to a double-cross with a shady arms dealer showing how Moll and L’ak acquired the thingie she planted on Adira last episode, we catch up with the ensign in their quarters chatting with (now ex-bf) Gray. A mechanical spider jumps off their uniform and blends into the bulkhead just as the Disco arrives at the coordinates provided by Jinaal only to find a whole lot of nothing. The bridge crew starts brainstorming ideas, but newly minted XO Rayner wants to “stick to the facts” and brusquely shuts down speculation from Rhys. The captain takes Rayner to her ready room to remind him how they do things on Discovery—has he not binged the previous seasons? The hardened vet of The Burn years knows he crossed the line with “Spare me the ‘I get you bulls—t’” as Burnham makes it clear it’s her way or the spaceway. But before they can hug it out, evil spidey sinks into a bulkhead in engineering and things start going all flashy wonky… and boom: The ship is suddenly at warp and red alert. With transporter badges inoperative, Burnham and Rayner have to actually walk to the bridge. What’s next, stone knives and bearskins?

Michael susses they have traveled back in time to when the Discovery jumped forward to the 32 nd century when she finds the crew passed out in their old uniforms, following the red angel suit (with her inside it) through a wormhole. Before they experience the fun of a crash landing, lights flash again and the pair is returned to the ready room, sans a bulkhead. After admiring the view of the Golden Gate Bridge from even further in the past, Rayner dispatches a flustered construction worker building the Disco. Another flash jump takes them forward to the battle with Control and Rayner figures it out: The ship has been infected with a Krenim “time bug” weapon, likely from their pals Moll and L’ak. The attempt to transport just as the weirdness started explains why they are the only ones who are aware, with the exception of Stamets because he lives outside of time due to a tardigrade DNA injection… long story. Another time jump finds them back in the 32 nd century, but before they can find Stamets, they end up in a corridor gunfight with Emerald Chain regulators and get a surprisingly helpful assist from Reno. One more jump puts them back in the ready room but things are quiet… too quiet. The computer is non-responsive, the ship is abandoned… and what’s that sound? Is that Doris Day? Oh boy .

Does this thing get Paramount+?

“Please set things right, captain.”

The pair of involuntary time travelers is greeted by Zora on the bridge, who isn’t quite sure she isn’t dreaming, since Burnham and the crew all died decades ago after failing the Progenitor mission. It’s 3218 and outside the window, they can see Federation HQ smashed by the Breen, Moll and L’ak’s highest bidders for the god-level tech. This horrible end to their story has Michael thinking back to her first time walking onto that bridge with big-time imposter syndrome, and Rayner offers a surprisingly empathetic pep talk. Buoyed and motivated to stop this future from happening, they make a plan to break the Krenim Chronophage cycle, and Zora and Burnham technobabble a map of the time bug’s pattern to help track and stop it. They say adieu to the lonely AI and the next jump finds Stamets in his old uniform, bluffing his way through a years-old conversation with Reno. He uses the opportunity to get her thoughts on the best way to “theoretically” tech their way out of this temporal nightmare. “Are you stuck in a time loop?” she asks… but the acerbic engineer is just messing with him. Cynicism for the win!

Michael and Rayner arrive and they all put their pieces together into a plan to squash that time bug with a “chronotron stabilizer,” but Paul is going to need some stuff from around the ship. They work out a plan to meet up after jumps on the oddly empty Deck 13. During a jump back to the 32 nd century (around the time Burnham took command), she has to get some fluid from the holodeck in her quarters, which is where  Book shows up, straight from the gym! To him, she is still his gf, so off comes the shirt and on comes the irresistible carnal charm… humana humana . “It’s hard being a new captain.” You can say that again. She bluffs her way through with talk of being needed on the bridge but not before Book can give her a nice little pick-me-up chat and a big ‘ol “I love you” kiss. She accepts it—and it doesn’t really look like she’s bluffing. Back in the lab, Stamets’ time bug killer is built, but when they try it out, it bounces right off. Of course, the Krenim device has temporal shields and anything that gets too close super-ages into dust. Well, kiss my Annorax .

Would it have killed you to do some dusting, Zora?

“Don’t’ give up.”

The team reconvenes after another jump with a new crazy plan. To get around the temporal shield they have to use Stamets’ ChronoBugSmasher TM just as the ship breaks out of a warp bubble and hope the relativistic forces don’t kill them all first. But as a bonus, if they do it right, they won’t have to worry about that Temporal Prime Directive as there is a handy reset button. Stamets needs to be in engineering backed up by Rayner, so Michael has to do the warp bubble thing from the bridge… but now they’re back in time to when she was a mistrusted mutineer. Lorca and Saru are away, leaving Airiam ( sniff ) in command. After a fun fashion appreciation moment with Linus in the turbolift, Michael comes face to face with… herself. You knew this was coming! Younger, angrier Burnham is not listening to this obvious imposter’s attempt to de-escalate things, so it’s fight club time. As you’d expect, the pair is fairly evenly matched, but Captain Mike has learned some new moves and puts down her younger self, telling sleepy Michael things will get better. Stamets and Rayner are also at odds, but the XO shows some empathy for all the pressure Paul is under to take on the mystery of Progenitor tech, so the gruff first officer buries the hatchet with a formerly gruff scientist with, “Hey, Paul, let’s show ‘em how a couple of old dogs still know the best tricks.” Aw, he made a new gruff friend.

On the bridge, Airiam is wondering what Specialist Burnham is doing out of uniform and Tilly is wondering what she did with her hair… never change, Sylvia. Michael goes with full honesty: time bug, warp bubble, etc. It’s a tough crowd, but she uses an understanding of their personal stories to connect with them, convincing Airiam when she recounts her heroism and sacrifice, then Burnham gets to work showing off her impressive 32 nd -century tech, which probably could have saved her some “I’m really from the future” convincing time. The bridge crew is ready to do the warp bubble thing, but the action in engineering has gone sideways: Young Burnham has arrived with Rhys and a couple of phasers, convinced this is all some shapeshifter trick. Now it’s Rayner’s turn to show he has been listening, proving to both he knows them from the future. It works, they execute the plan, and blammo, back to the future! It’s only been six hours in the time bug loop so now they have plenty of time to get Marty’s mom to the dance , sorry… to get to the Progenitor tech first. On the bridge, it’s time for some warm moments with the crew as Michael tells the tale of the warp bubble escape. Moll and L’ak’s warp trail has been found, proving Rhys’ theory and earning the young officer an attaboy from Rayner, showing he has learned the lesson of the episode. That trail appears to lead nowhere. At least it’s a clue… but that’s for another time. See what I did there?

At this point, Rayner is second-guessing not taking retirement.

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

Now more confident in its own identity in its fifth season, Discovery feels free to inject a bit more classic Star Trek into the show, which allows them to explore how much the show—and more importantly, the characters—have changed over the years. They may not have known this was going to be their last season, but this episode sure felt like they were reflecting on the show’s evolution, indulging in visits to some key moments, not unlike the Voyager’s final season episode “Shattered.” Like the excellent season 4 Lower Decks episode “Caves,” this bottle show had a bit of a clip show style, but each visit helped give more meaning to the characters’ stories. The “Face the Strange” title was the first clue; it’s a line from the classic David Bowie song “ Changes ,” which was all about how he had reinvented himself throughout his career. Of course, being Discovery , the episode made sure you got this by mentioning variations of “change” multiple times. Disco is going to Disco, but “Face the Change” feels a bit like the show is wearing its heart on its sleeve, leaning into how Michael Burnham’s (and the show’s) emphasis on exploring characters (and their feelings) is a source of strength, with the outsider Rayner offering an opposing view for her to argue with and prove the point.

Sonequa Martin-Green and Callum Keith Rennie had to carry the episode, the series star doing a bit of double duty having to play her younger self. The actress, along with excellent stunt choreography, really drove home the episode theme. This episode finally gave Anthony Rapp something to do, as it also explored how much Paul Stamets has evolved through the series, getting him to bring back some of his old gruff self to clear out his lab. An arc regarding his grappling with the morality of the Progenitor tech is starting to take shape. Rapp’s scene with Tig Notaro was a lot of fun, as was Reno’s interaction with Rayner. Both scenes gave the engineer some more layers, although it still remains unclear who is in charge as the show continues to have no interest in differentiating science and engineering onboard Disco. Martin-Green and Rapp, along with assists from Notaro and David Benjamin Tomlinson (Linus), showed good comic timing as the episode indulged in some of the fun that can be had with time travel, evoking the first season time loop episode “Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad.” While there are some similarities, “Face the Strange” had a distinct premise and theme that didn’t make it feel like a repeat of that excellent season 1 episode.

It’s not fair I am the only one to have to wear the old uniform.

It’s about time

Pulling together a time-jumping plot like this is complicated, but “Face the Strange” did it (mostly) seamlessly, jumping straight into the events of several episodes without breaking time or canon. Longtime fans get rewarded by recognizing some of the stops, such as the battle with Control and follow-up jump to the future , and Osyraa taking over the ship . We also got to see the Discovery under construction. San Francisco Shipyard has usually been depicted in Earth orbit, but perhaps the prototype nature of the ship explains why it was built in the actual San Francisco. They did have some fun with Burnham and Rayner navigating the past ship in their bold red uniforms, with Linus hanging a lantern on that in a fun way, but it didn’t really make sense that the 23 rd -century shipyard worker took them to be Starfleet brass. And Stamets also jumping but not keeping his 32nd-century uniform made sense, as established by the aforementioned “Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad,” based on his tardigrade DNA. The visit to the possible dark future was also a nice nod to the Short Treks episode “ Calypso ” to show that when left alone, Zora will turn to old musicals for comfort. Once the pattern started, fans are likely to anticipate who else may pop up, so it was smart to explain the lack of Lorca right away upon arrival in early season 1, a key time period to nail the episode theme. The return of Airiam was suitably emotional, with Hannah Cheesman putting in a strong performance; however, Michael using the dead officer’s sacrifice as a way to convince everyone she traveled from the future didn’t really land, as any good Starfleet officer would do the same, given the stakes. But all in all, fans of time travel should enjoy this episode, which holds up to the difficult standards of temporal scrutiny.

Being waylaid through time did put the main quest plot on hold for the most part, but the episode did still squeeze in some character development for Moll and L’ak in the brief flashback at the top. The season adversaries continue to add a few layers and we can even start to see nuances in each of their motivations, with L’ak showing hints he may want to get off the ride before the walls close in on them. There was also a key bit of worldbuilding and potential foreshadowing, specifically for the Breen; we even got a look at a Breen ship. After the DS9 species got name-dropped in the previous 3 episodes, they are now emerging as the big threat to the Federation and competing bidders for the Progenitor tech. Speaking of tech, there was a delightful amount of technobabble, from mentions of polarons and chronitons to the plan hinging on breaking a warp bubble. Things got nice and nerdy. Added to how the time-mastering Krenim and Temporal Cold War tied in, “Face the Strange” continues the trend of how season 5 is doing a much better job of weaving elements of Trek lore into the events of each episode.

For the last time, I was not in Ahsoka !

Final thoughts

“Face the Strange” may be the best episode of the season so far. A very Star Trek premise was just the starting point for a very Discovery story about the characters. It demonstrates that in its final season, Discovery has learned how to carry the serialized story on through stand-alone episodes. Season 5 continues to deliver on its promises of a positive pivot into adventure without losing the heart of the series.

Time looping? Me?

• The episode began with a warning for flashing images.
• Doug Jones is not credited in this episode. The shot of an unconscious Saru is likely from previously unseen footage shot for the episode “ Far From Home .” The audio for the “This is commander Saru, all decks prepare for impact” announcement was taken from that episode.
• The weapons dealer was Annari , previously only seen in the Delta Quadrant on Voyager .
• In addition to Hannah Cheesman, the episode also featured the return of Ronnie Rowe Jr. as Bryce .
• In the dark future, Zora was listening to the Doris Day song “ Que Sera, Sera .”
• Reno warns Stamets that if he buries his mind in the abstract he could turn into a Rothko painting, referring 20th century abstract artist Mark Rothko .
• Stamets mentions calibrating his chronotron stabilizer to “Scaravelli’s Constant,” which is possibly a reference to Vanda Scaravelli , a pioneer in introducing the practice of yoga to the West.
• Rayner proved he knew Rhys by talking about his admiration of Constitution class ships, which he learned during his 20-word crew briefings in the previous episode.
• Reno and Rayner share a love for Vesper Martinis , a cocktail invented for James Bond.

That’s Reno, Jett Reno.

More to come

Every Friday, the TrekMovie.com All Access Star Trek Podcast  covers the latest news in the Star Trek Universe and discusses the latest episode. The podcast is available on Apple Podcasts ,  Spotify ,  Pocket Casts ,  Stitcher and is part of the TrekMovie Podcast Network.

The fifth and final season of  Discovery debuted with two episodes on Thursday, April 4 exclusively on Paramount+  in the U.S., the UK, Switzerland, South Korea, Latin America, Germany, France, Italy, Australia, and Austria.  Discovery  will also premiere on April 4 on Paramount+ in Canada and will be broadcast on Bell Media’s CTV Sci-Fi Channel in Canada. The rest of the 10-episode final season will be available to stream weekly on Thursdays. Season 5 debuts on SkyShowtime in select European countries on April 5.

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

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Great episode i really enjoyed watching it and it had a lot of good character moments.

I loved the references to the Krenim and the temporal wars and I’m not surprised they invented a weapon like the time bug which can seriously mess up a Star-ship that way.

I enjoyed seeing the old uniforms again as i missed them.

Overall it was again a great episode it is one of my favorites of Discovery and one of the best episodes in Modern Trek. Looking forward to the next episode.

Other than Year of Hell, this feels like another episode of Voyager too, one in which Janeway and Chakotay jump through different time periods. Which one was that?

Exactly right

Yeah. I hadn’t finished reading the article when I made that post. It does cite that episode.

Ah, Shattered.

“still squeeze in some character development for Moll and L’ak”

Huh? Moll and L’ak have had no character development at all. They’ve continued Star Trek’s villain problem, as evident in previous Discovery seasons, as well as in all three seasons of Picard. That said, this was better than I’d expected, and really wasn’t the Groundhog’s Day ripoffI it looked like in the preview. Connecting this episode to the Krenim and the Temporal Wars was a very cool idea, as it went far toward making something ridiculous like a time bug more plausible.

While SMG’s acting really hasn’t improved much–she’s still just as needlessly whispery as she’s always been–seeing season-one Burnham again was surprisingly fun! I agree with your criticisms of the plot holes, though. The Airiam and Linus scenes, while nostalgic in the first and humorous in the second, didn’t make any logical sense.

All in all, this season has been very, very good, despite the lackluster villains. I’ve often been critical of Discovery for its lack of logic, excessive whispering, and near-complete lack of characterization for anyone not named Michael or Saru. And I’ve really not enjoyed the past two seasons because the 32nd century is weirdly uninteresting. This season is fun, though. I hope they can stick the landing, as we’re nearly at the half-point already, and not much has happened.

Unlike Season 3’s poor development of Osyraa as a villain, I think what’s happening with Moll and L’ak is intentional. We know Moll has a familial connection to Book’s namesake. We also know she’s incredibly driven, while it seems L’ak would be content to find a quiet corner of the galaxy to settle down. My guess is we will get an “All About Moll and L’ak” episode in a couple weeks. I like how they’re handing their character development so far.

poor Zora! I really hope she doesn’t end up alone.

We already know she ends up alone.

Unless the events of Calypso were one of the ‘dreams’ Zora references. Some sites are suggesting Calypso was a dream after this episode.

Doesn’t the episode imply that successfully stopping Moll and L’ak will prevent them all from dying and leaving her alone? That was how I read it.

Yes, it does.

The Rothko line was priceless…

I usually hate on Discovery but that was a fun episode. Of course, I LOLed when Michael paused her time sensitive mission to have a “I love you” moment with Book, and another one when she’s gently stroking umm, herself in the hallway. But other than Discovery being Discovery in stupid ways like that, I enjoyed the episode. Plus, Stamets finally got some screen time.

Yeah, Stamets has been sorely underutilized ever since season two. I don’t know why–he’s one of the few great characters this show has, yet they rarely use him.

I’ll be honest, I don’t really love Anthony Rapp’s acting on camera. He’s a bit mannered and never feels quite natural, whereas on stage he’s so clearly at home and is a joy to watch. So Stamets isn’t always my thing, even though I like how he’s part of a healthy couple and I do enjoy a tetchy engineer-type in Trek. But I think he was well-used this time out!

This is one of the rare times in the past 7 years when the episode itself lived up to the pre-episode hype. Enjoyed it.

At least DSC is respecting its OWN canon. My nitpicky issues regarding writing, etc, remain. That said, I enjoyed the ep. The fight choreography was great. Finally, Burnham kicks some butt! The moment near the end of the episode, when Burnham and Raynham start to “get each other,” is a nice touch. I’d like to see that relationship continue to develop. (I thought the 20-word thing was silly) A great surprise to see Airiam. I didn’t see that one coming. Well, six eps more to go. I hope they can maintain the momentum.

I really enjoyed this episode. Much better than the first three by quite some way IMO. I’m also enjoying the Burnham Rayner partnership. Hope the series maintains this energy and fun for the rest of the season.

Not a Discovery fan but absolutely loved this, they kicked it out the park.

So happy to hear you say that Keith!

I’m glad you liked it but it didn’t work for me. All of the time travel was too similar and didn’t really feel like time travel. Yes they referenced a lot of things, but especially there they dropped the ball for me. They had so many opportunities to actually cut in scenes from said episodes, but they were just talking about them in stead of showing it. So many opportunities for cameos, but they waited till the 3/4 mark to finally give us Ariam and Bryce, in quite a weird scene by the way. It was a 7/10 for me.

Best thing of the episode for me was Rayner’s arc progressing. He’s really good and yes, he’s giving off Shaw vibes. By the way: did his ears grow since the last episode?

I thought his ears looked sharper.

Yeah, I thought in a few shots they stuck out way more than before. Glad it wasn’t just me.

Solid. Definitely reminiscent of a bunch of Voyager time travel shenanigans, but when it comes to high concept sci-fi, that’s borrowing from some of the best.

Good use of humor, Stamets, and Rayner’s character progression didn’t feel too cloying. Burnham wasting precious time giving her unconscious self a pep talk was a bit much.

Best episode in a very long time, serving as a good refresher on the journey this crew/ship has been on.

A good episode, but I think there was just a little bit too much technobabble. Also, when Rhys and young Burnham had phasers on Stamets near the end, why couldn’t the bridge crew have just beamed them away?

I wondered why Ariam didn’t just order them to stand down. She was in command.

Excellent point! Dramatic license, I guess…

Honestly I think this is my favorite one of the season so far. I’m always a sucker for time travel stories and always like weird trippy Star Trek. This one was fun and yes clearly took it’s cues from Voyager’s Shattered; which I think is a still better episode than this one overall but this was a very close second. And way better than the last episode which I didn’t like at all.

It’s also funny in the latest Kurtzman article discussing how much the old shows did a lot of filler episodes and/or bottle shows and this one did clearly both. But as said it’s fine when it’s GOOD. I did like seeing how much Burnham has developed and how far she’s come in this time. I still think being a Captain from a mutineer is ridiculous but whatever it’s Star Trek don’t overthink it.

And also Burnham now joins the other famous Star Trek trope of Captains interacting with some other version of themselves through time travel (usually) or cloning or something.

She now joins the club with Kirk, Picard, Janeway and Pike. :)

There were certainly problems with it and the technobabble made little sense to me but minor issues. I’ll probably have to watch it again to spot any big red flags.

Overall Discovery this season has been really fun and a treat to watch IMO. Not amazing but solid (outside episode 3 for me).. But I have been down this transwarp corridor several times already, so hoping it can sustain it.

Despite Season 5 being quite good, it looks like many, at least on this board, have checked out.

If the total number of posts is an indicator, it may be an issue of “too little, too late”. I understand why many may not be watching the final season of Discovery (even I forgot the new episode was out yesterday) – but I hope not, because IMHO last night was a perfect example of a good Star Trek episode.

Someone mentioned this before with the opening episode review thread as well and yeah the posts are WAY down.

And it’s not just here either. Other places like Trekcre, Reddit etc are also a lot smaller now.

It is a shame but I think it proves a lot of people have basically lost interest in the show overall. And it probably doesn’t help being off the air for basically two years either.

But you can’t spin it. A year ago this time Picard season 3 was getting literally hundreds of posts every episode. There was huge interest in it for obvious reasons. Certainly not the case with this show now even with the positive fanfare so far.

Yep that was me!

And I thought maybe it was just a weird fluke or something and the next few episodes the discussions would become higher again. Nope they only become worse and over other discussion boards in general.

What does it say when an article about finding a lost model of the original Enterprise from 40 years ago literally has twice the posts of a brand new Trek episode…one that most fans seem to love including myself? Trekcor has only a dozen posts discussing it right now and it’s been out two days.

I think what DeanH said is on the money, just too little too late and probably not a surprise why it got cancelled. They saw the writing on the wall and that fans were losing a lot of interest in the show.

I think posts are down because fans, like me, are tired of all the hate and bashing going on. I rarely read the posts or want to comment on the due to the high negativity. But I do read all the articles posted. Would be interesting to see the traffic count on here compared to the post count. I don’t think it has anything to do with people losing interest with the show, but with people not wanting to read and react to the negativity about the show.

Sorry I don’t really buy this for several reasons.

A. As I said discussion seems to down in OTHER places as well ,not just this website alone.

B. People bashed Picard for the first two seasons as much as they bashed Discovery and yet season 3 had huge interest here. Yes a big part of that was having the TNG cast back but people were generally excited about it even after how much complaining there was about season 2.

C. Most people are actually being very positive about this season so far. It looks like the ratio of positive vs negative posts seems to be overwhelming positive as this very thread has shown. So I’m not sure why people would be staying away when most people are currently being positive about it? How much hate bashing is happening on this thread? That could change later of course but people seem to be liking the season.

Now that said, sure you could still be right but I really do think Discovery has just lost interest by a lot of people; at least in terms of discussion. Maybe many are watching it. But the interest does seem to be down in most places.

Again it was probably cancelled for many reasons but the main one the show could just have less viewers today.

I used to post all the time. On this board as well as others. My participation in posting went down on all of them when the bashing started rising. I don’t even follow the other boards anymore to be honest, I follow Trek movie because I prefer the articles better. I do read every article… It will be rare that I even read the posts because I know exactly what they are before I even read them. And you’ll find that there are far more negative posts by a landslide compared to the positive ones. People like me are quite fed up with repetitive negative posts. You see the exact same thing from the exact same people….over and over and over again. Offer times in the same article? How many time can you repeat you have nostalgia and Easter eggs before people are fed up of hear the same dribble? I can’t talk for everyone, but I can definitely talk for myself. That’s the reason I post less and less each time.

Ok fine but again the problem with your argument in THIS case is that the posts have been overwhelmingly positive so what am I missing?

Let’s count them up here (easy since it’s not that many posts lol). I just counted any post that specifically stated they either liked or hated the episode.

Number of positive posts: 24

Number of negative posts: 3

It’s literally 7 times more positive remarks than negative. Again I’m not disagreeing with your basic argument, but in THIS case that doesn’t seem to be bearing out correct? In fact what’s funny is a lot of the posts are people saying they normally hate the show but still say they enjoyed this episode or season so far.

I include myself in that btw. I said I would have an open mind going in but I really wasn’t sure how I would feel since I have felt disappointed by every season so far. But I am truly enjoying it and praying to Kahless that won’t change.

So I don’t really buy this argument. Sure if it’s just a ton of nastiness and/or people going out their way to put down the show then I could see your point why others staying away. But that’s not remotely happening either. Most people seems to have a pretty positive view of the season, at least so far. And I’ll go one farther and say the people who are NOT enjoying it isn’t attacking anyone for it either or vice versa. People are just having very civil conversations no matter how you feel about it. Seriously no one is getting triggered one way or the other.

And this has been the case since the season started, but the lack of any big discussions about it is obvious; especially it being the shows last season.

On that note you should start posting again since people are pretty receptive to the season right now. It would be nice to have more discussions surrounding it and would love to hear your thoughts positive or negative.

That episode felt more “Star Trek” than any of the whole series so far.

I know what you mean Steve. The episode also served to remined me why I enjoyed 23rd C Discovery way more than post-jump, especially Season 2. I was all up for the trip to the far future and I thought that S3 started well but unfortunately for me at least, it fell apart and like may, I got burned by the burn so to speak.

I have to admit, this was the first time that Discovery felt like an actual episode of Star Trek! And I have watched every episode on release (for my sins). Crazy!

The episode was actually pretty good and felt like a classic bottle episode, that focused on character growth, exactly what Kurtzman was speaking against with his so-called “filler”.

I tell you what, Rayner has been a breath of fresh air. It gives the overly lovey-dovey crew a kick in the aft deck. The trio of Burnham, Raynor and Stamets worked really well in this episode.

It’s a big shame Discovery didn’t go forward into the 32nd century from the get-go. Imagine after the two part pilot they got thrust into the future? This time frame is perfect as gives the writers the freedom to create their own, new canon, without contradicting that of the 23rd century. Both narratively and visually.

If season 5 continues like this episode, we might get a decent send off to Discovery. Though might be a shame that as the show is ending, it is finally finding its feet (like TNG S3 or ENT S4 etc).

“It’s a big shame Discovery didn’t go forward into the 32nd century from the get-go. Imagine after the two part pilot they got thrust into the future? This time frame is perfect as gives the writers the freedom to create their own, new canon, without contradicting that of the 23rd century. Both narratively and visually.’

I agree with this many times over and I’m someone who basically thought the last two seasons sucked.

But it had nothing to do with the time period itself, just the bad writing surrounding it. But I think if Discovery just started in the 32nd century where it could just tell it’s own stories and not be so tied down to canon or people citing how much it conflicted with TOS it would’ve had a better reception even if they were still disappointed with it.

I guess for me I just really want to see different things. I don’t just want more TOS or TNG. Again I have to stress it doesn’t mean I don’t want to see them at all since I was a big supporter of both Picard and SNW. I’m only saying it would be nice that we finally have something that’s TRULY different from everything else and why I’m also a huge supporter of SFA (although I definitely feel like I’m in the minority on that one lol).

But I also know some fans who just want the same stuff they grew up with. I’ve seen plenty of posts from people who have said they only want Star Trek in the 23rd or 24th century because that’s what made them fans in the first place. For example, there were people generally excited about having the Kelvin movies because it gave the impression that they were wiping the slate clean just going back to TOS but ONLY TOS again and all the spin offs could just be ignored completely from that point om going forward.

I get it and being a fan since the 70s myself I understand wanting to constantly scratch the nostalgia itch. Again NOTHING wrong with that in general. It’s just entertainment and people just enjoy what they enjoy.

But I do think the MAJORITY of fans really do want to see new settings and characters and why we are getting more of it now. But there is always the belief in Hollywood it’s easier to roll the dice on something that worked before versus doing something new and different because one is obviously more guaranteed to work vs the other.

Ironically though, it’s probably a reason why the movie franchise is having a hard time starting up again because when the tried and true fails as the last Kelvin movie did then it’s even harder on taking a chance on an unknown entity with a very fickle audience base and throwing in a lot more money in the process.

Another reason why Trek is just better as a TV franchise in the end.

Missed a chance for a Lorca cameo!! How would Burnham have reacted to him knowing his shady truth?

I too have to admit, this was a good one and as many others have said, it “felt” like a Star Trek episode.

No use recapping the story which I thought was quite good. I really liked that they focused on three characters (Burnham, Rayner and Stamets) and did not go off track trying to include everyone else. I also liked the return of Stamets being his old cynical and direct self, yelling at people, recognizing the urgency of the situation and not having time to worry about their feelings. Him yelling at the crewmember to “GET OUT” was great!

Of course, Discovery has to always get sidetracked with some form of romantic interlude – this time it was Booker and Burnham, even though time was of the essence, she had to forget about what they were doing and pause for two minutes to steal a kiss. (eyeroll) Fortunately, that was a minor part of the episode and did not last long and things got back on track. Btw, as characters, I hope those two do end up together (I’m not heartless).

So far, S5 has been quite good. Hey writers room – see you can actually write good episodic-like stories without having to stray from the season long story arc. Let’s hope they can keep it up. Oh btw, up here north of the border, CTV Sci-Fi channel ran the Voyager two part Year from Hell last night. Nice tie in to the Krenim story.

Of course, Discovery has to always get sidetracked with some form of romantic interlude – this time it was Booker and Burnham, even though time was of the essence, she had to forget about what they were doing and pause for two minutes to steal a kiss. (eyeroll)

This is exactly what Jim Kirk would do. And he has.

Does anyone know why the episode is not available in Germany yet? The first three eps were available right when they were supposed to but still no sign of ep 4…

Some of you bitch about SMG’s acting as one note, but I have to say, she was pretty great on this episode. Maybe the contrast of old her vs younger her made it more obvious but I thought she did an exceptional job this episode.

She’s been good since the first episode. I haven’t always liked the way Burnham was written, but I’ve rarely had a problem with the way Martin-Green played her. I hope the end of this season won’t be the last we see of her in the role.

This is a great episode for the final season because it really does remind you how much has happened and how far the crew has evolved. I immediately wanted to re-watch the entire series.

It kind of gave me that feeling too, which is saying something because I didn’t like the first three seasons much at all. It’s true, though; and I hope whenever I get around to that rewatch, I find out I was wrong all along. I’d love that!

This episode felt like a lot of fun. I really love time loop episodes. And this was a cool new take on them. For a bottle show I was thoroughly entertained. Burnham and Rayner, Stamets and Reno, Burnham and Airiam… there were some great pairings in this episode.

I really enjoyed this filler episode. I think it felt a lot like a Voyager inspired episode and it even mentions the Krenim.

I also liked seeing the contrast of past and present versions of Burnham, but was she really that aggressive in the beginning? I’ll have to go back and watch the first season again, but she seemed more like the mirror universe version of her past self.

Oh, and the technobabble was so wonderfully Star Trek. I’m glad they weren’t afraid to include some. I love seeing the characters use their expertise in and mastery of their fictional technologies to solve problems. I’m watching a show about the future where such amazing technology exists after all. I like when they explain how it is all supposed to work.

I hope the rest of the season is this good.

An excellent episode, I thought. The way they handled the Krenim Easter egg was perfect. Strong character dynamics, too.

Did the colors look weird to anyone else? I can’t put my finger on it, but it seemed like something weird was going on with Paramount+ when I watched.

Worst episode of the season so far The bridge crew are lifeless characters with zero personality and any storyline which involves them suffers heavily! Also thought Michael was back to her annoying best whispering every line. even Rayner couldn’t save this one.

I would agree that a distinguishing feature of Discovery in comparison to other iterations of ST is that the bridge crew are almost invisible and that ~4.5 seasons in, we know almost nothing about them. I don’t know why the writers have taken this route but for me personally, it’s had the effect of making it difficult for me to really bond with this ship and crew. I felt I had more connection with the bridge crew of the Titan and that was after only 3-4 episodes!

Well they actually made it worse in seasons 3 and 4 when they tried to give them more dialogue, because it was clumsy things like, “I used to kite surf!” “Thanks for letting me lead this important away mission entirely offscreen while we follow your storyline instead,” “I am upset and being unprofessional in a crisis because I couldn’t save my friend years ago!” or “I love you all!” And then the show would condescendingly have characters tell us how great Detmer or Bryce are. It’s lazy and clunky, and worse than when it was just more of a deliberate creative choice to emphasize them in seasons 1-2. But this halting approach is not great. Give them meaningful snippets of development and personality and it will make them endearing and feel real. But if they are just here to look worried, laugh/clap, spout technobabble, and be propped up by the main characters, it’s just not my thing.

Shortened seasons leave little room for character development. With 26 episodes per season sometimes the character story was the A story and the B story was something like a comet or an asteroid, as a backdrop. But you could generate character development from the A-story, apart from the what are the odds coincidences of meeting rikers father or Worfs brother leading some refugees. Take Li Nalas for example. You could learn about Kira from how she viewed him, reacted to him, talked. Lots of Dialogue. DSC Season 3 was about the burn, no personal experiences of the crew would fit that, then the dark matter anomaly, also nothing people could maybe share an experience (but it could have been worked in, from somebody remembering some dark matter survey or something), season 4 now theyre on the hunt for some technology from a throwaway stand alone TNG episode, and well none of the crew had a long dialogue scene talking about some excavations or something they might have taken part in. TLDR not just shortened seasons but missed opportunities by writers as well.

Anybody else didnt feel anything when starfleet headquarters was shown destroyed?

I felt a little sorrow for Zora at least.

Has anyone posted a proper look at the Breen ship from the alt future? It just looked like a jumble of debris. Discovery has never been very good about delivering the ship p*rn. I needed a lovely cutaway after Burnham asked about the ship!

Yeah it was hard to distinguish with Starfleet headquarters.

Does anybody know of anyone that posts lists of episodes to prepare for the latest episodes? Like a pre-game episode checklist to better understand all of the references and Easter eggs? I really like to catch everything when I watch a new episode, but it’s hard when they reference so much stuff across the franchise history, some of which I haven’t seen in decades. I often just read the reviews on here and figure out what I need to watch, but that means I read all the spoilers with it. It would be cool if there was something that just told me what to watch beforehand. Anybody aware of something like this, and if not, would anybody want to do it?

Trekc0re’s reviews pick up a decent bit of that.

Probably one of my favorite Discovery episodes to date. Probably because it felt like a classic trek episode of any era, as others have mentioned.

For any other Star Trek show, it would be a sub par episode, nice idea, poor execution, but for Discovery standards I get that this is the best we can get out of this soap opera in space. So after 3 horrible episodes, here something at least watchable without feel nauseated.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, Season 2, Episode 9 "Subspace Rhapsody" [Original TV Soundtrack]

Various artists, (digital download - lakeshore records #lks 36456), main album:.

Release Date

Release info, track listing.

Did Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's James Bond Parody Go Too Far?

In the latest TV Legends Revealed, find out if Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's Bond parody, "Our Man Bashir," went too far for MGM

• Bashir in "Our Man Bashir" transformed fan opinions, crucial to his character’s evolution on Star Trek.
• “Our Man Bashir” was a James Bond parody, causing MGM to complain
• MGM's concerns about James Bond parodies in DS9 led to toned-down references in the sequel episode.

TV LEGEND : Star Trek: Deep Space Nine had to tone down its James Bond parodies from "Our Man Bashir" when it did a sequel episode, due to complaints from MGM over the episode.

When Star Trek: Deep Space Nine launched in 1993, audiences seemed to have a bit of a hard time with one character in particular on the series, which was about the space station, Deep Space Nine, which was near a wormhole that connected Federation territory to the Gamma Quadrant on the edges of the Milky Way. The station was built by the Cardassians during the time that they had conquered the planet, Bajor, which was nearest to the station. Bajor fought for, and eventually won, its independence, and Bajor then requested the Federation to come in and co-manage the space station with Bajor. Avery Brooks' Commander Benjamin Sisko was the Federation head of the station.

The character that viewers seemed to have a problem with was the station's Chief Medical Officer, Julian Bashir, played by Alexander Siddig (although he used his real name, Siddig el Fadil, for the show's first three seasons). Bashir was arrogant, and off-putting, and fans really didn't seem to care for him. Siddig noted that the episode that changed everything for his character was Season 4's "Our Man Bashir," which saw Bashir get caught up in a malfunctioning holosuite during a spy story. He noted to StarTrek.com :

I think 'Our Man Bashir' was probably one of the most important in terms of changing attitudes towards Bashir. I think that was probably one of the most-influential episodes. I don’t know if it’s one of the best, but it is certainly super-influential. I remember opinions began to change after that episode. So that would probably be an important one, historically.

The episode was intended as a parody of the James Bond films, coming out right when the Bond films were returning to theaters with Pierce Brosnan taking over the role of Bond in 1995's Goldeneye . As it turned out, though, the episode was TOO close to Bond for MGM, leading to the sequel of the episode being a lot different!

Why was an Adventure Time Episode Forced to Become About Soup?

What was "Our Man Bashir" about?

A common theme in episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation had been holosuite adventures gone horribly wrong , so Star Trek: Deep Space Nine intentionally planned to avoid doing any episodes like that, and just kept the holosuite references to normal examples of the characters describing amazing adventures they were having in the holosuites offscreen. However, Assistant Script Coordinator Bib Gillan came up with a concept that the show's producers liked enough that Ronald D. Moore turned it into a screenplay.

The concept was to combine the malfunctioning holosuite concept with a malfunctioning transporter. The main cast members of Deep Space Nine are in a transporter accident, and they are saved, but they are stored, in effect, digitally, while trying to be restored to their flesh and blood form. They then end up being mixed into a holosuite game/novel that Bashir was playing with his friend, Garak (Andrew Robinson), that is based on spy stories of the 1960s (James Bond, obviously). So the other crew members all begin to show up in the roles of the game, but the problem is that since these are the real crew members, Bashir and Garak have to make sure that none of them die, because they would then die for real. Similarly, the malfunction removed the safety protections, so Bashir and Garak could ALSO die in the story!

It's a really clever story, especially how Bashir wins the day by actually letting the evil villain's plot (to flood the whole world) occur, to buy enough time to get everyone out of the holosuite. As Garak joked, Bashir "saved the day by destroying the world."

Why Grease's Iconic Dance Sequence Didn't Make Any Sense

How did MGM change Deep Space Nine's sequel to "Our Man Bashir"?

Okay, so, again, very well-received episode by fans (it also received two Emmy nominations, for Outstanding Music Composition for a Series and Outstanding Hairstyling for a Series), and as Siddiq notes, fans started to change their minds about Bashir, and he slowly but surely became a fan favorite.

Someone who WASN'T a fan, though, was MGM, which felt that the James Bond references in the episode (which were PLENTIFUL) had gone beyond fair use, and were just essentially doing James Bond without license.

So when Bashir's secret agent holonovel was revisited in Season 5's "A Simple Investigation," it was both reduced in scope (it was not the main part of the episode at all), but also in terms of James Bond references...

The reason why the secret agent plot was chosen in the first place was, in part, because it was more reasonable, in terms of budget, for the show to film, and yet the episode STILL ended up going over budget because of the fact that "Our Man Bashir" was the longest shoot in the history of the series, due to how much care went into the episode.

So while the show might very well have won any sort of actual lawsuit by MGM, it really wasn't worth it to the show's producers to pursue, and it was much simpler to just comply with the request to back off on the James Bond references going forward.

The legend is...

STATUS : True

Be sure to check out my archive of TV Legends Revealed for more urban legends about the world of TV. Click here for more legends specifically about Star Trek .

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