Strange Musical Worlds

In the penultimate episode of the second season of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, “Subspace Rhapsody,” the show goes somewhere no other Star Trek show has gone before: the world of musicals. I’m not always your most typical gay man and don’t always follow stereotypes, unless I’m camping it up for one reason or another, but I am an embodiment of one stereotype: I love musicals and always have. With that being said, I’ll have to admit, even I was a little skeptical about a Star Trek musical episode. Could they pull it off? Would it be incredibly cheesy or silly? Could the cast even sing? 

However, the producers of Star Trek surprised me. I know there will be some naysayers, and there are plenty of Trekkies who seem to actually hate everything Star Trek, yet still consider themselves “fans.” Said naysayers either nitpick one very minor thing and claim it goes against “canon” and ruined the whole show (and I mean show not just episode), or they will claim that Star Trek should always be serious scientific exploration. Leonard Nimoy, the original Spock, said in a 2009 interview with Reuters, “Canon is only important to people because they have to cling to their knowledge of the minutiae. Open your mind! Be a ‘Star Trek’ fan and open your mind and say, ‘Where does Star Trek want to take me now?’” 

Nearly every episode has had its critics, but just as many have people who were enthusiastic about it. Facebook fan groups are already having debates about the merits of the episode. The same naysayers hated the recent Strange New Worlds/Lower Decks crossover episode “Those Old Scientists.” I thought it was one of the best episodes of the series, but I’ve also liked the Spock-centric episodes: “Spock Amok” and “Charades.” The best Star Trek series have had a balance of fun and wacky episodes and serious and scientific episodes. For example on Deep Space Nine, there are the serious “O’Brien Must Suffer” episodes and the humorous “Ferengi” episodes. In both Strange New Worlds and Deep Space Nine (the two series I know the best), a serious episode was usually followed by a fun episode or vice versa. Picard and Discovery, both of which I liked in their own way, tend to stick to serious episodes and use a serial story arch format for the season. Strange New Worlds and Deep Space Nine often follow the episodic format similar to Star Trek and The Next Generation. Both formats have their advantages, but I think I often prefer the episodic format.

One of the things I enjoy about Strange New Worlds is that there are certain subtle commentaries and traditions about Star Trek in each of the episodes. The writers/producers seemed to give a nod to the Leonard Nimoy quote above in “Subspace Rhapsody.” When Uhura plays Cole Porters “Anything Goes,” I suspect it was a message from the producers and writers to say, “Where does Star Trek want to take me now?” The bottom line is they did pull it off. Yes, it was cheesy and silly at times, but it’s a musical and by the nature of the genre, people break out into song when normal people wouldn’t. Also, like many musicals, it had its emotional moments and plenty of humor along the way. That leaves the last question: Could the cast even sing? The answer is, some can, others are OK. Rebecca Romjin (Number One) and Celia Rose Gooding (Uhura) have beautiful voices as does Jess Bush (Nurse Chapel). As for the others, the lack of being a music virtuoso makes sense in the way it was done or they sing as part of the chorus. I’m not sure anyone would want to hear Carol Kane sing with that voice of hers. I also liked that the style of music that various characters sing fit their characters. For example, Anson Mount’s Captain Pike has an almost county twang to his songs. Ethan Peck’s Spock is more serious.

I’ve tried not to give too much away, so I don’t think I’ve given any spoilers. Forgive me if I have. Of course, my enjoyment of “Subspace Rhapsody” is just my opinion (but I’ve already watched it twice since it was released yesterday). Trekkies everywhere will have strong opinions one way or another. I liked it and wanted to share my own opinion. Overall, if anyone was going to do a “Star Trek Musical” this was the way it should have been and was done. The “Subspace Rhapsody” official cast recording will be available for purchase starting today, though Apple Music accidentally released it early and then took it down. If/when you watch it, I’d love to hear your opinion of the episode (I know those outside the United States aren’t yet able to watch the episodes).