Episode Discussion | Star Trek: Strange New Worlds | 2x09 "Subspace Rhapsody"
LoglineAn accident with an experimental quantum probability field causes everyone on the USS Enterprise to break uncontrollably into song, but the real danger is that the field is expanding and beginning to impact other ships—allies and enemies alike.
Ok I love musicals so was definitely looking forward to this one. Did anyone else find it a little disappointing?
There was a bit too much moping and not enough joy, for me. That’s what makes a good musical episode so great, they can progress the plot while giving us an over-the-top fun time. But instead we had everyone singing a sad song and then one or two upbeat numbers, none of which were particularly catchy or entertaining. Like, if you’ve seen it even just once or twice years ago like I have you can probably remember some of the songs from the OG Buffy episode, but we watched this last night and by the end I genuinely couldn’t even remember the supposed grand finale song.
Boy band Klingons made the wait worth it, but I spent most of this episode spaced out a bit and just half-listening rather than watching which is the first episode I can say that about.
Shoutout to whoever decided to redo the theme music though, that was inspired.
Also the talk about bunnies has to be a reference to Buffy, right?
Honestly this episode feels written by Sondheim fans more than anything, which is why all the G&S references were so odd to me lol. Definitely less focus on “fun” but I think all the lyrics were really clever and expressive and the way that all of the songs felt like they reinforced character work successfully was a feat even if none of them are particular “catchy” in that ear-worm way. Company is probably my favorite musical of all time but its pretty hard for me to hum you anything from that show
I’m not sure about Sondheim - it doesn’t really have his feel and the music and lyrics for the most part aren’t as thematically disciplined and crisp as I expect from a Sondheim musical.
The feel was a bit more contemporary pop, like a Pasek & Paul piece.
I don’t love musicals in particular, but aren’t anti-musical, and I felt the same. The songs weren’t memorable, the numbers were a bit dull, and nobody really danced much except for extras that they hired that were clearly dancers. If you’re going to pull of a musical, gotta go big, SNW didn’t go big.
Agree. I love musicals (Buffy musical episode, scmigadoom) and was really looking forward to this. The first song I though yes this is great..... but when Una started singing to Kirk I thought meh....and the songs never really got any better. Just got too much into the angst and no joy (except chapels song that was a banger and should have been the tone of all the other songs)
The finale was okay and as plot point great idea and Bruce as singing Klingon great cameo, but by that point I was so down it rushed up too much
This was the worst thing I’ve ever seen in my life. Not just of Star Trek but of anything ever. It was so cringey. I forced myself to watch it (on 2x speed) for completion sake, and I regret it. Thankfully I’ll never watch this again.
For Pike’s singing voice, he adopts a kind of Meatloaf/Russell-Crowe-in-Les-Miz style that is exactly the right mixture of masculine and adorable.
The build up to the Klingon Boy Band: We know that Klingons love opera, heightened emotions, spontaneous group singing, and choreography (if you’re willing to consider martial arts a form of choreography). La’an even explicitly mentions singing old sea shanties which would seem to be an obvious way to translate the Klingons into musical form. So naturally, I was shocked that the Klingons would not immediately assimilate into their new musical reality. I even told my husband, “I can’t believe the Klingons would want this to stop!” And when it hit, everything made perfect sense.
Kirk and Uhura are real ones for never telling McCoy that Spock had a phase of being proud to be human until he got dumped by Nurse Chapel. He never would have let him live it down.
I loved the episode. I’m not a huge fan of American musical theatre, but this really worked for me and my partner.
The tone was just right and the songs were well matched to the skills and characters. It’s delightful.
It was also really nice to come to this community and soak up all the positivity. I really needed a place to come like this after watching episodes. As we see it a bit later on CTV Sci-fi Channel in Canada, I can often feel blasted with fan backlash when I check out people’s views after watching.
Yes, there are a few folks here for whom this isn’t there kind of thing, and they are letting us know. We’ve not however seeing brigading negativity that is cropping up on some other social media. I can appreciate that some want their Trek more dignified and serious, but the ‘worst thing ever’ hyperbole is a bit hard to take when Threshold and Code of Honor exist.
I think the main split in the Trek fandom now is how serious a tone people tend to prefer. Most of TNG was professionalism porn, and most of the 90s stuff was generally serious. A lot of people got used to that, and whenever I talk to them about stuff like SNW or LD, their chief complaint is that “the characters act immature and are too quippy”. To an extent, I can agree and see the point of view, but on the other hand, I really like it when Trek doesn’t take itself too seriously.
I like to argue that the TOS era was a less mature era of Starfleet in general which causes the familiarity with the bridge crew to be more socially profound as opposed to professionally based. To whit, I remember SNW directly addressing things like this wherein they discuss “General Order 1” being renamed “The Prime Directive” which I feel is evident of a maturing organization.
Strange New Worlds doesn’t take itself seriously unless it has to. It’s been great about totally experimenting with the Trek formula to create unique, fun and memorable episodes. The plot devices are straight out of the 70’s, with random space anomalies impacting the crew. They modernize the storytelling and keep up the pace, which is always just what the TOS era needed.
I’d disagree that all the 90s series were too serious, they all took time out for more wacky stuff but they were hidden in 24 episode or more series. DS9 for example had loads of Ferangi family sitcom stuff, the bond episode, the baseball one, the heist, worfs wedding, all the mirror universe episodes, the TOS crossover, etc all within the backdrop of the bajoran restoration and then the dominion War.
Most of the people who argue that the new stuff is not serious enough would probably consider most if not all of those sillier episodes from the old days to be not worth watching. There’s tons of DS9 watch orders that are like “Skip the Bajoran restoration, don’t watch the Ferengi episodes, don’t watch the Mirror Universe, etc”
TOS could be downright goofy sometimes. Tribbles, Harry Mudd and his android wives, Spock jamming with the Space Hippies™. Sure, there were heavier episodes like City on the Edge of Forever, but ... c'mon, it was the 60s! Not everything could be US Space Navy vs the Evil Aliens.
If I had a nickel for every time Uhura solved a problem by singing at it, I’d have two nickels. That’s not a lot, but it’s the same number as how many times Chakotay’s been lost in the Delta Quadrant.
This was a fun episode. Some bangers, though I agree with some of the people who think some songs could have been shortened. The unexpected Klingon boy band was an amazing gag that didn’t overstay its welcome. Overall, I think it’s great to have Trek embrace the old-school campiness from time to time.
Anyone else convinced Captain Batel is kinda doomed? Pike got off the relationship trauma fairly easily in this episode.
I mean never say never? If I’m remembering the Cage correctly the Talosians at least thought there would be potential there. Though this is the much younger and possibly a little sexist Pike.
I’ve come to the conclusion that SNW is the entry point series.
Do you like legal dramas? Perfect, here’s a great LGBTQ allegory episode!
Do you like goofy animation like Rick and Morty? Here’s the crossover with Lower Decks!
Do you like gritty serious war stories? We’re still dealing with the trauma of the Klingon War!
Do you like showtunes? Somehow we pulled that off too! (also Chapel’s song is a straight banger)
SNW is the show I’d introduce my friends to in order to get them into Star Trek as a larger thing. I think it’s an easier entry point than any other series.
You can also use the episodes they liked to recommend other Trek shows. Someone that likes the zany episodes would probably like TOS or VOY, for example.
I hated musicals until the structure and theory was explained to me. Maybe you liked this episode because it directly addressed the plot conventions it was hitting and the structure of musicals. Check out the channel Sideways on youtube, he does a great job explaining musical theory in cinema, including musicals and nonmusicals.
So, the time has finally come. I want to mention that I’m not a huge fan of musicals, this translates to that tend to only watch them if external circumstances push me to watch one and I only enjoy if they’re really well done. Well, circumstances have pushed me, and… it was meh.
I thought the songs weren’t particularly memorable, the productions were a bit underwhelming and the dancing nearly non-existent.
No, sorry. Very bad. Only Rose-Gooding and Chong could sing, the autotune was obvious and jarring for all the others. The songs weren’t memorable (I confess I really dislike the modern US showtune style, but it can at least be catchy — this wasn’t), the choreography and even the editing was shoddy. The first episode of Trek, other than Enterprise, that I’ve wanted to switch off.
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