Submitted 1 year ago by ValueSubtracted@startrek.website to startrek@startrek.website
An 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.
Written by Dana Horgan & Bill Wolkoff
Directed by Dermott Downs
SNW playing with the format we all know and love continues to pay off.
Trek has a very, very long history of the space anomaly of the week causing hijinks to ensue. And these hijinks were epic. Especially considering the sheer amount of raw broadway-class talent SNW has.
And the foreshadowing with the drinking-song-belting, sea-shanty-and-opera-loving Klingons getting pissed off about the “we have to sing everything” bit was hilarious (and Pike’s “WTF” face was the icing!)
I know it’s a one-shot, but bloody brilliant.
I think that’s the best thing going for SNW.
Not every episode has to be about something. In fact most of them aren’t, they’re all one-offs. They go to a thing, some problems happen, they solve those problems. It can be thrilling, scary, intriguing, or silly.
None of these grand arc stories where every moment of every episode is so important that if you blink you’ll be lost for the rest of the show. None of these “very special message” episodes either. Just random space adventures most of the time. It worked in the 60s and it’s working today.
None of these “very special message” episodes either
I mean, barring the single best episode of the show.
That was hard work… Can’t fault the singing, but after 10 minutes it all felt very tedious.
I don’t care about the love affairs of the Enterprise. I was finding all the emo, pining, lovesick, will they, won’t they crap tedious well before this.
Drummer lites Kirk crush feels especially forced. How many times are they going to force him into an episode?! he serves on a different ship ffs
Incidentally I loved ‘Once more with feeling’ (inspite of Gellars singing)
I actually really like Kirk being intricately tied to the Enterprise in intimate ways in the years before getting command of it. Trek has never really dealt with how a ship passes hands to a new captain, and I enjoy that Kirk is being given the chance to form relationships with the ship and members of the crew well before anyone even considers that he might one day be its captain. Never mind that Pike is uniquely well aware that his own time is limited and he wants to make sure that his ship is in good hands, so vetting Kirk in this way by encouraging this kid of collaboration is also a reflection of his own strengths.
And just in a broader sense it’s always neat to see Federation ships collaborating. I’d like to see more of it, honestly. Sure, starship crews are often isolated from one another, but they’re also designed and trained to work together on missions whenever possible, and I like the excuse to explore that dynamic with Kirk.
Does Pike know Kirk will take command of Enterprise?
Dummer… Lol
Another great episode. The a capella theme song was great too.
honestly who knew La’an and Uhura would be the main characters this season? And I’m crushing on Chapel and Uhura and La’an right now. This episode only made it worse. Yeah there are three damned handsome guys on the show. But those ladies… might be my favorite of all star trek. La’an’s doomed relationship was heartbreaking btw. I knew this was happening with Spock so it didn’t hit so hard (I thought they’d last longer). Meanwhile Pike’s love (who is also insanely cute with that smile) may be heading for danger now. We need to do a poll to see if the woman on SNW are more loved then the men. And good songs.
What an absolute gosh darned delight that was. I love musicals but I tend to be pretty cynical about musical episode of TV shows, but I think that’s probably the best one I’ve ever seen? It helps that a. its still a coherent episode with a plot about the musical itself, b. its effectively paying off three or four different emotional character arcs we’ve already spent a lot of time with and c. the music is actually really well written both lyrically and compositionally
I loved the episode overall, but that Klingon fleet should have been commanded by L’Rell herself (though that was an extremely fun way to bring back Bruce Horak without shoehorning the Ghost of Hemmer into it).
General Gorkog was Bruce Horak? That’s awesome.
Also more fuel for my running theory that Hemmer isn’t truly dead. I think they’re holding onto him for a surprise return in the coming confrontation with the Gorn.
God I wish there was more Klingon Heavy Metal out there…
The Klingon breakdown in the final song about had me laughing so hard I was almost in tears. I appreciate using the songs to move various character storylines forward. It feels like everyone ended the episode in a much better place, outside of Spock. …and maybe M’benga…he didn’t seem thrilled with the singing.
I feel like poor La’an is in a worse place now. She just doesn’t get a break. :(
On the contrary, she made a breakthrough in actually opening up to Kirk, and he didn’t reject her for it. If anything, him being unavailable for other reasons may be a relief to La’an, releasing her to focus on other things now that she knows that door is closed to her (at least for now).
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.
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 enjoy 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?
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.
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
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.
This was incredible. Loved seeing Celia Rose Gooding so clearly in their element. And Bruce Horak returns in one of the strangest Klingon moments yet!
I love a good comedy relief Klingon moment. They nailed that. It was just goofy and unexpected enough and they knew just when to cut it off before it overstayed its welcome.
Wait, what? I didn’t realize the Klingon captain was Bruce Horak!
I’m a fan of musicals and Star Trek. This episode was definitely one of the most unique I’ve ever watched. It was original, inspirational and fun. And as an added bonus, we received a collection of beautiful songs.
@ValueSubtracted
Subspace Rhapsody is the greatest episode in all of Star Trek cannon.
I will die on this hill.
I’ll join you.
@GaiusGornicusCaesar
Then you're gonna be my cha'DIch from now on!
All the haters will draw their last breaths at the end of our Mek'Leths!
Yep, it’s the best episode
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.
@canis_majoris @StillPaisleyCat
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.
Pretty silly episode. I'm not a fan of musicals, and I was dubious going in, but it was fun. They managed to make it as good as a musical could be for my tastes. I'm happy it was made, and I'm happy to have seen it. That's about the highest praise I could give for something like this.
I was not optimistic; musicals are definitely not my favorite genre. I was pleasantly surprised.
This is such an incredibly well done show.
That was insane, I was in equal parts cringing and laughing my arse off.
I knew La’an would be amazing. I was also very excited when I realised Kirk would be involved.
The singing of the intro should be permanent.
I did not know La'an would be amazing because I wasn't aware she was a singer. I was unprepared to be floored by her and now I'm going to have to find and buy her albums.
Christina Chong just released an album.
thoughts after rewatch. This episode is solid. The second gimmick episode this season BUT like the last they keep the story lines going. I mean important stuff is dropped in this one. Some earned heartbreaker stuff (Discovery crew did cry a lot but I never felt it was earned. Not the case here. Some of the heartbreak feels real. Chapel trying to wash away her love for Spock is more complex then her just dumping him.)
Looks like they even made a soundtrack for this, and it is on all major streaming services. Some new tunes for my musical playlist. Seriously loved this episode.
I don’t like musicals… at all. But I really enjoyed this episode. The whole cast is so good. I had a lot of fun watching (and listening to) it.
La’an definitely becoming one of my favorite characters, which is surprising because she was middle of the pack in S1.
So, I’m a good public for this I suppose, since I loved Mamma Mia, and am a real fan of rock/metal operas. And I think this episode is… surprisingly decent?
I mean, the singing was surprisingly good, even with autotune (I mean, if you ever want to hear a real musical disaster, try Pierce Brosnan in Mamma Mia ; everyone here is pretty much excellent compared to that), so kudos to crew. The music was uneven : some parts were quite bland/uninspired, but I very much loved the common theme of “I’m ready”(catchy!)/“I’m the X”(lovely!) and the two widely different feelings.
On the plot side, you can feel they are trying very hard to brush over how nonsensical this musical thing is. And, somehow, I’m glad that not much progress happens here : you can summarize what happens as “La’an tell Kirk about the time-travel event, Spock gets dumped for a study program, Pike have a minor fight. And musical subspace shenanigans.”, which will sure come in handy if you’re allergic to musicals and (re-)watch the series.
But yeah, it was fun. The “La’an cut the captains couple argument in the middle of signing”, and the boys-band/K-pop klingon were unexpected.
Overall, I think this episode somewhat suffer the comparison with the Lower Deck crossover. The s02e07 was a real Star trek story : if Lower Deck wasn’t a thing, “These old scientists” would still be a decent story, it’s the meta element which push it into the land of deep sillyness (even when, like me, you don’t really like Lower Decks). “Subspace rhapsody” is… a musical. It’s good fun! But I was hoping for a bit more.
When they announced this episode I hated the sound of it… Not Trek at all I said but I have to say after watching it was like ok that was fun lol
Star Trek had a long history of taking cues from capital-T Theater, so a musical was kind of a logical extension of that.
Well that episode was certainly…uh…something. Lol.
Don’t get me wrong I loved it, but in that “oh God it’s happening again” laughing my arse off kind of way.
Also, whoever wrote the lyrics to the first song “All Systems Stable” really made a banger.
This was such a fun episode. I so enjoyed all of the male and female vocalizations. It was as campy as the TOS episodes could sometimes be, but I loved it. Definitely on my rewatchable episode list when in a light mood.
If I could make one tweak I would have made the music itself feel less 2020s contemporary and given it more of a funky 1960s flavor, because I could absolutely see TOS doing something like this.
Could you have imagined an updated hippie singalong? I so wish that had happened! Even a Herbert or two
In between the first watch earlier this week and a rewatch tonight, I’ve listening to and humming the songs over and over again. I don’t know why people say the songs aren’t catchy. “Status Report” is sooo catchy, and it even has a little reprise with the “Apologies” at the beginning of the “Private Conversation” which is also very catchy actually.
“How Would That Feel” is beautifully rendered. I’ve started to listen to other Christina Chong’s songs now, and they are pretty good (listen to her “Twin Flames”).
Also, in the last seconds of the episode we had Uhura humming a theme. The closed caption says “Uhura humming ‘Keep us connected’”, which I believe is incorrect. She is humming the opening of Chapel’s “I am Ready” and Spock’s “I am the X”, not Uhura’s “Keep us Connected”.
I’m unexpectedly enjoying Christina Chong’s own music as well.
I posted the official music video for her release of two weeks ago ‘No Blame’ to our Quark’s community (which seems the better fit for following for non-Trek credits).
She has another song being released later today. I’ll post that there as well.
Uhura’s humming seems to intentionally lead into the instrumental medley during the end credits.
The story and plot points were good, but SOME of the songs where maybe a minute too long for my taste. Any song with Spock is good, but the autotune… Yikes. Lol
Maybe not on my rewatch list.
I think many of the middle songs were pretty smart too.
Someone singing their angst alone in a Cgi set. Liked first and last and chapels was good, but agree others were a bit long which made the overall episdoe seem long.
I really respect them trying and there are some great moments
My thought was, how bad would it be without autotune? 😬
I just enjoyed it for what it was at surface level, though. First, the Orville, then lower decks and now this showed that star trek is big enough to be funny and thought-provoking.
I would prefer the singing be bad as it would align closer to reality for people that normally do not sing. With that said, it is possible this anomaly caused all the auto as it knows no one can sing and they need to be auto tuned. 🐒
I was pretty sure they were going to nail this as soon as it was announced. Treks always played around with music and characters with musical aptitude so this was inevitable eventually.
I’m not really a musical fan unless it’s something I’m already interested in like this or, say, Pick of Destiny, thought this was great though, simple sci-fi justification, then all in on the concept. Thought the songs and “musical rules” were a good way of packing an episode with dense character work across the whole cast in an era when you only have ten episodes a year to play with.
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.
Ironically your post is at least as cringy lol
If you don’t find that “singing” cringey, you’re a soulless monster.
I LOVED this episode! I wouldn’t be opposed to them doing another musical episode 😁
Given that the subspace rhapsody spread to many other ships in the area, they could do a parallel episode from the point of another the ship, say the Farragut but it won’t be the same primary cast.
I would put my money on the anomaly somehow chasing Boims to the 24th century Cerritos.
seananigans@lemmy.world 1 year ago
I enjoyed the episode well enough as a gimmick. It was clear the cast really enjoyed themselves and I’m glad we get episodes like this.
I am a fan of musicals and musical theatre. While it’s nice to see them have a go, it certainly is one of the musicals of all time. Nothing impressed me. It wasn’t particularly inspiring or interesting. Forcing that dreadful auto tune on several of the characters felt even worse. It would have felt charming for them to not necessarily nail every note. In the end, I now see I’m retrospect why the marketing for this episode contained none of the musical numbers; the executives might have thought it would put people off.
I never mind when a good Star Trek show does an average episode because I’m always happy to see more of the characters I love.
After last weeks episode, which in my opinion could be one of, if not the best Star Trek has done in 30 years, I feel like they can take the small L here.
batmaniam@lemmy.world 1 year ago
I actually loved the bad autotune for the same reason you mentioned thatd you’d like the bad singing lol. It was kind of fun going “whelp, that actor is an actor not a singer”. I guess auto-tune has been around enough it’s in that “charm” category for me: “eh, they got the spirit”.