Subspace Rhapsody

"Subspace Rhapsody" is the ninth episode of the second season of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. In this episode, Captain Christopher Pike and the crew of the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) encounter a naturally occurring fold in subspace which, when interacted with, causes the entire crew to start singing their private thoughts and feelings. The episode is a musical, the first in the history of the Star Trek franchise.^[1]

James T. Kirk, recently promoted to executive officer of the USS Farragut, visits the Enterprise to shadow Number One. While conducting communications experiments, Uhura broadcasts a recording of "Anything Goes" into a mysterious "subspace fold". It produces an "improbability field" that causes first Spock, and then the rest of the Enterprise crew to begin singing about their feelings like characters in a musical film, with the final line being Captain Pike asking, "why are we singing" ("Status Report"). Number One and Kirk engage in a duet in which she advises him on how to serve in a command role ("Connect to Your Truth"); La'an Noonien-Singh, seeing this and feeling emotional towards Kirk (with whom she had a relationship in an alternate timeline) goes to her quarters and sings about becoming a different person who takes chances ("How Would That Feel"). La'an then informs Pike that the improbability field represents a security risk, as it may cause people to uncontrollably sing about their hidden feelings and secret knowledge. Pike is initially unconcerned, but then sings an argument with his girlfriend, Captain Batel, in front of the crew, in which he expresses feelings he had concealed from her ("Private Conversation"). Elsewhere in the ship, Number One then sings to La'an about the importance of maintaining confidences ("Keeping Secrets").

Spock and Uhura try to figure out how to provoke an incident of someone breaking out into song, in order to analyze the phenomenon. They see nurse Christine Chapel celebrating in a recreational area, as she has won a prestigious research fellowship. Spock, who has been in a relationship with Chapel, confronts her about not having informed him of the award, and she reveals in song that she prioritizes it over their relationship ("I'm Ready"). Returning to engineering, Spock sings to Uhura about his feelings in discovering his miscalculation about the significance of his now-dissolved relationship with Chapel ("I'm the X"). Spock leaves, and Uhura, left alone, sings a song about her loneliness in the role of communications officer ("Keep Us Connected"). La'an confesses her feelings for Kirk before the musical can force her to, but he reveals that he is already in a relationship with Carol Marcus. An affected Klingon ship arrives intending to blow up the fold, but experiments reveal that this will destroy all starships in the vicinity. Uhura determines that singing an upbeat grand finale will provide enough energy to close the improbability field before the Klingons arrive; she encourages the Enterprise crew to sing about the fulfillment they find in working together and exploring space (briefly interrupted by the Klingons singing a verse in K-pop style about how they dream of killing Federation personnel); when the song concludes the improbability field dissipates ("We Are One").

In an interview with Variety, showrunners Akiva Goldsman and Henry Alonso said that they had first contemplated a musical Star Trek episode during the first season of Star Trek: Picard.^[2] Screen Rant noted that the Strange New Worlds season one episode, "Children of the Comet", which featured Uhura and Spock singing in harmony to communicate with an apparently sentient comet, made the full-on musical episode "inevitable".^[1] The songs written for the episode were "built around the actors' respective vocal abilities", with composition by Kay Hanley and Tom Polce of the band, Letters to Cleo, with assistance from Dana Horgan and Bill Wolkoff.^[2] Thematically, the songs were built around character arcs that had been plotted out for the entire season.^[2]

Bruce Horak, who had previously played chief engineer Hemmer on the series, guest starred as the Klingon General Garkog.^[3]

The writers were inspired for "Subspace Rhapsody" by the musical episode "Once More, with Feeling" from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Showrunner Henry Alonso Myers said that was one of the best musical episodes made because it was "really smart and thoughtful. It has big heart." The one thing the writers did not try to copy from that episode was creating the songs themselves;^[3] instead, they brought in Kay Hanley and Tom Polce to write ten original songs for the episode. It also includes a special version of Jeff Russo's main theme for the series, with most of the instrumentation replaced by vocals. A soundtrack album for the episode was released digitally by Lakeshore Records on August 4, 2023. Produced by Tom Polce. All music by Hanley and Polce except where noted:^[4]

"Subspace Rhapsody" received positive reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes the episode has a 100% score from 9 reviewers.^[5]

While he criticized the plot for being "paper-thin" and "[sitcom-]worthy", Slashfilm's Witney Seibold called the episode "the kookiest the franchise has ever been" and appreciated the variety. He went on to call the episode "frustratingly in character" due to his belief that it didn't stand out from the rest of the "lightweight, somewhat comedic, openly emotional" series. He concluded that, while this was the "least" the show had done, given the strength of the rest of the series this wasn't a major criticism.^[6] Darren Mooney, writing for The Escapist, said that the episode "fits firmly within the show’s nostalgia for the 1990s" and was "easier to admire... on a technical level than it is to enjoy it as a satisfying piece of television", faulting the absence of a sense of stakes or a sense of momentum.^[7]

Screen Rant noted that the soundtrack quickly topped streaming charts,^[8] and wrote that Celia Rose Gooding's Uhura "steals the spotlight" in the episode.^[9]

• "Subspace Rhapsody" at IMDb
• Subspace Rhapsody (episode) at Memory Alpha