In space, everyone can hear you sing. That’s the premise of this week’s special musical episode of the Star Trek prequel Strange New Worlds, which swaps photon torpedoes for jaunty flashmobs as the crew of the starship Enterprise find themselves inexplicably bursting into song – much to their bemusement. It’s an oddball delight, even if the science behind it seems a little fuzzy.
When a classic recording of the Cole Porter musical number Anything Goes somehow creates a harmonic quantum field (we know), characters are compelled to reveal their deepest emotional secrets via belt-’em-out Broadway-ready numbers. The crew are pleasingly aware of how daft the situation is even as they strive to resolve being made to sing original songs by Kay Hanley and Tom Polce from 1990s alt-rockers Letters to Cleo. It is slightly cheesy, very self-indulgent and clearly designed to boldly launch a thousand memes of Mr Spock singing his Vulcan heart out. But it is also heartfelt, in keeping with the show’s unfashionably optimistic outlook.
