Each second-season episode of "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" displays its awareness of history, whether that pertains to the franchise's lineage and the characters' places and roles within it or the overall tendencies and expectations we have of TV. That's a long way of explaining why each muscular swing was a surprise, particularly its musical episode "Subspace Rhapsody."
Broadway tributes are notoriously tricky for the best of shows, most of which get a few years under their belts before tossing those dice. "Strange New Worlds" mapped out its sophomore run and not only committed to a song-and-dance hour, but made it the season's penultimate episode.
