Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2 has been quite eventful, from that big Khan surprise in “Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow” to the crossover with Lower Decks taking place in “Those Old Scientists.” But now we have what may be this season’s weirdest episode coming in just a few weeks, and I mean that in the best way possible. It’s been announced that Strange New Worlds’ penultimate Season 2 episode will be a musical, and there’s a delightful trailer giving fans their first taste of Captain Christopher Pike and the rest of the Enterprise crew showing off their singing chops.
“Subspace Rhapsody” will be the first time in the sci-fi franchise’s history that an episode has been musical-themed. 10 original songs will be featured, along with a “Subspace Rhapsody” version of the Strange New Worlds main title. Kay Hanley and Tom Polce handled music and lyric duties for “Subspace Rhapsody,” and while no specific details were provided on why the Enterprise crew is breaking out into song and dance aboard the ship, the trailer indicates this is the doing of a mysterious cosmic wave that strikes the ship. If that trailer wasn’t enough for you, then you’re in luck, as a poster for “Subspace Rhapsody” was also released that wonderfully channels that vibe of the musicals from the Golden Age of Hollywood.
The main cast of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, plus Carol Kane’s Pelia, will be joined in “Subspace Rhapsody” by Paul Wesley’s James T. Kirk, with this marking his fourth appearance on the show and second time playing the character in the main Star Trek timeline. As those who watched “Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow,” Christine Chong’s La’an Noonien-Singh fell in love with a version of Kirk from an alternate timeline, and it looks like the musical shenanigans in this episode will finally bring her together romantically with the main version of him. Whether that romance will stick after “Subspace Rhapsody” is finished and everyone has reverted to their normal selves remains to be seen.
Although I was ready to exclaim upon hearing about “Subspace Rhapsody” that Pike and the Enterprise crew will body sing where no one has sung before, this actually isn’t the first time that singing has been prominently featured in a story set during Pike’s captaincy. The Short Treks episode “Q&A,” which showed Rebecca Romijn’s Una Chin Riley meeting Ethan Peck’s Spock for the first time, belting out “I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major-General” while they were stuck in a turbolift to show a “freaky” part of herself she usually keeps private. “Subspace Rhapsody,” however, is going all-out with the musical elements, and it reminds me of when the Arrowverse delivered a musical crossover between The Flash and Supergirl in the “Duet” episode from the former’s third season. Because of its unique premise, I’m curious to see if “Subspace Rhapsody” ends up becoming one of the Star Trek franchise’s most talked-about episodes in the years to come.
“Subspace Rhapsody” premieres to Paramount+ subscribers on Thursday, August 3, and the Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2 finale, titled “Hegemony,” follows a week later. The show has already been renewed for Season 3, so keep your eyes peeled here for updates on that next batch of episodes and other upcoming Star Trek TV shows, and don’t forget to also peruse our 2023 TV schedule.
