Strange New Worlds S3E2: Wedding Bell Blues
We mentioned in our last episode that everything Star Trek does, Strange New Worlds does exceedingly well. But alongside moral philosophy, scientific wonder, and two-fisted action, one of Trek’s modes has always been “corny as hell.” We’ll be honest here; it’s our least favorite part of Trek, and it’s one Strange New Worlds dives into head first once or twice a season. Sometimes, the results are unexpectedly charming. Sometimes, less so.
It’s been three months since the events of Hegemony Part II. Batel and Ortegas have mostly recovered from their injuries, the crew is relaxing in advance of the Federation’s 100th anniversary, and Chapel is returning from a three-month research fellowship she took mostly to put some space between herself and on-again off-again paramour Mr. Spock.
Spock, clearly not over her, intends to honor the human tradition of the grand romantic gesture, only to have the rug pulled out from under him when Chapel returns with a boyfriend in tow. (Dr. Roger Korby, her fellowship mentor, who will eventually become Chapel’s financée, and then an evil robot, per the original series episode “What Are Little Girls Made Of?”)
Usually unemotional Spock is despondent, the ship’s bartender (Rhys Darby) offers counsel and pours him a drink, and Spock wakes up in his own bed, next to Chapel, on the morning of their wedding, which is being arranged by overly pushy wedding planner… Rhys Darby.
Turns out, he’s an all-powerful being who’s weirdly invested in wedding planning. (Why is never explained). He brainwashes the crew into going along, although Korby is immune (why is vaguely handwaved away). Korby convinces Spock something is amiss, but they can’t convince anyone else.
So we get a team-up between Spock and a romantic rival we’ve never met and will likely never see again, which leads to a literal deus ex machina to save the day. None of it’s terribly interesting. Darby is expertly cast as an annoying imp, but at the end of the day, the character as written is an annoying imp.
And worst, while the season’s first episode expertly gave significant moments to the whole extended cast, virtually no one gets anything to do. Even the bride doesn’t get much beyond the opening scenes. We get a fun moment of La’an — the Enterprise‘s second most uptight crew member — teaching Spock to dance. Ortegas boxes with her little brother Beto. Beto flirts with Uhura, Ortegas disapproves. But once we move past these quick check-ins with the characters, it’s mostly not-terribly amusing nonsense for the rest of the hour.
Our only hope was that this season got the corniness out of its system early.
Stray tachyons:
• Ethan Peck does do admirable work with ridiculous material here. Throughout the series, he does a miraculous job of perfectly evoking Leonard Nimoy’s Spock, while also suggesting a version of the character who isn’t yet fully formed. His Spock is unsure of himself, not entirely in control of his emotions, and yet completely of a piece with the Spock we know and love. Sorry, have a deep and abiding respect for built on logical analysis of his character.
• We also get an intriguing teaser in the episode’s final moment, suggesting Ortegas isn’t entirely over her encounter with the Gorn. Ortegas only got small moments last season, as Melissa Navias was mourning the death of her husband and the show allowed the actress to take a step back. (Although she never failed to steal her one or two scenes per episode) The teaser suggests she’s finally going to get more to do than wisecrack and fly the ship.
