Star Trek: Strange New Worlds appears to make a long-running fan theory official canon in an episode full of Spock and Chapel hijinks.
When Christine Chapel returns to Enterprise from her fellowship to celebrate the Federation Day Centennial with new boyfriend Roger Korby in tow, a mysterious stranger gives a heartbroken Spock a chance at wedded bliss with the one who got away.
It’s Star Trek: Strange New Worlds tradition that every season delivers a screwball romantic comedy revolving around Spock. The Spock and T’Pring body swap story, “Spock Amok” was Season 1’s entry. Season 2 gave us “Charades,” the farce where a suddenly human Spock needs to pass himself off as being as Vulcan as possible to impress his future in-laws. With “Wedding Bell Blues,” we now have a trilogy.
This episode is a throwback to a classic Trek formula. The Original Series is littered with stories involving confrontations with seemingly all-powerful, capricious, god-like beings such as Gary Mitchell in “Where No Man Has Gone Before,” Charlie in “Charlie X,” or Apollo in “Who Mourns for Adonais?” But one particular subgenre also found in The Original Series involved mischievous imps like Trelane in “The Squire of Gothos,” who turn the Enterprise crew into play-things for their own amusement. It’s these figures who would ultimately serve as a blueprint for the franchise’s most enduring trickster character, John de Lancie’s Q.
And speaking of Trelane and Q…
…guest star Rhys Darby’s mischievous imp goes unnamed but bears a striking resemblance to William Campbell’s Trelane in “The Squire of Gothos.” That episode ended with non-caporial parental figures disciplining Trelane like a child. The same thing happens here only this time with the more familiar voice of none other than John de Lancie in the disciplinary parent role.
There’s long been a theory in the Trek fandom that Trelane was a member of the Q Continuum. The non-canon Star Trek novel Q-Squared, written by the recently deceased author Peter David, even suggested Trelane was a child in the Q Continuum for whom the Q we know was tasked with babysitting. Darby’s imp is more deliberate than the Trelane we knew.
In “The Squire of Gothos,” Trelane’s games are spontaneous, and Enterprise stumbles into his territory by accident, whereas Darby’s character here targets Spock and becomes a dedicated Spock and Chapel (Spapel?) shipper. Enough at least that, if this is meant to be Trelane, one would think he’d remember Spock a few years later as the guy whose dreams he tried to make come true. But small details like that are perhaps best forgotten in a franchise this old.
Trelane and Q are not the only presumably previously established characters to show up in this episode though. Cillian O’Sullivan enters the series as Chapel’s new beau, Dr. Roger Korby. Michael Strong portrayed Korby in The Original Series episode “What Are Little Girls Made Of?” In that episode, Enterprise goes looking for the missing Korby, who is said to be a brilliant exobiologist and Christine Chapel’s fiance. Of course, that original episode also established that Chapel had specifically signed on as a crewmember of Enterprise to find Korby, but small details like that are perhaps best forgotten in a franchise this old.
This episode also notably introduces two other recurring characters this season — and possibly a third. First, there’s Erica Ortegas’ brother Beto, an excited filmmaker making a documentary about The Federation Centennial, which expands to a feature on Starfleet as a whole. The flirtation between Beto and Uhura hints at a bigger romantic subplot down the road. Erica doesn’t appear too thrilled about that, though perhaps Erica isn’t completely herself as the episode’s ending suggests a possible Gorn influence — tied to the injury she suffered in the previous episode — may have taken root in her psyche.
Then there’s Ensign Gamble, the new temporary nurse who has been filling in during Chapel’s absence. Like Beto, he too is young and eager. But every scene Gamble is on screen, he acts like he’s won the lottery being on Enterprise at all. A third possible recurring character could be the space station bartender Captain Pike tries to recruit for Enterprise.
If the episode is following the tropes of the romantic comedy genre, a more suitable romantic partner for Spock could be hiding in plain sight all while our favorite Vulcan is hung up on Chapel. So it’s curious we suddenly see Spock spending so much time with La’an this week, and in of all situations frequently serving as a dance partner as she provides him with dance lessons. In an episode that appears to be seeding new elements that will develop throughout the season, I’m keeping my eyes on Spock and La’an. Maybe we should start shipping “Spaan” instead of “Spapel.”
“Wedding Bell Blues” seems to primarily function to set up important storylines and characters for season three. But as the third Spock rom-com in a trilogy spanning all three of the series’ seasons, this one falls short. Some jokes land while others fall flat. The nod to the Trelane/Q fan theory feels like unnecessary fan service that adds nothing interesting to either character. The strongest element here isn’t the writing but the design work. The space station with its bubbled environments is an inspired visual, and I hope the series leans into these sorts of bravura style choices going forward.
New episodes of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds release Thursdays on Paramount+.
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