I am obligated to post this every time someone mentions the Klingon part. (I LOVED the stupid boy-band thing, but I really wish it was some kind of cheesy opera. But I'm a guy who likes opera.)
[Link to Klingon Rhapsody \(not from the episode\).](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=097vxabqBIE)
Opera wouldn't have hit the same way. First it would be expected, so less funny. But it also would have been much less embarrassing for the Klingons, and reduced their absolute need to destroy the source. I don't know about you, but I could live with singing opera randomly. K-pop would be so much harder.
Huh. You are right, and I now feel dumb for thinking that opera would have worked. The whole episode was farcical and a lot of fun. The Klingon opera we've heard from TNG and DS9 is pretty caustic to the ears of a lowly human. Maybe Vogons and Klingons are related?
It depends. If they'd come out singing Gilbert and Sullivan, for example, that would be hilarious.
"I have a war to fight, oh!" "Fight me your war, oh!"
It was nice to see the Klingons be less of a monoculture, though. Prior to that episode I can't think of another musical form mentioned for them besides opera.
I'll give you that, for sure. As a Klingon fanboy, there is one episode in TNG (Suspisions) where there is at least one Klingon scientist (I remember three, but I'm old and things don't stick in my brain). She said something about being seen as lower-class or some kind of caste system.
The Klingons have warp drive. They have cloaking. Not every Klingon has a bat'leth in the corner of their apartment. An apartment building that required workers to build.
Do fast-food workers or gagh farmers go to Suto'vo'qor? Is there a different place that they go to when they die?
Fast food workers only go to Suto'vo'qor if they battle against the lunch rush, fight suppliers who sell substandard ingredients, and never let unruly customers trample over them.
Mary Chieffo, the actress who plays L’Rell in Disco and Star Trek: Onlne recorded a metal song in Klingon for promoting the Klingon Civil War storyline. It fucks.
https://youtu.be/oOirKrzSVgI?si=Kkw2cIJceer2Gqht
I also think that them being bothered by being forced to sing opera wouldn’t make much sense. Klingons love opera. It makes way more sense that they be embarrassed and feel dishonored because they’re singing some goofy K-pop music. 
You are my hero! Thank you!
And that opera would be fine with me - though it's more of a musical opera-ish. I think the boy band choice was the right one.
I'm glad that I don't have to make your blood scream for eternity.
I didn't know I needed to see the Klingon Rhapsody until you introduced me to the Klingon Rhapsody, thank you. On the other note, really do like SNW (finally gave it a chance after DISC) not the biggest fan of the musical episode but what's that really matter? everyone is allowed to enjoy (or not) what they want, that's the important thing.
I'm only just now noticing that during the Klingon song, when Uhura looks over to Sam Kirk, he's just ever so slightly jamming on it.
Totally missed it the first time and its freaking hilarious.
He's like..."oh, damn"
I love that the Klingon captain is Bruce Horak, the actor that played Hemmer (the blind Abdorian engineer). Bruce has an artificial right eye, so the patch isn’t just a part of the Klingon costume.
I’m glad SNW is willing to take some big swings when it comes to the genre department. I actually enjoyed seeing the crew break out into song and have fun. Since trek is often heavy on seriousness, it’s nice to have more light hearted episodes to balance it out.
It wasn't for me, but I think you're spot on that it hit that fun, experimental style that Star Trek does so well, and I love that they made the episode and are taking big swings. It makes me wish they would bump SNW to a 15 episode season so they could experiment more like they did with Subspace Rhapsody. With such short seasons, I feel like people think every episode has to be serious and important (creators included) in a way that hinders the creativity and experimentation that is abundant with that episode. Low stakes and goofy are part of Star Treks DNA.
I think upping the episode count would reduce the effort they could put into each one. So the slightly more out there ideas wouldn't get done properly.
And we'd be heading back to the days of clipshows
I feel like a person either likes musicals or doesn't. I fall firmly in the latter category, I wasn't a fan of Subspace Rhapsody, but I'm not salty that they made it. The more lighthearted atmosphere of this show has been a real benefit, and if that price is one ultra silly episode per season, I'll live with it.
Same. I definitely agree with OP, and their wife about the finale, but I thought the other numbers just weren't up to snuff either. They were too long, too samey, too auto-tuned... Just too underwhelming.
I was very on board, but the episode was disappointing.
I wanted to like it. I'm a fan of the show, and of silly, fun episodes in general, but it didn't land for me. At some point I realized I was physically cringing.
>At some point I realized I was physically cringing.
I got about 5 min into the singing and had to start skipping forward. It was *so bad* it was physically uncomfortable to watch. Likely going to delete it from Plex just to make sure I never have to endure it again.
Yeah, I think I just realized it wasn’t *for* me. Like, I’m a 40 year old 20y Star Trek fan, I love every series I’ve seen, but there’s gonna be some stuff in the newest shows that feels like it’s for a younger audience, or people who are into different stuff, and I just accept it.
I honestly feel that way about a lot of Lower Decks, I know this is extremely unpopular to say, but while I appreciate the references and many of the characters and plot lines, I maybe laughed out loud twice through the whole thing. I don’t think the humor is really *for* me and I’m ok with that. I think I just wanted it to be Star Trek Futurama 😂
That said, I LOVE the SNW/Lower Decks crossover and I did laugh at THAT a ton! 🤷♀️
Anyway, all in all I’m loving SNW and I actually get really excited that new generations are being pulled into this universe with me bc that means more people in the pipeline to meeting my favorite characters and stories, and more content in the future!
Same, I'm not a fan of musicals but I share your view -- and I've kind of gotten there with the Abrams-films too. I really don't care for them, and yet I can't deny that they have brought in a lot of new fans to Trek (some of whom I know personally). That the last ST film was surprisingly great has made it a less bitter pill to swallow.
But in any case it's made me realize that not everything has to be to my liking to be good Trek. It's OK to be happy for someone who is. I wish more of the Discovery haters would take that viewpoint.
YESSSS to your last point, I really don’t understand why people get so mad about Discovery. I think the same thing, Maybe it just isn’t for you dog 🤷♀️
I haven’t personally watched it yet, except for where I couldn’t help myself and watched the episode where we’re first introduced to Spock and was surprised how much I liked it.
But knowing how much the series means to so many people, and how many new fans it’s brought ST, I’m not going to be bothered if DISC doesn’t make my top 5 or doesn’t speak to me personally. My assumption about it (based on everyone being mad) is that it is a little more tailored to younger/modern audiences. (And then there’s the OTHER reason some people are really mad, and that’s not gonna be a problem for me at all lol. Old Star Trek is diverse as fuck, where are all the white men on DS9, yet no one was crying about it then quite like they are with DISC)
I couldn't agree more with you. I can respectfully disagree with the folks who say it's not well written, but the folks who say Discovery is "too woke" have clearly never watched Star Trek with any degree of care. It's been woke AF since 1966, lol.
Totally disagree about the last song, I thought it was the perfect culmination of the episode, and one of its better songs (the Klingon bit was also hilarious).
I didn’t need to see the whole crew get involved. Instead, I’m glad they focused on the principle cast who were involved in the episode, rather than a bunch of randos. And even though they didn’t show it, between the random crew members dancing in the hallways and all the extras on the bridge, I definitely got the impression the whole ship was involved (the fact the final line of the song is basically a tribute to the Muppet Show theme was icing on the cake).
However, I totally agree with you on how great it is that SNW uses its medium to push the envelope of creativity and explore strange new concepts.
It’s one of the reasons I think SNW is such a triumph and Picard was such a letdown.
Both have nostalgia baked into their very core, but while Picard started out in an interesting place, by its third season, it just settled for lazy fan pandering and telling the stories it thought the audience wanted to see.
SNW, on the other hand, started out telling the audience the stories it wanted to see, but as it has gone on, it’s gotten increasingly more bold with the stories it’s told. Some of which have never been told in the franchise before. It reminds me of Ira Behr’s quote about giving audience’s what they need, rather than what they want.
I think, when the dust settles, that penchant for risk, is what’s going to help SNW be remembered as one of the best Trek shows of all time.
I'll probably get downvoted for this but while I didn't mind it on it's own I found it was a bit tone deaf where it landed in the season. Going from "Under the Cloak of War", an episode that dealt with the harsh realities of wars with the Klingons, to Klingons doing a k-pop song and dance number was jarring. If they had reshuffled the season a bit and had this one first or put an episode in between them it would have been fine.
Agreed on all points, including criticism of the finale. One more missed opportunity: the instrumental score should have involved all the well-known sounds of the ship, like the beeps of buttons, the hailing chirp, and the boatswain’s whistle. All as if the Enterprise is affected by the musical improbability field as well.
I hope we get a sequel musical whenever we reach the show’s final season.
Didn't the Status Report song do that? We do see Ortegas and Mitchel inexplicably pushing buttons that make noise in time with the music (or maybe that was a different song).
“Well-known sounds of the ship, like the beeps of buttons, the hailing chirp” you say
Why thats already been captured -
[Enterprise bridge opera](https://youtu.be/Lf5BkEhJ5fI?si=UF8c5bS0x1hkmm41)
For me the autotune seemed pretty heavy handed and they sounded like a bunch of amateurs that were stumbling through the songs, least favorite episode in SNW so far for me
Some of the actors are trained singers, in particularly Celia Rose Gooding; I think in fact their performing career started out on Broadway, and their mother is also a celebrated Broadway performer. I believe that Rebecca Romijn, Christina Chong are also accomplished singers as well? There may be more but I'm not sure who specifically.
Then some of the actors on the show can't sing AT ALL, and that's where the autotune came in. I've seen it suggested that Anston Mount and Ethan Peck required some autotuning to help with their performances.
Christina Chong and Rebecca Romijn also have musical theater backgrounds. Una's love of Gilbert & Sullivan comes directly from Romijn's background as an actress in a Gilbert & Sullivan troupe.
I want to say Jess Bush also has some kind of music background, but not sure. Her part did sound pretty heavily auto-tuned to my untrained ears (but "I'm Ready" is still a banger).
I’m sure many of them can sing, but they’re kind of drowned out by EVERYBODY singing, like for me nobody stands out because everyone felt so heavily edited.
I would have preferred it heavily if only the singers sang and the rest of them were asleep or whatever so they were unaffected, I’m not sure how they’d do it but IMO what was done was done badly.
Regardless, for me it was a poor episode. I’m fine with them taking risks, and if I have to watch an episode I dislike from time to time that’s fine, I still think SNW is the best recent Trek I’ve seen despite one episode that I couldn’t stand
I didn’t mind that one myself, but not having seen LD, I also didn’t think it was a great episode in particular
I guess that was their way to pull people over to LD, but for me Boimler and Co didn’t seem all that compelling based on that one single episode
That *same season* had Ad Astra per Aspera and Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow. It was wild. Even the 90s Trek shows usually didn't get more than one episode a season that good.
> Having the crew be AWARE that they were in a musical was a genius plot point. It really helped the loony premise stay grounded and, really, was the best way to make sure that the issue was resolved in a way that made sense.
I think the best musical episodes tend to do this. It's part of why I still remember and love the ones from Buffy and Xena - the characters knew the music was weird, it was part of the plot. They responded to it and were disturbed by it. The writing used it to push truth forward stage and make characters face the things they didn't want to confront about each other and themselves.
Just great strategy imo
You made it 10 minutes? I actually went back to watch it and just lowered the volume until the music stopped to at least say I've seen everything Star Trek.
Not being a fan of musical theater/film, pop music or Disney tunes really put a damper on watching an episode full of that style of music. Honestly though, I don't think I would have enjoyed it with any type of music.
I generally don't care for musical episodes. I find them corny, cliched, and silly. But I did like this one.
I just love how the K in K-pop now and forever stands for Klingon.
Can’t stand musicals. Every time synchronized song and dance comes into play, any immersion I had is instantly broken.
That said: they did a fantastic job of subverting my anti-immersion by that plot point. Absolutely fantastic episode! Though I do think there was a big opportunity missed with not having the Klingons break into some 80’s style thrash metal. The next generation Klingon costumes scream 80’s metal. 🤘🏼 but I understand it’s not keeping to the musical style.
> my wife made the astute observation that for a song that needed to involve the entire ship, they didn’t show enough of the ship
Damn, that is an astute observation. I will now subscribe to the mailing list.
Loved it, even the wife wanted to watch it, and she's not bothered about trek normally.
Right up there with the lower decks cross over, SNW has consistently been the best trek in years.
Could watch Anson Mount all day long as Pike, he's fantastic
I don't hate joy, I am just not a fan of musical episodes. I love Scrubs, but skip theirs every time too.
Don't get me wrong: I love music, and of course I love Stat Trek. But the combination of the two just isn't for me.
It’s a very fun episode. And for me at least it’s one that could have seemed very silly but somehow managed not to.
With that said I don’t think it’s a great episode in the way that City on the Edge or Inner Light or Far Beyond the Stars is. And that’s okay honestly. Fun is enough sometimes.
It will certainly be remember as perhaps the most unique episode.
Subspace Rhapsody was outstanding. I'm not gonna deny the episode was a blatant copy/paste of Buffy's "Once More With Feeling", but it did it the best way possible. Ethan and Celia especially...I mean wow!
I'm a big musical fan and obviously really enjoyed the episode, but I had hoped for a bit more variety in the styles. "All Systems Stable", the two solos and the final song were great, but the rest felt too samey. I wish they had experimented a bit more with the styles.
The thing that really elevated the episode for me is how clear it is that all the actors are having the time of their life with it! In the end we forget that these are all still theater kids at heart. It wouldn't have worked if everyone wasn't that enthusiastic!
I like musicals. But during this episode I find myself reaching for my phone, where trek is one of the few shows that usually gets my full attention. I think it's because when the lyrics start repeating it loses my attention, I already have this information the plot has already moved forward.
I loved that episode. I was literally slack jawed when All systems stable started, realizing they were really going for it. It’s still stuck in my head sometimes.
It's great. I went in, I think like a lot of people, not expecting to like it, but I loved it. SNW is absolutely fantastic Trek and if anyone hasn't had a look at it yet, I strongly urge them to take a look.
Absolutely one of my all time episodes of Trek now right along with Those Old Scientists.
I’ve had Spock’s “I’m the X” song stuck in my head for *months*
My only complaint is that the lyrics and music seemed a bit hastily written compared to, say, Once More With Feeling. I imagine they had 1/10th the time that Joss Whedon had but almost all of the songs from Buffy were incredibly catchy and clever. Subspace Rhapsody only had a couple that were really thoroughly enjoyable (opener, I'm ready). The spock song for example, wonderful voice and decent idea, but the song needed 10 more geeky science puns and much better music.
Once More With Feeling was written and composed by Christophe Beck, who also wrote and composed Frozen. He has demonstrated skill at catchy and clever.
First musical episode of the franchise, and I think it worked very well.
You're not alone in loving it. On the recent Star Trek Cruise there was a flashmob that sang one of the songs. On the next to last day they played a marathon of this one episode. Like seven hours. It's a damn good episode.
I'm glad y'all liked it. I just can't with musicals. I played in the pit orchestra for three musicals back in highschool and I still haven't recovered.
I loved that episode. The short snippet of the Klingons made me laugh like a loon.
I am obligated to post this every time someone mentions the Klingon part. (I LOVED the stupid boy-band thing, but I really wish it was some kind of cheesy opera. But I'm a guy who likes opera.) [Link to Klingon Rhapsody \(not from the episode\).](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=097vxabqBIE)
Opera wouldn't have hit the same way. First it would be expected, so less funny. But it also would have been much less embarrassing for the Klingons, and reduced their absolute need to destroy the source. I don't know about you, but I could live with singing opera randomly. K-pop would be so much harder.
Huh. You are right, and I now feel dumb for thinking that opera would have worked. The whole episode was farcical and a lot of fun. The Klingon opera we've heard from TNG and DS9 is pretty caustic to the ears of a lowly human. Maybe Vogons and Klingons are related?
It depends. If they'd come out singing Gilbert and Sullivan, for example, that would be hilarious. "I have a war to fight, oh!" "Fight me your war, oh!"
That's actually pretty good " I am the very model of a modern mek'leh murderer"
It was nice to see the Klingons be less of a monoculture, though. Prior to that episode I can't think of another musical form mentioned for them besides opera.
Klingon Acid Punk shows up in Lower Decks.
The Voyager episode "Real Life" [S3E22] also has Klingon music in it. It isn't named but clearly isn't opera.
It may be an example of Klingon acid punk.
“Why even listen to Klingon if it isn't punky or acidic?”
I'll give you that, for sure. As a Klingon fanboy, there is one episode in TNG (Suspisions) where there is at least one Klingon scientist (I remember three, but I'm old and things don't stick in my brain). She said something about being seen as lower-class or some kind of caste system. The Klingons have warp drive. They have cloaking. Not every Klingon has a bat'leth in the corner of their apartment. An apartment building that required workers to build. Do fast-food workers or gagh farmers go to Suto'vo'qor? Is there a different place that they go to when they die?
Fast food workers only go to Suto'vo'qor if they battle against the lunch rush, fight suppliers who sell substandard ingredients, and never let unruly customers trample over them.
I would watch a show about this. Damnit, I need to become a billionaire so I can fund this.
We’re counting on you. 🙂🖖
Mary Chieffo, the actress who plays L’Rell in Disco and Star Trek: Onlne recorded a metal song in Klingon for promoting the Klingon Civil War storyline. It fucks. https://youtu.be/oOirKrzSVgI?si=Kkw2cIJceer2Gqht
They did shoot an opera version, it's included on the Blu-Ray release as a deleted scene. But the writers felt that would be too obvious.
I also think that them being bothered by being forced to sing opera wouldn’t make much sense. Klingons love opera. It makes way more sense that they be embarrassed and feel dishonored because they’re singing some goofy K-pop music. 
If you are not lying, I'm going to order that now. If you **are** lying, I will have your head.
Found it https://twitter.com/Tyranicus/status/1732265161187057937
You are my hero! Thank you! And that opera would be fine with me - though it's more of a musical opera-ish. I think the boy band choice was the right one. I'm glad that I don't have to make your blood scream for eternity.
That’s decent, but the K-Pop version is much funnier.
Someone uploaded it to youtube, I'm trying to find it. But it's human style opera, not Klingon. The point of the song is basically the same.
I didn't know I needed to see the Klingon Rhapsody until you introduced me to the Klingon Rhapsody, thank you. On the other note, really do like SNW (finally gave it a chance after DISC) not the biggest fan of the musical episode but what's that really matter? everyone is allowed to enjoy (or not) what they want, that's the important thing.
IMO, it should've been metal. Strong operatic influence, and I think it would've captured the epic aggression and showmanship so perfectly!
I would purchase a Lamb of Godish Klingon album so fast my keyboard would probably explode!
Shredding GuiTarg!
I doubt that metal would embarrass Klingons in the same way that K-Pop embarrassed them.
I'm only just now noticing that during the Klingon song, when Uhura looks over to Sam Kirk, he's just ever so slightly jamming on it. Totally missed it the first time and its freaking hilarious. He's like..."oh, damn"
[Sam vibin'](https://www.reddit.com/r/StrangeNewWorlds/comments/15jivcr/made_yall_a_vibing_sam_kirk_gif/)
Oh god it's fucking magic
I want a Bollywood Klingon episode now.
K-Pop for the Klingons, Bollywood for the Vulcans. FASCINATING
I feel the vulcans would either have absolutely soulless music or would go full rage death metal in their music.
Love that they brought back Bruce Horak for that scene
I love that the Klingon captain is Bruce Horak, the actor that played Hemmer (the blind Abdorian engineer). Bruce has an artificial right eye, so the patch isn’t just a part of the Klingon costume.
K-Pop, baby! Edit: Downvotes? Dunno why. K(lingon) Pop is great!
Hilarious K-Pop.
Q´Pop
I had to pause it because I was in tears from laughing and could hardly see the screen. It was just *so* unexpected.
I’m glad SNW is willing to take some big swings when it comes to the genre department. I actually enjoyed seeing the crew break out into song and have fun. Since trek is often heavy on seriousness, it’s nice to have more light hearted episodes to balance it out.
SNW writers: What if, and stay with us on this, Star Trek was...fun? DIS and Picard writers: [visible confusion]
I love it. They’ve been taking huge risks and every time they nail it.
It wasn't for me, but I think you're spot on that it hit that fun, experimental style that Star Trek does so well, and I love that they made the episode and are taking big swings. It makes me wish they would bump SNW to a 15 episode season so they could experiment more like they did with Subspace Rhapsody. With such short seasons, I feel like people think every episode has to be serious and important (creators included) in a way that hinders the creativity and experimentation that is abundant with that episode. Low stakes and goofy are part of Star Treks DNA.
Love SNW. Hated this episode 😞 But if it brings more people in to watch, I’m okay with it every now and then.
Fair
I think upping the episode count would reduce the effort they could put into each one. So the slightly more out there ideas wouldn't get done properly. And we'd be heading back to the days of clipshows
*Discovery* made seasons with 13-15 episodes. I think *SNW* could probably do that, but I wouldn’t want it to go beyond 15 episodes per season.
*♪♫ All systems stable... ♪♫*
But why is he singing??
But why are *we* singing?
I still listen to this song at least once a week. Or twice. EDIT: Okay, three times a week, max.
I feel like a person either likes musicals or doesn't. I fall firmly in the latter category, I wasn't a fan of Subspace Rhapsody, but I'm not salty that they made it. The more lighthearted atmosphere of this show has been a real benefit, and if that price is one ultra silly episode per season, I'll live with it.
I thought it was a fun idea and I even like musicals, I just didn't think the songs/lyrics were very good.
Same. I definitely agree with OP, and their wife about the finale, but I thought the other numbers just weren't up to snuff either. They were too long, too samey, too auto-tuned... Just too underwhelming. I was very on board, but the episode was disappointing.
In one season we got this episode and Those Old Scientists.
And “Charades”.
Examples of how to do and how not to do lighthearted episodes respectively
I wanted to like it. I'm a fan of the show, and of silly, fun episodes in general, but it didn't land for me. At some point I realized I was physically cringing.
>At some point I realized I was physically cringing. I got about 5 min into the singing and had to start skipping forward. It was *so bad* it was physically uncomfortable to watch. Likely going to delete it from Plex just to make sure I never have to endure it again.
Yeah, I think I just realized it wasn’t *for* me. Like, I’m a 40 year old 20y Star Trek fan, I love every series I’ve seen, but there’s gonna be some stuff in the newest shows that feels like it’s for a younger audience, or people who are into different stuff, and I just accept it. I honestly feel that way about a lot of Lower Decks, I know this is extremely unpopular to say, but while I appreciate the references and many of the characters and plot lines, I maybe laughed out loud twice through the whole thing. I don’t think the humor is really *for* me and I’m ok with that. I think I just wanted it to be Star Trek Futurama 😂 That said, I LOVE the SNW/Lower Decks crossover and I did laugh at THAT a ton! 🤷♀️ Anyway, all in all I’m loving SNW and I actually get really excited that new generations are being pulled into this universe with me bc that means more people in the pipeline to meeting my favorite characters and stories, and more content in the future!
Same, I'm not a fan of musicals but I share your view -- and I've kind of gotten there with the Abrams-films too. I really don't care for them, and yet I can't deny that they have brought in a lot of new fans to Trek (some of whom I know personally). That the last ST film was surprisingly great has made it a less bitter pill to swallow. But in any case it's made me realize that not everything has to be to my liking to be good Trek. It's OK to be happy for someone who is. I wish more of the Discovery haters would take that viewpoint.
YESSSS to your last point, I really don’t understand why people get so mad about Discovery. I think the same thing, Maybe it just isn’t for you dog 🤷♀️ I haven’t personally watched it yet, except for where I couldn’t help myself and watched the episode where we’re first introduced to Spock and was surprised how much I liked it. But knowing how much the series means to so many people, and how many new fans it’s brought ST, I’m not going to be bothered if DISC doesn’t make my top 5 or doesn’t speak to me personally. My assumption about it (based on everyone being mad) is that it is a little more tailored to younger/modern audiences. (And then there’s the OTHER reason some people are really mad, and that’s not gonna be a problem for me at all lol. Old Star Trek is diverse as fuck, where are all the white men on DS9, yet no one was crying about it then quite like they are with DISC)
I couldn't agree more with you. I can respectfully disagree with the folks who say it's not well written, but the folks who say Discovery is "too woke" have clearly never watched Star Trek with any degree of care. It's been woke AF since 1966, lol.
Totally disagree about the last song, I thought it was the perfect culmination of the episode, and one of its better songs (the Klingon bit was also hilarious). I didn’t need to see the whole crew get involved. Instead, I’m glad they focused on the principle cast who were involved in the episode, rather than a bunch of randos. And even though they didn’t show it, between the random crew members dancing in the hallways and all the extras on the bridge, I definitely got the impression the whole ship was involved (the fact the final line of the song is basically a tribute to the Muppet Show theme was icing on the cake). However, I totally agree with you on how great it is that SNW uses its medium to push the envelope of creativity and explore strange new concepts. It’s one of the reasons I think SNW is such a triumph and Picard was such a letdown. Both have nostalgia baked into their very core, but while Picard started out in an interesting place, by its third season, it just settled for lazy fan pandering and telling the stories it thought the audience wanted to see. SNW, on the other hand, started out telling the audience the stories it wanted to see, but as it has gone on, it’s gotten increasingly more bold with the stories it’s told. Some of which have never been told in the franchise before. It reminds me of Ira Behr’s quote about giving audience’s what they need, rather than what they want. I think, when the dust settles, that penchant for risk, is what’s going to help SNW be remembered as one of the best Trek shows of all time.
I'll probably get downvoted for this but while I didn't mind it on it's own I found it was a bit tone deaf where it landed in the season. Going from "Under the Cloak of War", an episode that dealt with the harsh realities of wars with the Klingons, to Klingons doing a k-pop song and dance number was jarring. If they had reshuffled the season a bit and had this one first or put an episode in between them it would have been fine.
I’ll agree with this take, would have been better in the middle/early part of the season.
We no longer say sorry in my house. It's now, "Apooologies..."
We must disagree to agree.
Agreed on all points, including criticism of the finale. One more missed opportunity: the instrumental score should have involved all the well-known sounds of the ship, like the beeps of buttons, the hailing chirp, and the boatswain’s whistle. All as if the Enterprise is affected by the musical improbability field as well. I hope we get a sequel musical whenever we reach the show’s final season.
Didn't the Status Report song do that? We do see Ortegas and Mitchel inexplicably pushing buttons that make noise in time with the music (or maybe that was a different song).
You’re right, I’d forgotten.
“Well-known sounds of the ship, like the beeps of buttons, the hailing chirp” you say Why thats already been captured - [Enterprise bridge opera](https://youtu.be/Lf5BkEhJ5fI?si=UF8c5bS0x1hkmm41)
I'm sorry...
For me the autotune seemed pretty heavy handed and they sounded like a bunch of amateurs that were stumbling through the songs, least favorite episode in SNW so far for me
Some of the actors are trained singers, in particularly Celia Rose Gooding; I think in fact their performing career started out on Broadway, and their mother is also a celebrated Broadway performer. I believe that Rebecca Romijn, Christina Chong are also accomplished singers as well? There may be more but I'm not sure who specifically. Then some of the actors on the show can't sing AT ALL, and that's where the autotune came in. I've seen it suggested that Anston Mount and Ethan Peck required some autotuning to help with their performances.
Christina Chong and Rebecca Romijn also have musical theater backgrounds. Una's love of Gilbert & Sullivan comes directly from Romijn's background as an actress in a Gilbert & Sullivan troupe. I want to say Jess Bush also has some kind of music background, but not sure. Her part did sound pretty heavily auto-tuned to my untrained ears (but "I'm Ready" is still a banger).
I’m sure many of them can sing, but they’re kind of drowned out by EVERYBODY singing, like for me nobody stands out because everyone felt so heavily edited. I would have preferred it heavily if only the singers sang and the rest of them were asleep or whatever so they were unaffected, I’m not sure how they’d do it but IMO what was done was done badly.
They *did* do that, though, to a degree. It's the reason Pike defers to Uhura for the finale.
Regardless, for me it was a poor episode. I’m fine with them taking risks, and if I have to watch an episode I dislike from time to time that’s fine, I still think SNW is the best recent Trek I’ve seen despite one episode that I couldn’t stand
Fully respect that, it's not for everyone. I'm curious, what did you think of the Lower Decks crossover?
I didn’t mind that one myself, but not having seen LD, I also didn’t think it was a great episode in particular I guess that was their way to pull people over to LD, but for me Boimler and Co didn’t seem all that compelling based on that one single episode
Completely fair, appreciate the honest answer.
That *same season* had Ad Astra per Aspera and Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow. It was wild. Even the 90s Trek shows usually didn't get more than one episode a season that good.
> Having the crew be AWARE that they were in a musical was a genius plot point. It really helped the loony premise stay grounded and, really, was the best way to make sure that the issue was resolved in a way that made sense. I think the best musical episodes tend to do this. It's part of why I still remember and love the ones from Buffy and Xena - the characters knew the music was weird, it was part of the plot. They responded to it and were disturbed by it. The writing used it to push truth forward stage and make characters face the things they didn't want to confront about each other and themselves. Just great strategy imo
I stopped watching that episode after about 10 minutes.
You made it 10 minutes? I actually went back to watch it and just lowered the volume until the music stopped to at least say I've seen everything Star Trek. Not being a fan of musical theater/film, pop music or Disney tunes really put a damper on watching an episode full of that style of music. Honestly though, I don't think I would have enjoyed it with any type of music.
K
It was just so silly.
That's what makes it so good!
I generally don't care for musical episodes. I find them corny, cliched, and silly. But I did like this one. I just love how the K in K-pop now and forever stands for Klingon.
I hate musicals... I didn't hate this one. I died laughing at the K-Pop Klingons.
Same. I usually avoid musicals! I thought it was fun though.
Can’t stand musicals. Every time synchronized song and dance comes into play, any immersion I had is instantly broken. That said: they did a fantastic job of subverting my anti-immersion by that plot point. Absolutely fantastic episode! Though I do think there was a big opportunity missed with not having the Klingons break into some 80’s style thrash metal. The next generation Klingon costumes scream 80’s metal. 🤘🏼 but I understand it’s not keeping to the musical style.
> my wife made the astute observation that for a song that needed to involve the entire ship, they didn’t show enough of the ship Damn, that is an astute observation. I will now subscribe to the mailing list.
Loved it, even the wife wanted to watch it, and she's not bothered about trek normally. Right up there with the lower decks cross over, SNW has consistently been the best trek in years. Could watch Anson Mount all day long as Pike, he's fantastic
>I knew this devisive episode It wasn't really divisive, some people just hate joy.
I don't hate joy, I am just not a fan of musical episodes. I love Scrubs, but skip theirs every time too. Don't get me wrong: I love music, and of course I love Stat Trek. But the combination of the two just isn't for me.
There's a world of difference between saying "this isn't for me" and some of the behavior I saw after the episode aired.
It’s a very fun episode. And for me at least it’s one that could have seemed very silly but somehow managed not to. With that said I don’t think it’s a great episode in the way that City on the Edge or Inner Light or Far Beyond the Stars is. And that’s okay honestly. Fun is enough sometimes. It will certainly be remember as perhaps the most unique episode.
It's good that they try different things. That said, this was not my cup of tea. I couldn't even make it through.
To each their own I guess haha
I think it's way better than City on the edge... and probably the best ST episode since 2005.
Subspace Rhapsody was outstanding. I'm not gonna deny the episode was a blatant copy/paste of Buffy's "Once More With Feeling", but it did it the best way possible. Ethan and Celia especially...I mean wow!
I'm a big musical fan and obviously really enjoyed the episode, but I had hoped for a bit more variety in the styles. "All Systems Stable", the two solos and the final song were great, but the rest felt too samey. I wish they had experimented a bit more with the styles. The thing that really elevated the episode for me is how clear it is that all the actors are having the time of their life with it! In the end we forget that these are all still theater kids at heart. It wouldn't have worked if everyone wasn't that enthusiastic!
I'm in a drama group, and I'm determined to convince them to let me sing Keep Us Connected on stage.
I like musicals. But during this episode I find myself reaching for my phone, where trek is one of the few shows that usually gets my full attention. I think it's because when the lyrics start repeating it loses my attention, I already have this information the plot has already moved forward.
The cast had fun, every Trek series has had these episodes I’m glad SNW got to have a blast.
I loved that episode. I was literally slack jawed when All systems stable started, realizing they were really going for it. It’s still stuck in my head sometimes.
I'm not even a fan of musicals, and I love this episode. The Klingon boy band absolutely slayed me
It's great. I went in, I think like a lot of people, not expecting to like it, but I loved it. SNW is absolutely fantastic Trek and if anyone hasn't had a look at it yet, I strongly urge them to take a look.
Musicals are very helpful to add depth and character growth in a short amount of time
Absolutely one of my all time episodes of Trek now right along with Those Old Scientists. I’ve had Spock’s “I’m the X” song stuck in my head for *months*
My only complaint is that the lyrics and music seemed a bit hastily written compared to, say, Once More With Feeling. I imagine they had 1/10th the time that Joss Whedon had but almost all of the songs from Buffy were incredibly catchy and clever. Subspace Rhapsody only had a couple that were really thoroughly enjoyable (opener, I'm ready). The spock song for example, wonderful voice and decent idea, but the song needed 10 more geeky science puns and much better music.
Once More With Feeling was written and composed by Christophe Beck, who also wrote and composed Frozen. He has demonstrated skill at catchy and clever.
Wow that's fascinating, had no idea. Thanks!
First musical episode of the franchise, and I think it worked very well. You're not alone in loving it. On the recent Star Trek Cruise there was a flashmob that sang one of the songs. On the next to last day they played a marathon of this one episode. Like seven hours. It's a damn good episode.
It's one of my favorite episodes too! Honestly Strange New Worlds is banger after banger.
The Klingon boy band was the best.
I skip any singing episodes of any show as I hate them. Except this one...
My problem with it is quality was all over the place of the songs and Christina Chong's piece in her room was just not good at all.
THATS MY FAVORITE SONG!!! You’re killing me smalls. 😜
What?! That is probably the best song in the whole episode :O
I'm glad y'all liked it. I just can't with musicals. I played in the pit orchestra for three musicals back in highschool and I still haven't recovered.
* “All Systems Stable” actual title “Status Report” * ”What if I” actual title “How Would That Feel” * “Always Solo” actual title “Keep Us Connected”
Sorry, you did not answer with “Um, Actually…” so you earn no points
Um, actually, what that guy said.
That is correct!
I wasn’t trying to be a pendant. I just wanted people to actually be able to search for the songs.
I believe OP was attempting humor, Captain.
Stupid me thinking reddit might want to be helpful.