Warning! The following contains SPOILERS for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' "Subspace Rhapsody." Read at your own risk!
It's not often that a Star Trek show can say it boldly went where no previous show had gone before, but Strange New Worlds officially holds that honor with "Subspace Rhapsody." The franchise's first musical episode largely hits all the right notes and progresses the storylines of Season 2, though there was one moment that was up for debate behind the scenes. Director Dermott Downs revealed to CinemaBlend that there was some discussion about the Klingon song and dance scene, and whether it was a little too much, even for a musical episode.
I spoke to Dermott Downs ahead of the release of "Subspace Rhapsody" about whether or not there was a longer cut of the Klingon performance we might see in deleted scenes of Season 2 or elsewhere. Downs confirmed what was seen was it, and that there were people worried about it being filmed for the episode:
There wasn't one other option because there were a couple of people that were nervous that we were jumping the shark with that by having a Klingon do K-Pop. Even shooting it, we were like, ‘Come on, there’s no other way.’ I mean, we're at the pinnacle of this battle of the bands basically as we’re trying to fight this anomaly with music. So if we have to come together as one, this was kind of the crescendo. You wanted to go that extra step. So, ultimately, everybody saw the reason in that. But it was always that short. Obviously, it would’ve been fun to do a longer choreographed K-Pop version, but our story is really grounded on our ship, so we can only see what the monitor is showing us.
Admittedly, it was quite jarring to see a group of proud Klingon warriors perform an elaborate pop routine that bumped up against the more traditional ballads in "Subspace Rhapsody." If the reader had mixed feelings about seeing the scene when the episode aired, rest assured that there were those who felt the same on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds long before it arrived for those with a Paramount+ subscription.
With that being said, there were even questions about doing a musical for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds on the director's end not long after he signed on. Dermott Downs said he had some doubts after initial conversations with the showrunners, but it didn't take long for him to get on board:
As I talked to them they were so, ‘This show is grounded. It’s always character [driven].’ Before I got the script I was like, ‘Ok, we’re doing ten songs, are we jumping the shark here?’ To their credit, I think they drafted a brilliant script. Once you establish the anomaly, it really lets the virus or infection sort of give music the license to give exposition. You’re singing things you can’t say, and the longer it goes, you’re singing things you’re horrified to say.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds certainly did manage to stay grounded and keep the Season 2 story moving forward onto the season finale. Spock and Chapel officially seemed to sever their brief relationship, and they managed to stop the anomaly and prevent the entirety of the affected area from singing and dancing for all eternity. Some viewers, truthfully, wouldn't have been so mad if that happened.
We also were gifted with a big reference to James Kirk's on-and-off girlfriend Carol Marcus, who is currently pregnant with their son David. This seemingly puts the kibosh on the building La'an and Kirk romance, but perhaps something will change on that front in the Season 2 finale.
We don't know with certainty what is on the way in the finale episode, though given the tease of an approaching Gorn fleet outside of Federation space, it's possible the Enterprise will be pulled into a conflict with it should it arrive. Could that be where Captain Batel was headed off to? I wonder if the Gorn are good at dancing too.
