By Chris Snellgrove | Updated
Mostly public reception Star Trek: Strange New WorldThanks to the talented cast, solid script, and insanely high production values, it turned out quite positively. For many Star Trek fans, however, this series had one misstep: the musical episode “Subspace Rhapsody.”
Admittedly, this episode pales in comparison to more successful musical episodes like Buffy the Vampire Slayeris “Once More With Feeling” and the songs could use a little (okay, a much) more catchy. Still, I believe fans should respect this controversial episode because it proves that the writers of the best science fiction franchise are still willing to take creative risks.
As longtime Star Trek fans know, the franchise hasn’t always shown the creativity that went into Star Trek’s musical episode Strange New Worlds. For example, early episodes of The next generation recycled scripts written to abort Original series Sequel show that would have introduced new characters like Decker and Ilia. These characters were later recycled Star Trek: The Movie and later inspired the characters of Riker and Troi in TNG.
The franchise had some other derivative moments, of course. Deep Space Nine (a personal favorite) has long been accused of being a rip-off Babylon 5, And Star Trek: Nemesis is a lame retread of The Khan’s Wrath. Speaking of which Wrath of Khanhis smoke fight sequence was recorded and reused for episodes of The next generation and even Picard.
Star Trek has a long history of derivation. Strange New WorldsThe musical episode is a refreshing reminder that the franchise is still capable of surprising us.
That didn’t stop many fans from wringing their hands over everything from the plot to the lyrical delivery. Like a true geek choir, most of these disgruntled fans agreed on a single statement: “Star Trek shouldn’t have a musical episode.” These fans have a very set idea of what the franchise should and shouldn’t do, and like a bad one trained Targ, they’re always waiting to pounce on an episode or movie that deviates from what they think Star Trek should do.
However, this is the kind of short-sighted view that doesn’t just hold the franchise back. If such fans had their way, the franchise would have died decades ago.
The next generation is considered the best Star Trek series by many older fans, but not just this series very different to The original seriesIt only reached its true greatness when it was free from the influence of franchise creator Gene Roddenberry.
Again, Deep Space Nine became the TRUE The greatest Trek show of all time, explicitly ignoring the narrative limitations of previous shows. This includes Roddenberry’s prohibition against creating conflict between characters.
Even though I can’t hum a single song or remember a single lyric, I admire the first musical episode of Star Trek because it proudly ignores all the rules. In the past, Star Trek has been held back by fans who wanted nothing more than to spin around the sun and return the franchise to an imaginary golden age (like the ’90s).
Star Trek would never have survived if the writers weren’t willing to take risks, and Strange New WorldsWriters have recognized a haunting truth: Star Trek can be it anything. I should never again be held back by disgruntled fans who are unwilling to put down their TNG DVD sets and admire a franchise that finally remembers the wisdom of James T. Kirk: “Risk is ours Business.” Strange New Worlds is ready to lead us toward a better, brighter, and bolder future one episode (and, yes, one song) at a time.