TL;DR – A profoundly silly episode about love, amazingly silly, yet that is what makes it such a joy.

Disclosure – I paid for the Paramount+ streaming service that viewed this episode. 

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Review –

One of the great strengths of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds has been its ability to shift from genre to genre on a dime. Sure, everything is still couched in that Sci-fi/Star Trek world. But last season we got Those Old Scientists, Under the Cloak of War &Subspace Rhapsody back to back, and it worked. Well, last week’s episode, Hegemony Part II, was all about war, trauma, and potential harvesting into food by the Gorn. This week, we have a wedding episode. Okay, maybe there isn’t that much of a difference after all.

So, to set the scene, the USS Enterprise has been stuck at Starbase One getting repairs for three months thanks to their battles with the Gorn in Hegemony Part II. But it is coming up to the Federation Day Centennial, and it is time for a ceremonial gala. For some, this is a time of un. But for Spock (Ethan Peck), it is a time of nervousness because Nurse Chapel (Jess Bush) is coming back from her three-month fellowship. He is taking out all the steps to make a grand emotional gesture, even getting dance lessons from La’An (Christina Chong). Buuuuuttttt, that doesn’t consider Chapel bringing Dr. Korby (Cillian O’Sullivan) back with her… as her date … Sure hope some entity with cosmic powers doesn’t want to mess with everyone right now. Now, from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead.

While the whole ensemble gets to have their moment to shine in this profoundly silly episode, the cornerstone of it all is Ethan Peck’s Spock. I am struggling to work out which was the best Spock comedic moment, there was the time he told a joke by playing into his apparent inability to understand idioms or of course that moment he was completely full of sass, the kind of sass even Beckett Mariner would raise a glass to. It is his love, his awkwardness, his strength that helps guide the episode, even if he might also be part of the reason that it is all happening.

Indeed, this is an episode that is throwing on the charm right from the start. That awkward moment when everyone else in the transporter room, even Scottie (Martin Quinn), clocked that Korby was Chapel’s date before Spock. Or the way that Batel (Melanie Scrofano) snuck in a hair product joke that was clearly written for the fans, yet felt so natural in the scene. Melanie Scrofano is bringing that Letterkenny energy to the proceedings. Then there was Beto (Mynor Luken), Erica’s (Melissa Navia) brother, and Uhura (Celia Rose Gooding) getting their flirt on, which was adorable. Or even Christina Chong showing how good a dancer she was. Even the musical score is playing along with a jaunty, almost magical time.

At the core of this was the return, or more correctly, the first appearance of the entity known as Trelane (Rhys Darby). Much like when they got Rainn Wilson to depict Harry Mudd in Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad, they reached for comedy gold in the form of Rhys Darby. It is clear that he is having a blast prancing around the halls of the Enterprise, pretending to be a wedding planner, causing havoc wherever he goes. I liked the touch that everyone on the ship sees him as a different type of alien; it helps build out the mystery of the character. The only reason that his character works is that Rhys plays it with such conviction that you are ready for his inevitable crash out at the end of the episode when it doesn’t go his way. Of course, I do love that they tipped their hat to theory that has been bubbling along until they winked at it in Those Old Scientists, that Trelane was a Q. Look, Sure, they don’t say that John de Lancie is playing Q, even the subtitles are mum on that front, but we all know he is playing Q.

While there is a lot of silliness going on in this episode, and it is better for it, it was also looking at some deep emotions. Spock’s wedding vows showed a profound understanding of love coming from the perspective of someone who has lost his heart. It is a speech about what he would have done, but also acknowledging that he didn’t do those things, and time has moved on. You couldn’t help but feel a touch of emotion there. But also, probably the most crucial thing in the entire episode is what bookends the story. Last episode in Hegemony Part II, Ortegas was almost fatally wounded, and while the three-month jump at the start of the episode looked like it skipped over her recovery, it is clear that it didn’t. For an episode all about silliness, it ended on a note of real pain, and few shows can manage a transition like that as well as this episode did.

In the end, do we recommend Star Trek: Strange New Worlds – Wedding Bell Blues? Absolutely. I had so much fun here. For all the silliness, there was a real heart to the proceedings. I mean, sure, they didn’t always hide that volume very well, but nothing perfect, and the costuming more than made up for it. Have you seen Star Trek: Strange New Worlds yet? Let us know what you thought in the comments below.

By Brian MacNamara: You can follow Brian on Twitter Here, when he’s not chatting about Movies and TV, he’ll be talking about International Relations, or the Solar System.

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Credits – All images were created by the cast, crew, and production companies of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds
Directed by – Jordan Canning
Written by – Kirsten Beyer & David Reed
Created by – Akiva Goldsman, Alex Kurtzman & Jenny Lumet
Based On – Star Trek Created by Gene Roddenberry
Production/Distribution Companies – CBS Television Studios, Roddenberry Entertainment, Secret Hideout & Paramount+
Starring – Anson Mount, Ethan Peck, Jess Bush, Christina Chong, Celia Rose Gooding, Melissa Navia, Babs Olusanmokun, Martin Quinn & Rebecca Romijn with John de Lancie, Cillian O’Sullivan, Rhys Darby, Melanie Scrofano, Dan Jeannotte, Mynor Luken & Chris Myers and Alex Kapp & Kira Guloien