Review: Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, "Subspace Rhapsody" | Season 1, Episode 9
In which we sing-a, about the moon-a and June-a and the spring-a
I suppose at this point that “musical episodes” of normally non-singing TV shows are just something I have to accept. Not every show has one, but enough have played around with the idea that it’s starting to feel like a standard, if the cast is game and the mood is right. I think the Buffy episode “Once More With Feeling” started the trend; it likely wasn’t the first musical episode ever, but it was the one that made the strongest impact on my generation, aka the generation that is now making TV shows. The thing is (and I hate to admit this): I don’t like “Once More With Feeling” that much. It’s fine? But the idea of hearing a bunch of non-singers warbling through songs that are almost as good as the music they’re imitating doesn’t appeal to me. There’s a charm in it, but that charm is mostly about novelty, and once the novelty goes away, what’s left is a gimmick that holds back the writers much more than it helps them.
“Subspace Rhapsody” is c…