Star Trek just did a musical episode and it was exquisite. Wouldn’t have commented about it except I saw some internet folks grumping about it.
Context: it came directly after a Very Serious (and well done) Episode about war vets and PTSD. Which itself came after a silly crossover with the Star Trek: Lower Decks episode (also, very well done).
It created an amusing technobabble as to why the musical happened which actually reflects a technology from TNG and onwards.
It followed the rule of good musicals openly. As in, the characters absolutely commented on it. The main rule being when you get too emotional to speak, sing; when you get too emotional to sing, dance.
The character’s reactions ran the range from “This is so much fun!” to “oh my god, somebody please stop this”.
They honored the lore the show had already created. Especially the relationships between characters and how to deal with angry Klingons). They also dropped in lore from TOS and the Star Trek movies that made -perfect sense- and advanced the plot.
They openly autotuned one voice and I honestly think that was to make that voice slightly alien because that’s the -heart- of the character.
The songs they created were absolute earworms.
But best of all, this, like in the episode “Lost in Translation”, honored Nichelle Nichol’s Uhura. I truly wish she was alive to see it because it was a thorough and delightful nod to the power of her character and Celia Rose Gooding, who plays the current Uhura, is an absolute treasure.
So I’m going to let the haters hate, because apparently they’ve forgotten episodes like “Piece of the Action” and “Trouble with Tribbles” and just say that 2 seasons in, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is an amazing show that isn’t afraid to just swing for the fences.