The Best Singers In Star Trek's Subspace Rhapsody, Ranked From Uhura To Worst
Season 2 of "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" is almost over and it didn't miss a chance to leave its mark on "Star Trek" history. The ninth and penultimate episode, "Subspace Rhapsody," is the first "Star Trek" musical episode. Like any good musical, it opens with a group number, branches off into solos, and then reunites the cast for a grand finale.
But wait, you might ask, how does the show justify such an odd premise? "Strange New Worlds" is the show that, back in season 1's "The Elysian Kingdom," turned the Enterprise crew into characters out of a child's fairy tale. A musical episode is well within the show's tonal range and ability to excuse.
At the start of the episode, the Enterprise is investigating a "naturally-occurring subspace fold" — Starfleet hopes the fold can be harnessed to enable faster communication. When Uhura and Spock send a song into it hoping for a response, it responds by altering probability to turn the Enterprise into a reflection of a musical universe. Long story short? The cosmic phenomenon of the week is making the Enterprise act like they're in a musical, so just go with it.
Every cast member, main and recurring, gets at least one moment singing. Musical episodes on TV will always put a cast out of their elements; they signed up to act, not sing and dance. How do the respective musical talents of the cast of "Strange New Worlds" compare?
1. Ensign Nyota Uhura
Taking the crown as best singer on the Enterprise is Nyota Uhura (Celia Rose Gooding). As the ship's communications officer and polyglot, it's only natural that's she also skilled in song. The final solo of the episode, "Keep Us Connected," is hers. It's basically a musical recap of her character arc; she sings about how she's been alone since her family's death. That is, until she came to the Enterprise and found friends who had faith in her.
Even before "Subspace Rhapsody," Uhura was canonically a good singer. In "Star Trek: The Original Series" episode "Charlie X," she sings for the rest of the crew. Nichelle Nichols' singing was high energy but her voice was soft and melodic like a lullaby. Gooding, on the other hand, goes loud. Once Uhura has the engine room to herself, she belts her heart out, singing at the top of her lungs, yet stays perfectly in tune with the strumming instrumentals.
Gooding is not just an actor, they're a Broadway star too; they first broke out from the 2018-2020 runs of the rock musical "Jagged Little Pill." That theatrical spirit hasn't left Gooding; while singing as Uhura, they animate their body and project their voice like a stage performer. The results are enrapturing.
2. Lieutenant La'an Noonien Singh
La'an Noonien Singh, the Enterprise's uptight security chief, is played by Christina Chong. On top of her acting, Chong is a singer with the solos "Twin Flames," "No Blame," and "Can't Show Love" to her name. Surprise, surprise — the other trained musician among the cast gets second place as the show's best singer.
After spotting Una (Rebecca Romijn) and Jim Kirk (Paul Wesley) hitting it off, La'an retreats to her quarters and breaks out into a solo ballad, scored to a sad piano melody. La'an is usually rather stoic and closed off from others. Her song, "How Would That Feel," from the isolated setting to the lyrics, is all about that. She asks herself if she should "change her paradigm" and open herself up to others — but in turn, if she could manage to "fly blind" in her life.
The blocking reflects the song's theme of self-reflection — there's a shot of La'an standing in front of a mirror and then out a window. Most of the shots, though, are still close-ups of her as she sings. Rather than a theater star, Chong feels like someone most used to singing in place before a fixed microphone. It works, though, thanks to her expressive face (that she finally gets to put to full use) and how she keeps hitting higher and higher notes as the song goes on.
3. Lieutenant Commander Spock
Spock (Ethan Peck) has always shown some musical inclinations, even back during "The Original Series." He plays a Vulcan lute in his spare time; this season revealed that it was prescribed to him as a coping method for his emotions. We've never seen Spock singing along as he plucks the lute's strings, but "Subspace Rhapsody" reveals that isn't due to lack of talent.
Spock is the first crew member to break out into song during the first group number, "Status Report." Seeing an emotionally-restrained Vulcan singing underlines the surreality of the musical; normally, Spock would be the least likely to express himself so overtly.
He gets a solo later in the episode, right before Uhura's: "I'm The X." The title's meaning is twofold. For one, Spock is the ship's science officer, so he's always trying to solve the unknown like an equation. It's also a pun on how Christine Chapel (Jess Bush) has chosen her career over continuing their relationship. Spock's feelings of betrayal tie the meanings together; he's decided that giving over to his emotions yielded disastrous consequences so he will return to cold analysis.
"I'm The X" is one of the calmest heartbreak songs I've ever heard. Underscored by a dour electronic tune, Peck maintains a strong and even timbre while moving his face as little as possible; Spock's shields haven't dropped even under these circumstances. Yet somehow, you can still feel the rawness in his voice.
4. Captain Christopher Pike
A plot point in "Subspace Rhapsody" is that the musical behavior is causing the Enterprise crew to reveal information they'd rather keep secret. Captain Pike (Anson Mount) gets the worst of it. His partner Captain Marie Batel (Melanie Scrofano) calls after the music plague spreads to her own ship. She and Pike get caught in a duet where they have "A Private Conversation" about the relationship, their frustrations with one another laid bare for the Enterprise bridge crew to see.
The one thing that isn't embarrassing? Pike's singing ability. Scrofano is a capable scene partner, but Mount steals the scene for himself with a smooth, mellifluous baritone — exactly the kind of voice you'd picture coming out of his handsome face.
Since "A Private Conversation" is the most comedic of the setlist, it has a playful orchestral tune, like something out of "Peter and the Wolf." Tragically, it's cut short when La'an disconnects the transmission. We do get to hear a bit more of Pike singing in supporting parts during "Status Report" and "We Are One." Pike might've been uncomfortable singing, but I was eating it up.
5. Commander Una Chin-Riley and 6. Lieutenant James T. Kirk
Back in episode 6, "Lost In Translation," it was revealed that Kirk (Paul Wesley) has been promoted to First Officer of his current ship, The USS Farragut. So, he spends some time on the Enterprise shadowing Una (Rebecca Romijn), an experienced First Officer. Their duet, "Connect To Your Truth," is about this new mentor-student relationship; Una explains how to best be a starship second-in-command.
Naturally, Commander Chin-Riley takes the lead in the duet. "Connect To Your Truth" boasts some of the most complex lyrics and creative rhyming schemes in the song's tracklist; from the wordplay to the flighty mood it often feels like a "Star Trek" themed "Mary Poppins" song. The nature of the song also evokes "My Fair Lady" (or rather, "My Fair First Officer"). Romijn understands how to handle this, drawing out some of her line deliveries even if her singing voice doesn't quite escape the confines of her normal one. Wesley handles himself just fine but definitely cedes the spotlight to his costar.
Romijn must have been eager to sing; she was a Music major before becoming an actress and model. Thus, Una also gets a solo — "Keeping Secrets" — a follow-up to La'an's "How Would That Feel" as the Commander advises her younger friend. Una confesses that "in another life, [she] could see herself on a stage." By enthusiasm alone, I could see her getting there.
7. Nurse Christine Chapel
Back in "Charades," Nurse Christine Chapel had been rejected from a scientific fellowship. In "Subspace Rhapsody," she's applied to another one and gets it — but that means she'll have to leave the Enterprise. Spock confronts her about it while she's toasting to her success and the number makes it clear where her priorities are. "I'm Ready" is all about how Christine's been working so hard to get to the top of the scientific field; she can't even bother paying attention to Spock, so focused on her own dreams and ambitions.
The music is a poppy dance song, with everyone in the bar joining in and swaying back and forth; only Christine's voice is clearly audible but there's some background vocal harmonizing too. "I'm Ready" has the most extras and complex choreography of any "Subspace Rhapsody" sequence. Some of those extras take turns carrying Christine around as she dances around the room, climbing onto the bar and some tables along the way.
Sadly, the most underwhelming part of the scene is Jess Bush's own singing. From my own ear, it sounded like her voice had been auto-filtered. It might have been a creative choice, whether to have her voice match the upbeat mood of the song or to show that Christine's not her usual, more reserved self. I'm not convinced it was the right one, though.
8. Lieutenant Erica Ortegas and 9. Dr. Joseph M'Benga
Musical TV episodes always reveal which cast members are comfortable/capable with singing and which aren't. Those in the latter category for "Strange New Worlds" appear to have been Melissa Navia (Erica Ortegas) and Babs Olusanmokun (Dr. M'Benga). Neither one gets a solo song, whether due to runtime constraints, the actors' disinterest, or something else altogether. As a result, it's hard to judge these two against their castmates.
Both Ortegas and M'Benga do sing during the group numbers. M'Benga's parts in both songs feature him harmonizing with Chapel (they both work in Sick Bay, after all), so it's especially hard to get a read on his own voice.
Ortegas, though, does get a brief solo as part of "Status Report." The song features a bridge of the Enterprise Bridge crew describing their stations on ready; Ortegas does so for the ship's helm. Navia's voice sounded good, to the point where I'm puzzled why they didn't give Ortegas more material. She's generally a comic relief character, so a funny song would fit her like a glove. Maybe "Strange New Worlds" season 3 will have to feature "Subspace Rhapsody II" to give Ortegas a moment at the mic.
"Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" is streaming on Paramount+.