Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 3 Episode 2 Is A Prequel To Two Classic TOS Adventures

"Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" is a more direct prequel to the original show than "Star Trek: Enterprise." Set less than a decade before "The Original Series," "Strange New Worlds" follows the U.S.S. Enterprise, captained by Christopher Pike (Anson Mount), who has some familiar faces already on the crew: Spock (Ethan Peck), Uhura (Celia Rose Gooding), Nurse Christine Chapel (Jess Bush), and now Scotty (Martin Quinn).

"Strange New Worlds" is unafraid to call back (forward?) to classic "Original Series" episodes, even if the show still sticks (mostly) to "Trek" canon. For example, the show has brought back the reptilian Gorn as recurring villains, setting up Captain Kirk's (William Shatner) famous clash with a Gorn in the 1967 "Original Series" episode "Arena," and Lieutenant La'an Noonien-Singh (Christina Chong) is a descendant of the most infamous "Star Trek" villain, Khan Noonien Singh (Ricardo Montalbán).

The two-episode premiere of "Strange New Worlds" season 3 doubles up on nostalgia. The first episode, "Hegemony Part II," resolves the cliffhanger of last season. But in the next episode, "Wedding Bell Blues," things get much sillier and lower stakes.

Remember "Charades" last season, when Spock was turned into a human right before meeting his fiancee T'Pring's (Gia Sandhu) parents? That ended with Spock and Christine finally admitting their feelings, leading to an all-too-brief romance. The second episode is basically a sequel to that one, down to sharing the same director (Jordan Canning). Like "Charades," "Wedding Bell Blues" embraces a comedic tone and focuses a lot on Spock & Chapel.

The episode also debuts two new characters and Trekkies will recognize their names from different "TOS" episodes: Trelane (Rhys Darby) and Dr. Roger Korby (Cillian O'Sullivan).

First, the good Dr. Korby. His origins go back to the "The Original Series" episode "What Are Little Girls Made Of?", one of the very first "Trek" episodes ever. (It was the seventh aired episode of "TOS.") Korby, played by Michael Strong, was depicted as Chapel's (Majel Barrett) long-lost fiancé, an interstellar biologist and archaeologist who vanished on a dig many years ago.

The Enterprise locates Korby on planet Exo-III, once home to an advanced but now extinct civilization that created and was served by androids. Korby has created the gynoid Andrea (Sherry Jackson), creates an android duplicate of Kirk, and intends to spread the androids across the galaxy. He's stopped, and in the end, it's revealed Korby himself is an android; his human body was mortally wounded and he transferred himself into a new form to survive.

Chapel, already repulsed by his actions, utterly rejects the man she loved as already dead. In the end, Korby vaporizes himself and Andrea. Spock (Leonard Nimoy), arriving shortly afterwards, asks where Korby was. Kirk answers, "Dr. Korby was never here."

Back in "Strange New Worlds" season 2, Chapel applied to and was accepted to the Fellowship of Archaeological Medicine, a three-month assignment. There's a three month time skip between "Hegemony" and "Wedding Bell Blues," meaning that when the latter opens, Spock is ready to welcome Chapel back to the Enterprise. Unfortunately for him, she's brought along her new beau, who she met during the fellowship: Korby. (He must have lost his Irish accent after becoming an android.) 

But quickly into "Wedding Bell Blues," Spock and Chapel are planning for their wedding. Huh? That's the work of the episode's other guest star, Trelane.

In "TOS" episode "The Squire of Gothos," the Enterprise came across a mysterious planet called Gothos, home to "General Trelane" (William Campbell). He'd long been observing Earth, but due to light years' distance, he thought Earth was still in the Victorian era, so he dresses himself and his home like it's 18th century Europe.

Trelane wants the Enterprise crew to make Gothos their home, and they can hardly say no because he has godlike powers. While Trelane looks human, he's actually an incorporeal entity ... and a child, at that. His parents, not even bothering with human shape, show up to scold him and call him home during his climactic fencing duel with Kirk.

"The Squire of Gothos" is an influential "Trek" episode, one that can be seen as the basis for many future "the Enterprise encounters godlike beings" episodes: "Who Mourns For Adonais?", "Catspaw," any of the run-ins involving Captain Picard's (Patrick Stewart) recurring foe Q (John de Lancie) in "Star Trek: The Next Generation," and, of course, "Wedding Bell Blues."

In this episode, Trelane has put his powers to work by brainwashing everyone, except Korby, to think Spock and Chapel are engaged to be married. He inserts himself into the festivities as their wedding planner (apparently wearing a different face to everyone who lays eyes on him). His goal is as petty as a child's often is; he's jealous of how handsome and perfect Dr. Korby is and wants to play a prank on him. Like in "The Squire of Gothos," the heroes can't overpower Trelane, but he has no choice but to comply when his dad comes along. (Who voices Trelane's dad? Q actor John de Lancie, confirming the long-held theory that Trelane is a Q.)

As for how Trelane thought mankind was still in the days of conquest back during "The Squire of Gothos," when he already got a firsthand look at Starfleet in "Wedding Bell Blues"? Well, "Strange New Worlds" has proven before that it's willing to waive canon to tell a good story like "Wedding Bell Blues," and the show is better for it.

"Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" is streaming on Paramount+. New season 3 episodes will hit the streaming service every Thursday until the season is complete.