Stardate: 2251.7
Original Air Date: July 17, 2025
Writers: Kirsten Beyer and David Reed
Director: Jordan Canning
“I hope you find the sun and the moon and the stars.”
According to a Science Officer’s personal log by Spock, after a three-month billet at Starbase One, the Enterprise has nearly recovered from the battle with the Gorn. The Federation Centennial, the one hundredth anniversary of the founding of the United Federation of Planets, is just three days away and Captain Pike believes hosting a gala will improve the morale of the crew. Spock and Nurse Chapel have not spoken with each other since she left for her fellowship with Roger Korby (played by Cillian O’Sullivan).
La’an teaches Spock how to dance until it’s time for Nurse Chapel to finally arrive back on the ship. However, when she finally beams aboard, she is joined by her fellowship director Dr. Roger Korby. Spock goes to the transporter room to greet Nurse Chapel carrying a first edition Saltaventur as a gift, however it quickly becomes apparent that Nurse Chapel and Dr. Korby are romantically involved much to Spock’s chagrin.
Meanwhile, Erica Ortegas is boxing with her little brother Beto (who seems smitten with Uhura) and Dr. M’Benga has taken on a new permanent assignment for the ensign. We learn that Captain Batel’s body has survived the metabolization process (thanks to Una Chin-Riley’s Illyrian blood transfusion) and the Gorn embryos have all been fully reabsorbed. She is now shopping for a new ship to lead.
Later, over drinks in the Port Galley, Nurse Chapel and Dr. Korby recount a romantic story in which Dr. Korby took her to the top of Mount Caleb in memory of her mother’s passing and, like a saying her mother used to use (“I hope you find the sun and the moon and the stars”), he showed her the whole sky including the sun, moon, and stars before gifting her a Tilaryan Star Gem bracelet. All of this is recounted while a sullen Spock looks on. Spock then departs from the group and has a drink at the bar from a strange, mysterious Andorian gentleman. When Spock sits in bed later, he is transported to a dreamlike alternate reality in which he and Nurse Chapel are to be married.
But in this fantasy, Dr. Korby seems to be the only person who is aware that reality has been altered. After a brief altercation, Spock comes to the same realization. Who is the entity causing this mass delusion? And why has Spock’s brief emotional reaction (punching Dr. Korby) allowed him to see the truth? They soon discover that it was the eccentric bartender –a dead ringer for Trelane from the TOS episode “The Squire of Gothos” though he is never actually named– who threatens the whole crew with his awesome power if Spock doesn’t play along with this charade. He is an all-powerful trickster looking for childish amusement. Thus, Spock goes through with the wedding ceremony where he delivers a powerful, emotional, amorous speech to Christine Chapel, and this triggers her to awaken from this strange dream and realize they have been toyed with.
Shortly thereafter, an incorporeal orb appears and scolds the Trelane character (the orb is voiced by famous Q actor John de Lancie!) The unnamed Trelane character departs by saying, “Talley-ho! You’ve all been lots of fun!” and all things are returned to normal as the crew celebrates Centennial Day instead of a wedding. There is a dance party and a multi-armed bartender is invited aboard the Enterprise.
The episode ends as Ortegas leaves the dance floor and continues boxing alone while she is haunted by memories of the Gorn.
My Thoughts on “Wedding Bell Blues”
The return of Trelane! And it is confirmed that he is part of the Q Continuum (though Trelane is never explicitly named). This part of the episode was undoubtedly the highwater mark and it answers a long-standing fan-theory. It was doubly powerful to see the small parental orb of Trelane voiced by John de Lancie –what a nostalgia-berry treat for fans of Star Trek! “Wedding Bell Blues” wonderfully weaves together elements of the TOS episode “What Are Little Girls Made Of?” and “The Squire of Gothos” as well as any number of TNG Q episodes. This is a delightful quirky comedy episode.
I’m not onboard with Spock playing the lover’s lament role, he continues to mope around as a hopeless romantic, then suddenly angrily punching another man out of jealousy, and then we later spot him across the dance floor seemingly nearly on the verge of tears over losing Nurse Chapel. This is just wildly out of character for everyone’s favorite half-Vulcan, half-human. I was also dismayed by several contemporary references in the episode like ordering Guinness from a bar, or the crew dancing to “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” by Wham! I also didn’t really care for the childlike antics of Ortegas, Uhura, and Beto. Also, Uhura and Beto are apparently infatuated with one another –does every character in this show need to have a romance subplot? I’m really losing interest in these romances.
I think I would rank “Wedding Bell Blues” a notch above the season opener “Hegemony, Part II.” Somehow Star Trek: Strange New Worlds has managed to cracked the code on how to make delightful, entertaining comedy episodes in the relatively cynical modern age of Star Trek, but I’m still waiting for science fiction greatness from this show.
Star Trek Trivia:
- Centennial Day is a reference to the final episode of Star Trek: Enterprise.
- Spock notes that Dr. Roger Korby has written 234 papers on archaeological medicine.
- A first edition Saltaventur is offered to Chapel from Spock.
- Dr. Korby claims to have read a Pablo Neruda poem to Nurse Chapel to woo her during her fellowship.
- At Spock’s faux bachelor party, Captain Pike has prepared all of Spock’s favorites: jumbo mollusk, Pok-tar, and Lutrog. And Saurian Brandy (though Scotty does not partake, though by the end of the episode he orders a pair of Guinness).
- The act of counting tribbles is briefly referenced in this episode.
- The presumed Trelane character (only known as “The Wedding Planner” in this episode) is said to be 8,020 years old. He is played by Rhys Darby, who has appeared in a variety of films and television shows including as Murray Hewitt in the Flight of the Conchords series.
- This episode confirms (apparently) the longstanding fan theory that Trelane is a member of the Q Continuum (confirmed with the inclusion of John de Lancie’s voice in this episode).
An episode about how our sense of reality can be tampered with and how our Trek heroes can navigate their way through it, certainly with Trelane’s possible return, may be among the most commonly reusable plot dramas for Star Trek. The more questionable things may often be for many of us can make such continuing stories attractive enough. The hope that the reality that should be right for us will somehow make itself manifest, especially with the ones we love, is a good-enough reason for Star Trek of all shows to always give us more of that hope.
Thank you for your review.