How K-Pop won over Klingon opera in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' "Subspace Rhapsody"

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds had a hit with the second season's musical episode "Subspace Rhapsody."

With the entire cast enlisted to participate in musical numbers, viewers got to witness the vocal abilities of some of the best singers Star Trek: Strange New Worlds offered. The songs proved to be so popular that the soundtrack even hit number one on Apple Music's streaming charts.

Though there were some hits and some misses on the episode, overall, it was a solid turnout. One of the favorite parts for most people was toward the end of the episode when Bruce Horak (formerly Hemmer) showed up as Klingon General Garkog. Of course the Klingons had to participate in the musical, but most everyone expected them to break out into an operatic number. Instead, though, Garkog and his crew jumped into a K-Pop song.

So how was K-Pop chosen for the Klingons on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds instead of opera?

Series star Anson Mount shared the story behind the song when he participated in a Q&A to support the SAG Foundation. {via Screenrant]. Originally, the studio wanted opera for the Klingons, especially after they saw the K-Pop number.

"Speaking of the Klingon boy band, so when you do a show, you're getting a lot opinions coming in at you from every direction. And this network, I have to say, has been really, really amazing about leaving us mostly alone to try these crazy things. But the Klingon boy band was one thing where they went, 'Whoa, hold on. Hold on. Could it be something a little bit more serious? That is more Klingon-like, like opera.' We were like, 'Klingons have opera.' The plot point is that they're embarrassed. So why would they be embarrassed of doing opera? We actually had to shoot two different versions of that scene to show them that one worked, and the other one just kind of didn't. And so when they saw it, they let us get away with the boy band thing."

- Anson Mount

Say what you want to about "Subspace Rhapsody," but there's no denying that serious warriors singing K-Pop is one of the funniest things to ever appear on Star Trek. But, if you think you might have preferred to see the Klingons singing their love language, you can catch the opera version on Strange New World's season 2 Blue-ray. Either way, the Klingons had great success with their musical number, and we hope to see them back...perhaps on tour.