“[It] is probably one of the funniest ones we’ve had in all five seasons.”
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds continues its playful course exploring various genres in its season 4 episode “Like Chronitons Through the Hourglass,” which is a fun tip of the cap to daytime soap operas. Even Days of Our Lives sensation Deidre Hall appears as a guest star, and SNW’s mainstay Jess Bush couldn’t stop raving about it in a new interview.
“Watching that back, it was hilarious,” Bush said (per TV Insider). “It’s a brilliant episode in my opinion. I know leading up to shooting it, I was nervous just because we hadn’t shot in a multi-cam format before, and it just moved so quickly. And so, leading up to it, that felt nerve-wracking because we’re used to a certain amount of space and time on set.”
Bush, who took up the mantle of Nurse Christine Chapel from Majel Barrett years after her brilliant performance as the character in The Original Series, continued by saying in the same sit-down:
“But when we got into it, it actually was so freeing and super, super fun. And it was wild to see how quickly we could shoot the day. Also, our director was brilliant and is such a perfect captain for that episode. And I think she’s made a very special episode of Star Trek that, in my opinion, is probably one of the funniest ones we’ve had in all five seasons.”
I was delighted with Strange New Worlds’ homage to the melodramatic world of daytime television, but Bush’s character has taken a back seat in the ole shuttlecraft this season. In SNW season 3, Chapel was an integral part of the storytelling throughout all 10 episodes, particularly where the “love” triangle between her, Mr. Spock (Ethan Peck), and Dr. Korby (Cillian O'Sullivan) was concerned.
However, in Strange New Worlds season 4, Chapel simply hasn’t been featured enough. In fact, at least through the first seven episodes, SNW showrunners Akiva Goldsman and Henry Alonso Myers are treating the character more like an afterthought akin to how she was often portrayed in The Original Series — and that’s not a good thing.
With the exception of some standout scenes and the Chapel-centric “What Are Little Girls Made Of?” TOS season 1 installment, the Enterprise’s nurse was relegated to being a fixture in the background most of the time. And I fear that’s happening to Jess Bush in this year’s slate of Strange New Worlds’ stories.
Do you agree with Bush’s assessment of Star Trek’s soap opera episode? Share your thoughts and comments with us on the Redshirts Always Die Facebook and X pages. And Strange New Worlds’ “Like Chronitons Through the Hourglass” is now streaming on Paramount+.
Live long and prosper, Trekkies!
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