In the “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds” episode “Wedding Bell Blues,” Spock (Ethan Peck) finds himself growing despondent over the fact that he and Nurse Chapel (Jess Bush) may not be destined to date. Spock and Chapel spend several months apart, only for her to return with a new boyfriend, a charming scientist named Roger Korby (Cillian O’Sullivan). Spock is as heartbroken as a Vulcan can be.
There is a reception in a bar thereafter, and Spock finds himself feeling jealousy watching Chapel and Korby together. He walks over to the bartender (Rhys Darby), who notices his pain. The bartender gives him a strong cocktail, and Spock retires to his quarters. When he wakes up, reality has shifted. Chapel in his bed with him, smiling happily. She mentions that today is their wedding day, and that she can’t wait to get all the planning done. Spock seems to be going along with it. What just happened?
Of course, there is a reality-shifting mystery afoot, and Spock and Korby will team up to solve it. They find that someone is mucking about with the very fabric of reality. As any good Trekkie may immediately be able to intuit, the culprit is obvious. Rhys Darby can be seen wearing a blue coat with gold trim, the same costume worn by Trelane from the original “Star Trek” episode “The Squire of Gothos” (January 12, 1967). This is clearly the same being, or at least someone similar.
But then, Trekkies and continuity sticklers will immediately chime in on a screenwriterly conflict: Spock only met Trelane for the first time in “The Original Series,” in an episode which takes place several years after “Wedding Bell Blues.” Did the “Strange New Worlds” writers screw with canon?
Luckily, there is a conceit that covers for this. This version of Trelane (or whoever it is), it seems, can appear differently to different people. Spock wouldn’t recognize him, because he looked different before.
