Kay Hanley & Tom Polce, the songwriters of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds musical, reveal a nicer, unused ending for Nurse Chapel’s song, “I’m Ready.
Summary
- Nurse Chapel’s song in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds was originally polite, but the writers pushed for a knife-twisting ending.
- Kay Hanley and Tom Polce had to make Chapel’s musical number more intense by having her go after Lieutenant Spock.
- The collaborative effort between writers, showrunners, and musicians led to the musical episode receiving a Hugo Award nomination.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds songwriters Kay Hanley and Tom Polce were told to “twist the knife” in Nurse Christine Chapel’s (Jess Bush) musical number, “I’m Ready.” Hanley and Polce, from the band Letters to Cleo, wrote the music for “Subspace Rhapsody,” Star Trek‘s first-ever musical, in just 5 weeks. “Subspace Rhapsody” was co-written by Dana Horgan and Bill Wolkoff, and Strange New Worlds‘ musical episode was nominated for a Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form.
At WonderCon, Kay Hanley and Tom Polce were guests at a panel following a singalong of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds‘ musical episode. Speaking of how collaborative writers Bill Wolkoff and Dana Horgan, as well as showrunners Akiva Goldsman and Henry Alonso Myers were, Hanley and Polce revealed Nurse Chapel’s song, “I’m Ready,” originally had a more “polite” ending, but the writing team instructed them to have Chapel “twist the knife” into Lieutenant Spock (Ethan Peck). Read their quote below:
Kay Hanley: One example was in the Chapel song, “I’m Ready.” We kind of like at the end [of writing it]. We really wanted to kind of twist the knife with Spock, [but] we were like, ‘We can’t do that.’
Tom Polce: She’s being too nasty. We pulled that knife out. We didn’t make it happen.
Kay Hanley: We had a very polite ending to it. And when we got in the Zoom call with Bill and Dana and the gang, they were like, ‘Um, can you twist the knife at the end?’ And she did.
Tom Polce: And she did.
Watch Jess Bush and the cast of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds perform “I’m Ready” from “Subspace Rhapsody” below:
Why Nurse Chapel “Twisted The Knife” Into Spock In Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ Musical
Spock and Chapel had a bad breakup
In Star Trek: Strange New Worlds‘ musical, Nurse Chapel’s lyrics, “It’s freedom and I like it / My spark has been ignited / If I need to leave you, I won’t fight it” really did “twist the knife” into Spock, but how did this previously electric romance lead to a public breakup that humiliated the Vulcan Science Officer? The key event leading to Chapel’s decision to pursue a path away from Spock occurred in Strange New Worlds‘ crossover with Star Trek: Lower Decks, “Those Old Scientists,” when Christine learned from Ensign Brad Boimler (Jack Quaid) that there is no mention of her in the books written about Spock that he read in the 24th century.
Christine was rattled by Boimler’s reveal that she doesn’t factor into the Vulcan’s future.
As much as Chapel cared for Spock and pursued a relationship with him, Christine was rattled by Boimler’s reveal that she doesn’t factor into the Vulcan’s future. Chapel then looked to her own desires, which was to pursue a fellowship in archeological medicine with Dr. Roger Kirby, and Christine felt validation when she was accepted. Chapel sang of “freedom” and her “spark reignited” after doubting her decision to be in a relationship with Spock, and she broke it off with the Vulcan in front of their fellow Starship Enterprise crew. Of course, there are more twists and turns to the story of Spock and Nurse Chapel to come in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3.
