Wedding Bell Blues (episode)

Real world article
(written from a production point of view)


Summary

Teaser

Three months have passed since the incident at Parnassus Beta. The USS Enterprise is almost finished with its repairs incurred by the incident, meaning the crew has been given shore leave. For Spock, it means time to think. With the Federation Day Centennial three days away, Christopher Pike believes a gala for the whole crew will boost everyone's spirits. With Christine Chapel returning from her trip with the fellowship, Spock has personal reasons to prepare. As such, he approaches La'An Noonien-Singh for dance lessons. However, Spock's logical way of thinking makes it hard for him to do dancing well. As Noonien-Singh tries to get him to loosen up, Spock realizes that she has a proclivity for dancing. She admits that she wanted to be a prima ballerina when she was younger, but the Gorn ruined that. With the Gorn taken care of, she seems more inclined to fall back to such things. Realizing that Spock still has feelings for Chapel, Noonien-Singh tries to warn him that "absence makes the heart go wander", but he doesn't realize what she's talking about. Nyota Uhura informs Spock that Chapel is on her way over and Spock rushes out.

At the transporter room, Montgomery Scott watches as Spock fixes his hair on a console panel when Noonien-Singh arrives in uniform. It turns out that Chapel had added someone to the visitors list. Scott notices something odd on a panel, but when Spock and Noonien-Singh investigate, Scott dismisses it as a sensor ghost. With Noonien-Singh giving the go-ahead, Scott beams Chapel and her guest, Dr. Roger Korby, aboard. Both Chapel and Noonien-Singh give each other uncomfortable gazes as Spock and Korby talk. To Korby's surprise, he notices Spock holding a first-edition copy of the Saltavantur and takes hold of it, getting excited over how it's designed. However, Spock takes it back and reveals its a gift for Chapel. Trying to break the awkwardness, Noonien-Singh asks if Korby needs guest quarters, but Chapel reveals that he's with her. To Spock's surprise, Chapel and Korby are dating.

Act One

In the gym, Erica Ortegas is busy sparring with her younger brother Beto Ortegas. When Beto's camera gets in the way, Erica punches it, upset – he's meant to film the Centennial, not their exercise. Suddenly, Uhura bursts in, telling Erica about Chapel's date. However, Beto is distracted by Uhura's presence, allowing Erica to slug him with a haymaker. Once Beto regains his senses, it's quite clear there are sparks between him and Uhura.

In sickbay, Una Chin-Riley is donating blood and chatting with temporary Nurse Ensign Gamble. As much fun as he's having, Gamble laments that, with Chapel back, his tour of duty is done. However, Una and Joseph M'Benga reveal that he is being permanently transferred to the Enterprise, which excites the ensign greatly. M'Benga and Gamble reveal that Marie Batel is recovering nicely, that the Gorn embryos have been fully reabsorbed, and that they're just managing some lingering after effects, all thanks to Chin-Riley's blood. Chin-Riley mentions that she's gonna miss Batel after having her onboard for so long, M'Benga agreeing that she won't be the only one.

Log entries

Memorable quotes

"What... is this?"
"Not now, dad!"
"Oh you have made enough of a mess. Please, let's not make a scene."
"But they're not playing along! They're not listening to me!"
"And you are not listening to me! Shall I show you once more what the consequence is for disobedience?"
"No. I'll be good. I promise."
"Wait, you're a child?"
"A very young one. Only eight thousand of your Earth years."
"Eight thousand and twenty, dad!"

- Q, Trelane, and Chapel, after Q interrupts the wedding


"Wait, before you leave... might I ask why?"
"Well... look at him! Spotted him digging in the dirt in the old homeworld. He's just so handsome and smart and perfect. It's just annoying!"
"Yes that does make perfect sense."

- Spock and Trelane, discussing Roger Korby

Background information

Title

  • This episode's title was revealed via press release on 5 June 2025. [1]

Story and script

Preproduction

Production

Postproduction

Cast and characters

Sets and props

Costumes

Soundtrack

Special effects

Continuity

  • This episode marks the celebration of the centennial of the founding of the United Federation of Planets in 2161. By the 24th century, the anniversary date will be known as Federation Day. This episode establishes for the first what the year a season is taking place in, 2261 in this case and possiblely season 2 may have taken place in 2261 or part of that season.
  • A large gathering of Starfleet starships is seen near Starbase 1 in celebration of the Federation centennial. A similar assembly of Starfleet vessels, albeit much larger in scope, will also be observed during Frontier Day in 2401, celebrating the 250th anniversary of the launch of the Enterprise NX-01.
  • Among the vessels docked at Starbase 1 are at least three Crossfield-class starships, confirming for the first time that additional vessels of this class beyond the USS Glenn and USS Discovery were built and that these ships continued to be in service even after the spore drive technology was outlawed and classified in 2258.
  • Among the docked ships, vessels of the Malachowski-class, Nimitz-class, Shepard-class, and Hiawatha-type can also be seen, which now have round nacelles that more closely resemble those found on Constitution-class vessels and other contemporary ships. During the mid-2250s, these vessels were exclusively seen with squared nacelles, indicating perhaps that they underwent a recent refit.
  • One of the Shepard-class vessels bears the visible registry number NCC-1309 of the USS Gagarin, which was shown to have been destroyed in 2256 during the Federation-Klingon War in DIS: "Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum". The original Gagarin might have been salvaged or a new ship might have been christened in her honor.
  • The notion that Trelane is a member of the Q Continuum was already implied by Beckett Mariner in "Those Old Scientists". The exact relation between Q and his son Trelane is not established. The idea that Trelane is a Q has previously been a common fan theory and had been most notably explored in the Peter David novel Q-Squared. The non-linear existence of the Q allows for the possibility that the events of this episode transpired after those seen in TOS: "The Squire of Gothos" – at least from the perspective of Trelane.
  • Trelane confirms that the Q have an ancient homeworld.

Reception

Links and references

Starring

And

Special guest star

Guest stars

Co-stars

Stunt doubles

  • Sebastian Buitrago as stunt double for Mynor Luken
  • Greg Leach as stunt double for Cillian O'Sullivan
  • Lori O'Connell as stunt double for Melissa Navia

References

2261; Alanni rye; Andorian; bachelor party; Bolian; "Bridal Chorus"; bride; cake; captain; Captain's Table; Chancellor of Starfleet's Public Relations; Earth; Edosian; Federation Day; Federation Day Centennial; Gorn; Guinness; "Hacker de Tu Piel"; Human; hybrid; "I Crave Your Mouth"; jumbo Vulcan mollusk; kal-if-fee; Lavanda Son; lutrog; Mount Caleb; Neruda, Pablo; pomegranate; nurse; pahklor; pok tar; prima ballerina; Q; R'ongovian; Saltavantur; Saurian brandy; Starbase 1; Starfleet; Starfleet Medical; Starfleet uniform; Ternaran bat; Tilaryan star gem; United Federation of Planets; Vadia IX; Vermont; Vulcan; Wagner, Richard; "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go"; wedding; Wham!

S/COMS references

captain's quarters; comms; drone; hair; itinerary; life support; makeup; matter stream converter; override code; pattern buffer; reactor; reception; schedule; sick bay; vidcam; wedding license

Starship references

Archer-type; Bellerophon-class; Constitution-class; Crossfield-class; Enterprise, USS; Gagarin, USS; Hiawatha-type; Malachowski-class; Nimitz-class; Kelcie Mae-type; Shepard-class

Meta references

External link

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