Star Trek: Strange New Worlds - The RANDY Awards: Category II, Season Two

From the best "Stand Alone" episode to the best "Ensemble" episode.  When you have episodic TV with a relatively large cast, you often have episodes that focus of the arc or the backstory of a single character, OR a pivotal experience between a limited number of characters.  Sometimes the result is so powerful and so memorable that it gets dubbed "Spock's Episode" or "Worf's Episode".  One need only consider the offerings from Strange New Worlds season 3 to recall "Ortegas' Episode."

The ensemble award is to acknowledge the polar opposite.  It is the episode in which everyone had a role to play and weight to carry to the good of the whole.  And with that in mind, there is only one possible winner from season 2.  "Space Rhapsody" was so far outside of the box that it engendered a response from fans which left few if any sitting on the fence.   

When you look at sites that rate such things with a broad range of participants, the "singing" episode does not fare particularly well.  I acknowledge it's short comings.  Chief among which was the uneven quality of the original score.  I absolutely adore the opening number.  Cole Porter never wrote more intricate lyrics and the driving melody just wells up with anticipation.  Likewise, the finale, though a bit cheesy when combined with all the high school grade choreography was a good song.  All the others in the middle needed the proverbial out of town notices on their way to Broadway.  

While some members of the cast have great voices, Celia Rose Gooding (Uhuru) won a Grammy in 2021 for her work on the Broadway Cast recording of "Jagged Little Pill".  Christina Chong (La'an) release an extended play collection of songs in 2021 entitled "Since 2021", and since 2021 a series of 5 singles, one of which features Jonathan Peck (Spock).  Others, like Babs Olusonmokun (Dr. M'Benga) gave thanks for the marvels of auto-tune.  Which, in a way, made his participation in the project even more endearing.  

Like it, Love it, or Hate it--Any which way you cut it--"Space Rhapsody" is clearly Strange New Worlds season two Best Ensemble show!  Written by Dana Horgan and Bill Willkolf, the episode first aired on August 10, 2023.