The romance beat in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3's trailer focuses on Lieutenant Spock (Ethan Peck) and Nurse Christine Chapel (Jess Bush) waking up in bed together, which comes as a pleasant surprise. When we last left Spock and Chapel in Strange New Worlds season 2, Christine had narrowly survived the Gorn attack on the USS Cayuga, which was going to take Nurse Chapel to Dr. Roger Korby's (Cillian O'Connor) medical archaeology fellowship. Spock rescued Chapel, despite her very public musical breakup number in Strange New Worlds' musical episode, so Spock and Christine's relationship status was still undefined.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Confirms Spock & Chapel Are Back Together In Season 3
Nurse Chapel Is Engaged!
The Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3 trailer seems to confirm that Spock and Chapel are, in fact, back together. But the most surprising twist in the brief clip is that Christine Chapel is wearing an engagement ring when she wakes up in bed with Spock. This raises so many questions, the most important of which is: to whom? The implication, of course, is that Spock and Chapel are actually engaged to each other, but even if that's the case, we already know from Star Trek: The Original Series that a Spock and Chapel romance can't last.
Strange New Worlds has recontextualized Spock's relationships with Nurse Chapel and his Vulcan fiancée, T'Pring (Gia Sandhu). Instead of Chapel pining away for an unavailable Spock, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds sees Spock returning Christine's feelings. After dancing around their mutual attraction, Spock and Chapel decided to give it a shot in Strange New Worlds season 2—despite Spock's betrothal. Unfortunately, Ensign Brad Boimler's (Jack Quaid) knowledge of the future in Strange New Worlds season 2, episode 7, "Those Old Scientists", put the kibosh on Chapel and Spock's relationship, and sent Christine packing for Dr. Korby's fellowship.
How Cillian O’Connor’s Dr. Roger Korby Fits Into Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 3
Roger Korby Is Chapel's Missing Fiancé In Star Trek: The Original Series
It's more likely that Nurse Chapel is already engaged to Dr. Roger Korby when this Star Trek: Strange New Worlds scene takes place. To maintain continuity with Star Trek: The Original Series, Chapel and Korby will have to get engaged sometime before the USS Enterprise's next 5-year mission—and still be engaged when Korby eventually goes missing. After casting Cillian O'Connor as Roger Korby in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3, it looked like we'd get to see the beginnings of the Chapel and Korby romance. That's still likely to happen, especially if Chapel's got a ring on.
This wouldn't be the first time Spock and Chapel ignored being promised to someone else, since Spock's engagement to T'Pring didn't stop them. On the other hand, the Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3 trailer intentionally lacks context. Spock and Chapel being in bed together could be a scene from a fantasy, with Chapel imagining Spock in Korby's place—or Spock imagining himself there after hearing about Christine's engagement. But even that suggests lingering feelings between Spock and Chapel, so I'm excited to see how my favorite Star Trek: Strange New Worlds romance plays out this summer.
