We haven’t heard much about Star Trek: Strange New Worlds since the series wrapped filming in December. We got the big news that Dr. McCoy and Sulu appear in the series finale, but there are still two seasons to go for Captain Pike and the crew of the USS Enterprise, and Jess Bush is dropping some hints about what we can expect from her Christine Chapel… and Spock.
Going deep with Christine Chapel in seasons 4 and 5
Speaking a couple weeks ago on a panel at the Farpoint Convention in Maryland (recorded by Fandom Spotlite), Jess Bush was asked about her favorite Chapel episodes, and she immediately pointed to ones coming up:
“In terms of Nurse Chapel’s personal experience and story, there’s two episodes coming up that you haven’t seen yet — one in season 4 and one in season 5 — that were so moving and so deep for her, and challenging for me in a really great way.”
As for what’s already been released, Bush pointed to the season 2 episode “Subspace Rhapsody,” saying “Oh, my goodness. God, the musical was amazing to shoot… It was so fun.” She also highlighted the season 3 episode “Four-and-a-Half Vulcans,” saying “It was the funnest two weeks. The most difficult part was not breaking every single take.”
Jess Bush at Farpoint 2026 (screenshot via Fandom Spotlite)
Chapel/Spock breakup was “brutal”… but maybe not the end
The musical episode is the one where Chapel and Spock officially broke up. A fan asked her about why this so seemed abrupt, and the actress got honest while hinting their romance may not be entirely done:
“Yeah, look, I didn’t write it… I got to be honest, when I read the script for the musical, I was like [to episode co-writer Bill Wolkoff], “Bill, this is brutal, like, what?” But, yeah, look, I don’t know what to say. I honestly don’t know what to say. I think that it was a brutal end, but we — it might not be the end. Who knows?”
L to R Jess Bush as Chapel and Ethan Peck as Spock in season 3, episode 1 of Strange New Worlds streaming on Paramount+. Photo Credit: Marni GrossmanParamount+
Spock’s finale wig?
When it came close to the end of filming on the series last year, Jess Bush (who is also an artist) put together a photo collection book for all of her co-stars. Anson Mount shared some pictures from this book on social media, which revealed a shot of Ethan Peck as Spock with long hair and a beard. When asked about this during the panel, Bush would only say:
“Anson should not have posted that photo. Ooh, yeah, I’m not going to tell you.”
From Jess Bush’s photo book gift via Anson Mount (Threads/Anson Mount)
It wasn’t just Anson though. After the series wrapped, executive producer and director Chris Fisher shared a shot on Threads saying “The last time our entire season regular cast was together on the bridge of the starship Enterprise.” And in that photo, Peck can also be seen as Spock with the long hair and beard.
(Chris Fisher/Threads)
“Unjading” Chapel
The actress was also asked about how she initially prepared for the role and how much the producers told her about what’s in store for Christine Chapel. Bush revealed that she was given a lot of freedom when it comes to how she developed her performance:
“When I got the role, I wanted to get on immediately with [the writers] and be like, ‘Hey, so talk me through, like, what’s your vision? How are we going to do this?’ And they were like, ‘Girl, do whatever you want.’ [laughs] You don’t know me. That’s crazy… Yeah, so they were very trusting, which I think was actually a genius move, because giving somebody that much trust makes them step up to the plate and really bring everything.”
She also discussed her approach to shaping the role in terms of the original Nurse Chapel as portrayed in Star Trek: The Original Series by Majel Barrett Roddenberry:
“My approach was to have a look at what Majel did and get a sense of her energy, and try and kind of reverse engineer it into something that could have come earlier. So a more youthful, kind of bright-eyed bushy-tailed version of her dryness and her sarcasm, and I tried to ‘unjade’ her.”
L to R Jess Bush as Chapel and Cillian O’Sullivan as Dr. Roger Korby in season 3, episode 2 of Strange New Worlds streaming on Paramount+. Photo Credit: Marni Grossman Paramount+
End was “bittersweet,” but conventions help
During the panel, Jess talked about what it’s like to have finished working on the series when two seasons still have yet to air, and she’s still doing appearances (like the panel at Farpoint):
“I think it’s really special. The end of this show was really poignant for us, very bittersweet. And so I think still being able to come to these conventions and talk to you guys and to see each other… I think that it really softens the blow of the end. I think it’s an incredible gift. I think a lot of actors don’t get this kind of thing with their shows, in terms of continuation of conventions. It’s special, if you’re lucky.”
We have a while to go before we see the fifth and final season of Strange New Worlds, possibly not until next year. At NYCC last October, Paramount said season 4 is coming “soon” in 2026, but they have yet to set a date.
You can watch the full panel below via Fandom Spotlite:
Keep up with news about the Star Trek Universe at TrekMovie.com.
source: trekmovie.com