‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ Ethan Peck And Jess Bush on Spock And Chapel’s Long-Awaited Kiss: “It Was Wonderful”

Is there anything better than a slow burn that finally results in a kiss? Given the events of today’s episode of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, “Charades”, I’d likely say no because — and spoilers past this point — after a season and a half of build-up, Spock (Ethan Peck) and Nurse Chapel (Jess Bush) finally kissed in the closing moments of the hour.

“It was wonderful,” Peck told Decider on the eagerly awaited smooch. “I mean, working with Jess Bush is so much fun and the tension that’s been built between these two characters, it’s been done very well.”

It’s been clear pretty much since the first episode of the series that Spock and Chapel have feelings for each other that go further than friendship, but so far it’s been unrequited. A small part of that is that they’re co-workers who respect each other and don’t want to damage the delicate balance of working on the Enterprise. A larger part of that is Spock is engaged to be married to T’Pring (Gia Sandhu), his Vulcan betrothed. That was somewhat complicated by a calculated kiss as part of a mission in Season 1, Episode 7 that sparked feelings in Chapel — but was part of a larger gambit by Spock.

But everything changes this week as a mission mishap causes Spock to lose his Vulcan side and become fully human. While Chapel desperately seeks out the mysterious beings who changed Spock to beg them to give him his Vulcan side back, Spock entertains T’Pring and her parents while pretending to be Vulcan and dealing with the full gamut of human emotions. It’s a hilarious comedy of errors that finally gets Chapel to admit her feelings for Spock out loud, and teaches Spock that he sometimes needs to put logic (and T’Pring) to the side — resulting in that episode closing Peck peck.

“The reality of shooting those things is that they’re pretty clinical,” Bush explained, reflecting on the moment. “[They] take a long time, and there’s lots of moving pieces… You’re doing choreography, basically. But I think there was something really immensely satisfying about them, finally, just giving in and not getting so heady about… The pros, and the cons, and what we should do? … So character-wise it was very satisfying.”

Peck enthusiastically agreed with Bush’s assessment, adding that, “There’s something relieving about it, because they seem to have this trajectory towards one another that’s just inevitable. And to finally have it was really great.”

So what’s next now that Chapel and Spock’s feelings are out there? For Spock, Peck noted that this is just part of his emotional journey throughout Season 2. As she has been doing all along, Nurse Chapel will continue to help teach Spock about the human side of his nature.

“It’s a part of his exploration of himself,” Peck reflected. “[He’s in] this intense state of play during season two as he discovers the full potential of himself as a human being, as a half-human being and a half-Vulcan. And what that means to Starfleet and to the galaxy, I suppose.”

That’s great for Spock and all, but more ominously Bush threw a little dash of cold water on the sizzling warp core of this relationship.

“Mucho complicado,” Bush teased when asked what will happen with the relationship going forward. “It just gets very sticky… It doesn’t make doesn’t make things easier for them. Let’s just say that much.”

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds streams Thursdays on Paramount+.