It took far too long for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' Nurse Christine Chapel (Jess Bush) to become a Doctor in Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Doctor Christine Chapel (Majel Barrett) appeared in the first of the Star Trek: The Original Series movies, set nearly 20 years after the events of Strange New Worlds. Doctor Chapel was assigned to the refitted USS Enterprise as Chief Medical Officer under Captain Will Decker (Stephen Collins), however her promotion was short-lived, thanks to the V'Ger crisis and the return of Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy (DeForest Kelley).
Despite this, Dr. Chapel continued to fulfill a valuable role within Starfleet, most notably in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, when she coordinated the relief efforts in response to the ecological disaster caused by the "Whale Probe". Strange New Worlds is showing just how ready Chapel already was to take this next step in her career. She's smart, capable, and regularly deputizes for Dr. Joseph M'Benga (Babs Olusanmokun). However, the character's established arc in Star Trek: The Original Series, and real-world production issues stand in the way of Chapel's well-deserved promotion.
