Why Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' Chapel Would Do Anything To Save M'Benga Explained By Jess Bush (Exclusive)

Image credit: Paramount+ Published Aug 30, 2026, 1:01 PM EDT John Orquiola is a New & Classic TV Editor, Senior Writer, and Interviewer with a special focus on Star Trek. John has over 5,000 published articles at SR, and he has interviewed the biggest names in Star Trek on the red carpet and VIP events, among other beloved shows, movies, and franchises. Sign in to your ScreenRant account Warning: SPOILERS for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 4, Episode 6 - "Off-Hour"Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 4, episode 6 may prove to be Jess Bush's finest hour as Nurse Christine Chapel. Directed by Dan Liu and written by Bill Wolkoff, "Off-Hour" plunges the USS Enterprise into a real-time crisis while Chapel risks her life to save a mortally wounded Dr. Joseph M'Benga (Babs Olusanmokun). “It was a pretty special one, this one. I was happy to be a big part of this episode,” Jess Bush told ScreenRant's John Orquiola. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 4, episode 6 showcases Chapel's ingenuity, courage, and love for Dr. M'Benga, her work partner and longtime friend. Bush rose to the occasion, delivering a riveting and emotionally resonant performance. "Off-Hour" was also a refreshing change of pace as a Nurse Chapel story. In previous seasons of Strange New Worlds, Christine's storylines often focus on her romantic entanglements with Lieutenant Spock (Ethan Peck) and Dr. Roger Korby (Cillian O'Sullivan). Without Chapel's relentless heroism, M'Benga and everyone aboard the Starship Enterprise would have perished. Jess Bush On The Message Of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 4's "Off-Hour" Fans are calling Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' "Off-Hour" the best episode of season 4 so far, and one of the best of the entire series. “I think this episode was really interesting for Chapel," Jess Bush says. "When I watched the episode back, the message [to me is] ‘If you forget what you're capable of, all you need to do is look to your friends to remind you of just how capable you are of achieving things that you think are impossible.’" For Bush and Babs Olusankmokun, the episode was a two-hander, with their characters isolated in the USS Enterprise's sickbay. Chapel spoke to other characters, including Dr. Phil Boyce (Brian Markinson), over comms, but Jess only interacted with Babs until the end of the episode. It was really interesting for me to have the experience that I had shooting it, and be inside my particular storyline with Babs. And then to see the episode, as a whole, months later and understand how it fit into the larger picture was really fascinating to me. Ultimately, Bush feels what Chapel learned in "Off-Hour" was to believe in herself and her abilities, and to look to your friends when you face self-doubt. "That's the message that I got from this episode. If you lose faith, your friends will never lose faith in you," Jess says. "They know what you're capable of, and the strength you get from the people who love you and know you is unmatchable in life. And that was such a beautiful message for me to see for Chapel in this episode." Jess Bush Explains Why Chapel Wouldn't Give Up On M'Benga Before Dr. M'Benga was nearly bisected by a medical table, he and Nurse Chapel had a heated argument. Joseph revealed to Christine that he was planning to leave Starfleet, which upends Chapel's own future, since she tied her medical career to M'Benga's. Chapel was also upset by M'Benga pointing out that she always has "one foot out the door," because Christine has only been on temporary duty assignment on the USS Enterprise since Star Trek: Strange New Worlds began. "Historically, [Chapel] has been avoidant of committing to places, committing to people," Bush explains. "She moves around a lot. She's always looking for the next thing. I think that people, places, and paths have not really felt like a good fit. She always kind of moves on. She avoids committing to one thing or the other. But M’Benga has been the first thing that she's found that feels like home." And so, through the experiences that they've had as friends and colleagues, their bond has become so deep. She feels like he fully understands her. Their friendship is so deep in a way that's almost unspeakable, and so, she's justified staying in this one place by attributing it to her loyalty to him, and she thinks that that's kind of an agreed thing. When he has decided to leave without really running it by her, that is earth-shattering to her. It doesn't really make sense to her that he would do that in her understanding of their friendship, and it also makes her confront the fact that she might want to stay here, and that's really terrifying. Hearing that he wants to leave makes her confront the fact that she might want to stay in this place, and this is maybe the first time she's wanted to stay somewhere of her own decision. When M'Benga is near death, Chapel defies the orders of Dr. Boyce, who is acting Chief Medical Officer, to let Joseph die. Bush goes deeper into why Christine wouldn't abandon M'Benga, risks her life and career to save him, and how this leads to Chapel realizing that she does want to stay on the Enterprise, even if Joseph leaves: "So it's almost like through this experience, when we get stuck in the wormhole, it's like her love for M’Benga and her refusal to let him go and to accept that he's going to die pushes her to stand on her own two feet, to believe in herself above everybody else," Jess says. "No one there believes what she believes, and still, she sticks to it, and that's because of her love and her connection to M'Benga." Her connection and love force her to believe in herself. That kind of pushes her to believe in herself. Her connection and love force her to believe in herself, and the result is that she has a deeper understanding of what she wants, and a sense of ‘I can imagine a future without this person in it,’ and I have to kind of grow up in this moment and decide and commit. So I think it's a real growth moment for her this episode. What Happened To Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' Puppets? Image credit: Paramount+ The previous episode, "Level-Five Transporter Accident," is Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' famous puppet episode. Whether they love or hate the puppet episode, fans online had one question about what happened to the soft and cuddly creations by The Jim Henson Creature Shop after Strange New Worlds wrapped filming: Did the cast get to keep their puppets? “No way! Not in a million years," Bush confirms. "They keep those things under lock and key. I think they're very, very special and very, very expensive. I would have loved to have kept my puppet, but I'm happy just to have the memories and the pictures.” Fans are also clamoring for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' puppets to be merchandised, and for the entire set to be on sale for Christmas. “Oh goodness! Imagine. Imagine that," Jess reacted. Surely, she would love to own her Chapel puppet if that happens. Life After Strange New Worlds' Series Wrap & Would Jess Bush Return For Star Trek: Year One? Image credit: Paramount+ Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' fifth and final season wrapped filming last December, and Jess Bush has moved on to life after Starfleet. Yet, “The show is still coming out, so it feels like it's still a really big part of my life," Jess says, as she updates her fans on what she's been up to after Strange New Worlds: I am living in Melbourne. My partner and I just bought a place, and so I've been settling in there. I’m traveling a lot and auditioning a lot. I've got an exciting film coming up at the end of this year in Australia, which I'm really pumped about. So I'm just I'm just working and living and enjoying being close to my loved ones, trying to make the most of being at home while I can. It's been pretty busy, we'll put it that way. ScreenRant: Do you miss playing Christine? Without spoiling anything, do you feel like you left in a good place after the five seasons? Jess Bush: Yeah. When I had my last day on set, or leading up to that time, I was really nervous about what that was going to feel like. When they called cut on the last scene for me, I was really nervous about that grief, and I was delighted and surprised to discover that that feeling was just one of immense appreciation for the experience that I got to have in my life, and how special it was to bring this character back to life. It's been, of course, melancholy in ways, but I feel really fortunate to be able to honestly say that I'm excited for the next thing, and I'm also so grateful that I got to do this. So I don't feel like I'm holding on to her, if you know what I mean. I'm letting her go with gratitude. As cheesy as that might sound, it's the honest truth. I feel so thankful and fortunate to have had this experience in my life and excited to see what’s next. ScreenRant: We are hoping that the Year One spinoff will happen with Paul Wesley. Would you be willing to come back if that actually got greenlit? Jess Bush: I would be. I'm at the ready. I would love to devote myself back to this show again. And if all things line up and everyone's available, including myself, it would be a yes from me. So, I think I can speak for everybody, like, everyone is so open to that if we were to get the call. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 4 is streaming on Paramount+. Check out our other Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 4 interviews: Anson Mount Dave Foley Celia Rose Gooding Rachael Harris & Joe Lo Truglio Release Date 2022 - 2027-00-00 Network Paramount+ Showrunner Henry Alonso Myers, Akiva Goldsman Directors Dan Liu, Amanda Row, Maja Vrvilo, Akiva Goldsman, Dermott Downs, Eduardo Sánchez, Jeffrey W. Byrd, Jonathan Frakes, Jordan Canning, Leslie Hope, Valerie Weiss, Sydney Freeland, Christopher J. Byrne, Rachel Leiterman Writers Onitra Johnson Franchise(s) Star Trek Creator(s) Akiva Goldsman, Alex Kurtzman, Jenny Lumet