Warning: SPOILERS for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Episode 5 - "Spock Amok"
Lt. Spock's (Ethan Peck) friendship with Nurse Christine Chapel (Jess Bush) undergoes a massive retcon in Spock and his Vulcan fiancée, T'Pring (Gia Sandhu). When a mind-meld gone awry body swaps the Vulcan couple, Chapel comes to the rescue and helps out Spock and T'Pring in more ways than one.
Dr. McCoy and his colleague, Dr. M'Benga (Booker Bradshaw) were well-aware of how Chapel felt about the Vulcan. On a few occasions in TOS, Spock showed affection for Chapel and called Chapel "Christine" but the Vulcan always reset back to his stoic self. There was no actual between Spock and Nurse Chapel in the three seasons of TOS or in any of the six Star Trek movies starring The Original Series cast.
Strange New Worlds shows that a genuine friendship quickly developed between Spock and Nurse Chapel. Christine enjoys flirting with the Vulcan Science Officer, and Cadet Nyota Uhura (Celia R. Gooding) even noticed the sparks between them. In "Spock Amok," Christine and Spock got considerably closer and formed a dynamic duo. While on shore leave at Starbase One, Chapel ditched her date when she saw Spock, who was experiencing relationship problems with T'Pring, was dining alone. Christine counseled Spock about how he needs to put his romance with T'Pring above his duty to Starfleet, which is what she expects from her fiance. Chapel even playfully smacked Spock for being obtuse while the Vulcan teased her right back. After the body swap, it was Chapel who Spock came to for help and he even punched out a rogue Vulcan who spewed insults at his human friend.
The result of Strange New Worlds retconning Spock and Chapel is that she is not only aware of who T'Pring is but Christine was placed right in the middle of their relationship in "Spock Amok." Of course, Chapel and Dr. M'Benga (Babs Olusanmokun) used Starfleet medical science to restore Spock and T'Pring's minds back to their correct bodies. But this also means that Nurse Chapel knew who T'Pring was when Spock underwent pon farr in the TOS classic episode, "Amok Time," which takes place 8 years after Strange New Worlds season 1. This is notable because neither Captain Kirk nor Dr. McCoy were even aware that Spock was engaged and that his fiancée was waiting for him on Vulcan. Strange New Worlds also recontextualizes all the time Chapel tried to help or counsel Spock in TOS.
It's obvious by the end of "Spock Amok" that Nurse Chapel is romantically interested in Spock, even if she knows about T'Pring. But in Strange New Worlds, Spock and T'Pring are still in love and years away from the disastrous end of their relationship in "Amok Time." Spock and T'Pring are a fascinating couple in Strange New Worlds but the chemistry between Spock and Chapel on the show is undeniable (and evident even when Gia Sandhu was performing as Spock in T'Pring's body). It's possible Star Trek: Strange New Worlds will build on the potential between Spock and Chapel so that they become romantic; in turn, this could be the reason why the older Spock keeps Christine at arm's length in TOS. At the very least, it will be fun to see the sparks continue to fly between Spock and Nurse Chapel on Captain Christopher Pike's (Anson Mount) Starship Enterprise.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds streams Thursdays on Paramount+.