It most certainly will be a comedy, and I am up for it. It's ironic how the episodes with emotionless Vulcans are so god-damn funny. The last episode with the body swap was a masterclass in writing. Passive aggressiveness has never been this fun.
Am I suffering some kind of confirmation bias, or does Spock spend an unusually large amount of time expressing emotions, for someone who's supposed to never express emotions?
EDIT: By way of addressing some of the replies to this post, without replying to them all individually, I just wanted to add this:
I'm not critiquing the handling of Spock's character in relation to TOS or movies, Peck's a great actor and is doing a fine job at interpreting this role.
The point I'm trying to make is that Spock (and data, T'pol, Tuvok, etc. after him) gets juxtaposed so often, it seems more entertainment-oriented than story-oriented. Like, "wouldn't it be cool if they had to...". The classic sitcom trope of putting the awkward person in a public-facing position, with hilarious consequences. It just seems like these hilarious consequences are occurring too often to call it character development.
The first episode of the season had Spock discussing with Doctor M’Benga the fact that embracing his anger to help him fight the Gorn last season in “All Those Who Wander” broke down his mental conditioning. It’s also been shown in three of four recaps at the beginning of episodes this season. I would assume they’re building towards something.
As for Spock “never” having emotions, I’d suggest rewatching some TOS. His wry enjoyment when Uhura teases him with her song in “Charlie X”, his outburst at seeing Kirk alive at the end of “Amok Time”, and just how ridiculously horny he is in “The Cloud Minders” all come to mind, never mind those instances when he’s affected by some outside force suppressing his conditioning.
I think the point we are supposed to take away is that he’s very young, relatively speaking, to the Spock we know and love from the movies and TNG. He’s a work in progress on his way to becoming that person
He is certainly spending a lot less time expressing emotions than he did in season 2 of Discovery.
There seem to be two major camps of thought about his portrayal in SNW:
He is way too different in SNW than he is in TOS, thus breaking canon. These must be people who really enjoyed the nobody-ever-experiences-personal-growth-except-for-Seven-of-Nine aspect of VOY.
Personal growth is okay, but his current trajectory is veering off too far from where he needs to land in TOS. This is the nobody-ever-makes-the-same-mistakes-twice camp.
Here's what we know for sure, chronologically:
That last one may lead to more overcorrection in the future. Or maybe it won't. Who knows?
Maybe he'll undergo Kolinahr at some point before TOS. Maybe it doesn't work twice, and that's why he fails in TMP.
But you can't tell me you've never met anyone in real life whose emotional state of being sways back and forth like a pendulum swing over time.
100%
So much so that I’m at the point where I’m wondering if this show is still canon.
I really like Strange New Worlds. The episodic nature with overarching storylines is the right direction for Star Trek, but really wish they had used this cast to make a show with a new crew in a new ship set post-DS9.
Go back and rewatch TOS. Spock is emotional.
I disagree. I really enjoy this show and I can give the writers some creative license as a prequel for a show that's almost sixty years old.
Spock has to have a moment of crisis that brings him to the state of character he's in in TOS. I think there's plenty of room to breathe over the course of the show to allow that. I haven't watched The Cage in several years, so I don't exactly recall, however from what I do recall, Spock shows a lot more emotion in the pilot vs. the beginning of the series with Kirk.
I largely agree with that idea. It feels like at some point Trek will need to let go of all old characters, to ensure its long-term viability. Personally, I'd be happy to get to know a new group (crew) of characters, even if they're not a famous character's offspring. I guess that was the idea with Discovery, but the universe/story arcs that they created didn't interest me too much.
I know that's not really how shows work, people get enamored with the cast and roles, but I'd love to see a semi-regular shift in crew or ship, while the writers tackle the issues of the day allegorically.
You know, I really tried to like Discovery, but then they tried to be a prequel and a sequel and I just couldn’t do it.
Another Spock sibling we’ve never heard of? 🙄
Strange New Worlds is great, I’d just really like them to stop relying on the nostalgia.
Yep, I think so, too. I suppose it's just reflective of the time that it's made in; so much of film and TV (and games) is just re-boots, pre/sequels, remasters and remakes. It's like it's too big a risk, to try an stray too far from a perceived existing audience.
The point I dwell on for longer is the need for humour to be so prevalent in what is essentially a drama series. I keep repeating this in various threads, but I don't like how often it's used and how weak it is. I guess I'd rather watch something that's Hornblower, rather than Family Guy.
Something I've become increasingly concerned about with SNW is how giving Spock a series' worth of screen time and development before his time in TOS might put him "ahead" of where he's supposed to be in his pursuit to understand his humanity.
I hope that the goal is to make him more appreciative of his Vulcan heritage over the course of SNW to explain why he's so all-in on it by the time TOS starts.
I was not a fan of introducing legacy characters like Spock, Kirk - and even lesser-explored characters like Pike, Chapel, Number One and M'Benga to an extent - in DIS/SNW. Introduce new characters I say, that aren't hamstrung by what's already been established - something that I think is even more important in a show that's set in the "past".
That said, if we were to have a pre-TOS Spock, I wanted to see a Spock who would credibly grin at a plant or exclaim "The women!". I think SNW has given us that.
However, you're absolutely right. The destination for the character in SNW is for him to choose his Vulcan half over his human half. Hopefully the writers have planned this out. There's potential for a poignant story arc here, not just for Spock but also Chapel and T'Pring.
I can already guess T'Pring's family will not be a fan of hijinks.
@snowyday ST:VOY did the same back in the days with B’lana’s Klingon DNA, in a quite interesting episode about identity. I reckon the same theme will be dealt with again this time…
This episode seems like it's going to be light-hearted. Faces was, uh... not.
Looks like it. The last Spock and T'Pring episode was that fun body-swap one, I think.
That episode is forever known as the "Enterprise Bingo" episode. I absolutely loved the sub-plot with Una and La'an. It's one of my favorite episodes of Season 1.
Probably a smart and distinctly SNW move to use all the Vulcan stuff for comedy.
To be fair to other series, plenty of them tapped into the Vulcans' potential as comedy straight men. This is arguably why we had the recurring conflict of goofy alien Neelix vs. Tuvok on Voyager. Lower Decks doesn't see a lot of them, but gets a lot of mileage making fun of their uptight nature in Wej Duj. TOS even had some fun poking holes in Spock's facade-- just look at the end of Amok Time.
But yeah, it's kinda crazy seeing the shenanigans come from the Vulcans themselves in this show.
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