#this isn't even getting into that the writers fundamentally DON'T KNOW who spock is

[spirkme915]

I made the decision to be extra-judicious on deciding what constituted a spoiler for the new season of Strange New Worlds and I'm sticking with that.

But I have thoughts and I’ve spent way too much time thinking about them for a season and a half and I can’t hold them in anymore. So here you go.

Definite spoilers for episode 5 and everything before it under the cut. TL;DR at the very bottom of this way too long post.

Episode 5 was an absolute banger of an episode in terms of Hollywood entertainment value. But, and this is a big BUT, what the actual hell are the writers doing?

The Christine/Spock/T’Pring love triangle is tarnishing the gift that was given to Trek fans when Strange New Worlds was announced and it's becoming way too obvious not to comment on.

It’s maddening that they’ve decided to take a thirty second scene of a one-sided crush from the original series (Chapel confessing her love for Spock in The Naked Time) and turned it into a two-sided love affair that's part of a love triangle. It is, quite literally, derailing what is otherwise an incredible show.

I hear you asking… Seriously? Aren’t you being extreme? How could a consensual affair do that? Or.... You're a Spirk blog. Aren't you biased? Oh boy, I wish it were that simple. This is coming from a literal lifelong Trek fan who had Trouble with Tribbles memorized before I had an inkling what romance even was, and who - fortunately - was taught by my Trekkie father what made good writing.

The love triangle is not good Trek or good writing.

For reasons that likely have to do with Spock being arguably the most well known character in Star Trek canon (pop culture wise), the writers have chosen to focus on him. And what kind of storyline can they give us since Spock goes through a massive, decades long character arc in the original series and movies? (Spoiler alert, I answer that at the end and it's not a love triangle.)

For reasons that likely have to do with Peck’s appearance and natural charisma, they’ve decided to give Spock love interests - not just one but two.

Let’s ignore that Spock doesn’t show interest in either Christine or T’Pring in the original series. Really, that’s the least of the problems and easily explained away.

Where the problems arise are two fold - Spock’s emotional journey and the minimization of two strong female characters to love interests.

Spock’s emotional journey - As great as parts of this episode were (looking at you, Amanda), what it achieved was Spock coming to terms with his human side in a way that the Spock we know from the original series hasn’t accepted. It takes original series Spock until The Motion Picture (perhaps not until after The Voyage Home), to be comfortable in being both human and Vulcan. So the ground Spock gained in this episode? Strange New Worlds, if it continues as part of the prime timeline, can only result in character regression for Spock. As a fan of Spock in all iterations, that regression will be a heartbreaking and horrible way to end a hopeful show.

Christine and T’Pring as love interests - Dear god, can these women exist without being defined by a man please? It’s 2023. This shouldn’t be something female characters have to ask for. Sure, there was more about Christine in this episode, but her arc still revolved around Spock. And not only that, but we got the Korby name drop in this episode (her future fiancé). I'd love to think that this isn't headed in a direction where Christine will hook up with Spock then he’ll pull away and she jumps ship to Korby only to be defined again by a man. But for fuck's sake, this last season and a half hasn't given me much hope. Jess Bush is amazing as Christine. Is it too much to let Christine be her own woman? And T’Pring? I adore T'Pring way more in Strange New Worlds than I expected to. So, please, help a Vulcan woman out. T’Pring is already relegated to nothing in the narrative after Amok Time.  If there’s going to be an insistence on bringing her into the story can she please not be defined by Spock then Stonn? I'm BEGGING the Strange New Worlds writers - let these characters and actors shine as fully realized women.

But the larger problem is that this single decision for a love triangle has not only fated these three characters to regression and minimization - IT'S DIMMING THE POSSIBILITIES FOR EVERYONE.

When Strange New Worlds was announced, there were so many possibilities. A whole new part of canon to be explored and expanded. NEW CHARACTERS, NEW PLACES, NEW MORAL QUANDARIES, NEW EXPLORATIONS.

But we only get 10 episodes a season, right? Not the 26ish we got with the original series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise. (Discovery, I'm looking at you and weeping too.)

So, why are the writers insisting on episodes focusing on an unnecessary love triangle when they could be doing this:

Uhura - Hello? SHE'S RIGHT THERE AND CELIA IS INCREDIBLE. The original series is notorious for brushing Uhura under the rug and other people can speak way more intelligently on Uhura meta than I can. But, I mean, she didn't even have a canon first name until 2009. So. Yeah. Good news, Strange New Worlds can change all of that. Build her history, show us her successes, her fears, her failings, glimpses into her past. Give her a chance to have a dalliance with the "alien of the week." Uhura is a beloved character for so so so many wonderful reasons. Give us the stories about her that deepen that love.

Erica - Oh, Erica. My beloved Erica. Paramount PR keeps saying that last week's episode was "Erica's Big Moment" and if it truly was her biggest moment of the season, then I weep for her and Melissa Navia. All we learned in that episode was that she's Erica Ortegas and she flies the ship (and, well, that Navia has a depth in her they haven't let her show with Erica so far). Erica does pilot and flies really goddamn well, but we already knew that. What about her time in the Klingon War? What about her family? Her friends off the ship? What was it that either made her determined to become the best pilot or that happened in her past that inspired her to become that pilot? How does she feel about being on the Enterprise? How does she feel about soup or carpet or art? There's nothing, literally NOTHING, in future canon about her and right now her Memory Alpha entries for her life before Strange New Worlds is seven sentences. SEVEN SENTENCES. All of this for a fan favorite character. *sigh*

Sam - The potential for this character is limitless and all we've really gotten is him touching something he shouldn't have, being xenophobic to Spock, and that he doesn't pick up his dirty dishes. Seriously? We know more about Jim Kirk in Strange New Worlds and he's not even on the Enterprise or in the same timeline! When we rewatch Operation Annihilate, give us a reason to mourn with Jim. Make that episode a billion times worse because Sam is a character that we know and care about outside of being Jim's brother.

Pike - Okay, so admittedly, Pike is probably the most fleshed out character besides Spock in canon and they're not shying away from the future he knows is coming. That's been handled really well. And they've also done a great job of showing how much Pike cares. But, what makes Pike one of the "great captains" and how has his past turned him into who he is today (the canon pieces with his father have so much possibility) and what is he doing behind the scenes to fight for his crew and his ship? I feel like we got more of the "great captain" in Discovery than we've gotten in Strange New Worlds. And, dear god again with the "romance," can his love interest get a canon first name please? Hard to buy he loves her when he calls her Captain Batel even in his personal log.

Una - She was pretty much a canonical blank slate going into Strange New Worlds and they've done some incredible episodes with her, but I'd love to see her actually be the XO? Making that a question because she absolutely is, but we have yet to really see that in practice. The relationship between Pike and Una deserves so so much more screen time. Let them be captain and first officer. Explore Pike mentoring her, and give way more of her mentoring crew. Let her be more than Illyrian. What are the unique challenges she faces as the highest ranked woman and non-Human on the ship? Is she a fighter or a negotiator or some secret third thing? Does she have an intricate knowledge of some space anomaly or ship function that no one else on board does? What are her future goals and plans? I'm rambling now, but the point is that she's a character who disappears from canon after Strange New Worlds and she's the goddamn FIRST OFFICER OF THE ENTERPRISE. Let her be that until she isn't anymore.

La’An and M'Benga - Honestly, I'm not going to put much here for La'An because out of all the "new" characters in Strange New Worlds, La'An has been fleshed out the most. And, out of all the "barely exists in canon" characters, M'Benga is the same. But I'm listing them because they make my point. La'An and M'Benga are good examples of what happens when the writers focus on characters who either don't exist in canon or barely exist there. We know pieces of their backstory and their motivations. We know what keeps them up at night. Both actors have given performances that tie the audience to their characters emotionally. And yet, there's seasons worth of more material for both of them.

So. To come back to my original point - why are the writers focusing on a love triangle that tramples on canon and minimizes female characters when they are wealthy af with primo characters?

I mean, there are so many other ways they could have gone with Christine (making her bisexuality more than a one-off line, having her struggle with what happened on the Farragut, exploring her role during the Klingon War, family, friends, facing moral quandaries in her research...), and Spock (his relationship with Sarek, Vulcan rituals and practices we've never seen ((double parentheses here to emphasize that to us, as viewers, Vulcan *is* a strange new world and there's still a hell of a lot of Vulcan stuff that's veiled in mystery)), and MICHAEL ((remember Michael, his sister, who got a one line mention in the first episode then nothing?? Yeah, that Michael)), Spock's grief over losing Hemmer and Michael so closely together, etc...). Poor T'Pring is pretty much relegated to love interest and plot device at this point unfortunately. Instead of the love triangle route, they could've cut the sex scenes and made her a cool, calculating advisor to Spock and the Angel/Sybok plotline could've still happened. But alas, was not meant to be.

I've written a lot of words and taken up way too much of my day with this, but I seriously couldn't hold it in any longer. Look, I love Strange New Worlds, but I also seriously grieve for the show that it could've been and I seriously hope it will become that show in future seasons.

Strange New Worlds is gorgeous, the sets and special effects are A+, the actors are all pretty too and know how to command a scene. There's a lot to work with. But let's not forget that the original series was put together with styrofoam, glitter, and a prayer and it birthed this 60 year franchise. What kept people coming back to Trek were the relationships and a found family working together to explore, not a forced love triangle.

TL;DR

The insistence on the Christine/Spock/T'Pring love triangle is dooming all of their characters to massive character regression and minimization *and* cheating us out of learning about and loving the characters who are practically unknown in canon.

[knightotoc]

Spock's deal as developed over decades:

logical, stoic, superhuman strength, superhuman precision, green blood, pointy ears, scientist, musician, vegetarian, friend to animals, telepath, hippie sympathizer, idealist

has more powerful emotions than humans, so he has to hide them

over years of cold professionalism, forms incredibly deep attachments to coworkers Kirk and Bones, even though their human lifespans are tragically shorter than his own

a complex reflection of an imperfect but remarkable and beloved real person (Nimoy's two biographies are called "I Am Not Spock" and "I Am Spock"); because of this, Spock is famously Jewish-coded and expressed many of Nimoy's strong personal values and creative ideas

historically significant gay interpretation by an important fandom and published writers; in the wider fandom, Spock's sex appeal surpassed the actual lead actor's

he has some romances as a young man, but he ultimately dedicates his life to the noble cause of Romulan reunification

bizarre alien libido on a fuck-or-die 7-year cycle; this silly premise is taken extremely seriously

difficult relationship with his Vulcan father and human mother

complex relationship with Starfleet, especially w/r/t Pike, Kirk, and Romulans

has a secret half-brother who darkly mirrors Spock's own struggles with emotions, forming bonds with other people, and faith in God

sacrifices himself out of pure, logical love and gets reborn through the misuse of a terraformer-turned-superweapon

the platonic ideal of a nerd

In 2009, Spock was recast, but this version is from an alternate timeline. There are two significant changes to the character, which are not as appealing to me, but I still appreciate them:

his homeplanet was destroyed. This enormous tragedy gives us a character who is much less stoic. In my opinion, this takes away from Spock's uniqueness. But as a Star Wars fan, I appreciate that Spock's grief for his planet gets to affect him in a way Leia's never did

he has a relationship with Uhura. This is a fun decision, especially as these characters had some chemistry in the original show, but it is a bit spoiled by the creepy tracking device subplot

This recast is a fundamentally different character. In my opinion the best thing about him is when they lean into that difference; Quinto's Spock knows about Nimoy's, and has profound feelings about his alternate self. This was handled beautifully after Nimoy's death, and I am grateful that his protege's version of the character got to grieve with us in the real world.

In 2019, Spock was recast for a second time, and this version is supposed to be the same character as the original. But they have made multiple changes to the character anyway, which I mostly dislike. I haven't watched SNW since I feel this interpretation of Pike is even more ableist than the 60s version, but I am trying to keep track of what this franchise is doing with their best character:

Spock now has an additional secret sibling, an adopted human sister Michael. The reveal that Sarek chose Spock over Michael for Vulcan Science Academy, which Spock refused anyway, is some fun drama. It makes me feel bad for Michael and angry with Spock, which is a bummer. I do not think we needed to have Trek's first Black woman protagonist anchored by her relationship to a legacy character. I enjoy their dynamic, but I don't see a fundamental mirror of challenging topics with them like I do with him and Sybok. And of course this bond isn't going to be able to influence Spock in the future, as his bond with Sybok will

Spock now also has dyslexia; I appreciate the representation, but again this isn't going to influence him at all in the future; Spock in "The Menagerie" is an ableist character by modern standards

he's in a love triangle with Chapel and T'Pring; to me this is OOC for all three of them, and unnecessarily makes original Spock into a big, insensitive jerk. While he is a passionate character, the whole point is that he controls his passion, even to the point of choosing his love for humanity over his love for individuals. His deep friendship with Kirk and Bones is only possible since they have grown old together, which is the main theme of the original movies

where'd the chest hair go

Peck's interview where he says they're pushing Spoimler and he enjoyed acting with Quaid because they're both from acting families = so this actor's input into this once highly personal character is just queerbaiting and nepotism

The reason I wrote this post is because, in the newest SNW ep (spoilers), Spock becomes somehow humanized and, as a result, happily eats bacon. First of all, "I love bacon" is like, the definition of cringe outdated internet humor. More importantly, this is a nonsensical and possibly offensive move for a character who is Jewish-coded and vegetarian. Vulcans can eat meat, but they choose not to as part of their strict code of ethics. Spock in particular has a deep love for all forms of life, and his telepathy even gives him the ability to understand every creature from the Horta to the whales. Of course Federation meat is synthesized, but, at least in my interpretation, I can't imagine Spock even symbolically enjoying eating one of the smartest animals on Earth.

Of course every beloved character will develop over time, sometimes even in prequels. But these changes ought to make them more complex, or more personal to a new creator. The things that made Spock special are draining away. He is becoming more fashionable, straighter, more ordinary. Most fans seem to enjoy the new version, but I am left reeling at these odd decisions.