Interviewer: Many Star Trek fans consider the single most powerful Kirk-Spock scene to be the one in The Wrath of Khan in which the helpless Kirk and the dying Spock talk, with that divider physically separating them. Did you know when you did that scene that you’d hit an emotional home run?
SHATNER:Yes, and the coincidence on that scene was sitting in Harve Bennett’s office, with Harve and him saying, “Spock dies and Kirk can’t get to Spock.” I kind of described what I thought – the glass door and the hands touching – verbally, and then that worked out (in the film). It’s unusual to speculate something in an office and then have it work out practically months later on a set. But that scene seemed to me to be the contact point between Kirk and Spock, absolutely.
Loyalty is a keyword when it comes to Spock and, surprisingly, Vulcans in general.
Upon re-watching Tos some time ago I couldn’t help but notice a certain bias toward choosing an action that is loyal rather than one that would seem logical in Spock’s behavior.
Vulcans choose to spend their lives according to the teachings of Surak and the five philosophies that are the corner stones of their modern society: Nome, IDIC, reverence for life, the doctrine of the domination of logic and privacy.
For the casual observer Vulcans always choose the way of logic over every other possible choice when confronted with a problem. But after a closer look there are obvious discrepancies in that line of thought.
For instance Spock and Chris Pike. They served together on the Enterprise before Jim got command of the silver lady and they were not precisely close and Spock wasn’t second in command, but they were good team nevertheless.
In the first season of TOS we get to watch how Spock actively chooses the death sentence for transporting Pike to the only place in the universe where he can get help after an accident left him severely injured. It’s not logical, not even if you squint and say “the needs of the many…” for the only one whose needs are met here are Pike’s. And he doesn’t even want Spock’s help because he knows the consequences it would have for Spock. And yet Spock does it anyway. Not out of love or because he owed Pike something, but because he was still loyal to a former captain of his.
And then shortly after The Menagerie there is this little gem. It’s from Court Martial where Jim gets accused of getting one of his crewman intentionally killed. Spock doesn’t know if it’s true or not because EVERY TINY BIT OF EVIDENCE POINTS AGAINST WHAT JIM IS SAYING. Logic would imply to believe the evidence delivered by the ship’s computer. Spock doesn’t know that the computer logs have been altered just yet. All he has is his own judgement of his captain. He goes against logic, again, to be loyal to his captain. They are not even really friends just yet.
And of course there is the direct quote at the head of this post. In “The Ultimate Computer”, where Jim is temporarily replaced by the M5-computer, Spock’s little speech on the bridge is not only giving comfort where it’s direly needed, but also revealing.
KIRK: Machine over man, Spock? It was impressive. It might even be practical. SPOCK: Practical, Captain? Perhaps. But not desirable. Computers make excellent and efficient servants, but I have no wish to serve under them. Captain the starship also runs on loyalty to one man, and nothing can replace it, or him.
Spock even admits that if the M5 worked as it should it would be practical to serve under a machine that can react faster than any organic lifeform. But again he is biased towards his loyalty instead of logic. We all know how the M5 turns out to be a nightmare later, but right now it can perfectly substitute for the entire bridge crew. And yet Spock would still rather choose to be commanded by an emotional human being.
It could still be something unique to Spock. This tendency to choose against logic when it doesn’t “feel” right. But alas! It is not! The very father of Vulcan society had the exact same bias.
In this episode they get to meet an exact likeness of Surak and when they are confronted with the option of eliminating the enemies that tried to deceive and kill them for the entire duration of the episode Surak still remains true to his words.
It would be logical to kill the other group (made up of the Top 5 of the universe’s best villains) in order to survive and in order to preserve the peace, but Surak refuses. So when it comes to choosing between the doctrine of the domination of logic and reverence for life the father of logic will choose the unreasonable action.
“Logic is the beginning of wisdom, not the end.”
(There is another meta in here about how Spock will choose to preserve life up until the moment Jim is in danger, but this is already ambivalent territory, because Spock’s affection heavily influences his judgement sometimes and this post is about his loyalty.)
Kirk and Spock as Mulder and Scully um I’m not the only one who saw the similarities, right…? (although i’m not sure how this would work because spock is an actual alien and that’s why i drew him with human ears here, but… yeah)
Uhura switching languages midsentence. Sulu speaking Japanese when being first waking up. Spock talking to other Vulcan delegates in only vulcan. Spock gossiping with T'pring and uhura in vulcan THE CREW AND OTHERS LANGUAGES.
Answer:
i actually think about this so much, because there are just so many languages on earth, and imagine all of the different cultures and people that would serve on a starship, and then add in alien worlds and their separate cultures, and just how much diversity there would be!! anyone who’s homesick would go straight to uhura, and she would basically be best friends with everybody!
