Logline

A shuttle accident leads to Spock’s Vulcan DNA being removed by aliens, making him fully human and completely unprepared to face T’Pring’s family during an important ceremonial dinner.

Written by Kathryn Lyn & Henry Alonso Myers

Directed by Jordan Canning

  • adamlauver@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    52
    ·
    1 year ago

    I thought this episode walked a really fascinating line in its approach to exploring the lived experience and cultural significance of mixed identities. Having the ancient alien species misinterpret Spock’s Vulcan DNA as an anomaly/pathology was a risky move from a writing perspective given the potential for reproducing language and ideas associated with eugenics. But doing so allowed what what I thought was a more robust examination of Spock’s character and his relationships, by way of separating one half of his identity from the other and seeing what happens (like a smaller scale of Community’s excellent “Remedial Chaos Theory,” which examined how the study group might be affected by the temporary removal of each group member in turn).

    There was plenty to laugh at, of course. Ethan Peck could easily have gone too over-the-top in playing Spock’s surge in human emotions, but I think he threaded the needle really well in allowing through just enough Vulcan “muscle memory” (as it were) to tamp down the humania – and he still managed to be extremely funny. And Anson Mount as always shined with his subtle (and hilarious) comic timing as the host of the engagement ceremony. Watch the way he snaps his fingers when T’Pring’s father asks for more Tevmel --and how he continues on in wide-eyed stride on his way back to the group once Spock starts admitting to his “condition.” Mount is a performer who knows how to blend into the scenery rather than chew it – a distinct quality in a Star Trek captain and a consistently funny one to boot.

    But what really made this episode work for me was the heart in addition to the humor. I have a friend who remarked earlier this season that she doesn’t understand why Star Trek is so obsessed with Spock’s human side; she’s much more attracted to his Vulcan side and is confused at what she sees as the constant efforts to make him “more human.” I can see her frustration, and this episode certainly turns into that skid a bit. But the show isn’t fantasizing or daydreaming about a Spock that’s fully human – it’s using the idea as a tool to understand his fuller and more complex identity, and to celebrate what makes Spock Spock. And I absolutely shed tears when Spock came clean to T’Pring’s parents about his condition, not just out of personal pride but as a way to express affection and appreciation for his human mother. What a wonderful moment.

    And I think this episode’s true strength was in depicting how everyone in Spock’s life understood that being made “more human” didn’t make him better or more “fun” or more “relatable.” Not once did anyone murmur to anyone else something like, “Are we sure we want to fix him?” (which I could easily see Dr. McCoy saying, for example). Instead, everyone understood fundamentally the unique value of Spock’s half-human/half-Vulcan identity, and went to great lengths to bring it back. It might have been a bit corny to funnel that through Nurse Chapel’s romantic feelings for him, and having her have to admit those feelings to an ancient alien species – but it was smart, too. (And seeing her tell the Vulcan Science Academy that she didn’t think their fellowship was ready for her made me literally pump my arm, by the way).

    Another solid Spock-centric episode in my book. I look forward to reading what everyone else thought!

    • SoSquidTaste@kbin.social
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      16
      ·
      edit-2
      1 year ago

      humania

      My first time seeing this; delightful term hahah

      I also can’t agree enough with your observation about the human side as a lens through which to understand Spock and how he relates to those around him. Double points for noting the lack of quippiness in the vein of “Are we sure we want to fix him?” I hate that I need to praise that kind of restraint in TV / movie writing these days but, well, here we are.

      As for my original contribution here:

      I realllly liked the fact that while I’m sure I’m not alone in shipping TF out of Spock and Chapel, I feel like this episode went to decently robust character exploration such that the ending bit felt a lot less tacked on, or a writer’s wink “for the shippers”. A lot of that IMO rests on Spock’s monologue at the end of the dinner. For just another layer of appreciation of that character moment.

  • Mezentine@startrek.website
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    40
    ·
    edit-2
    1 year ago

    They’re also doing a really good job of playing out the long arc of T’Pring and Spock having genuine affection for each other to the point where we’re actually kind of going to be on T’Pring’s side when she finally reaches the conclusion of “Man, fuck that guy”

  • khaosworks@startrek.website
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    36
    ·
    1 year ago

    Aha! I just noticed that the lead writer on this episode is Kathryn Lyn, who also wrote the best episode of Lower Decks to date: the incredible “wej Duj”.

    No wonder I thought that Ortegas’ line about “Notice how I move my eyebrow but no other muscles in my face,” sounded like something Mariner would say.

    • triktrek@startrek.website
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      13
      ·
      1 year ago

      Nice catch. Also, T’Lyn was introduced in “wej Duj” and was named of writer Kathryn Lyn. Seems like Lyn has a knack for Vulcans. According to Memory Alpha, she’s a big Star Trek fan and cosplayed at conventions.

  • felixxx999@startrek.website
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    30
    ·
    1 year ago

    I loved the episode. Someone needs to make a Spock kicking the air GIF. I love that Spock has two hotties fighting for his attention. This was close to a hangout Trek. AND they were on a mission too! This episode felt so much like TNG. Again, Pike’s hair is amazing. THE BEST PART: When Pike tried to escape the reunion of Spock and his future mother in law the damned door wouldn’t open. Pike avoiding family conflict was the best running joke on the show. And LOVED that Pike wasn’t the hero. Show is so good.

  • williams_482@startrek.website
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    29
    ·
    1 year ago

    Much to my own surprise, I’m a complete sucker for this budding Spock/Chapel romance. I just want these two beautiful people to be happy together, damn it! We all know it’s doomed, unfortunately, and I hope that whatever inevitably destroys it doesn’t turn out to be too painful for the characters involved. Spock and Chapel are obviously not engaged in a romantic relationship in TOS, most obviously in Amok Time when such a pairing would have rendered the entire story trivial.

    Someone mentioned in a previous thread that Spock’s Pon Farr (seven years before Amok Time) is closing in. I was skeptical in that thread that they would choose to touch on it then, but the events of this episode do make that seem quite a bit more likely, if (again) increasingly difficult to square with Amok Time.

    • SteleTrovilo@beehaw.org
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      10
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      edit-2
      1 year ago

      I’m holding out hope for Spock/Chapel. I actually think SNW subtly branched away from the Prime timeline some time ago, so the future for these characters is not yet written!

        • effinstephen@startrek.website
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          7
          ·
          1 year ago

          The Temporal Cold War has made ripples in the timeline. The Romulan time traveler in “Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow” strongly hinted that history was at least a little bit different than it had been, with the date of the Eugenics War as case in point. I think the writers are freeing themselves up to make minor changes to canon. I don’t think it’s a branching timeline, though, it’s still Prime. Just a little bit different, like Gabriel Bell being replaced by Captain Sisco.

        • triktrek@startrek.website
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          4
          ·
          1 year ago

          It’s sci-fi – if the producers feel strongly enough to make a blank slate, they can always retcon or shall I say future-con, and have SNW branch out a different timeline.

  • UESPA_Sputnik@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    29
    ·
    edit-2
    1 year ago

    “This is irregular. A complaint outside the response period.” - those aliens are Germans. 😄

    Great episode. Just the right amount of whackiness to not make it too ludicrous. And it wasn’t just comedy, at its core this episode had a human heart - no pun intended - with Spock connecting to his mother’s burden.

    One thing that I realized, once again, is that I don’t really know what Una’s job on the Enterprise really is. She’s barely doing anything. You’d expect her to accompany the away team at the end of the episode (or did they steal the shuttle, now that they know how to steal the Enterprise). For an XO she’s barely noticeable. This isn’t a complaint about this episode, it’s a thread that runs throughout the series.

    To end on a positive note: can those costume designers finally get an award please? The outfits on this show are always so stunning.

    Edit: I just realized that the episode was written by Kathryn Lyn who also wrote one of Lower Decks’ funniest episodes, “wej Duj”. She seems to become Star Trek’s go-to gal for comedy.

    • Madison_rogue@kbin.social
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      16
      ·
      1 year ago

      The most XO thing that Una has done throughout the entire series run is question junior officers about Enterprise Bingo.

      Seriously though as a former sailor I can verify that an XO’s job is tedious and boring. It’s all paperwork, inspections, and disciplinary crap outside of Captain’s Mast (yet an XO does most the work for that before a CO sees anything). The bulk of Una storytelling that we’ve seen is pretty great. Ortega is the one who needs to shine at this point. She hasn’t had much story development.

    • triktrek@startrek.website
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      5
      ·
      1 year ago

      Edit: I just realized that the episode was written by Kathryn Lyn who also wrote one of Lower Decks’ funniest episodes, “wej Duj”. She seems to become Star Trek’s go-to gal for comedy.

      Makes perfect sense when you realize that T’Lyn (named after her) was another passive aggressive Vulcan that provides comic relief was introduced in “wej Duj”.

  • end0fline@startrek.website
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    27
    ·
    1 year ago

    The moment when Spock saw himself in the mirror gave me a good chuckle. His reaction as a human to seeing he no longer had vulcan ears was hilarious.

    I am completely on board with the Chapel/Spock shipping going on. My heart broke for her a little bit when she administered the cure to Spock.

    • Mezentine@startrek.website
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      16
      ·
      1 year ago

      Its such a good way to write their whole dynamic! That its only when he’s missing a part of himself that he feels emotionally accessible to her, but the part of him that’s gone is part of who she loves as well. Its good, “nail the fundamentals” tragic romantic shit!

  • theinspectorst@kbin.social
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    26
    ·
    1 year ago

    I really enjoyed this episode. The whole cast of SNW are really strong but Jess Bush has been a particular highlight - I’ll admit I was cautious when I first heard they’d cast some Australian model as Chapel, but that caution was gone by the end of episode one and she’s become easily one of my favourite characters. Ordinarily I don’t tend to find that Star Trek romances do much for me but they’ve now got me invested in Chapel and Spock.

    With hindsight my only mild criticism of the episode is the premise that a human Spock would be more emotional than the Spock we know. We constantly hear that Vulcans feel emotions more strongly than humans, but have learnt to embrace logic to control them - i.e. their nature is more emotional than humans but their nurture counterbalances this. So wouldn’t a human Spock (with biologically human nature, but the nurture that Spock carries from his life experience being raised as a Vulcan) actually be super rational and logical?

    • goGetF1@startrek.website
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      31
      ·
      1 year ago

      The episode acknowledges this at the end, when Spock says Vulcans feel more deeply. What I think we need to remember is that Vulcans have mental capabilities humans don’t. Human Spock literally did not have the same tools available to him that Vulcans do. It’s likely why Spock has more trouble with his emotions than full-blooded Vulcans.

      • ByDarwinsBeard@lemmy.fmhy.ml
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        18
        ·
        1 year ago

        He also points out that human emotions are different. I assumed this to mean the the rhetorical tools he uses to control his Vulcan emotions are ineffective on human emotions despite Vulcan emotions being stronger. It’s like having a vaccine for the flu, but still getting a cold.

    • Steve Sparrow@lemmy.one
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      3
      ·
      1 year ago

      So wouldn’t a human Spock (with biologically human nature, but the nurture that Spock carries from his life experience being raised as a Vulcan) actually be super rational and logical?

      I reasoned that whatever tools Spock employed failed for one of two reasons:

      1. Vulcan responses to emotion are extreme: surprise isn’t just surprise it’s abject terror, happiness isn’t just happiness but absolute mf hype, disappointment is more like a spiral of depression. Since human response to emotion is much more measured by comparison, he’d need time to recalibrate… time he didn’t have.

      2. The procedure that removed his hybrid nature removed whatever moderation was done to him. As a normal human he may not even have a katra anymore, so it’s possible that whatever physiological changes that take place after kolinar aren’t there because not all of the physiology is there.

  • UhBell@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    25
    ·
    1 year ago

    I had so much fun watching this episode. Spock yelling at his mom in a beanie like a teenager fucking killed me. This episode was filled with so much potential meme material - I can’t wait to rewatch it to collect screenshots.

  • Disgustoid@startrek.website
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    25
    ·
    1 year ago

    I laughed more times in that one episode than I have during hundreds of previous Trek episodes COMBINED. Trek comedy has never landed with me which makes this the best Trek comedy ever by a large margin. Angsty Spock and the crew’s reaction to him were genuinely funny, with a special nod to Pike’s “WTF” facial reactions in the background during the ceremony.

    Going in spoiler-free and without having read people’s opinions in this thread, I’m going to guess this is going to be one hell of a polarizing episode. But one I really enjoyed, so there’s that.

  • TeaHands@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    25
    ·
    1 year ago

    This episode was so much fun!

    I’ll admit, reading the premise ahead of time (by accident because Liftoff app doesn’t do spoiler tags yet oops) had me worried as I find a lot of attempts at “humour” in modern Trek tend to try way too hard and are just uncomfortable to sit through. But this was genuinely funny! Turns out Ethan Peck has great comedic timing, and Pike’s background antics and reactions were fabulous. The dynamic between T’Pring’s parents was a bit stereotypical but also extremely relatable.

    Also really liked what they did with Nurse Chapel in this episode. Her pain and desperation helped balance the episode and make it something more than just funny hijinks. The feelings of regret and survivor’s guilt, the desperate need to fix something that wasn’t even your fault, grief over losing (at least partially, in this case) someone you love. So many complex emotions shown on screen at once, all by one character, and entirely believably, was not something I expected from a “haha funny Spock” episode.

  • Madison_rogue@kbin.social
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    24
    ·
    edit-2
    1 year ago

    After some further thought, I have to make the observation that I think T’pring knew something was wrong with Spock. There are a few things that T’pring does that indicates she knows that whatever Spock is going through, it’s more than he lets on. The main indication, to me, is when she held his hand after pouring the tea, which has to be excruciating to Spock. She helps him while he’s pouring the water to ensure the tea is properly steeped. She initiates the end of the Ritual of Awakening; interrupting her mother because the timer has expired. She defends the memory Amanda and Spock share. I love T’pring because, regardless of the circumstance, she stands beside Spock and defends him in the best way possible.

    Unfortunately, by the time she realizes something is amiss, they are committed to the ritual and they cannot get out of it even if she would want to delay it. I still think that Spock, at the time, chose to not disclose his condition for good reasons. I’m still on the fence that T’pring would’ve accidentally revealed that during the mind meld with her mother. I’m still onboard that Spock made the correct decision, however I can say that he should of at least disclosed that something was amiss a little later on.

    • SamHandwich@lemmy.blahaj.zone
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      17
      ·
      1 year ago

      I agree with you. T’pring really shows a lot of care & compassion here, and I think it makes her decision at the end of the episode make more sense. We obviously know how this relationship works out in the end, but it really has me interested in how/if Chapel affects the outcome in further SNW episodes. (I’m choosing to believe T’pring hadn’t already scoped out Stonn as a partner by this episode because that seems too cruel for her, but I guess we’ll see.)

      • Madison_rogue@kbin.social
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        11
        ·
        1 year ago

        I mentioned in another post that I think T’pring, despite asking for time apart, eventually realizes that Spock omitting his current condition was entirely justifiable. I think she’s hurt, but she then understands Spock’s point of view (as logic would dictate) that omitting disclosure was the best path forward with the highest probability of success.

        • Steve Sparrow@lemmy.one
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          4
          ·
          1 year ago

          It’s such a tragic moment because both their responses were reasonable.

          T’Pring is about to be Spock’s wife, and it’s not simply a business union–she’s very much in love with him. She’s eager to be his partner and keeping changes in his life from her compromises that partnership.

          The thing about Spock is that up to the end of the episode he’s still wrestling with the isolation that being bi-racial has come with–he’s aware that T’Pring should be let in but emotionally he’s never come around to that, having grown up at odds with other Vulcans.

          What saddens me is that if Spock had communicated how his status affects his approach to full-blooded Vulcans (indeed if had even known to communicate it), I have no doubt T’Pring would have been much more forgiving… alas we sometimes figure out ourselves too late.

  • Mezentine@startrek.website
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    23
    ·
    1 year ago

    ​I absolutely love the Kerkhovians holy shit. They feel like they’ve fallen out of a slightly different genre of Sci Fi than Star Trek normally goes for, like something from a Revelation Space or a Culture novel.

  • deweydecibel@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    23
    ·
    1 year ago

    By far the best moment was Pike’s face when he noped out of the scene after Spock revealed the deception.

    • Leer10@sh.itjust.works
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      1 year ago

      His 90° turn sent me squealing I had to rewatch it. I love how Pike is supportive and a better model of masculinity.

  • AuroraBorealis@pawb.social
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    22
    ·
    1 year ago

    Ethan peck looked like he had a blast with this episode, screaming into a towel is a mood

    I also enjoyed the “subservient” dad who really just wanted to eat good food and play charades but was shot down :'( but then the captain gave him leftovers with a cool snap :)

    Also, as a meta comment, I really dislike the scenes where it’s clear they are just I don’t of the LED wall. It looks so fake and the actors just stand there in an obviously empty room. Season 1 of SNW had at least one episode of this, and season 1 of the mandalorian did too, and they really need to follow the mandalorian example.abkut having actual physical props in addition to the LED wall to prevent it from looking fake as hell

    • shirro@aussie.zone
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      10
      ·
      1 year ago

      Having grown up watching matte paintings, shaky plywood sets, bubble wrap monsters and people running up and down the same corridor repeatedly and then decades of soulless bad CGI I have nothing bad to say about modern productions standards. There is something special and human about the artistry of matte paintings, scale models and physical sets but I don’t know that today’s viewers have the same capacity for suspension of disbelief. LED walls allow some story telling that would otherwise be to expensive to visualise.

    • koreth@lemm.ee
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      8
      ·
      1 year ago

      The AR wall was obvious but it doesn’t bother me that much. Environments that require active suspension of disbelief have been a Star Trek staple since the 1960s.

      • AuroraBorealis@pawb.social
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        1 year ago

        I think my problem was that the rest of the sets look so good with actual physical spaces that a empty wall feels…empty :P

    • Lockely@pawb.social
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      4
      ·
      1 year ago

      The last episode on Rigel VII was shot in front of the Holodeck (what the call Trek’s AR Wall) and it was breathtakingly good. The emptiness was likely part of the point with this species.

    • triktrek@startrek.website
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      1 year ago

      Regarding the LED wall, yeah, it was more obvious here. It felt like they were entering one of those gimmicky project-Van-Gogh-art-on-a-warehouse-wall tourist traps.

      The episode where Uhura and Hemmer were trapped in the engine room was another one that stood out.