TWITrek Character Insight No. 79: Spock

his is the latest installment in a series of "Character Insight" articles regarding the rich history of characters in the Star Trek universe.  An audio version will appear on the This Week in Trek podcast, available for direct download here.
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Welcome back to Character Insight!  This week, we finish up the series on the Abrams timeline with a profile on Spock.



If there's one character who defines the heart of Star Trek, it is Spock. The Abrams timeline continues this trend by focusing on Spock and his origins just as much as Kirk in the first movie. Spock is surprisingly the only major character with alien blood. His half-human half-Vulcan heritage leads to interesting struggles as he comes of age and as he serves with Kirk and other humans.

In this timeline, Spock is an instructor at Starfleet Academy and programs the unwinnable scenario entitled The Kobayashi Maru. This leads to his first significant interaction with Kirk, who cheats to defeat the unwinnable test.

That turns out to be a rocky start to the most important relationship in Star Trek, as Spock ends up learning to embrace some of his human traits over time thanks to the influences of Kirk and Uhura. However, he remains deeply engaged with his Vulcan heritage, turning to mentorship from Sarek and Spock prime numerous times during the films.


One of the most interesting contrasts of this timeline is Spock's romantic involvement with Uhura. They apparently become involved during or after Uhura is a student or teaching assistant in his Advanced Phonology class, and their small lover's quarrels add good flavor to the movies. It will be interesting to see how this develops further.

According to deleted scenes and movie notes, Spock is named after one of Vulcan's early society builders, which is ironic considering what happens to the planet Vulcan. Spock is awarded the Grandmaster title in Three Dimensional Chess, although the chessboard has not been broken out yet in the new movies.

One of the fun aspects of the Abrams timeline movies is that the script writers have absolutely nailed the character of Spock and made it infinitely interesting. Of course, the writers also made the numbnuts lame-brained move that becomes our quote of the week (from Into Darkness):

"KHAAAAAAAAAAAAN."

No, no, no, a thousand times no. 

Actor:Zachary Quinto is the new Spock, and he's had some fun in movies and car advertisements interacting with Leonard Nimoy, a bridge to the past. He has previously starred in American Horror Story, Heroes, and 24.

TWITrek Character Insight No. 78: Kirk

This is the latest installment in a series of "Character Insight" articles regarding the rich history of characters in the Star Trek universe.  An audio version will appear on the This Week in Trek podcast, available for direct download here.
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Welcome back to Character Insight!  This week, we continue with the Abrams timeline with a profile on James T. Kirk.



The Abrams timeline is introduced immediately in Star Trek 09, as Kirk is born in space during an attack on the ship his father served on. While George Kirk sacrifices himself to deter Nero's ship from destroying the escape pods, James Tiberius Kirk is born and named after his paternal and maternal grandfathers. Quite a different life in Iowa awaits for this Kirk.

Kirk grows up a miscreant and has to be challenged by Captain Pike following a bar fight to make something of himself and join Starfleet. Pike serves as the motivator and protector of Kirk as he takes a bumpy and quick ride through the Academy and his ascension to command. 

While the Kirk of this timeline is not as seasoned, he learns enough from Pike to have earned the command chair by the end of Into Darkness. This includes the sacrifice of everything he can offer, including his life, in the effort to save his crew. Of course, just like Spock in the prime timeline, Kirk is resurrected to live another day.


Although the first movie was all about putting Kirk in command and establishing the Kirk-Spock respect and friendship, Into Darkness dives full bore into the good and the bad of Kirk's personality and traits. He will likely continue to be brash and struggle with authority, but that likely turns into an asset when exploring deep space as the Enterprise will be doing in the next movie or movies.

The womanizer and immature theme is definitely taken to an eye-rolling extreme, but these anecdotes help reveal how far Kirk comes in a short time. If the other major characters receive similar levels of development in future movies, we will all be in for a real treat. Kirk's love story with Carol Marcus will also provide more character development for this star of the show.

Our quote of the week comes from Into Darkness:
"Where I come from, if someone saves your life, you don't stab them in the back."

Actor: Chris Pine won the right to take over this iconic role in the Abrams movies. Pine also stars in Unstoppable and as the voice of Jack Frost in Rise of the Guardians, which is a great movie for the family at Christmastime!

TWITrek Character Insight No. 77: Samantha Wildman

This is the latest installment in a series of "Character Insight" articles regarding the rich history of characters in the Star Trek universe.  An audio version will appear on the This Week in Trek podcast, available for direct download here.
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Welcome back to Character Insight!  This week, we return to Voyager to profile Ensign Samantha Wildman, one of the many recurring characters on this series.

 
Samantha Wildman is a xenobiologist assigned to Voyager before the ship is stranded in the Delta Quadrant. As noted in the profile on her daughter Naomi from last month, Samantha comes aboard pregnant but does not know this until after she is in the Delta Quadrant.

Wildman plays a significant role mostly in Season 2, which includes her struggles and the culmination of her pregnancy. Of course, the struggles of deep space travel don't end with just birth, as Wildman must watch Naomi suffer and almost die when Voyager's crew is stranded on a planet by the Kazon. Of course, Naomi and her mother Samantha turn out to be fine after a local primitive tribe chief heals her with herbs and roots.

The Wildmans served an important role later in the series in the development of Neelix's character. His service as Naomi's godfather allows him to become close with these crewmates from the Alpha Quadrant. Samantha was a frequent viewer and fan of A Briefing With Neelix, the daily news show on board.


Samantha Wildman was named after a little girl who died in an accident and who donated organs to the wife of one of the staff writers on Voyager. The little girl's parents noted that she loved animals, and that is why Wildman is said to be a xenobiologist in the series. A cool tribute and bit of trivia, but don't tell The Trek Nerd!

Our quote of the week comes from Once Upon a Time:
Ensign Samantha Wildman: Who's going to look after Naomi?
Tuvok: You should not concern yourself with that now.
Ensign Samantha Wildman: How can you say that?
Tuvok: My youngest child has been without a father for four years. Yet I am certain of her well-being
Actress: Nancy Hower played Samantha Wildman, and she is currently writing television series including the new Hulu-only series Quickdraw. Hower has only had one acting role since Voyager.

TWITrek Character Insight No. 76: Sarek

This is the latest installment in a series of "Character Insight" articles regarding the rich history of characters in the Star Trek universe.  An audio version will appear on the This Week in Trek podcast, available for direct download here.
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Welcome back to Character Insight!  This week, we continue with the Abrams timeline with a profile on Sarek.




Sarek is an Ambassador to Earth who marries a human Amanda Grayson and has a half-human, half-Vulcan son named Spock. Sarek is seen only in Star Trek 09, although he is one of the very few survivors of the obliteration of Vulcan by Nero.

Sarek is shown counseling Spock after a run-in with other Vulcan children in the training ball rooms. Sarek tries to encourage Spock to use logic to overcome bullying by stating that he married Amanda because it was logical to observe human behavior as Ambassador. 

Yet in the face of further prejudice from the Vulcan Science Academy council when accepting Spock into the program, Spock turns against his father's footsteps and joins Starfleet instead. Sarek would later admit after Amanda's death that he married her more because he loved her than for logic, proving that he is like his son in acting on instinct rather than logic at times.

Sarek was set to be a much larger character in Star Trek 09, but most of the scenes featuring him with and without Amanda were cut from the final movie. These included a birth scene and a scene of Amanda and Sarek fighting before Sarek's talk with Spock about bullying. Sarek also originally senses Spock Prime's presence, but this partial scene was also cut. 

Although it would have been nice to see more of Sarek, Star Trek 09 is a strong movie because it tells a concise story and wastes no time ramming through a ton of character development, designed for a new generation of Trek fans. However, Sarek may make a return appearance, as Spock likes to rely on his father figures, as seen in Into Darkness.

Our quote of the week comes from Star Trek 09:
Sarek: Speak your mind, Spock.
Spock: That would be unwise.
Sarek: What is necessary is never unwise.

Sarek: Spock, you are fully capable of deciding your own destiny. The question you face is: which path will you choose? This is something only you can decide. 

Actor: Ben Cross was selected to play Sarek based on his performance in the movie Species - The Awakening.  Cross may also be seen in other movies such as Chariots of Fire from 1981 and First Knight.