Mr. Spock is half human, not that we’d know from how he interacts with the crew of the Enterprise. Vulcan’s have no feelings and for the Vulcans that Spock interacts with, they see him as too human. Really, Spock can’t win. What has worked really well with Strange New Worlds and this “hot young Spock,” as Mariner points out, is that his human side is something he has to deal with on a more wide-ranging level. There isn’t just one episode about Spock’s emotions and that’s all.
From the start of the series through the end of season 2, Spock has been walking a balance between both his Vulcan and human sides. In season 1, when he’s engaged to T’Pring, she’s a lot more open about sex than he is even if she’s trying to relate to his human side. For Spock, he’s awkward about it and doesn’t know how to talk about it with her while she’s more blunt about the subject.
Then, there is season 2 when he’s a lot more emotional in general. What is still hilarious is just how awkward Strange New Worlds has made their younger take on Spock. For the most part, we’ve seen a bit more put together take on him and even when it comes to sex and pon farr. This take on Spock, though, is both more open about his sexuality and romance while also being awkward when immediately confronted with it.
Strange New Worlds has consistently been giving us a new take on Spock that is not a carbon copy and paste of the Spocks we’ve seen before, and while we saw a Spock and Uhura relationship blossom in the Kelvin verse, there is something about weird and awkward Spock that is just more appealing so far.
It is logical
It’s not necessarily just the sex aspect of this “hot young Spock” that is appealing. While that is fascinating, it’s not all there is to him. In “Charades,” Spock is turned into a full human, something he had a nightmare about. He’s supposed to meet with T’Pring’s parents for their engagement dinner and an entity turns him fully human and he is freaking out. Literally. Round ears, curly hair, eyebrows and all. This emotionally driven Spock is appealing because he checks in with Nurse Chapel when he sees her after their encounter with the entity, he screams into a pillow, and he’s just genuinely more human than we’ve ever seen. Because he’s only human in that moment.
The show acknowledges that he’s human and Vulcan and lets both of these aspects of Spock shine throughout the series. It’s in the little moments. Like his flirtation with Nurse Chapel and how he checks in on people. Not that Leonard Nimoy’s Spock or even Zachary Quinto’s Spock didn’t. We just didn’t get to spend the time with his human side in the way we do in Strange New Worlds, and I hope the show continues to let him explore both sides of himself because that’s what makes him Spock.
(featured image: Paramount+)
