K/S slash fun: Spectre of the Gun
So weeks and weeks ago I wrote up a thing on Spectre of the Gun, but livejournal ate it. Now I write out long entries like that on google docs first and finally enough time has finally passed in which I feel like talking about it again. This is actually sort of long because I'm getting way too versed in TOS and so I make connections like a Connect Four master. And look ma, pictures included!
I've been rewatching what I like to call the 'tier 2' episodes. I have three tiers of Star Trek episodes but basically my favorite episodes are tier 1, my least favorite are tier 3, and tier 2 episodes are in between these extremes.
This was one of the last episodes I watched, mainly because I have never liked westerns. At all. I can easily count on one hand how many western movies I've watched and loved, and they're pretty much comedies except for 3:10 to Yuma. What can I say; the genre escapes me. Maybe it's because my dad loves them and I tend to like everything he doesn't, up to and including Star Trek itself. But when I watched it, I didn't outright hate it. Upon rewatching it, I even began to see more of the appeal, and now I like it a lot. Some of that liking does, indeed, situate around the fact that I've found some slashy goodness in it, and where there's slashy goodness, I'm a happy gal.
So what slash can be found in this seemingly slashless episode? Two scenes, in fact are worthy of consideration. What I personally love about the scenes is that they're balanced: one is slashy through seemingly cut-and-dry dialogue, and the other is purely slashy in what is shown.
The first scene is right after Chekov dies (briefly.) The boys are holed up in the saloon. Kirk is angsting at the bar over Chekov's death, and Spock, McCoy, and Scotty are at a table making homemade explosives. Though I suggest going and watching the scene, I'll just paste the dialogue because it is, after all, slashy through words:
MCCOY: Let it go, Jim. He's dead.
KIRK: Maybe he wouldn't be if I hadn't ignored the Melkot warning.
MCCOY: We all knew the risk when we joined the service. Now let it go.
SPOCK: Gentlemen, there is one thing which requires the immediate attention of all of us. Specifically, our future.
KIRK: But not this minute, Spock. It takes us a little longer.
SPOCK: I understand the feeling, Captain.
MCCOY: You talk about another man's feelings. What do you feel, Spock?
SPOCK: My feelings are not a subject for discussion, Doctor.
MCCOY: Because there are no feelings to discuss.
SCOTT: Mister Spock, Chekov is dead! I say it now, and I can hardly believe it. But you worked closely with him. That deserves some memorial.
MCCOY: Spock will have no truck with grief, Scotty. It's human.
KIRK: Bones, Scotty.
SPOCK: Captain, it's quite all right. They forget I am half human.
Hoo boy, so much to talk about. First of all, I really do enjoy how the series is consistent with Kirk and how he mourns over the loss of his crew, how he always seems to blame himself. He reacts the same with Chekov as he would a random redshirt, and that's good writing. Of course, I'm sure Kirk may be hurting that touch extra, since Chekov was a member of the bridge crew and they hang out much more.
Now, make no mistake: when Kirk tells Spock, 'not now, it takes us a little longer', he's not saying that Spock is an emotionless Vulcan asshole, and I say this with 100% confidence, both because of his actions later in the very same scene and because the writer of this episode has written 12 episodes which include gems like Devil in the Dark and A Piece of the Action, but then he kind of smoked something in the third season because he also is responsible for Spock's Brain and Let That Be Your Last Battlefield. So I can believe that the writer is being consistent with Kirk's character and that Kirk knows damn well that Spock is not an emotionless being, even when others doubt it, as we're about to see.
McCoy begins goading Spock, as he is wont to do, especially when Spock isn't showing emotion in a very emotional situation. I love McCoy to death, but you can't say that the good doctor understands Spock a great deal. But that's okay, because Spock doesn't understand McCoy a great deal either. That's why their light mutual animosity is so compelling; they're not even sure if they're friends; they just think they know all there is to know about the other, and yet they keep being surprised by the other. Not uber slashy IMO, just intriguing. Well this time McCoy has Scotty join in on the Spock scolding. This scene reminds me very strongly of The Galileo 7, except in that episode, there was no Kirk to temper the fight and side with Spock. Again Spock's emotions are being questioned, and like in that episode where McCoy (not unkindly, just sorrowfully, like he wishes it weren't so) says that there's something wrong with Spock's heart, this episode shows that, even if McCoy has seen evidence that Spock does, in fact, feel (he conceded the point in Bread and Circuses when he says, 'I'm worried about Jim too'), he still has a way to go before he gives up questioning the fact. Notice that in the movies, after 'the simple feeling' scene, McCoy is much less questioning of Spock's emotions. Kind of funny how that works out, and how it aligns with the widely-held K/S shipper belief that Kirk and Spock got together between that movie and Wrath of Khan. Of course I'm sure that when McCoy briefly holds Spock's freaking soul, he kind of gets the picture too. :)
So now McCoy and Scotty are effectively ganging up on Spock, and Kirk so does not approve, as evidenced by this screencrap.
Finally, McCoy says something that elicits a reproach from Kirk: "Spock will have no truck with grief, Scotty. It's human." This causes Kirk to step towards them and begin to admonish them. This is cute and it shows that Kirk stands up for Spock, but we're not done, oh no. Spock stops him, and actually freaking says, "they forget I am half human."
Holy fuckballs.
First, Spock is outright admitting here that he is anything but pure Vulcan. Sure he's said he's half human before, but never from an emotional standpoint. He'll say he's half human when he needs to make a point or if it's medically relevant, but this time when he says he's half human, he's clearly saying two very important things to different people:
1.) To McCoy and Scotty: I am half human, therefore I do feel.
2.) To Kirk: You understand I'm half human, but they forget it sometimes.
How slashy is that? Kirk goes to defend Spock, and Spock lets this admission slip. For Kirk. You'd think it was for McCoy and Scotty's benefit, but we've seen Spock interact with them alone before like in The Galileo 7, and he certainly didn't want to admit to his human half at all in that episode, even when Kirk teased him about it (once again this proves my theory of the progression of Spock's emotions throughout TOS.) Spock never admits to being anything but Vulcan when Kirk is not around. In the TMP novel, as Spock is about to get the Vulcan prize in the cereal box for completing his kolinahr, he remembers Kirk saying, why just be a great Vulcan; why not be the best of both worlds? Spock drops his facade of non-emotion in front of Kirk time and time again. In The Enemy Within, Spock says outright to Kirk, "If I seem insensitive to what you're going through, Captain, understand it's the way I am." The words seem to say, 'I'm an insensitive Vulcan, suck on that', but the fact that Spock says those words when his feelings are not being questioned at all shows that Spock really does feel something, because him being compelled to reassure Kirk at all is an emotion. Here again he's assuring Kirk that he is not taking McCoy and Scotty's criticism to heart, that he understands why they feel resentment toward him and while he can't let himself open up to them, for Kirk he's willing to connect. How. Freaking. Romantic.
The second and the other scene of interest is the triple mind meld scene. Before we get there, I must point out Kirk's adorable face. Spock has figured out that Chekov died because he believed the bullets were real and that the bullets are not, in fact, real. As Spock explains all this, Kirk keeps looking at him with this exact expression:
He is so proud of Spock. Just look at that Spock fanboy! I love it, it's so sweet.
So back to the mind melds scene. Spock says that they all have to believe just as strongly as he does that the bullets aren't real so they won't get capped, so Kirk suggests the good 'ol Vulcan mind meld. Now, this is where I suggest actually going and watching the scene, because I promise that you'll never look at it the same after I talk about it. There is a certain progression in how this sequence is filmed. The meld order is Scotty, McCoy, and finally Kirk. All three melds are shot at different angles, and Spock treats each meld differently, which is nice because it shows that he is responding to each mind and his connection to their minds. What makes this so incredibly slashy are the choices of the actors and how the director sets the scene up. On paper, this scene is pretty straightforward, much like the infamous Miri scene. It is the actors who turn the cut-and-dry Miri dialogue into one long raunchy pick-up line and the director who chooses to film and edit the extremely long eyesex between them. So what do I mean when I say the melds progress and what exactly happens in each meld?
Scotty
This one is very clinical and is very much how Spock tends to meld with strangers. At first, Spock is not even in the shot, and when he does steps in, it's with him facing forward, away from Scotty, like this is an interesting lab experiment (or they're both posing for a promo image, as it kind of just lingers on them standing there for a bit. Maybe Spock is trying to understand the illogical urge to eat everything in sandwich form.) Spock has his hand positioned like he might hold poor Yorick's skull. Spock has a normal, even tone of voice. Nothing much to see here, move along.
McCoy
The scene immediately jumps to this screen shot, and this time Spock is outright facing McCoy, suggesting more familiarity and closeness between them. Spock's voice softens considerably, and he seems to be more earnest in making sure McCoy believes the bullets aren't real. Spock's hand is flat against McCoy's face in a caring manner. I wouldn't say Spock's hand is caressing McCoy's face, more like his hand is 'comfortably resting.' At the end, Spock even closes his eyes like he's pleased the message hit home. Aw Spockers, you totally want to weave friendship bracelets with McCoy. *Also, McCoy has the funniest mind meld face since the crazy dude in Dagger of the Mind.
Kirk
Spock doesn't even speak for a couple of beats; he simply stares at Kirk. Then when he does speak, mother of god. His voice is almost a whisper at first, then seems to gain strength as he goes along. Not only that, but his entire expression throughout is more tense and more determined than it was in the previous two melds. He really wants Kirk not to get killed here. Also, Spock's hand looks to be outright cradling Kirk's face. Just look at that screen shot! It clearly invokes a notion that Kirk is dear to Spock. And then, ladies and gentleman, we get the most freaking romantic camera sweep ever, which I have no gif of, but go watch. I mean, I'm partly sad that they cut away from Spock's expression so soon, but really, why did they film it like that? It focuses on Kirk's eye from there, and good lord, notice Spock's hand. At the very end, Spock's fingers seem to press in more, a minute show of anxiety and, dare I say it, desperation?
I don't have much more to say on this episode than what I've already mentioned, but I would like to add that in TOS, Spock melds with Kirk four times in one season. Each time Spock melds with Kirk, the scene has something strong and important to impart to the audience. I just explained the Spectre of the Gun meld. Then there's the one at the end of The Paradise Syndrome. Spock goes as far as to perform a double penetration mind meld, and Kirk's mind literally startles Spock and compels him to squint his eyes, attempt to collect himself, and say, "his mind...he is...an extremely dynamic individual." The third mind meld is in Requiem for Methuselah, the forget scene of epicness that forces me to keep the episode on my hard drive. And the fourth and final one depicted between them (because well, movies don't have time for that and Spock's mind melds of the movie years consist of katra uploading, whale whispering, and evil bitch skull googling) is Turnabout Intruder and Spock being able to recognize his mind and Kirk acknowledging that Spock is closer to him than anyone in the universe (Kirk's words, not mine.) In short: when their minds collide, it's pretty damn important.
I've been rewatching what I like to call the 'tier 2' episodes. I have three tiers of Star Trek episodes but basically my favorite episodes are tier 1, my least favorite are tier 3, and tier 2 episodes are in between these extremes.
This was one of the last episodes I watched, mainly because I have never liked westerns. At all. I can easily count on one hand how many western movies I've watched and loved, and they're pretty much comedies except for 3:10 to Yuma. What can I say; the genre escapes me. Maybe it's because my dad loves them and I tend to like everything he doesn't, up to and including Star Trek itself. But when I watched it, I didn't outright hate it. Upon rewatching it, I even began to see more of the appeal, and now I like it a lot. Some of that liking does, indeed, situate around the fact that I've found some slashy goodness in it, and where there's slashy goodness, I'm a happy gal.
So what slash can be found in this seemingly slashless episode? Two scenes, in fact are worthy of consideration. What I personally love about the scenes is that they're balanced: one is slashy through seemingly cut-and-dry dialogue, and the other is purely slashy in what is shown.
The first scene is right after Chekov dies (briefly.) The boys are holed up in the saloon. Kirk is angsting at the bar over Chekov's death, and Spock, McCoy, and Scotty are at a table making homemade explosives. Though I suggest going and watching the scene, I'll just paste the dialogue because it is, after all, slashy through words:
MCCOY: Let it go, Jim. He's dead.
KIRK: Maybe he wouldn't be if I hadn't ignored the Melkot warning.
MCCOY: We all knew the risk when we joined the service. Now let it go.
SPOCK: Gentlemen, there is one thing which requires the immediate attention of all of us. Specifically, our future.
KIRK: But not this minute, Spock. It takes us a little longer.
SPOCK: I understand the feeling, Captain.
MCCOY: You talk about another man's feelings. What do you feel, Spock?
SPOCK: My feelings are not a subject for discussion, Doctor.
MCCOY: Because there are no feelings to discuss.
SCOTT: Mister Spock, Chekov is dead! I say it now, and I can hardly believe it. But you worked closely with him. That deserves some memorial.
MCCOY: Spock will have no truck with grief, Scotty. It's human.
KIRK: Bones, Scotty.
SPOCK: Captain, it's quite all right. They forget I am half human.
Hoo boy, so much to talk about. First of all, I really do enjoy how the series is consistent with Kirk and how he mourns over the loss of his crew, how he always seems to blame himself. He reacts the same with Chekov as he would a random redshirt, and that's good writing. Of course, I'm sure Kirk may be hurting that touch extra, since Chekov was a member of the bridge crew and they hang out much more.
Now, make no mistake: when Kirk tells Spock, 'not now, it takes us a little longer', he's not saying that Spock is an emotionless Vulcan asshole, and I say this with 100% confidence, both because of his actions later in the very same scene and because the writer of this episode has written 12 episodes which include gems like Devil in the Dark and A Piece of the Action, but then he kind of smoked something in the third season because he also is responsible for Spock's Brain and Let That Be Your Last Battlefield. So I can believe that the writer is being consistent with Kirk's character and that Kirk knows damn well that Spock is not an emotionless being, even when others doubt it, as we're about to see.
McCoy begins goading Spock, as he is wont to do, especially when Spock isn't showing emotion in a very emotional situation. I love McCoy to death, but you can't say that the good doctor understands Spock a great deal. But that's okay, because Spock doesn't understand McCoy a great deal either. That's why their light mutual animosity is so compelling; they're not even sure if they're friends; they just think they know all there is to know about the other, and yet they keep being surprised by the other. Not uber slashy IMO, just intriguing. Well this time McCoy has Scotty join in on the Spock scolding. This scene reminds me very strongly of The Galileo 7, except in that episode, there was no Kirk to temper the fight and side with Spock. Again Spock's emotions are being questioned, and like in that episode where McCoy (not unkindly, just sorrowfully, like he wishes it weren't so) says that there's something wrong with Spock's heart, this episode shows that, even if McCoy has seen evidence that Spock does, in fact, feel (he conceded the point in Bread and Circuses when he says, 'I'm worried about Jim too'), he still has a way to go before he gives up questioning the fact. Notice that in the movies, after 'the simple feeling' scene, McCoy is much less questioning of Spock's emotions. Kind of funny how that works out, and how it aligns with the widely-held K/S shipper belief that Kirk and Spock got together between that movie and Wrath of Khan. Of course I'm sure that when McCoy briefly holds Spock's freaking soul, he kind of gets the picture too. :)
So now McCoy and Scotty are effectively ganging up on Spock, and Kirk so does not approve, as evidenced by this screencrap.
Finally, McCoy says something that elicits a reproach from Kirk: "Spock will have no truck with grief, Scotty. It's human." This causes Kirk to step towards them and begin to admonish them. This is cute and it shows that Kirk stands up for Spock, but we're not done, oh no. Spock stops him, and actually freaking says, "they forget I am half human."
Holy fuckballs.
First, Spock is outright admitting here that he is anything but pure Vulcan. Sure he's said he's half human before, but never from an emotional standpoint. He'll say he's half human when he needs to make a point or if it's medically relevant, but this time when he says he's half human, he's clearly saying two very important things to different people:
1.) To McCoy and Scotty: I am half human, therefore I do feel.
2.) To Kirk: You understand I'm half human, but they forget it sometimes.
How slashy is that? Kirk goes to defend Spock, and Spock lets this admission slip. For Kirk. You'd think it was for McCoy and Scotty's benefit, but we've seen Spock interact with them alone before like in The Galileo 7, and he certainly didn't want to admit to his human half at all in that episode, even when Kirk teased him about it (once again this proves my theory of the progression of Spock's emotions throughout TOS.) Spock never admits to being anything but Vulcan when Kirk is not around. In the TMP novel, as Spock is about to get the Vulcan prize in the cereal box for completing his kolinahr, he remembers Kirk saying, why just be a great Vulcan; why not be the best of both worlds? Spock drops his facade of non-emotion in front of Kirk time and time again. In The Enemy Within, Spock says outright to Kirk, "If I seem insensitive to what you're going through, Captain, understand it's the way I am." The words seem to say, 'I'm an insensitive Vulcan, suck on that', but the fact that Spock says those words when his feelings are not being questioned at all shows that Spock really does feel something, because him being compelled to reassure Kirk at all is an emotion. Here again he's assuring Kirk that he is not taking McCoy and Scotty's criticism to heart, that he understands why they feel resentment toward him and while he can't let himself open up to them, for Kirk he's willing to connect. How. Freaking. Romantic.
The second and the other scene of interest is the triple mind meld scene. Before we get there, I must point out Kirk's adorable face. Spock has figured out that Chekov died because he believed the bullets were real and that the bullets are not, in fact, real. As Spock explains all this, Kirk keeps looking at him with this exact expression:
He is so proud of Spock. Just look at that Spock fanboy! I love it, it's so sweet.
So back to the mind melds scene. Spock says that they all have to believe just as strongly as he does that the bullets aren't real so they won't get capped, so Kirk suggests the good 'ol Vulcan mind meld. Now, this is where I suggest actually going and watching the scene, because I promise that you'll never look at it the same after I talk about it. There is a certain progression in how this sequence is filmed. The meld order is Scotty, McCoy, and finally Kirk. All three melds are shot at different angles, and Spock treats each meld differently, which is nice because it shows that he is responding to each mind and his connection to their minds. What makes this so incredibly slashy are the choices of the actors and how the director sets the scene up. On paper, this scene is pretty straightforward, much like the infamous Miri scene. It is the actors who turn the cut-and-dry Miri dialogue into one long raunchy pick-up line and the director who chooses to film and edit the extremely long eyesex between them. So what do I mean when I say the melds progress and what exactly happens in each meld?
Scotty
This one is very clinical and is very much how Spock tends to meld with strangers. At first, Spock is not even in the shot, and when he does steps in, it's with him facing forward, away from Scotty, like this is an interesting lab experiment (or they're both posing for a promo image, as it kind of just lingers on them standing there for a bit. Maybe Spock is trying to understand the illogical urge to eat everything in sandwich form.) Spock has his hand positioned like he might hold poor Yorick's skull. Spock has a normal, even tone of voice. Nothing much to see here, move along.
McCoy
The scene immediately jumps to this screen shot, and this time Spock is outright facing McCoy, suggesting more familiarity and closeness between them. Spock's voice softens considerably, and he seems to be more earnest in making sure McCoy believes the bullets aren't real. Spock's hand is flat against McCoy's face in a caring manner. I wouldn't say Spock's hand is caressing McCoy's face, more like his hand is 'comfortably resting.' At the end, Spock even closes his eyes like he's pleased the message hit home. Aw Spockers, you totally want to weave friendship bracelets with McCoy. *Also, McCoy has the funniest mind meld face since the crazy dude in Dagger of the Mind.
Kirk
Spock doesn't even speak for a couple of beats; he simply stares at Kirk. Then when he does speak, mother of god. His voice is almost a whisper at first, then seems to gain strength as he goes along. Not only that, but his entire expression throughout is more tense and more determined than it was in the previous two melds. He really wants Kirk not to get killed here. Also, Spock's hand looks to be outright cradling Kirk's face. Just look at that screen shot! It clearly invokes a notion that Kirk is dear to Spock. And then, ladies and gentleman, we get the most freaking romantic camera sweep ever, which I have no gif of, but go watch. I mean, I'm partly sad that they cut away from Spock's expression so soon, but really, why did they film it like that? It focuses on Kirk's eye from there, and good lord, notice Spock's hand. At the very end, Spock's fingers seem to press in more, a minute show of anxiety and, dare I say it, desperation?
I don't have much more to say on this episode than what I've already mentioned, but I would like to add that in TOS, Spock melds with Kirk four times in one season. Each time Spock melds with Kirk, the scene has something strong and important to impart to the audience. I just explained the Spectre of the Gun meld. Then there's the one at the end of The Paradise Syndrome. Spock goes as far as to perform a double penetration mind meld, and Kirk's mind literally startles Spock and compels him to squint his eyes, attempt to collect himself, and say, "his mind...he is...an extremely dynamic individual." The third mind meld is in Requiem for Methuselah, the forget scene of epicness that forces me to keep the episode on my hard drive. And the fourth and final one depicted between them (because well, movies don't have time for that and Spock's mind melds of the movie years consist of katra uploading, whale whispering, and evil bitch skull googling) is Turnabout Intruder and Spock being able to recognize his mind and Kirk acknowledging that Spock is closer to him than anyone in the universe (Kirk's words, not mine.) In short: when their minds collide, it's pretty damn important.