Meta - Search For Spock (part II)
Back to the Genesis planet, and it looks like David & Saavik got permission to beam down after all. But the Captain wants them to be very careful, cause he’s going out on a limb for them. Anyway, turns out the animal life forms were these weird squidgy alien things that I can’t possibly describe to you, so you’re just gonna have to watch the movie to see what they look like. Apparently they evolved from the microbes on the tube’s surface (and the microbes evolved into animals? Microbes aren’t even the same domain as us, let alone falling into the animal kingdom! *Is biology nerd*) Then Saavik asks how they could have evolved so quickly, but David doesn’t know (What’s wrong with you, David? Why don’t you know this?) So anyway, David opens Spock’s tube/coffin (morbid fellow, isn’t he?) and is surprised to discover that Spock is not there, only Spock’s burial robe. Then they hear this weird noise, and I have no idea what it is. Later scenes make me think that it’s supposed to be like a baby or a kid crying, but that’s not what it sounds like. It sounds like a grown man crying out. Yeah, I don’t know. It’s weird. Next scene!
Kirk is having drinks with Morrow, and Morrow’s first line is “No, absolutely not Jim.” Three guesses what they’re talking about. He says that Kirk is his best officer, but he has to follow the rules. Kirk is all ‘wtf? Spock died for us! Don’t give me any of that rules bullshit!’ Then Morrow says, “Now wait a minute. This business about Spock and McCoy, honestly, I never understood Vulcan mysticism.” (Um, what? ‘I don’t understand it, so it mustn’t be true’? This is what Starfleet has to offer? This closed-minded douche? Seek out new life and new civilisations… unless it involves strange alien mysticism, because we don’t want anything to do with weird crap like that!)
“You don’t have to believe,” Kirk assures Morrow, “I’m not even sure that I believe.” Show of hands how many people actually buy this? That’s what I thought. Kirk believes everything that Spock says, without question. I’m sure the same would go for Spock’s father. Kirk is clearly doing what he does best, manipulating the situation and the people in it. He’s trying to get Morrow to identify with him. Go Kirk! Then he says one of the best lines, liek evar! “But if there’s even a chance that Spock has an eternal soul, then it’s my responsibility.” Now, it’s easy to think that Kirk is taking responsibility for the welfare of a valued crewmember, as is his duty. But remember, Kirk is not the Captain of the Enterprise anymore. Morrow then reacts to this statement as though Kirk’s just said that the space-time continuum is his personal responsibility, having his own personal WTF moment. This clearly has nothing to do with Starfleet duty. Kirk taking responsibility for Spock’s soul is very personal. Add to this the fact that Sarek expected Kirk to have Spock’s katra, and was absolutely baffled by the idea that it could be with anyone else, and you can start to see why Spock is so clearly Kirk’s soulmate, and vice versa. And it’s totally cannon!
Then Kirk continues with “as surely as if it were my very own.” Poetic Kirk iz poetic. How can Morrow not be won over by the love in Kirk’s eyes? The guy must have a heart made out of stone, cause he still says no! God, Kirk’s expression when Morrow goes on about how Kirk would jeopardise his career if he kept up this ‘emotional behaviour’ I swear, if looks could kill! (And seriously, ‘emotional behaviour’?! How would you react if you lost your soulmate, huh Morrow?! stfu!) Then Kirk forces a grin on his face, cause this guy’s clearly a lost cause, and politely excuses himself. (Mad props on Shatner’s acting here, by the way. You can practically taste the bitterness in the back of his throat as he says, “I had to try”)
So Sulu & Chekov are waiting, and when Kirk gets to them, Sulu asks what the word is. Kirk replies “The word is no. I am therefore going anyway.” Yeah, fuck that guy! The way he just says it, like it’s not even a question. There’s no ‘should I or shouldn’t I?’ internal debate or anything of the sort. He’s going, and that’s just that. Like, he would’ve preferred to have permission, but if he doesn’t have it, whatever dudes! Kirk never defies orders, and I mean never. Ok, so not never, he’s done it once before. In Amok Time. Again, to save Spock’s life. That’s right, it’s always for Spock. Sulu says that he can count on their help (like they’re doing it for Kirk, not for Spock. ‘You were a great Captain and we’re loyal to you. Of course we’ll help you save your boyfriend!’)
Now we cut to Bones. A Doctor and a Vulcan sharing the same body walk into a bar, stop me if you’ve heard this one. It’s a pretty cool, futuristic looking bar, with tribbles! Bones takes a seat, and the waitress is there almost instantly. She seems pretty cosy with him too. In The Final Frontier, Bones mentions how neither him, Kirk nor Spock are married, and they’re spending their shore leave with each other. It appears, though, that Bones is the only one who’s stayed remotely in the game (although I’ll admit even that’s debatable. You could go down the OT3 road here, and in TFF, if you wanted to. I won’t though.) In TVH, when Kirk tries to flirt with Gillian, he’s so bad at it, like he’s way out of practice. Why stay single if you’re not gonna get any? Oh right, he’s not single. I keep forgetting.
So turns out Bones has been trying to get himself to Genesis. And he’s majorly schizo here too. One minute he’s Bones, then he’s Spock, then he’s some combination of the two. “Where’s the logic in offering me a ride home, you idiot?!” And I can’t tell you how much of a crack up it is to see Bones trying the Vulcan neck pinch! He winds up getting himself taken to jail, because he dared to utter the name Genesis. Apparently freedom of speech has become a thing of the past in the Star Trek universe…
Back to Genesis, and David & Saavik have discovered another life form. Oh, the suspense is killing me! I need to know what the other life form is! I couldn’t possibly hazard a guess!
Cut to operation rescue, with each member of the crew just being plain awesome, and Kirk looking sexy in a brown leather jacket (yes, even at 50 or so. Don’t judge me.) Uhura’s the most awesome here, imo (I mean after Kirk of course). And there’s something symbolic about her forcing that little pipsqueak Mr Adventure into the closet that I just can’t quite put my finger on. It’s just such a fun scene, with everyone all ‘yeah, we’re defying orders. Wanna make something of it?’ in their own unique way. But I still get the feeling that they’re doing it all for Kirk, because of their loyalty to him. “Oh, and Admiral… all my hopes.” It’s pretty clear that this is Kirk going after Spock, with help from his friends. Not that they don’t all like Spock, of course, but they’re all risking their careers because of their admiration for Kirk, and his love for Spock.
In the next scene, Kirk even says that he can’t ask his friends to go any further. “McCoy and I have to do this, the rest of you do not.” McCoy has to do it because he’s slowly slipping into insanity, but why does Kirk have to? It’s not like going to die if he doesn’t save Spock. Then again, he is gonna lose his soulmate, which is probably just as bad. But anyway, the crew make it clear that they’re sticking with him, which is really awesome of them.
So then we cut to the Captain of the Excelsior, and he’s clearly pure evil, because he’s filing his nails. What is it about filing nails that’s such a bad guy cliché? I will scratch you with my long, sharp nails of DOOM!!! Bwahahaha! This guy just reeks of pathetic as he goes after Kirk, all arrogant and sure of himself. And Kirk’s look of utter, steadfast determination as the guy’s voice comes over the intercom with “Kirk, if you do this, you’ll never sit in the Captain’s chair again.” He doesn’t even dignify that statement with a response, he just calmly orders the Enterprise to warp speed. The Captain of the Excelsior does the same, but Scotty tinkered with the engine, so he fails. I laugh at his failure. Ha ha.
Back on Genesis, Saavik & David are following that weird sound I mentioned earlier, which is so incongruous to what they actually find. It’s a little kid crying, but that’s not what it sounds like. But that’s apparently what it is, so whatever. How did he survive? He’s naked and it’s snowing. When they get closer, Saavik sees the boy has pointed ears, so she starts talking Vulcan to him, but he clearly has no clue what she’s saying. Saavik & David hypothesise that the Genesis effect has regenerated Spock’s cells (how convenient). Sorta makes me wonder what they would’ve done if this hadn’t happened. Sarek wanted Kirk to take Spock’s katra and his dead body to Mt Seleya. Or did he just want Spock’s katra? Cause if that’s the case, then why did Kirk want to go to Genesis at all? It’s not like he had any way of knowing that Spock was actually gonna be alive when he got there. And why did Bones want to go to Genesis? He started off just asking Kirk to take him to Mt Seleya. Hmm, best not think too hard about these things…
So anyway, David & Saavik tell the Captain that they’ve found a Vulcan child that they think might be Spock, and they ask him if they can beam aboard. The Captain says that he has to ask Starfleet first. What is it this guy’s first day? Even Saavik is like “I’m sure Starfleet would approve, sir”, but he’s still all ‘no no, I can’t make my own decisions about this. You guys just stay down on that freezing planet while I wait for further instructions.’ Unfortunately, the Klingons have arrived at the Genesis planet too, and they’re blocking the science vessel’s communications with Starfleet. Then, I kid you not, the Klingons destroy the science vessel with one shot! Apparently the science vessel Captain was the movie equivalent to a red shirt. The Klingon Captain is pissed, though, because he wanted prisoners. Then they discover the three life signs on the planet. Oh noez, Spock is in peril! Hurry, Captain Kirk!
Cut to Captain Kirk, and he is hurrying. And Bones has Spock’s voice again. It’s simultaneously creepy and sad.
Back on the planet, the evil Klingons have beamed down and are looking for the three life forms, who are sitting down elsewhere to have a little chat. Kid!Spock is wearing Spock’s burial robe, which is kinda morbid when you think about it. Anyway, we get a little ethical debate between David & Saavik that no one really cares about because we’re all so focussed on cute little kid!Spock. He really is precious! Anyway, blah blah blah, David broke the rules and took short cuts while he was making the Genesis planet and now it’s unstable. Yet another device to place Spock in peril. The damsel is in distress, and the hero is charging to the rescue! This is what this movie is, people! This is all this movie is! It’s right there! I mean, I think they’re also trying to have some kind of moralistic stuff about ethical behaviour in science, but they just sorta skim over it in favour of this blatantly romantic love story between Kirk and Spock! Ain’t it great?
The Klingons find Spock’s tube, and those weird creatures have evolved further into giant worm-things. For some reason, the head Klingon picks up one of the worm-things and starts strangling it. Evil Klingonz iz evil. Then the worm-thing strangles him back, but the Klingon digs his thumbs into it and it starts bleeding and dies. Scary evil Klingonz iz scary. I guess this is just to show what Kirk is up against. But I’m not worried, because I know that love conquers all. That’s the real moral of the story - don’t mess with Kirk and Spock’s epic love!
So the sun sets really quickly and we see kid!Spock & Saavik taking shelter in a cave while David stands guard. Cute little domestic scene they’ve got going there. When kid!Spock falls asleep, Saavik goes outside to talk to David. They talk about how the planet is ageing, and Spock is connected with the planet (somehow?) and is also ageing in surges along with the planet (which is good, because no one wants Kirk/Spock with Spock as a child. Isn’t it just perfect how Spock gets to be the exact age he was when he died by the time that Kirk gets him off the planet?) David goes on to say that the planet and Spock have only days, maybe hours (way to heap on the tension, guys! Hurry up, Kirk!)
Then Saavik brings up pon-farr, because with Spock’s rapid ageing, he’ll be experiencing it soon. “Vulcan males must endure it every seventh year of their adult life.” Ok, now help me understand this. Spock is really only, like, a few days old, so he shouldn’t be having pon-farr at all during this time. So we’re obviously going by his biological age. But during this time, Spock ages biologically, like, 50 or so years. So he should go through pon-farr more than once during this time, right? Also, this has gotta seriously screw up Spock’s pon-farr cycle. His first one was in Amok Time (yes, it was his first time. If it wasn’t, he would have already been married to T’Pring, and we wouldn’t have had that incredibly homoerotic ceremony in which Kirk & Spock wrestle in the dirt and no one hooks up with the girl.) His second one would have been between the series and TMP, his third would have been the year before Wrath of Khan (assuming WoK was set in 2282, the way Amok Time was set in 2267. I have a slight obsession with timelines, can you tell?) So Spock’s fourth pon-farr would have been in 2288. But with this new body, who knows when Spock’s next pon-farr is? Since he only slept with Saavik once, he was probably burning for it all through The Voyage Home, except that he was acting very rational throughout TVH. Maybe Spock & Kirk had wild pon-farr sex between SfS and TVH? Oh yes, there we go. PWP plot-bunny for sale to the highest bidder!
Part III