Meta - Search For Spock (part IV)
So Kirk asks Bones how Spock (now unconscious from all the pain of ageing) is, and Bones tells him that Spock’s body is ageing rapidly, and that his mind is a void (how could he tell that without all his equipment?) Kirk again takes his jacket off, the Starfleet uniform jacket that is (apparently he brought two jackets just so that we could get more gratuitous jacket removal scenes.) Saavik says that they have to get Spock off the planet, because it’s what’s causing his ageing. But they have no way of getting off the planet because they just destroyed the freaking Enterprise! Kirk’s plan isn’t looking too smart anymore, is it? But that’s ok, because this is a guy who thinks on his feet. That’s why he’s Captain/Admiral Kirk. He picks up the com which he finds on the ground, and signals the head Klingon. He taunts the Klingon about the fact that he exploded all the Klingons on the Enterprise (talk about ballsy *resists the urge to make a reference to the bulge in his tight pants*) and then he says that he has the secret of the Genesis planet, and that the head Klingon will have to beam them up to his ship to get it.
Instead, the head Klingon beams down to the planet himself. He orders everyone to drop their weapons, and then he says for everyone to move to the side except Kirk. So they do, but they leave Spock behind (Huh?) So the head Klingon starts to order his men to beam up the prisoners, and then Kirk tries to be nonchalant as he says that the head Klingon should take the Vulcan too. The head Klingon yells no, and when Kirk asks why, he says “because you wish it.” I swear on my life that this happens! Doncha just love it when the bad guys can just tell how much they mean to each other? It’s like when the Squire of Gothos randomly threatened to kill Spock if Kirk didn’t do what he said, even though Kirk was pretending to have feelings for the blonde yeoman just a few minutes earlier. I mean, what was the point of this scene? Why didn’t, say, Scotty and Sulu pick Spock up and carry him with them? Because this movie is all about Kirk saving Spock, that’s why.
So then the head Klingon tells Kirk that he wants the Genesis secret. Kirk tells the head Klingon to beam Spock up first. The Klingon tells Kirk to give him the secret first, and then he’ll consider it. Oh my God, this is just delicious! This guy could have used any one of Kirk’s actual crew to negotiate, but instead he chooses someone who, as far as he knows, is merely an old acquaintance. It would have made infinitely more sense for him to choose one of Kirk’s crew rather than some random Vulcan who’s name Kirk doesn’t even seem to know. But he totally has instincts about Kirk, and he just knows that this Vulcan is, like, mega important to him. (like more important than anything, as though he were a part of Kirk. Like maybe Kirk, oh I don’t know, loves him or something.)
So then Kirk tries to convince the Klingon that they have to get off the planet because it’s unstable, but this Klingon is obsessed with knowing the Genesis secret, so he starts attacking Kirk. I swear I’ve seen something like this before… The hero has overcome numerous obstacles, and now the main villain is all that stands between him and his love, so he has to take the villain on himself in a heated battle. I mean, give Kirk a sword and a shield, and this is Sleeping Beauty (I’m going by the Disney version here)! The head Klingon is Maleficent! Spock is even unconscious! Literally sleeping! What a shame he doesn’t need Kirk’s kiss to wake him. So Kirk finally defeats the head Klingon and sends him plummeting to his death, and then he makes his way back to Spock. He kneels down, and we get to see that yes, its Leonard Nimoy this time. It’s our Spock. It’s Kirk’s Spock. Kirk picks him up (and hugs him!) and then instructs the Klingons to beam him up (and they obey him for some reason). Then he points his phaser at, I guess he’s the second Klingon in command? Apparently the Enterprise crew had subdued the Klingons on the ship (and the head Klingon didn’t anticipate this?) So Kirk hands Spock over to Bones, and takes command of the Klingon vessel.
After Sulu, Scotty & Chekov take a minute to figure out how the Klingon ship works, they all take off as the planet continues destroying itself. David gets another one second mention (Kirk says “goodbye David” within the space of one second, I checked, and then he turns his thoughts directly to Vulcan). Then we get a sweet little scene between Spock & Bones, where Bones is all, y’know, how do I get this thing outa me and back into you? Then Bones says, very touchingly, that he actually missed Spock, and that he couldn’t stand to lose him again. It’s a good thing that Spock is unconscious, because Bones would never live an admission like that down otherwise!
Now we cut to Vulcan, with the Enterprise crew (sadly not on the Enterprise anymore) arriving. Here we finally see Sarek again, who’s apparently been on Vulcan twiddling his thumbs this whole time. Uhura’s there too. She tells Sarek that they’re requesting permission to land. Sarek says “Permission granted. Tell them… tell Kirk, we’ll be ready.” Y’know, in case we didn’t already get that this was all about Kirk saving Spock, Sarek has to very unsubtly remind us. Anyone reading this who hasn’t seen the film is gonna think I’m making this shit up! I swear that’s how he says it. And he does pause, and he does put the emphasis on Kirk. I didn’t add that myself, that’s how he says it!
Then Sulu takes the Klingon ship in for a landing. Ok, so maybe Sarek has been a busy boy after all, because there’s some kind of ceremony waiting for them. Kirk and the crew and Saavik all carry Spock on a gurney from the ship to the planet (no beaming for them!) and suddenly, some guy strikes the gong from Amok Time (is that, like, an all purpose gong for all Vulcan ceremonies? I was under the impression from Amok Time that it was specifically for the wedding ceremony, but I could have been wrong. What is the logical significance of this gong anyway?) So then Spock is being taken up these steps onto this platform, and Kirk just follows them up there, clearly expecting to be a part of this ritual (and I kinda expected it too, what with all the blatant Kirk-and-Spock-are-everything feel to this movie), but then some, like, Vulcan guard or something has the nerve to put this stick thing in front of Kirk to stop him. Kirk looks surprised, and raises his eyebrows a little like he’s kinda insulted (hello, I’m Spock’s life-partner, I should be there!)
Anyway, the Vulcan… um, head woman (I don’t know what her position is, but her name is T’Lar) says that Spock’s body is still alive, then she asks Sarek what his wishes are (oh, so Sarek finally gets a say, huh? Sure you don’t wanna ask Kirk?) Sarek asks for Fal-Tor-Pan, the re-fusion (so then what was this other ceremony?) T’Lar says that this hasn’t been done for ages, so it’s not logical. Sarek tells her that his logic is uncertain where his son is concerned, and apparently that makes it all ok. T’Lar asks who the keeper of the katra is, and we immediately cut to Sarek, with Kirk in the background. Sarek turns around, and for a fraction of a second it looks like he’s going to turn to Kirk (clearly the true keeper of the katra, in Sarek’s view), then Kirk looks to Bones, and we cut to him and he says that he’s the keeper of the katra. Then T’Lar tells Bones that because he’s human, he can’t understand what he’s getting himself into. She warns him that he could die from this ritual (and I’m having such Amok Time flashbacks here. Except that T’Pau didn’t warn Kirk that the Kali-fee was deadly until after he’d agreed. I guess it was just a given that Kirk would volunteer to die for Spock, but someone else… they deserve to know beforehand.) After a glance at Kirk, McCoy agrees, because really, he can’t exactly say no after Kirk went to all that trouble.
So then T’Lar conducts the Fal-Tor-Pan, and apparently it causes lightening. Then some time passes and the ritual is over. And again, Kirk is singled out. Everyone else stays still while Kirk walks closer. McCoy steps down and tells Kirk that he’s alright. Then Kirk asks Sarek about Spock, to which he responds that only time will answer. Kirk looks over at Spock, who’s being fitted for a different robe (a white one, representing life, as opposed to his black burial robe. Ooh, significant.) Then Sarek thanks Kirk for saving his son. Kirk merely says that he did what he had to do. Then Sarek reminds Kirk of the cost of saving Spock - his ship, his son. Kirk simply says “If I hadn’t tried, the cost would have been my soul.” But he’s not saying it in a religious, ‘if I didn’t try to save my friend I might’ve gone to hell’ kind of way. Kirk is not religious. In fact, one of his hobbies seems to be destroying gods. No, he’s saying that Spock is his soul, just like Spock’s soul is his responsibility as surely as if it were his very own. By this point, I trust that no one is surprised. Of course Spock is Kirk’s soul, of course he’s more important to Kirk than his ship or his son. Once again, going back to the quote from Metamorphosis, Spock is more important than anything, he is a part of Kirk (his soul, to be specific). This is cannon, people! It’s practically served to us on a silver platter. You can’t escape it, it’s right there.
Kirk watches Spock descend the stairs and walk straight past him. But then he stops and slowly turns around. He takes his hood off and looks at Kirk. Poor thing looks mightily confused; he’s clearly still not quite himself. It should also be noted that the music has stopped. He goes back the way he came and stops at Saavik (who he, y’know, lost his virginity to in this body). He looks at her, then keeps walking. He passes all the other crewmembers the same way, looking at them and then moving on, all in complete silence. Even Bones, ‘the keeper of the katra,’ doesn’t hold his attention for too long. Then he comes to Kirk, and stays with him. At this point, he says his first line in the entire movie (not counting the scene from Wrath of Khan) “My father says that you have been my friend. You came back for me.” (When did he say that exactly? They literally just finished the ritual. Oh fuck it, who cares about plotholes at this point? By the way, Kirk has been his friend, Kirk came back for him. And he doesn’t even acknowledge the other crewmembers. Very subtle.) Kirk says that Spock would have done the same for him. This movie may be all about Kirk’s epic love for Spock, but let’s not forget about Spock’s epic love for Kirk! Spock asks why Kirk would do this, and Kirk responds that the needs of the one outweighed the needs of the many (yeah, that’s why.) Spock turns around and walks away a little to contemplate this, then he pauses and turns back. “I have been, and ever shall be, your friend.” (Y’know, Spock’s talking pretty freely here about friendship, considering that he’s on Vulcan and Vulcan’s aren’t supposed to have friends. And that the only Vulcan word that even comes close to translating to the word friend also translates to brother and lover. Just sayin’...) Kirk starts to get excited, because Spock is remembering! Spock remembers a few more things, like their last conversation (which he really shouldn’t remember, since he gave his katra to McCoy before that scene. Or is he getting all this from Kirk’s own memories? Because, y’know, they’re totally in each other’s minds, even if it was McCoy who technically wound up keeping Spock’s katra.) Then he steps closer to Kirk, and Kirk searches his eyes for any more memories that he might have.
Then Spock says the immortal line “Jim. Your name is Jim” and this is the moment that the music starts up again. Like the silence was the emptiness in Spock’s mind, but now it’s filled with Jim! Poor guy doesn’t know whether he’s Arthur or Martha, but he knows that the man standing in front of him is Jim. Can we say more important than anything? Can we say a part of Spock? Hell, the entirety of who Spock is seems to be wrapped up in Kirk at this moment. There may be no kiss involved, but Kirk has been the one to break the proverbial spell and wake Spock up, so to speak (Sleeping Beauty, what did I tell you?) And the look on Kirk’s face as he says yes, it’s like ‘I lost my ship, I lost my son, and my career is in shreds, but it was all worth it to hear you say my name.’ Is this romantic or what? Now, finally, Spock looks at his other friends, who all gather around him. But his eyes are still drawn to Jim, who looks like nothing less than a man in love.
And they lived happily ever after. No, I’m not kidding, that’s where the movie ends. It’ll continue in the next one, of course. But for the purposes of this movie, once the lovers are reunited at long last, what more is there to say? I swear to God, this is all true! Watch the movie, it’s all there! I’m not making any of it up! It’s so freaking romantic, and it’s all 100% completely cannon!