5 Ways ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Season 2 Could Incorporate Spock

Ever since the cliffhanger reveal of the USS Enterprise at the end of season one, a burning question has been on Trekkies’ minds: “Will we see Spock in Star Trek: Discovery?”

Other familiar Original Series characters have been introduced (Sarek, Amanda, and Harry Mudd), but Spock is one of the most iconic characters in the franchise and bringing him into the show would be a big deal. With Spock being such a well known character and assigned to the U.S.S. Enterprise under the command of Captain Pike, there simply is no way that he can be ignored. The question is, how will they address Spock?

USS Enterprise meets USS Discovery in the Star Trek: Discovery season one finale

A few times in the last year, the producers have said that they won’t recast Spock. However, there have recently been more and more hints that an adult Spock (and not just the reported childhood flashback) will be part of season two.  These hints include include seeing Michael Burnham going into what appears to be Spock’s quarters on the Enterprise in the season two production teaser released in April, as well as more recent comments from the showrunners and Sonequea Martin-Green that all pretty strongly hinted Spock will be incorporated in some way.

According to the showrunners, Michael Burnham will be dealing with family issues and choices in season two, which means there could be some meaningful interaction with Spock. However, if producers stick with their commitment to remain true to canon, Sarek – who is also on board the USS Discovery – and Spock are only about halfway through their 18-year estrangement of not talking, as established in the TOS episode “Journey to Babel.”

Spock and Amanda meet Kirk in Journey to Babel

Kirk meets Ambassador Sarek and Amanda, having no idea that they’re Spock’s parents

Putting all this together, we have come up with a few different possibilities for handling the Spock-sized elephant in the room.

New Spock

Perhaps the most straightforward thing to do is make Spock a full-fledged character in the second season, recasting him just as they’ve done with Pike. But there’s a reason the producers have spoken warily of recasting Spock; it’s something a lot of us are wary of, and difficult to get right. If Spock has a major part to play, it would require a seasoned performer, likely one who bears a good resemblance to the original actor, like Anson Mount as Pike. If Spock is used in a very limited way, they may not want to bring in a big name. However, can they risk an unknown from the Toronto actors’ pool for such an iconic role?

One thing is certain, it won’t be Zachary Quinto for a number of reasons. Having Quinto play Spock would create brand confusion between the Paramount Star Trek films set in the Kelvin universe and the CBS TV show set in the Prime Universe, plus CBS and Viacom/Paramount aren’t getting along these days. Lastly, Quinto is 41, while Spock would be about 27 at the time of season two, so they’d need someone younger. Discovery is a prequel after all.

CG Spock

One way to avoid trying to find someone who resembles a young Leonard Nimoy, is to recreate him using CGI. They’d take a stand-in with a similar build and facial features and map Leonard Nimoy’s face over his. Dialogue would be handled with a Nimoy soundalike, or possibly even with audio samples of Nimoy’s Spock.

This would allow for full interactions with the character, but due to the high costs involved, it would likely have to be done with in a very limited way. As the Star Wars movie Rogue One demonstrated, this approach needs to be done with care, and the illusion works best by keeping the character’s time in clear view short.

Actress Ingvild Deila, with motion capture dots on her face, stands in for Princess Leia on the set of Rogue One

Audio Spock

An even simpler – and cheaper – way to have Spock interact with characters but without having to be recast is to have him heard, but not seen. This method could easily allow for Captain Pike to flip open his communicator and give orders or ask a simple question and get short replies from Spock, possibly using sampled audio of Leonard Nimoy. More intricate interactions would require a soundalike.

This approach scratches the “we know Spock is over there” itch without actually showing him, and without ignoring it totally. However, it would not work well if they wanted him to have more meaningful interactions, especially with Michael Burnham.

Captain Pike could simply talk to Spock without visual communication

Obscured Spock

One way to avoid the pitfalls of recasting is to find a way to have Spock as a character without really showing him. We could see a certain science officer off to the side, or just his shoulder, or via some other clever camera angle that gives us an implication of the famous character, without having him be fully in view. Perhaps Pike could bark an order, and a science officer with pointy ears, seen from behind, could nod and then walk away. Or perhaps Spock has had a life threatening illness or accident so he’s unconscious on a biobed in sickbay, that could even be the reason for the distress call at end of season one.

We did see a hint that Burnham might go into her brother’s quarters on the USS Enterprise. They could show her walking into his quarters and an obscured view of someone who vaguely looks like him, perhaps in shadow as he meditates, or with his back mostly to the camera at his desk. Then the doors could close, and we’d cut to Burnham walking back out, without us ever hearing the conversation between the siblings. This allows Burnham to deal with these family issues on her own, while her interactions with Spock remain off-screen.

Whose shoulder is on the far right?

No Spock

A simple solution to figuring out how to deal with Spock is to avoid it all together and establish that he is currently not on board the USS Enterprise, possibly off on some mission. In fact, Spock’s absence could be part of the plot driving the arc that includes the USS Enterprise in the early part of season two.

In many ways this may be the best option, as it would demonstrate that the showrunners will stick not only to the technicalities of their words about not recasting Spock, but also the spirit of it — no workarounds, simply no Spock. However, simply dodging the Spock question may not be satisfying after all the hints and hype. And it is also hard to see how Michael Burnham would be able to deal with the family issues said to be part of season two, without some kind of interaction with Spock, on or off-screen.

Spock could be sent on a side mission or is on leave

To Spock or not to Spock?

Whether the Discovery producers recast, use a stand-in, or just explain Spock away, one thing is clear: the writers have a difficult road ahead of them when it comes to this particular Vulcan. What say you?


Star Trek: Discovery is available exclusively in the USA on CBS All Access. It airs in Canada on Space and streams on CraveTV. It is available on Netflix everywhere else.

Keep up with all the Star Trek: Discovery news at TrekMovie.

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I’ve said it before. I still think the best solution was to not encounter the Enterprise to begin with. But since they did and since they have just said they recast Pike, I see no reason not to just go balls out and recast EVERYONE from the old E bridge. Spock is indeed a major character. But to have the Enterprise show up, have Pike himself show up, had Burnham even go on the Enterprise (as the images hint at) and NOT have Spock himself there… That would just be insane. But remember, the Discovery show runners have proved they have no fear of including insane plot points…

So as Pike and Spock are added, this kind of gives me the feeling the showrunners are feeling the need to fall back on (copy/recycle) classic, iconic characters because they’re realizing the original ones they created themselves aren’t terribly likeable or compelling. Just a feeling I have…

The instant Enterprise showed up it really felt like the show runners decided for themselves they had jumped the shark. I think I read somewhere that Pike was only around for two episodes. But the fact that it was decided they needed him to be there at all to me does not bode well for the future of the show. It feels like the kind of stunt a show pulls when they feel like they are losing audience.

@ML31 oh please… You sound pissed.

@HN4 not like there isn’t a ton of reasons

Lorca was a fascinating character …. until they threw away his morally ambiguous persona and turned him into a one note black hat heavy. This remains my biggest disappointment from season one: that they had such an interesting character and completely junked him.

Absolutely agree, Tony. Lorca was the standout of season one, misused and discarded.

And the same is true of Prime Georgoiu.

Oddly enough, while I am a big fan of Michelle Yeoh, her portrayal of Mirror Georgiou is just awful. Too overtly arch to the point of caricature.

Agreed, Ron. And it seems Mirror Georgiou is going to be hanging around for a while.

Mirror universe characters have always been caricatures. They practically twirl their villainous mustaches the entirety they’re on camera, and that’s been consistent across TOS, DS9, and ENT.

The fact that she’s the Emperor of all of these villains makes all the sense in the world in terms of how she’s portrayed. If anything, they also show some restraint with her all things considered.

I agree with Lorca though. Making him mostly one-note at the end of season one was disappointing.

Not every mirror universe character was a caricature.

Mirror Spock was a very interesting character and hardly a moustache twirler. At his core he had a conscience and thru his actions he showed that he was not the same as the rest of the crew. T’Pol on Enterprise’s mirror two-parter exhibited these qualities as well.

Mirror Spock was no moustache-twirler… he was a beard-stroker…a much more subtle, ambiguous evil.

Another agreement. At the time of his reveal the show was already losing me but we still had what looked to be an amazingly interesting captain in the center seat. Hoping to learn more about him was a huge reason to keep watching. Until… Ugh. Sorry. He’s really not fascinating at all. Just opposite boy. The single most destructive decision for the entire first season in my view. Yes, they do play too fast and loose with canon but much could have been forgiven if they had such a juicy character to play with.

Agreed. They sure wound up Lorca’s arc in a damn hurry didn’t they?

Here’s hoping we find Prime Lorca and he’s just as salty as his counterpart.

Marja, you keep harping on the find Lorca thing. I know you liked the character like everyone and like to see him back but its pretty clear Isaac isn’t coming back, at least not full time. I think you have to accept Discovery is going to get a new Captain. Although one have’t been named yet but I’m guessing they are waiting to announce that with some fanfare if its another big name.

And I guess I’m not really bothered by it because to me it proves if they can make one great character as they did with Lorca then they can simply make another one. Let’s hope they do if he’s not coming back.

” if they can make one great character as they did with Lorca then they can simply make another one. ”

Normally I would think that but as it turns out he really wasn’t a great character. What they succeeded in doing was fooling the audience into thinking they had a great character when secretly they didn’t. I guess that’s their view of great story telling.

Yep, they went to the well mighty fast

@Greg — I wouldn’t say they went “to the well” any faster than any other series. TNG launched with a cameo of Dr. McCoy, and then immediately followed up with a rehashed visit to the TOS Naked Time, invoking Kirk’s name before we even really knew theirs.

I wouldn’t call the McCoy appearance in the TNG pilot “going to the well”. The episode “The Naked Now” kinda. But that was it. A cameo and a sorta sequel episode. Not potentially 15% or more of the entire season was devoted to such things.

Yes exactly as I said. McCoy was just a fun cameo. Its the not the same as showing the original Enterprise (which TNG has never done) and hanging out on the ship like Discovery will do.

Heh. It gives me the feeling that CBSAA are thinking they want to test out a second Trek show, “Pike’s Enterprise” or something like that.

@Marja — I like that idea a lot.

Personally folks it should have been the USS Constitution instead. For that particular scene show the registry NCC-170 then immediately cut to Burnham saying it’s the USS…

Hahaha … that would have been quite the bait and switch. Unfortunately, I’m pretty sure that would have pissed off most the audience and some would probably have just said, “enough!”, to the whole series.

Yep

Spock is very much the elephant in the room at this point. If you set up this encounter between Discovery and Enterprise, to not have him there would feel contrived. It would be even worse to have Burnham walk into his quarters, see a Vulcan in the background with his back to you, have the doors close on them and just end it there, or to simply have him in the background with nothing important to do and nothing to contribute to the story. I think a big part of the audience would feel cheated (I know I would).

TPTB seemed content to write themselves into this predicament. They could have easily avoided this encounter but they chose to do it at this relatively early point in the show’s life. They’ve gone this far with it, so they should just have the cajones to cast someone who can pull off the role and embrace it. To dance around the subject would be a disservice to the show and the fans.

TonyD,

As usual, you make a salient case that has crystallized my ambiguous (i.e. foggy) feelings on the matter. Recasting it is!

Is Spock becoming like Anakin Skywalker in that he’s the most important person in the Star Trek universe?

Honestly I don’t mind how they handle Spock so long as it’s respectful to the character.

I’m starting to get this feeling as well. I like Spock but I don’t feel the need to have new stories centring on him. Not everything that happens has to be interconnected to one guy. Spock also works best as part of the Kirk/Spock/McCoy trifecta.

Agreed. Other than to explain why he never mentioned he had an awful, awful sister who nobody likes (banter) I don’t think there’s much left character-wise to do with Spock at this point. How much else do we have to learn about him? (I’m actually asking that question btw – is there anything else we could learn about Spock that we don’t already know?)

Agreed. The guy was in every single episode of TOS and TAS, two episodes of TNG and ten films counting when you include both TOS and Kelvin. Its safe to say he’s gotten plenty of development in the last fifty years. How much more do we need to know that’s not just basic trivia at this point? We have literally seen his life covered from when he was a little boy through old age. Sulu could only dream he got that kind of attention lol.

Agreed about Spock. Which goes back to the question of why make Burnham his secret adoptive sister? Creatively, there was no need for her adoptive Vulcan family to be Sarak-Amanda. Doing so only meant they would have to deal with Spock at some point in the show. And for what end? The whole thing just feels poorly conceived.

@Dr C — well, Spock is the only character that has been with Star Trek since the beginning. He’s appeared in every era, except Enterprise. He’s a very important figure to Trek in that regard.

Yes but I wouldn’t want DSC to make it feel like the Star Trek universe *revolves* around Spock. Like how in Star Wars everyone is a Skywalker or a Solo. The Trek universe has always been expansive (which is why I was kinda disappointed the Enterprise showed up at all tbh). Ever since the 2nd episode of DS9 we haven’t needed to rely on there being a ship called enterprise around in Star Trek. Spock is important to *us* as a character. He’s not that important in-universe (even if you take into account his role in the Klingon peace process and that cowboy nonsense with the romulans). Heck starfleet had him commanding a ship full of cadets before he died. Phaser to my head I’d actually prefer that they left Spock out of this one altogether, but if they must bring him in I hope they deal with him better than SW dealt with Darth Vader…

My prediction is they will either say he’s off the Enterprise or try a CGI Leonard Nimoy. When they kept stating they were not going to recast Spock it didn’t necessarily mean we wouldn’t see him. I think CGI is probably the only way to reconcile those two comments if we are to see him at all. I still think there’s a good chance he’s off the Enterprise doing something else during this encounter.

@Trek Fan 1973 — I think that’s a strong possibility. It would be interesting if they put Burnam up in Spock’s quarters while he was gone (with his blessing of course), which is a possibility since we still don’t know how Enterprise figures into all of this.

Great speculation! I’m very excited too see how they incorporate Spock in Discovery. They could have Spock be unconscious and in sick bay injured and use Nimoy’s face on a body laying in a bio bed. After all, they did receive a distress call from the Enterprise. This would allow for some drama as Spock’s life hangs in the balance and all the acting heavy lifting would be done by Michael and Sarek. This idea flows well with what we know… that Michael goes into Spock’s quarters (perhaps to have an emotional moment in her brother’s room while he is near death), and that there is a flashback involving a young Spock and Michael (perhaps visiting some important point in their childhood relationship that now has more meaning as his life is on the line.) Another option, is to have Spock appear via hologram. They could use Nimoy’s face and the “hologramness”of it all would assure any difficulty in creating a true-to-life recreation of Nimoy. I personally suspect it will be a combo of both of these ideas. We’ll see! can’t wait! (and for all the trolls here who are slamming Disco, why are you commenting on a show that you hate? Do you really have nothing better to do but go on a blog about a show you don’t like and leave nasty, petty and rude comments? Let’s keep it positive… like Gene’s vision of the future)

Oooh, interesting ideas!

I like your ideas, especially the Spock near death aspect.

I understand how people get upset that Burnham’s character was nevere mentioned before the series, but the reality its been done so often.

-When we meet Sarek in “Journey to Babel,” Kirk (the commanding officer) and McCoy don’t know that Ambassador Sarek is Spock’s father. They are surprised.
-When we meet Sybok in TFF Kirk and McCoy, who have been Spock’s friends for at least 20 years, are shocked to know that Spock has a brother.
-Throughout the franchise, especially with, Sarek, Tuvok and T’Pol, we see Vulcans being very tight-lipped about their private lives and even pan farr, a basic biological imperative to mate.

So the fact that we have never heard of Burnham before Discovery is in fact consistent with what has happened before.

Exactly! It’s 100% percent consistent. Great examples with Sybok and Sarek that you mention. Also, in “where no man has gone before” Spock refers to “one of his ancestors” being human… very indirect and impersonal way to refer to your mother. Vulcan’s just don’t talk about this stuff. Nitpicky fans should stop expecting their Vulcans to behave like humans ;)

Yep. My problem with Burnham being Spock’s adoptive sister was not that she was… It seems perfectly reasonable she could exists. My problem was more that it was a poor createive decision.

Using Nimoy’s face sounds really off-putting. He’s dead and can’t consent to this. It’s not a project that he started and couldn’t finish, it’s something he didn’t even know about. Nimoy turned down Generations because he didn’t like the script and he might have turned down his likeness being used on Discovery as well.

His estate can… although I doubt they would.

I’m pretty sure Adam Nimoy has already said he’s fine with it in the media (which makes me wonder if CBS had already approached him about it).

The hologram would be much too Star Wars-y

They already have holograms on Discovery now though. Whats the difference?

its Gonna Be Quinto he actually said he would play Spock if he was asked too in the new show

It won’t be Zachary. I love his Spock, but he’s too old and Paramount would never allow it.

@Scott Gammans — unless Quinto has a clause in his contract prohibiting it, which he would know, then there shouldn’t be a problem.

Brandon Stacey is Quinto’s freaking stand in and has Spock experience, so either him or Todd Haberkorn would work for me.

Where did you see that?
I recall avideo interview right here on Trekmovie, where he conveyed almost exactly the entire opposite.

If it was Quinto then they would’ve announced it ages ago. They announced who Pike is and the actor is new to Trek, its no way they wouldn’t announce the guy who has been playing Spock for nearly a decade now.

But its been said it won’t happen for probably a bunch of reasons, mostly that Paramount and CBS still treat Trek like separate entities and my guess is Discovery doesn’t want to confuse people over the Kelvin vs Prime universe issue.

That and the fact Jonathan Frakes would’ve let it slip out eons ago. ;D

It really needs to be Quinto. He is the new Spock blessed by Nimoy.

Quinto’s not too old. Vulcans age slower & can look the same for decades.

I don’t buy into the brand confusion. People are smart enough to know if they’re watching a TV show or a movie. What does cause confusion is too many actors playing Spock.

There are currently two actors playing Superman and The Flash right now so it doesn’t need to be Quinto. Besides, have we ever really felt like we were watching Nimoy’s Spock in the last three movies?

No.

Guys its not going to be Quinto. I don’t get why people can’t get this. Discovery is trying to do its own thing. Its not tied to the Kelvin films. All it WOULD add is confusion because you got the same actor playing the role from two different universes. It would just bring up a lot more questions.

I seem to recall Quinto saying the exact opposite. He expressed little desire to do it.

Well, I hope, it’s not Quinto. He looks nice and Spock-ish, but they spoiled that with some of their reinventions around the character. Then, there’s that wig….
I could go without the look-alike obsession, CGI-Nimoy would be a terrible idea. I’d like to see a new, proven actor to take a shot at Spock. He would not be alone in the dark. He could open a new page, a less matured younger Spock. Somebody said ‘Flash’? Exactly, how about Ezra Miller, for example?

For once I agree with ML31. The Enterprise is not Chekhov’s gun (pun unintended). You’ve shown us the sleek reimagined Enterprise. We know we have Anson Mount portraying Captain Pike.

You can’t stop there, guys!

We have to see Number One.
We have to see Tyler.
We have to see Boyce.
We have to see Colt.
We must visit the iconic bridge of the Enteprise.
And yes, we MUST have Spock!

For the love of Spock, GIVE US SPOCK!

Sadly they screwed up already. Just a little attention to detail and for me this show could really fly. But the Enterprise crew uniforms are not even reminiscent of the era uniforms as seen in the TOS pilots. Conclusively Discovery is set in another timeline, I’m calling it the Sloppy Timeline..

@Darrin — whatever helps you enjoy it. It’s a visual reboot, which for me and others is not a canon issue. And I disagree, I think they did a great job fitting the TOS uniforms into the new look of DISC. I particularly like how the asymmetrical collar forms the basis of the the black collars in TOS, especially the female uniforms.

We will have to agree to disagree I’m afraid. The simple fact is the Enterprise crew were not wearing TOS uniforms in this timeframe. Not that it is a big deal, but it is true nonetheless..

@DPrescott — well no, that is not a “simple fact”. We have zero idea from canon what they were wearing at this time. We know what they were wearing in The Cage (2254), which was essentially the same uniforms, but with beige instead of red shirts, with mock turtlenecks, and the women wore pants. And we know what they were wearing in WNMHGB (2265), which was essentially the same uniforms with the division logos switched around.

That said, we have no idea what they were wearing from 2254 to 2265. It’s all speculation and specious reasoning. But, since we seem to be going with visual canon, given what we know about the brief uniform switch for TMP, it’s entirely possible that the uniforms switched to the traditional versions we saw in TOS, but were switched out when Kirk took command as he preferred the old style, and captains prerogative. Then the following year, Starfeet mandated the change for all Constitution class vessels. Or, perhaps there were red shits on board the Enterprise, even during the Cage, but we never went to engineering, so we never saw them. Perhaps we will see beige uniforms on DISC. I mean, there’s a million different ways to solve this puzzle, with precedent — remember GEN in which they wore both the full color tunics, and the shoulder ones with turtlenecks? There were probably even still some one-piece uniforms in the background as well.

You never give up defending the show and its producers. I admire your loyalty.

Are people STILL claiming that?!

There is NOTHING conclusive to say that this show is in an alternate timeline. On the contrary- this is a Prime Timeline visual reboot. I would have thought that this was clear by now.

You look at the show, and then either accept the producers’ claim it is canon with TOS.. or you don’t, the visual reboot excuse notwithstanding. That’s STILL democracy, I’m afraid..

The producers can call it whatever they want. If what we see on screen does not match what they say, then something went wrong somewhere.

The ships are different, the uniforms are different, the equipment is different. If it looks different, it is different. Different universe. I still don’t understand why people argue with that. I could see it might be possible (but EXTREMELY unlikely) since we had not seen the Enterprise, but we have now. The Discovery Enterprise is different than the TOS/Cage Enterprise, so it is a different universe.
The term ‘visual reboot’ really means nothing if you are trying to use it to argue the Discovery universe and the TOS/Cage universe are the same.

@c d — thanks for your opinion about the visual continuity between TOS and DISC. I disagree.

Thank you! I appreciate the courteous disagreement.

@cd: I agree with you 100%.

And thank you! I appreciate the agreement as well.

Nothing Prime about it

The Sloppy Timeline. Nice, Darrin, I got a kick out of that.

My pleasure, as always, haha.

@Scott Gammans — I don’t need Spock. I’d love to see him, but I don’t need him. In particular I don’t want him to dominate the narrative.

Which, of course, the Enterprise already has. I can’t help but think their sole motivation for introducing Pike and the Enterprise was to say, “See! This really is Star Trek!”

You’re right on there, I believe, Denny.

Yep. To me, the only reason the Enterprise showed up was so they can say, “This really is prime universe and HERE is the Enterprise! SEE! Told ya!”

But to me all it says is, “We have little faith in our own creation so we are bringing in what we already know fans know and love and hope some of it will rub off on our show…”

I think so too ML31.

I also think thats why they are showing off the TOS style uniforms because fans wouldn’t shut up about it and now they can kind of bridge that gap a bit. I mean why not just show them in season one somewhere if they were always planning on using them? Especially given how many ships we saw.

And the crazy thing is this was ALL so EASILLY predictable. They had to know they would get ripped for changing everything as drastically as they did. They just HAD to. So I still want to know why they did what they did. I’d love to get some one on one time with a bunch of them and find out what exactly was going through their heads. What they are saying publicly really does not help their case at all. And agian, I would think they would be aware of THAT too.

Thats what so confusing about it. Point being Trekkies complain a lot but usually its not that hard to thwart those complaints if you just SHOW some reasonable explanation of why that change happened or how it fits along known canon.

Khan in STID for example was hated but only because it went COMPLETELY against the rules the writers set up for themselves and because they just expected us to see that Khan as the same Khan from Space Seed and TWOK which was ridiculous on its head. There wasn’t one single explanation of why he looked, sounded and acted so differently. The comic book version finally explained it but it would’ve went a loooooong way if they at least used that same explanation in the film itself.

Same with the uniforms. If they showed just ONE scene of people walking around with the old uniforms people would have shut up about it because then we know they used both. Thats all most fans need, just some acknowledgement of canon even if we don’t actually see it on screen all the time.

But I’m going to be fair about it and give the producers the benefit of the doubt and that that decision came from above (ie, CBS) and its they who didn’t want certain things from TOS and wanted things to look more different and futuristic (which goes to a lot of peoples point over and over again if this was the case why not just put it in an appropriate era post-Voyager but I digress).

I’m certain though there are plenty of writers, producers and designers who probably wanted at least some closer tie in to TOS but was over ruled.

But now that CBS has seen all the complaints about it maybe they are allowing more tie ins to happen but still clearly different enough where it doesn’t feel exactly like TOS. Which is what a lot of people like me wanted in the first place IF you were going to put it in this era.

And exactly why I’m more hopeful for season 2.

It’s like the bad 90s reboot of Land of the Lost where in the opening they say ‘see the triple moons’!

Now that they encountered the Enterprise, it becomes silly not to have Spock in-full on-screen. Any other option just becomes “Wilson behind the fence” from Home Improvement…. “Vera” from Cheers…. “Meris” from Frasier… etc. By having Spock “off-screen”…. “audio-only”… or “away on a mission”…. it actually elevates the character to God-status to the point where it overshadows the main cast. Because *every* viewer… big fan or not… will just be like “give me a break… where is Spock”. It’s borderline like that silly Supergirl series where the only villains she fights every week appear to be blood relatives from Krypton running around the planet… yet mysteriously Superman… Earth’s greatest champion… is never consulted or involved. Spock is basically the painfully obvious missing Superman. Funny the producer of both shows were/are the same…

Tyler Hoechlin wouldn’t be a half bad Spock for Discovery.

As long as he’s not occupied with “Supergirl” I think he’d do quite well.

Ok, so it looks like they’re going to go ahead and bring one of the most iconic characters in the entire franchise to Discovery. So now we have a young Spock, and the Enterprise (with a pretty cool Anson Mount as Pike). Who is going to be interested in leaving all that to go back to Discovery, to these far less likeable characters (in my opinion)? Am I really supposed to care what Tilly and Burnham are up to with Spock and Pike running around, having adventures on the most famous ship in the series?

This is a huge mistake, IMO. Looking forward to being proven wrong when season two premieres.

After gauging viewer reactions, is it possible they might pivot the entire series and make it more about Pike and the Enterprise going forward?

Let’s say they did do that. Wouldn’t be so bad. Let’s say they don’t do that. Hopeful it works out better than the first season.

Next Discovery will rendezvous with the USS Farragut and interact with Lt Kirk. Where was Scotty 10 years before being on the Enterprise?

In hiding, hopefully.

I think he was in the Federation Merchant Marines

Although I am fine seeing Pike and the Enterprise I think your point is valid and probably why they should’ve waited a big longer to do this and give people a chance to feel more familiar with the new characters before plopping down the more famous ones. TNG went three seasons before we finally got a true TOS appearance with Sarek. But we didn’t get a true crossover until Spock showed up in the next season. By then TNG had come into its own.

But I also guess ratings matter more and it is a smart way to get people talking and interested.

Um, you forgot about Leonard “Bones” McCoy in the very first episode.

Also, the second ep was ripped from TOS’s The Naked Time”.

Just sayin’.

Actually I didn’t. That was just a two minute cameo that was meant to be a nice surprise or teaser for fans. They weren’t trying to promote the show via his character. That’s why I said ‘true’ appearance.

I’m talking a big cross over event where the story is about them and its marketed as such. They didn’t do anything like that until years later when TNG was its own thing and accepted by fans. In fact none of the spin offs really had crossovers with the TOS characters until seasons later but it made since seeing how far in the future they were. And DS9 and Voyager really did it because it was the 30th anniversary at the time.

@I’m Dead Jim — Oh let’s not limit ourselves … there’s some revisionist history going on here. It’s not like Star Trek has never pandered to fan service. But, they most definitely have, over and over again, from TOS to TNG and beyond. It’s a franchise, and they all have to make sure the fans are tuning in. That’s why we had two Harry Mudd episodes in TOS (3 if you count TAS), Kahn, Bones appearing in Encounter at Farpoint, followed by Scotty in an implausible episode, Kirk in GEN, Trials and Tribbilations, Mirror Universe galore, The Q “Chronicles”, Sulu in VOY, Soong’s ancestors, Riker, Troi, endless retcon, Spock traveling back through time to witness the destruction of Vulcan, more tribbles and on and on … ALL OF IT to entice the fans to watch.

So I can’t really complain about it in DISC as others are. It’s not the first time a Trek series has pulled out an old chestnut in service to the fans, nor will it be the last.

There is nothing wrong with cross overs and thats done in every franchise. But there is a thing about doing too MUCH of it or doing it too soon. But a big and expansive franchise like Star Trek that has everything from time travel to parallel worlds and everything in between its easy to do.

I personally love it but I just believe there should be limits. I rolled my eyes when I heard Harry Mudd would be on the show. Thats as big as fan pandering as you can get. But after seeing how they did it I really liked him. And wouldn’t mind seeing him again in season 2.

And considering Star Trek has over 700 hours of content, that’s not too bad.

The Harry Mudd episode was one of the best ones from the first season (hands down).

This is the first time they have had an entire show that exists just a few years prior to TOS populated with characters who are either from TOS or who have close relationships with them. It’s not fan service, it’s in the DNA of the new show..

Prescott, then I think it possible that they made Burnham Spock’s adoptive sister just for this very kind of thing rather than for the potentially interesting concept of a human raised by Vulcans. Burnham could have been raised by ANY Vulcan. They intentionally chose Sarek perhaps so they could have a convenient excuse to bring in Spock and the Enterprise if they felt the show was lacking in some way? Kinda like an escape pod?

But making Burnham Spock sister DOES feel like shoe horn fan service of the highest order. Its like they feel people will only watch this show if there is some kind of close connection to TOS and so they literally came up with one.

I said this in the past but I would’ve been fine if they made Sarek Burnham’s mentor and she had a relationship with Spock when she lived on Vulcan. I can buy that then believing Spock had some long lost sister in Starfleet literally the same time he was and yet never heard a peep about it.

People can rationalize it and give a hundred excuses why we never heard about her but end of the day its shoved in fan service.

I think that’s my problem. To make all this fit together you have to do too much rationalising to explain away the writers and producers deliberate or unintentional errors. I envy those who just say visual reboot and move on. To my mind, yes update for modern tastes but aim for some consistency with the TOS show you’re wanting to dovetail into.

Michael Burnham = Mary Sue.

Oh, stop it.
If she was *Mary Sue* she’d have a love affair with Spock, she wouldn’t be his adopted sister :^)

The show is not over yet.
>;>}

Well, they ARE only adopted siblings, so it could happen…

I think you bring up a great point.

Right on, Danpaine.

I think that initially having Spock appear via audio over communication channels, using Nimoy’s voice (easily done via audio captures from the original series, for example) is the best answer.

However, I think using a computer generated CGI recreation that interacts via a video communication channel could work. A bad video connection could further preserve the CGI aspect and still allow for use of Nimoy’s appearance. But, I’d work up to that and do it sparingly.

I think the safe thing for the show runners to do is have Spock either be missing or gravely injured, as some have already suggested. That would allow Burnham and Sarek to have the family-specific plot line while walking the decks of the Enterprise without having to recast an iconic role. I agree that, given all of the hype so far, this would be kind of a letdown.

If they do recast – it will have to be one hell of a match to get the hardcore fanbase behind it – which the producers should really be trying to do; no other constituency complains half so loud! Bad word of mouth can still hurt the series. That’s my two cents, anyway.

Since I saw the trailer, part of me thinks that a search for Spock will be the tack the season takes, because I suspect Spock’s quarters are empty in that trailer we saw. But then another part of me thinks he’s already there, based on the shot with the TOS-style uniforms.

Puppet Spock.

better than CGI Yoda!

Zachary Quinto was made into his younger Spock self, most likely. Whose to say Paramount didn’t speak up and insist that Quinto play Spock? It’s a serious role that cannot be recast too many times, less the character lose it’s mojo.

I highly doubt Paramount cares.

Or Discovery’s producers. If anyone was really concerned about upsetting fans Discovery never would have happened.

I suspect there’s some acrimony between the movie rights holders and the TV rights holders. IMHO the one and only one way this could work is with Quinto, but it’s going to take some deft negotiation to get the movie people to allow it..

I think Quinto already accomplished Spock losing his mojo.

He did. Kelvin universe emotionally-stunted, weepy Spock. Way to devolve the character, JJ.

As I have stated before, my pick for Lieutenant Spock–whether with or without the digital likeness of the late Leonard Nimoy–would be Mitchel Musso and my pick for a young, adolescent Spock in the flashback scenes would be Bryce Gheisar.

As stated before, I don’t care so very much for a lookalike. CGI in any ‘dose’ is a bad idea. Who ever it is, let him play. Don’t know Musso, so not sure if I’d like to put Spock in his hands. I’d prefer to see Ezra Miller try. But that’s just me…

You forgot “Child Spock” ( flashbacks ), which I believe is what they may be opting for.

No Spock works best you do not want to associate that classic character with the worse Trek TV show ever made do you!

They’re not talking about putting Spock on Voyager.

LOL! Nailed it!

Spock was already on The Animated Series, dude.

I agree Paul. I am so gutted they even tried to mess with the TOS Enterprise and I’m not even a fan of TOS! It’s classic Trek, iconic and should be revered, not ‘up for grabs’ for any pretentious hispter production team that comes along, wanting to stand on the shoulder of giants.

Well put, Martin. And I’m a huge TOS fan.

This is exactly what I was afraid of. I actually like the way the new ship looks and I think we can ALL agree it looks better than the Kelvin one, right?

But yes this is why you avoid prequels. So many people hated how the Millennium Falcon looked in Solo because its almost blasphemy to look at it any differently now although it was before Han had it. Although I don’t think that had anything to do with the film bombing of course I do think it was stuff like that that didn’t make people exactly rush out to see the film.

CGI Leia was just rubbish in Rogue One (yes , I have the Collector’s set too) . The actress Ingrid Deila looks perfectly suitable to play a young Princess Leia , and it’s a pity that a talented actress becomes nothing more than a dotted flexible prop .
So how are you going to get around not having Spock with Pike , unless the Producers admit the Series is part of a Reboot?
Anyway , if he does appear , hopefully the cast actor has Nimoy’s litheness and sonorous voice .
My suggestion is Leonardo DeCaprio ?!

Leo has a TNG Rom forehead … other than that, he’d be a grotesque choice (seriously overrated imo.)

What ?!! I guess narrow lens shots could solve that ? Or maybe it might be a
Spock’s brain in a jar episode , that’s possibly the way they could adapt it ?

You wont lure TOS trekkies with any of this…stick to your plan and let the rest of us hate it and watch “The Orville.”

So why do you feel the need to be rude and comment? Grow up.

How was he rude? He has as much right to comment. You told him to grow up, insulting him. Perfect example of the ‘comment police’ at work. All Star Trek fans have a right to voice their dissatisfaction. You have no right to shut it down. Maybe all the pro-Discovery Nu-Trek fans need to grow up and ignore comments that don’t fit into your Emperor’s New Clothes world. It’s a contrived, convoluted series that breaks no ground.

Martin, dead on. STD doesn’t even break new Star Trek ground. They pat themselves on the back for being innovative but there is nothing innovative about the show at all. Unless it was their intent to create what they did for the sole purpose of creating strife among the fans. Perhaps a way to get word out that the show even exists?

Even if that were true, it would still be rude to actually say it!

No it wouldn’t

Nothing rude about it

My guess:

Spock has gone missing while on some important mission that has gone horribly wrong, hence the distress signal at the end of the finale.

We’ll see a new Spock or maybe a CGI Nimoy, but not until the end of the season.

@Thorny — that’s my suspicion as well.

Agree completely.

Spock will be MIA or presumed dead as part of the mission which caused the distress signal. Burnham will enter his quarters and have flashbacks of their youth. Discovery will catch up with Enterprise toward the end of series 2 and find (a recast) Spock in the final moments and leave us with baited breath waiting for season 3!

Thats actually not a bad idea lol.

We’ve already had a dozen Spocks. What’s one more?

One Spock, Two Spock, Red Spock, Blue Spock.

Well the Enterprise appears undamaged, yet there is a distress call. What if, if members of it’s crew are suddenly disappearing? One of those crew members being Spock. We see Burnham in Spock’s cabin .. as if she’s trying to figure out what happened to him. I see a time travel scenario in the second season.

Just go along with me for a second here.. Maybe a transporter accident turned Spock invisible, and so as not to spook the crew with seemingly disembodied (Cage era) clothing, Pike has him walking around naked. Then when they cure him, we get the franchise’s first Wilson bomb.. Anyone still with me..?

They should behave left the Enterprise alone and therefore Spock out of it.

I am genuinely afraid what these guys will do with Trek’s most iconic ship and character.

If Sarek meets him then they screw up Journey to Babel

I sometimes wonder if these writers know Trek.

Oh, behave!

I sometimes wonder if some ‘so-called fans’ know Trek!

It was never stated Spock & Sarek didn’t meet. In fact it was established that Spock did visit his parents, but not for the past 4 years. Also they don’t speak ‘as father and son’, doesn’t mean they can’t speak in an official capacity.

THESE writers know all this & wrote a fascinating episode called ‘Lethe’ which revealed the specific reason for Spock and Sarek’s rift & tied it in with Burnham. I think the legacy is in very good hands!

@killamarshtrek — thanks for summing it all up so eloquently!

Killamarshtrek,

That is true. But Lethe was the best episode of the entire season. And the primary writer of it is now off the show. Speculate from that what you will…

It is crazy Joe Menosky is now gone as well. Probably one the most prolific writer and producer of Star Trek being involved in 100 episodes.

Its kind of crazy how all the veteran writers have either quit or been sidelined after the first season: Bryan Fuller, Nic Meyer and now Menosky. I think there is just one former Trek writer left, Kristen Beyer, who seems to have a lot of influence on the show and whose episode I thought was pretty good.

In the interesting of maintaining the integrity of the franchise, we might be better served if Disco referred to the characters as Spack, Seerak, and Captain Pook. That way, their hogwash will wreak less contamination of Memory Alpha and such. #NoRighteousnessShortcuts

That one had me laughing, Galt…nice.

That one had me rolling my eyes. Galt is nothing more than a snarky troll with nothing of note to say.

LOL! Another good one!

I disagree with your analysis about not being able to use Zachary Quinto because of his age. You said Discovery Spock would be younger than Quinto Spock, but in the JJ universe, Spock and Kirk were thrown on board the Enterprise right out of the Academy. JJ’s Pike never completed the length of comman he did in the Prime universe.
Why not Quinto (except for the pricetag)?

Don’t.

He’ll be back at Starbase 1 reprogramming that busted Kobyashi Maru test.

I called this! I’ve been trying to get an audition since the season finale! I shot a scene from Court Martial and wrote a character analysis specifically for Discovery (which I also emailed to trekmovie.com). I live like 3hrs east of Toronto. Is it necessary to state I am a classically trained actor? It would be so easy to slip down there and do a test. Never gonna happen.

No Spock after after all the build-up (Michael is his step-sister + time spent on their shared backstory and family history, Sarek is on board, Pike’s Enterprise, etc.) would seem to make the whole reason for going this far just suddenly moot. I’d even hope they throw in a nod to the “other son of Sarek” with a well-intentioned wink. Best way is to take the plunge on a new full-fledged actor as Spock. Heck, I’m expecting Kirk’s whole gang will show up one way or another in the next few years, so why not just get this BIG one out of the way now?

Space is supposed to be so big. Why have we been led here? So many ‘whys’, why yet another frickin’ prequel in the first place? As excited as I was to hear references to the Enterprise earlier in Discovery’s 1st season, less would have been more. Though seeing it appear did pull on my heart strings, it also left me with a feeling of dread for S2. Whether it’s showing Pine, reimagining this iconic hero ship, worrying how to incorporate Spock… it’s all just unnecessary and once again, I knew immediately the entire ridiculously short S2 would be padded out with this distraction and god forbid delivered new and original stories and built up it’s own mythology. No, it’ll recycle the old, but try and make it sexier – which pretty much sums up this contrived and pointless series. As the boring and utterly pointless war arc did in season1, spending any amount of time with this Nu-Enterprise just wastes the audience’s time. It’s such a short season anyway, and this lazy production team seem to want to create as much distraction and ‘padding’ as possible, as not to have to write good science fiction episodes. It’s Trek all in name. I’m just watching very expensive cosplay.

I trust them to get it wrong, whatever they end up doing.

But maybe they’ll surprise me. I’d love for that to happen.

You and me both, Bryant. You and me both.

Count me in. Nevertheless, CBSAA will be getting a few more of my Quatloos when season two comes out…

Like your tactic: using reverse logic. Worthy of Kirk indeed..!

Possibly I solved it.. Spock will be there, just not in his own body.. Think of Turnabout Intruder..

It’s been ‘fascinating’ over the years to see the divisive viewpoints between fans concerning many aspects of the overall STAR TREK franchise, whether they involve certain shows or movies. Considering the amount of different writers, designers, and directors involved, that’s to be expected, and there will ALWAYS be differences of opinions about the characters, storylines, and visual look of each iteration, amongst other things. Some will always ‘love and accept it all as ‘official’ TREK canon’ no matter what…while others will be more ‘selective’ about what they prefer. And no opinion is any more valid than any others around here…including mine, I know, as the debates continue regardless. And just for the record, my own favourite slices of TREK (for nostalgic and entertainment purposes) remain the original TOS show and TOS movies.

So with all that clarified, here’s my own opinion concerning what would be the best way to include ‘Spock’ in DISCOVERY…

Personally, it won’t really matter to me…and the current writers/makers can make him purple with 4 ears if they wish, as his character WON’T be the ‘Spock’ from the original TOS show as far as I’m concerned…considering I choose not to view this particular show as being actually part of the ‘Prime Timeline’ setting whatsever, despite their claims or intentions. ;)

However…rather than totally disregarding this show as the complete ‘visual reboot’ of the ‘Prime Timeline’ which it turned out to be, and exclude it from my own ‘personal canon’ altogether…I’d much prefer to ‘compartmentalise’ it into my own imaginary ‘co-existing TREK MULTI-VERSE’ viewpoint, to smooth away ALL it’s frustrating ‘continuity’ issues.

And although I prefer to look on certain aspects of the overall TREK franchise as being set in a totally ‘Alternate Universe’ to the original TOS show, I’d like to thank Curious Cadet’s earlier comments on the previous ‘Star Trek:Discovery’ Showrunners’ topic from a few days ago…for inadvertently inspiring me to ‘tweak’ my own imaginary ‘personal TREK canon’ to fix something that’s kinda bothered me for a while now – the fact that there is a BIG disconnect with the ‘visual continuity’ concerning the look of the KLINGONS and other aspects between the original TOS show and TOS movies…due to new designers and bigger budgets of course. So thanks for that CC, and here is my re-structured ‘canon’ now –

1. 1st SEPARATE TREK UNIVERSE (my new change) – I’m now gonna look on the original TOS show as being set in it’s OWN ‘universe’ which is totally separate from ALL other shows and movies – and so due to this, the KIRK seen in TOS isn’t the one seen dying in the eventual GENERATIONS movie…and the SPOCK seen in TOS isn’t the one seen in the ‘Bad Robot’ movies either.

2. 2nd SEPARATE TREK UNIVERSE – and I now look on the TOS movies and NEXT GEN shows and movies (and ALL other shows EXCEPT for DISCO) as ALL being set in a separate, ‘alternative universe’ to the TOS show – so that it’s this ‘universe’s SPOCK (and NERO) who end up going into ANOTHER ‘alternative universe’ (the ‘Bad Robot’ Kelvin Timeline) which ‘split off’ from this one.

3. 3rd SEPARATE TREK UNIVERSE – where the ‘Bad Robot’ Kelvin Timeline movies are set.

4. 4th SEPARATE TREK UNIVERSE – where DISCOVERY is set…considering it doesn’t even seem to be a good fit as a precursor to the ‘Bad Robot’ Kelvin Timeline movies even, never mind the actual TOS show’s setting… (and the ‘Enterprise’ which appears in it is NOT from the original TOS ‘universe’ either…and neither are it’s ‘Sarek’/’Harry Mudd’/’Pike’/or forthcoming ‘Spock’ either…so it’s crew members could end up as ANYBODY as far as I’m concerned, as it won’t matter!)

5. 5th SEPARATE TREK UNIVERSE – well, I guess that could be where the STAR TREK:THE ANIMATED SERIES and it’s characters and storylines are set, seeing as that’s another bit of nostalgia for me in the overall scheme of things! :)

…back to the subject of ‘Spock’ –

Since I’m viewing DISCO as being set in it’s own separate TREK ‘universe’, it won’t matter to me what the current makers come up with for ‘their’ Spock in this case. Personally, I’d rather they didn’t just make him a series of ‘flashbacks’ Burnham has of their younger, childhood selves…but as I say, this character won’t represent the actual TOS Spock to me anyway. So he literally can look or sound like ANYONE as far as I’m concerned.

And one last thing –

Come to think of it, as nothing DISCO’s makers do will affect the ‘separate’ way I’m looking at the original TOS show now..they could even include THIS guy as it’s new ‘Captain’ if they wish –

…one elderly WILLIAM SHATNER! ;)

And just to clarify – the likes of the ‘Bones’, ‘Sarek’, and ‘Spock’ seen on the NEXT GEN show in my 2nd SEPARATE TREK UNIVERSE example above, are NOT from the ‘separate’ TOS show ‘universe’ either.

…and I was only half-kidding about that William Shatner role in DISCO, as it would certainly raise a LOT more interest in the show from some quarters! ;)

“considering I choose not to view this particular show as being actually part of the ‘Prime Timeline’ setting whatsever, despite their claims or intentions.”

When I started watching the show, I was thinking it looked more in place in the KU than the Prime. So I was watching it treating it as if it was part of that. That worked. But then they started to do more things that made such a thing more unlikely. So at this point the only thing left is to just consider STD a complete reboot of Star Trek. Not an alternate universe. Just like Batman Begins was a Batman reboot. This is a Star Trek reboot. They are free to make up their own characters and use existing characters and even change them as they see fit. In spite of what the producers say, this is the only explanation that makes sense. That said, creatively and plot wise, the series still has a long way to go. There were some VERY bad decisions made along the way that had nothing to do with canon. They were just bad story ideas that either went nowhere or undermined the entire show.

I find your assessment that STD is a complete reboot of Star Trek saddening yet accurate at this point, ML. For some reason I was walking around all these years thinking Trek was immune to the reboot phenomenon, that continuity and canon would be respected. Clearly I was being naïve. Someone asked in a previous thread (may have been you), would we rather have no Star Trek, or this…I guess my answer is, This, grudgingly. If I don’t have to worry about the original timeline anymore, I can just watch this for what it is (so far) – an average sci-fi show. One thing though, this show is making me appreciate the KU more than I previously did (except STID).

Yeah… I too was hoping Star Trek was such a huge and lush world that there was no real need for a reboot. ST09 was pretty much as close to a reboot as I was hoping Star Trek would ever get. It rebooted without actually being a reboot. Yet, here we are.

@ ML31 – I see you’ve chosen to go down the route of viewing DISCOVERY as a total ‘reboot’ of the original source material. Fair enough, and that’s what the ‘Bad Robot’ KT movies effectively are too.

Although I prefer to just look on it an ‘alternative universe’ storyline, I think we agree it certainly doesn’t fit into the classic ‘Prime Timeline’ criteria. So whatever it takes for you or anyone else to enjoy this show a little better, is up to you and good by me.

The thought has some legs to it. Just a small adjustment in the way I view the show may smooth over some of these rough edges for me. “Reboot,” “alternate universe,” whatever term we choose to use, I’m sure CBS could care less, as long as we keep watching. Now they need to step up their writing game. I can tweak my mind to adjust to this being a reboot and/or alternate universe like I did with JJTrek, but I can’t abide by the kind of plot, pacing and characterization inconsistency (imo) displayed in season one. And please, make the space sfx watchable.

Yep. Thinking of it as a total reboot makes it more digestible. The producers calling it that too would be great but is a pipe dream. However, even with that mess out of the way, it still doesn’t fix the low quality of the show itself. What they did with Lorca was still idiotic and the Ash/Tyler thing was a “been there done that” for the fans and still went nowhere. Many other creative choices have been questionable at best. Downright dumb at worst.

Honestly, I think it was a mistake to make Burnham Spock’s sister. Like Sybok, the “oh this character whose family you’ve met long ago and known forever had a sibling” thing is just the opposite of the fan service they intended. It brings along baggage the writers have a difficult time carrying later on. There are plenty of other ways to tie in Sarek (her mentor, her host on Vulcan, etc). The whole struggle with the father figure thing was probably the weakest part of Season 1 plotting, and they had a plethora of much stronger plot threads going on.

@Ron Beau — and I completely disagree. I think the addition of Burnam to canon is a fascinating expansion of our understanding of Spock’s story. And of course it’s fan service, but it’s also a clever way to immerse a new audience into the franchise, and get them exploring the older series. In the end, Trek is a franchise which at the heart of it, has always centered around key characters and events, and they have been recycling popular characters over and over again each decade. That’s the point of a franchise. Yes, you could create some brand new Vulcan to be Burnam’s mentor, but why when Sarek is so much more interesting to the fans, and even future audiences?

Sorry I agree with Ron Beau. It was silly fan service to endear the character to TOS fans. If they wanted an ‘understanding of Spock’s story’ then can’t they simply do that through Sarek who is already part of the show? Burnham doesn’t have to be adopted for that to happen.

It still feels completely unnecessary to do and I think why it bothers a lot of TOS fans.

Same here, Tiger. Shoehorning Burnham into Spock’s family is just what it looks like, a cheap way to bring iconic characters into a new show. And as a big TOS fan, it did nothing to make me like the character any better. Frankly, Burnham is pretty unlikeable anyway. I think Spock’s story was pretty well fleshed out over the past 50 years. I don’t need Burnham to explain Spock to me. Just my opinion.

For me, it’s not a matter of Burnham being unlikable. I just find her boring. Which is odd becauase I think the concept of a human raised by Vulcans can bring about so many interesting facets. Yet STD delved into NONE of that. Burnham is just… Sort of…. There. She was upstaged by Lorca (at first), Saru and even Georgeau in the first two episodes. Hell, Dr. Culber was more interesting than her. I found myself curious about that weird cyborg on the bridge more than Burhnam. And we knew nothing about her! That is all on the writers. They had a potentially interesting character played by what many are saying is a very competant actress (I’ve never seen her in anything else) and they rendered her as the most prominant background character ever. I guess that’s some sort of feat…

Thats what bothers me about the whole ‘Burnham grew up on Vulcan’ thing is that they did NOTHING with it. I mean I loved the second episode where they showed Burnham and Sarek coming aboard the Shenzhou. She really did act like a Vulcan and being uncomfortable being humans. That was one of my favorite scenes in that episode if not the entire season. I loved how she raised her eyebrow like all the other Vulcans before. It was clear Martin-Green really went deep for this one scene.

But then its just gone. I get its seven years later so she has adapted to being around humans again but thats what made the character interesting, to imagine her torn between two worlds. And it would’ve made a strong social commentary about people from one culture but being raised in another like black or Asian kids raised in white families or vice versa. I thought that’s where they were going with it, but sadly I guess not.

It probably was one of those Fuller ideas he was planning to explore but basically dropped once he left.

She still has some adaptation issues as of the Mudd episode, where she’s uncomfortable with parties and “never been kissed.”

I’m just … I like the actress and I like her portrayal of Michael. I don’t understand all the dislike, but we each bring things to a show when we watch.

I love Trek. What I don’t love is all the hate and complaining, but I guess I can either leave this site alone or “skip on down” through comments.

Actually that would make my time on the site a lot shorter, if I skip the whiner posts. I could be done in just minutes!

Actually that would make my time on the site a lot shorter, if I skip the whiner posts. I could be done in just minutes!
–Marja

Yes, with the yellow highlights of new posts, that strategy has made my time on this site very efficient!

I totally agree with you. I really love the Burnam story, and appreciate the reason they set DISC in this era, if only to get her story, which in turn makes Spoack and Sarek’s story so much richer. I think they’ve developed her story within the ensemble quite well. I look forward to see how it develops in Season 2!

Exactly. It’s just not necessary. Its just a cheap tie in and one that makes no sense on its head looking at Spock’s life overall.

And yes, we already know enough about Spock now! Why on earth do we need to learn more??? It would be different if Nimoy was still playing the character present day or that we literally didn’t already have a new Spock in Zachery Quinto. Do we need yet MORE development on this character lol.

This is why I wish Discovery would’ve just did its own thing completely. Fine, mention Spock and the others are out there. Bump into them a few times if you really have to. But no one needs a direct connection to the character to justify this show or Burnham as a character. Thats what bugs me about it.

I actually give the new Star Wars some credit in the sense they didn’t feel the need to making all the new characters related to the old ones (OK Kylo Ren is Han and Leia’s son but that at least makes sense in the context of the films). But I’m happy Rey, Finn and Jyn are just their own characters and not related to Luke, Obi Wan, Lando or god knows who else.

I’m going with No Spock.. at least not until a mid-season or season ending cliffhanger.

But what baffles me is this notion that they hold the character in such high regard that they won’t recast… so much is different in this series, what’s the big deal if Spock doesn’t look, act or sound exactly the same? The Enterprise looks different, clearly, so what’s the big deal if Spock is different at this point?

It’s possible that the Enterprise is meeting with the Discovery and Sarek because Spock is missing/on assignment/in trouble? That would at least kick the can down the road a ways, right? My instinct is that when they get around to using Spock they’ll find a way to use Nimoy. MAYBE with some very limited STAR WARS style reanimation, but more likely through discrete use of old footage and audio reworked and repurposed.

That’s the route I figure they’re going, too.

Yes they can always go the Rogue One direction if they really want to.

Yeah, because the Leia hologram was such a popular idea /s.

Marja,

Hmm…it’s as if most forget a Leia hologram was all it took to launch the whole franchise for Lucas via his Luke character in the 1st one?

Vulcans are very, very hard to do well, and as the first Vulcan in the Star Trek universe (in production order), Spock is THE Vulcan. Messing up Spock would earn the Discovery showrunners the wrath of a bunch of enraged Trek fans, in the face of which even the wrath of Khan would pale. :-)

Spock is away at a scientific conference, or he’s been lent to another ship for a special mission that requires his expertise, or he’s unconscious in sickbay or something. Let me retain my memories of Leonard Nimoy’s fabulous Spock, and don’t sully them with the performance of a lesser actor. (And let’s face it, when it comes to Spock, EVERYONE else is a lesser actor.)

I think the best thing to do would be to show Spock and have him interact with Captain Pike, Michael Burnham, etc. It IS canon info that he’s already on the Enterprise at this time anyway, so, why not? I don’t see any violations of canon here. And trust me, I’m a stickler for canon, which DSC has already violated plenty of (size of ships, look of the Klingons, just to name a few). All in all, however I believe DSC is a show worth watching (especially when Jonathan Frakes directs an episode). Rest assured, I will beam back aboard Discovery (or Enterprise, for that matter) for season 2. Plot a course for the Final Frontier, maximum warp. Engage!

Best option would be to use cleverly edited TOS footage, like DS9 did for Kirk.

But if they must recast Spock, I think Benedict Cumberbatch would be the closest match and the best choice. Not just the physical similarity, but because he’d also be able to do the voice, gravitas, demeanour etc. Probably the only well-known actor who could pull it off.

Not young enough, and he’s already (terribly miscast) Khan in the Kelvin movies.

The cleverly edited TOS footage is my favourite idea from this thread so far. It also means that he would (hopefully) be restricted to a cameo only.

Spock’s character in The Cage and, indeed, in the early episodes of the original show was quite often at variance with the character as we think of him now. He was a good deal less saturnine, shouted more, smiled broadly and shouted.

In many ways, it would be easier to recast this younger Spock than one closer to the Kirk era as the character is really quite different.

Also, if we go by Dorothy Fontana’s book, Vulcan’s Glory (yes I know it’s not ‘official’ but writers increasingly have shown an interest in deuterocanon in recent years) Montgomery Scott is working in Engineering.

Frankly, if they’re going to recast Christopher Pike, they might just as well do everyone else.

As for the Sarek issue, presumably he’ll speak to Michael or Amanda, but not Sarek. I wonder if he’ll learn that Sarek sacrificed Michael’s place at the Academy for him…

I wonder if Jose Tyler is related to the Discovery character…

According to Amanda in Journey to Babel, Spock and Sarek hadn’t “spoken to each other as father and son”. So as long as they keep it professional, or even Spock resisting Sarek’s attempts to reconnect on DSC of they decide to go with that, there is no canon violation.

Hi, Ernst Hauke Fischer.

Totally agree. Relations who ‘haven’t spoken to each other in years’ might well have to have the occasional telephone conversation or swap emails about family matters. There might not even be any ‘froideur,’ but there’s no ‘chaudeur’ either.

It won’t be Spock we see but his evil twin brother (who has never been previously mentioned) pretending to be Spock.

That would be consistent with what we’ve been handed.

Totally believable given what they did with Lorca. And the evil twin trope has already appeared in TNG… So why stop now?

Well, I laughed. In fact, I’d watch the hell out of this show if that happened! :)

If they can nail a really solid recast, then I think that’s the best way to go.

It’s clear that, like the JJ movies, there isn’t an expectation for everyone to look and sound exactly like their original TOS actors, so there’s leeway to play with there. Based on that, going the CGI route would stick out more than normal, with Spock being the only one looking exactly like the original.

I WANT to see CGI Spock, even if it’s just for a moment… :D

Jacob Kogan, the kid who played the young Spock in the first movie would be perfect to play the young Spock in ST Discovery. He’s the perfect age, and he wouldn’t be a re-cast.

But Jacob Kogan looks nothing like Leonard Nimoy, but looks a lot like Quinto. Make of that what you will.

My favorite idea is CGI. I will say this about Quinto–there would be no brand confusion. You know why? Because people are not stupid.

Yes, but movie and marketing executives who live in the Hollywood bubble are stupid! And Quinto is too old to play Spock at that age. Not to mention, he had the wrong kind of squeaky voice to be bellowing out ‘Check the circuit’ convincingly. ;)

Dom,

Re: Quinto is too old

How do you figure? Nimoy was well into his 33rd year when the first pilot began filming, and at the beginning of his 34rth when post-production had completed. Maybe an added year older, if we account for the massage it took to work it into that double episode. Quinto is approaching his 41st this month and is far more hale than the chain-smoking Nimoy was.

Re:…wrong kind of squeaky voice…

Make up your mind, a “bellowing” voice would the WRONG kind of voice for a more youthful Spock for which you are strangely arguing?

It’s as if people forget Vulcans age slower than humans and that actors are often called to play a decade younger than their actual age which for a Vulcan would only require 5 human age years less.

I wouldn’t count Quinto out just yet. It would work for both both franchise bosses. It’s the same character so it’s not a branding confusion issue. Most audiences aren’t even aware of the complex licensing surrounding the brand.

Casting a 3rd actor runs a big risk. Even with the more casual audience.
The obscured version is hackneyed.
The CGI option is another issue that wouldn’t wash with the most casual viewers.
It’s either going to be Quinto or a “he’s back at Starfleet for 2 weeks” option.
Of course I could be wrong…

I don’t think it is a concern about brand confusion for the customer, but the producer. If you notice, every different version of every franchise, superheroes like Batman or Superman, and Star Trek, they have to clearly differentiate the style. That’s why the S symbol in Superman The Movie is not quite right, or there were extra points on Burton’s Batman symbol and why there is a slice out of the Starfleet insignia for Discovery. And why the uniforms and ships and equipment are different. And why they will choose another actor before using Quinto. Exclusive rights.

Please not that the 18 years of “not talking” are qualified by Amanda in Journey to Babel as “talked as father and son”. Which means there is no issue with Spock and Sarek meeting face-to-face on DSC and even talking, as long as they keep it strictly professional.

Jacob Kogan, the actor who played young Spock in Star Trek 2009 is 23 yrs old now. Juuuuuuust saying

Since this is 10 years before Kirk’s time, and Nimoy was 33 in TOS S1, this’d be a neat coinkydink

Marja,

Nimoy was born in April of ’31. The first Trek, MENAGERIE/CAGE, started filming around late November of 1964 when he was well into his 33rd year.

@Disinvited — while Kogan would look younger than Nimoy did in The Cage, I think Marja is alluding to the actual age Nimoy would have been in the relative DISC timeframe, rather than after the retcon that The Cage footage took place 13 years prior to The Menagerie wraparounds. Had NBC ordered Trek based on The Cage, then Nimoy would indeed have been 33 in TOS S1, rather than 35, making him 23 relative to his actual age were he to have actually been cast in DISC 10 years earlier.

Curious Cadet,

I certainly appreciate you clarifying Marja ‘s take.

However, it doesn’t account for the fact that Vulcan’s age slower than humans so no matter how you slice it there’s no symmetry to Kogan or any other actor looking 10 or more human years younger.

That would be perfect. Since it’s technically not “recasting” :)

Of course I would love to see Spock, but I think the bigger bomb will be Marina Sirtis as Number One. Kind of a nice symmetry to that, eh?

@Brainulo — except Number One is not likely to be 63, or 20 years older than her Captain. So, no, I wouldn’t really want to see that despite the nostalgic symmetry.

Amanda said Spock and Sarek hadn’t spoken as father & son in 18 years, she never said they didn’t speak at all.

would love to see another young actor get a chance to take on the role of spock