SPOCK WILL GO WHERE HE CAN BE A VULCAN!

               

             There is probably no character that is more representative of Star Trek than Mr. Spock.  Oh, classic Star Trek itself may have been the Captain Kirk show, but when people think of the series the character who comes to mind is Mr. Spock.  It is his alien nature and appearance.  Those Vulcan ears, the eyebrows, the genius level intellect, his commitment to logic, the stoic demeaner, and the classic blue uniform all made for a legendary character.  He is a character that has meant a lot to a lot of people. 

Getting some chess and saving the Captain at the same time!

       From his first appearance over fifty years ago Spock has always been representative of the cultural outsider.  He is the only Vulcan aboard the USS Enterprise.  Despite being part of that family there is always this thing that makes him stand a part.  Spock can never let his hair down, so to speak, even with his closest friends he always has to be the one who is in control, a Vulcan.  It is in his nature to sacrifice comfort for his identity.  Although he is technically half-human, he sees himself always as a Vulcan.  He only brings up his human half when it is relevant and it seldom is.   

Kirk won't take bigotry from Stiles

        From time to time, we see Spock have to deal with bigotry against Vulcans from petty humans.  Lt. Stiles who questioned his loyalty in “Balance of Terror” or Lt. Boma who questioned his basic decency because Spock was more concerned for living people than corpses in “The Galileo Seven.” However, we learn in the episode “Journey to Babel” that the worst bulling that Mr. Spock endured came not from humans but from other Vulcans.  Since he was the product of a Vulcan father and a human mother he was commonly viewed as a half-breed amongst his own people. While adult Vulcans keep their emotions under control the same cannot be said for Vulcan school children who viciously attacked him. Spock always identified as a Vulcan despite his half-human side, yet those who were his peers did not let him be a Vulcan.  Every time they attacked him, these young Vulcans betrayed their own philosophy of IDIC, yet hatred always seems to win over principle. 

Spock's career choice earns him the bitterness of his father

        In response, although he won on merit a place at the Vulcan Science Academy, he declines it in favor of an appointment to Starfleet Academy.  This will start a feud with his father that will last almost two decades but it doesn’t matter. He flees Vulcan to head the Earth where he will join Starfleet and be primarily with humans.  The funny part is Spock’s decision to be a part of something that surrounds himself with humans is not an embrace of his mother’s people nor an exploration into his humanity.  Spock has chosen to live among humans so that he can be a Vulcan.  For when humans see him, they see someone who is Vulcan.  Every moment he is among them reaffirms his identity even when confronted by bigots such as Stiles and Boma.  It is why every argument he makes with McCoy, in a way, McCoy has to lose because every insult McCoy can come up with will always sound like a compliment to Spock.  

"Go ahead, call me green blooded." 

        It is interesting that we learn in “Amok Time” that Spock had become on his own homeworld, a legend amongst his people.  His adventures first with Captain Pike then with Captain Kirk have made Mr. Spock a household name.  The child once bullied and rejected had become revered, like Rudolf the Red-nosed Reindeer who achieved status with his fellow reindeer when he helped Santa save Christmas, Mr. Spock achieved fame and appreciation on Vulcan.  Ironically this ends up costing him his marriage. T’Pring whose family overlooked Spock’s half-humanness and agree to a marriage, became so concerned with her betrothed’s fame that she sought comfort in another an attempted to use ritual rights to get Spock to fight Kirk.

Spock's lady number 1

Spock's lady number 2

        When it comes to women, Mr. Spock seem to share his father’s taste and goes for the more human type.  He actually cheated on T’Pring with Leila Kalomi during his time on Earth.  Once under the influence of spores he was going to live with her on Omicron Ceti III as seen in the episode “This Side of Paradise.”  During the episode “The Cloud Minders” Spock hooks up with Droxine, the described “work or art.”  That was just a one-time fling, a chance for the writers to confirm he doesn’t need to wait seven years.  This will be useful for Spock meets his own version of Edith Keeler in Zarabeth from “All of Yesterdays.”  Granted those last two weren’t human but they were more in the human direction than Vulcan.  The most Vulcan-like woman Spock ever found himself falling for was the Lady Romulan Fleet Commander in “The Enterprise Incident.” It was too bad he had to betray her because they were getting along great.

Spock's lady number 3

        

Spock's lady number 4

Outside of romance, when it comes to pure friendship I don’t know if there has ever been a better trio of friends on television than Kirk, Spock, and McCoy.  The three of them share this amazing bond that the actors of William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, and Deforest Kelley bring to life.  It is always fascinating the three of them whether they are just hanging out on leave or about the save the galaxy form an impending threat.  The three of them clearly appreciate the skills that each one has, and is free to criticize each other when any one of them feels it is necessary. 

Spock's lady number 5

     

I would like to dedicate this post to the late and great Leonard Nimoy.  One of the great regrets of my life is never been able to meet this incredible induvial who brought Mr. Spock to life for us for almost fifty years. Other actors may pick up the role to add something to it, but Leonard Nimoy will always be Mr. Spock.   

Star Trek: The Animated Series season 1 episode list

1. More Tribbles, More Troubles (1)                                             [81]

2. The Infinite Vulcan (2)                                                                [82]

3. Yesteryear (3)                                                                                [83]

4. Beyond the Farthest Star (4)                                                           [84]

5. The Survivor (5)                                                                              [85]

6. The Lorelei Signal (6)                                                                     [86]  

7. One of Our Planets Is Missing (7)                                                    [87]

8. Mudd's Passion (8)                                                                             [88]

9. The Magicks of Megas-Tu (9)                                                            [89]

10. The Time Trap (10)                                                                             [90]

11. The Slaver Weapon (11)                                                                     [91]

12. The Jihad (12)                                                                                    [92]

13. The Ambergris Element (13)                                                               [93]

14. Once Upon a Planet (14)                                                                     [94]

15. The Terratin Incident (15)                                                                  [95]

16. The Eye of the Beholder (16)                                                             [96]

ONE SPOCK, TWO SPOCKS, WHICH SPOCK IS THE REAL SPOCK?

 

Name: Spock Must Die!

Author: James Blish

Publication Date: 2/1970

Publisher: Bantam Books

Page Number: 118

Historian’s Note: I am assuming sometime after season 3. The latest episode mentioned is “Spretre of the Gun.” Events that take place during the book means it has to take place sometime after “Day of the Dove.”  

Cast of Characters:  Captain James T. Kirk    Commander Spock and another Commander Spock            Dr. Leonard H. McCoy AKA “Bones”              Lieutenant Commander Montgomery Scott AKA “Scotty”        Lieutenant  Hikaru Sulu              Lieutenant Nyota Uhura          Nurse Christine Chapel          Ensign Pavel Chekov      Yeoman First Class Janice Rand           Admiral Kor         Commander Koloth             Ayelborne       Claymare            Trefayne    

Starships and/or Starbases: USS Enterprise NCC-1701, Fleets of unnamed Klingon K't'inga-class battle cruisers and support ships

Planets: Organia and Qo'noS

My Spoiler filled summary and review: The book begins with Captain Kirk walking into a discussion between Dr. McCoy and Mr. Scott.  The two senior officers are having an argument about the transporter.  In what I think is probably the first time in what will ultimately become a major Star Trek fan debate: McCoy is wondering if the transporter kills its users and just makes copies of them.  Scotty thinks this is a lot of hogwash and Kirk mostly agrees.

That is when the horrible news came in.  The Enterprise had received word from Starfleet Command that the planet Organia whose powerful non-corporal inhabitants had forced peace between the United Federation of Planets and the Klingon Empire, has completely disappeared.  Almost if the Klingons were expecting it, a massive invasion begins with the Klingons scoring many victories against Starfleet.  To make matters worse the Enterprise was flying through disputed space at the time of the attack, and as a result our favorite starship finds itself behind enemy lines.  They brainstorm about what to do and Sulu suggests they use the fact that no one knows where they are to launch some sneak attacks on Klingon depots and supply lines.  This would cause damage that Starfleet on the front line should be able to exploit.  It has the downside of likely getting them killed but that is looking more likely anyhow.

The Federation is under siege 

Instead, the Captain decides to take the starship to where Organia was supposed to be.  Once there they discover that the area of space the planet was supposed to be occupying was covered with a type of shield.  They have no idea what this is and speculate it might be something that the Organians themselves have created.  If they get to close to it, they not only find themselves physically effected but mentally as well. 

They can’t penetrate the shield but Scotty thinks he has a way around it.  He can rig the transporter to create a temporary tachyon duplicate of whoever is in the transporter with all the memories of the original that will be sent to Organia faster than light.  There the duplicate will attempt to make contact with the Organians before returning to the ship and transferring all its knowledge to the original before vanishing.  Since they had been to Organia before, Kirk decides that it has to be him or Spock.  Spock volunteers.

Scotty sets up the main transporter room with the necessary changes. Due to the risk the transporter itself has to be closed up during the operation.  Spock climbs in and they begin the procedure.  However, something goes wrong and when they open up the transporter, they discover that instead of a temporary tachyon duplicate, the transporter created a full-fledged in the flesh duplicate of Mr. Spock.  Both Mr. Spocks however claim that they are the original.  

Kirk must figure out who is the true Spock 

Kirk labels them “Spock One” and “Spock Two.” He sends Spock One to his (their) quarters and has a meeting with Spock Two.  During the conversation Kirk is surprised at Spock Two’s violent thoughts toward his counterpart.  Spock Two is insistent there cannot be two and the duplicate has to be destroyed.  When he talks to Spock One, he finds him to be a little more reasonable and Kirk gives him his class ring so he can tell them apart. 

Kirk decides to have the two Spocks work opposite shifts and the only other crewmembers he lets in on this are Yeoman Rand and Nurse Chapel.  This however doesn’t work because it appears one of the Spocks commits sabotage that could leave them vulnerable to the Klingons.  This causes Kirk to relive both of them, explain the situation to the crew, and make Mr. Sulu the acting first officer.  (I thought it was odd that it was Sulu and not Scotty, as Scotty was next in the chain of command. However, Scotty was also trying to unwrap the mystery of the two Spocks with the transporter.  So, I assume that Kirk felt that the transporter work would take up too much of Scotty’s time.)

Scotty must find away to put this all back together, so Sulu rises to Kirk's right hand.

Shortly thereafter Spock One barricades himself in one of Dr. McCoy’s labs.  There he demands that the other Spock be destroyed.  While dealing with one Spock locked up, Kirk allows the other to return to limited duty at the science station but does not restore his command authority.  Kirk decides to get closer to Organia but doing so brings the entire crew under a type of mental attack.  After the retreat, Spock One also claims that he has information on Organia but will not share that information until after his demands are met.

Then a fleet of Klingon ships that consists of a K't'inga-class battle cruiser and a five support ships come into attack the Enterprise.  Using his superior tactical mind, Captain Kirk outwits and destroys the Klingon fleet.  They then must speculate to why the Klingons knew they were there.  Did someone tip them off (like one of the Spocks) or were the Klingons responsible for what happened to Organia and had a fleet there to guard it?

Uhura decides to channel her inner geek and sends messages to Starfleet using James Joyce’s fictional language Eurish.  Later in a senior officers meeting Kirk goes over possibilities with his crew and the two Spocks (with Spock One participating by intercom) actually have a rare moment of agreement on the presence of the Klingons.  McCoy announces that he has found a way to tell which Spock is the real Spock.  Scotty had run tests on some animals to see if he could recreate what happened with Spock and each time he did.  McCoy then examined the pairs and noticed that one in each pair died after a few days.  It turns out the dead ones were the duplicates, the process that created them made them mirror images and as such couldn’t process normal food without some accommodation. (McCoy has a very complicated explanation about this but I am not going to rehash it all here.)  Which ever Spock is the fake has been making modifications to his food.  To test they just have to give each Spock unmodified food and see who refuses to eat it.  Spock Two says okay while Spock One runs off. Spock One steals a shuttle craft and somehow equipped it with warp drive. 

McCoy solves the mystery of the Spocks

Scotty becomes convinced that the shield around Organia is artificial in nature and he is confident that he can fix the transporter so they can beam through it.  Taking all the bonus equipment that caused the duplication mess, they can now use it as a transporter again.   As they approach the planet again the same dreed feeling came over the crew, however they ignore it long enough to beam Kirk, the Real Spock, and Scotty down to the surface. 

Once they materialize on the surface Kirk and Scotty are instantly helpless as their nightmares come to life and paralyze them with fear.  To be fair, they probably should have expected that.  Kirk comes to and seems to be in ruins of the town he visited last time he was at the planet. He seems to have found Spock but it’s the wrong one.

Only one Spock is true Spock!

We get a showdown between the Spocks, and while I had almost no idea what was going on and neither apparently did Captain Kirk.  What the two Spocks seemed to do was to fight with the illusions however it was never clear to me.  The true Spock wins and the fake Spock perishes.  They meet up with Council of Elders of Organia.  Spock and Scotty work together to get the shield off of Organia.  Then the three officers are magically sent home to the bridge of the Enterprise.  Which is just in the nick of time too.  Up to this point Mr. Sulu was leading a ship that was being chased by a Klingon fleet commanded by Koloth, and although he was giving the Klingons a good chase it was inevitable that they were going to be destroyed. However now that the Organians were out of their cage the Klingons were in a lot of trouble.    The Organians punish the Klingons by taking away their space flight capabilities for a thousand years.

Kor and company are in for a shock!

The book ends with Spock explaining to his crewmates that he and his duplicate had a semi-telepathic connection.  That connection allowed him to sense that nature of his thoughts and Spock discover that his duplicate has no loyalty to the ship and crew and might even do them harm.  Spock stated that he could not explain it however while the connection was enforced.  The book ends with Mr. Spock answering McCoy’s original question about transporter death and soul transfer as irrelevant sense there is no way to test it.

Additional thoughts: This book was published one year after the series came to an end.  In his introduction Blish is clearly outraged at Star Trek’s cancelation and infuriated with studio executives who caused it.  He makes a prediction that this would not be the end and Star Trek would return.  Unfortunately, save for the cartoon, Blish would not live to see Star Trek begin its golden age staring with the first film in 1979.  Blish got the idea for this novel in the middle of his write ups for the original series episodes that were released in a series of books.   

I am quite certain that this is the first written account of Star Trek’s great transporter debate.  Does the transporter kill us and then just create a copy of us? What would be the religious implications if this were true?  The book gives a conclusive if unsatisfactory answer, that “a difference with no distinction is no difference.”  The strangest part of this episode, and one I didn’t care for, is they were actually trying to make a sort of transporter duplicate to begin with, just one made of energy tachyons and not regular flesh—if I am understanding it correctly, this made me feel really weird.  After all, why were they surprised when they ended up with an actual duplicate in the flesh?  The ethics of making a copy of one of your crew to perform a function temporarily then die when it is over is at least as worthy for some debate as the general transporter discussion. 

I think the book was very misnamed.  “Spock Must Die” is a very misleading title considering that Spock doesn’t need to die.  I suppose Blish could have called it “A Spock Must Die.” I am told the reason for the title was to drive up readers.  Still, I think my title for the review is better. 

Some ladies like the pointed ears!

There was one really weird part in this book and it had to do with an internal thought Kirk had.  Now I one of the things I like about the books is you can really get into the heads of the characters more so than the log entries that the define the series and franchise.  Granted you are often limited to the POV characters which in this book is primarily Captain Kirk with the occasional switch to Mr. Sulu when he is left in charge of the ship, and some surprise appearances by Kor and Koloth give them some short POV time.  However, this thought was so bizarre it made me stop reading for a minute.  While bringing Rand and Chapel into the know about the two Spocks, Kirk starts wondering what makes Spock so attractive to so many women.  It is not that Kirk lacks attention from the female sex it is just Spock doesn’t seem to have to work at it.  He then concludes in his brain that Rand and Chapel think Spock is hot because of unconscious racism that makes it a social faux pas to express natural sexual attraction for an “other” can be excused because he is white.  This sounds more like Blish’s own thoughts about why Spock was popular with female fans and ridiculous thought for Kirk to possess.  To his credit Blish has McCoy call out this view as stupid when Kirk shared it with him.  However, it is still a pointless to have Kirk have this thought at all.

I really enjoyed Uhura being such a queen nerd that she was able use such geekdom to full the Klingons with her knowledge of Eurish.  In addition to her engineering and music skills our favorite communication officer has no seemingly end to her talent. 

Lt. Uhura getting things done!

One of the things I enjoyed about the book is the reference to their pervious on the original series and some other off-air adventures as well.  A good example is when Koloth is shown to want revenge not just for “The Trouble with Tribbles” but also from a previous unaired conflict between them.  

“He had encountered—and been defeated by—James Kirk and his command on two previous occasions: the affair of the Xixobrax Jewelworm, and the dispute over the colonization of Sherman’s Planet.” (pg. 106)

 What strikes me as strange is during the entire book at no point is there a mention of the episode “The Enemy Within.”  Shouldn’t that have been the first past adventure mentioned after seeing two Spocks?  

“It looks like Spock has been made into two!  Remember when that happened to me?  Can you tell me which one of you is the evil one?”

  

Now it turns out there was an evil one but not for the same reason.  In fact, one would assume if Spock were split via a transporter he would turn into a full human and a full Vulcan instead of just good/evil.  Still, the previous “character turn in two” story should have been referenced.

It was good to see some of the classic Klingons such as Kor and Koloth get some time in the book even if it was just to see their reactions to getting their butts kicked by the Organians.  I have to wonder where was Kang?  I think Blish was writing this during the time of the third season and perhaps Kang didn’t exist as a character yet.   

Should it be canon: Okay so here is the big question since the books’ canon status has always been strange.  Should this book be canon?  As much as like the story there is a major problem with it fitting.  That of course in the end of the book where the Organians shut the Klingon Empire seemingly for good.  Now I am going to break one of my rules here and discuss the Star Trek franchise beyond when this work came out.  Obviously in order for this book to fit with the rest of the franchise this problem would have be addressed, for the Klingons will play a large role in all of the Star Trek incarnations going forward.  You would have to have a follow up story to explain how the Klingons got out from underneath the Organians thumb.  Maybe the Organians realized that restraining the Klingons so harshly would mean bad things for the galaxy long-term so they let them out within a year?  Or the Klingons could do something heroic and worthy to earn their way out.  Either way it would need to be addressed so right now my answer is no. Also remove the part about Kirk speculating about why women find Spock attractive.

Cover Art: There have been multiple covers in each printing but I am only commenting on my copy which is the original.  The cover is simple and shows Spock with a mirror image of himself.  The heads of the two are touching.  Their hands seem to pass through one another as if the other isn’t real.  Also, the rank insignia on the Spocks is wrong.  The uniform looks like a mix of his classic and the one from “The Cage.”  The later editions’ covers are nicer.   

Final Grade: 3 of 5

SUCH A CRIME! POOR LT SULU WAS STAR TREK’S MOST UNDERUSED CHARACTER

 Just recently I had finished my last review for the original Star Trek series.  Watching and reviewing all the episodes was an extremely fun project and I enjoyed every minute of it. Star Trek and all of its spinoffs tend to be shows with an ensemble cast of numerous characters with unique backstories.  Despite this, episodes generally will focus more heavily on one or two characters.  I decided to track this by tagging each episode according to the character that it most strongly features. 

For example, if an episode was about Captain Kirk, it would tag it a “Kirk-Themed Episode.”  If that same episode featured Mr. Spock as either the second most important character of the main story or the central character of a clear and important ‘B-plot’ then I would also tag it a “Spock Sub-Themed Episode.”  Now if the episode was about Spock with Dr. McCoy playing the second most important or the central character of ‘B-plot’ then the episode is tagged a “Spock Themed Episode” and “McCoy Sub-Themed Episode” respectively.   For the purpose of this post, I’ll just be referring to these as “the Most Important Character” and “the 2^nd Most Important Character.”

Deciding who is “the 2^nd Most Important Character” is sometimes a lot harder then picking out the most important.  Often times two characters can be competing for the role, also trying to decide how much weight to assign a ‘B-plot’ can also be a challenge.  One important rule I have is this distinction can only be given to a member or former member of the crew.  Otherwise, the alien threat of week would often dominate.  (When I get into the series with civilians onboard ship, I may alter this policy slightly.)

There are a grand total of 80 episodes of the original series.  That is counting the original pilot “The Cage” and both parts of “The Menagerie” as separate episodes.  That is a bit of stretch as we are getting three episodes out of one story, but it is what it is.  This gives us one hundred sixty slots for characters to fall into.  Eighty for the Most Important Character and eighty for the 2^nd Most Important Character. 

So, let’s see the characters that made up the core of these episodes.    

Captain James T. Kirk

                It should come as no surprise that the most heavily featured character is the Captain of the Enterprise himself, James T. Kirk.  After the title card “Star Trek” the next one we see is “Staring William Shatner.” The good Captain is the Most Important Character in a grand total of sixty out of the eighty episodes. 75% of the stories told in Star Trek’s original run were all about Captain Kirk.  And if the Captain having three out of every four episodes is not enough, in the remaining twenty Captain Kirk is the 2^nd Most Important Character fourteen times.  Thus, in a total of eighty episodes Captain Kirk is one of the top two characters in seventy-four of them.  Fans clearly got their fair share of Captain Kirk.  

The Episodes Where Captain Kirk is the Most Important Character

"The Corbomite Maneuver"; "Mudd's Women"; "The Enemy Within"; "The Naked Time"; "Charlie X"; "Balance of Terror"; "Dagger of the Mind"; "Miri"; "The Conscience of the King"; "Court Martial";   "Shore Leave"; "The Squire of Gothos"; "Arena"; "The Alternative Factor"; "Tomorrow Is Yesterday"; "The Return of the Archons"; "A Taste of Armageddon"; "Space Seed"; "The Devil in the Dark";      "Errand of Mercy"; "The City on the Edge of Forever"; "Operation: Annihilate!"; "Catspaw"; "Metamorphosis"; "Who Mourns for Adonais?"; "The Doomsday Machine"; "The Changeling";            "The Apple"; "Mirror, Mirror"; "The Deadly Years"; "I, Mudd"; "The Trouble with Tribbles";              "Bread and Circuses"; "A Private Little War"; "The Gamesters of Triskelion"; "Obsession";                   "The Immunity Syndrome"; "A Piece of the Action"; "By Any Other Name"; "Patterns of Force";          "The Ultimate Computer"; "The Omega Glory"; "Assignment: Earth"; "Spectre of the Gun";            "Elaan of Troyius"; "The Paradise Syndrome"; "And the Children Shall Lead"; "Spock's Brain";              "The Empath"; "Day of the Dove"; "Plato's Stepchildren"; "Wink of an Eye"; "That Which Survives";       "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield"; "Whom Gods Destroy"; "The Mark of Gideon";                   "The Cloud Minders"; "Requiem for Methuselah"; "The Savage Curtain"; "Turnabout Intruder"

The Episodes Where Captain Kirk is the 2^nd Most Important Character

"Where No Man Has Gone Before"; "The Man Trap"; "What Are Little Girls Made Of?”;                         "The Galileo Seven"; "This Side of Paradise"; "Amok Time"; "Wolf in the Fold"; "Journey to Babel"; "Return to Tomorrow"; "The Enterprise Incident"; "Is There in Truth No Beauty?";                                  "For theWorld Is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky"; "The Lights of Zetar"; "All Our Yesterdays"

Cmdr. Spock

                The next most featured character is the probably the most visually popular of the whole series if not the franchise.  Leonard Nimoy who played Mr. Spock was also the only other actor who appeared in the opening credits for all three seasons.  Out of the twenty remaining episodes that Captain Kirk did not have to top spot, our dear Mr. Spock takes up ten of them.  He is even more prolific when it comes to being in the number two slot.  There Mr. Spock has thirty-four of the sixty-six spots that were remaining, over half.  It was Edith Keeler who pointed out that Mr. Spock mostly belonged at Captain Kirk’s side.

The Episodes Where Mr. Spock is the Most Important Character

"The Galileo Seven"; "The Menagerie, Part I”; "This Side of Paradise"; "Amok Time";              "Journey to Babel"; "The Enterprise Incident"; "Is There in Truth No Beauty?"; "The Tholian Web"; "The Way to Eden"; "All Our Yesterdays"

The Episodes Where Mr. Spock is the 2^nd Most Important Character

"The Enemy Within"; "Balance of Terror"; "The Conscience of the King"; "Court Martial";              "The Menagerie, Part II”; "The Squire of Gothos"; "Arena"; "The Alternative Factor";                         "Tomorrow Is Yesterday"; "The Return of the Archons"; "The Devil in the Dark"; "Errand of Mercy"; “Operation: Annihilate!”;                         "The Doomsday Machine"; "The Changeling"; "I,Mudd"; "The Gamesters of Triskelion"; "The Immunity Syndrome"; "A Piece of the Action";                         "By Any Other Name"; "Patterns of Force";          "The Ultimate Computer"; "The Omega Glory"; "Assignment: Earth"; "The Paradise Syndrome";   "Day of the Dove"; "Wink of an Eye";                "That Which Survives";                "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield";         "The Mark of Gideon"; "The Cloud Minders";         "Requiem for Methuselah"; "The Savage Curtain"; "Turnabout Intruder"

Dr. Leonard H. McCoy AKA Bones

                It is the good country doctor who is next on our list.  Deforest Kelley is the only other actor to appear on the opening credits, joining Shatner and Nimoy in season 2.  The three characters of Kirk, Spock, and McCoy make up Star Trek’s holy trinity so it should be no surprise that he is the next one getting our attention.  Dr. McCoy had a total of four episodes out of the ten that were remaining where he was the most important character.  He has also taken third place for the number of episodes where he is takes the 2^nd spot with a total of thirteen.

The Episodes Where Dr. McCoy is the Most Important Character

                               "The Man Trap"; "Friday's Child"; "Return to Tomorrow";                                       "For the World Is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky"

The Episodes Where Dr. McCoy is the 2^nd Most Important Character

"Mudd's Women"; "The Naked Time"; "Miri"; "Shore Leave"; "The City on the Edge of Forever"; "Metamorphosis"; "The Deadly Years"; "A Private Little War"; "And the Children Shall Lead";        "Spock's Brain"; "The Empath"; "The Tholian Web"; "Plato's Stepchildren"

Captain Christopher Pike

                The predecessor of Captain Kirk, only made three appearances and all about the same story.  However, he is always in the top two even when he couldn’t walk or talk.  He was the main character in two episodes and the number two character for one.

The Episodes Where Captain Pike is the Most Important Character

"The Cage"; "The Menagerie, Part II”

The Episodes Where Captain Pike is the 2^nd Most Important Character

"The Menagerie, Part I”

Lt. Cmdr. Montgomery Scott AKA Scotty

The great engineer Star Trek’s Scotty.  The funny thing is when Scotty is in the forefront it has almost nothing to do with his engineering skills.  The one time he is the star he is the suspect of a murder investigation and in the six times he is in the second slot he is normally on the bridge of the Enterprise trying to maintain order while the Captain is on an away mission with the other stars. In a way Scotty is king of the ‘b-plot.’

The Episode Where Mr. Scott is the Most Important Character

"Wolf in the Fold"

The Episodes Where Mr. Scott is the 2^nd Most Important Character

"A Taste of Armageddon"; "Friday's Child"; "The Apple"; "Bread and Circuses"; "Elaan of Troyius";  “Whom Gods Destroy"  

Lt. Cmdr. Gary Mitchell

                The character only made one appearance in the series and what an appearance it was.  It was so good it convinced the network to carry the show.  However, Mr. Mitchell would not return.

The Episode Where Gary Mitchell is the Most Important Character

"Where No Man Has Gone Before"

Nurse Christine Chapel

                Normally Nurse Chapel would be Dr. McCoy’s helper in sickbay, and what a helper she was as don’t recall seeing many other nurses.  When she wasn’t doing that, she was carrying a torch for Mr. Spock.  However, she did have a single episode that was all her own.

The Episode Where Nurse Chapel is the Most Important Character

"What Are Little Girls Made Of?”

Lt.  Mira Romaine

                The last character to have a Star Trek episode about them is a bit of a surprise.  Like Mr. Mitchell it is her only appearance but unlike him it is not very memorable.

The Episode Where Lt. Romaine is the Most Important Character

"The Lights of Zetar"

Lt. Nyota Uhura

                Everyone’s favorite communications officer and many people’s childhood crush.  Lt. Uhura left quite an impression.  In a time where Jim Crow had only recently been made illegal, Lt. Uhura was flying to the stars.  In addition to running her station, she was also shown to have engineering talents, and would take over the helm in emergencies.  The actress Nichelle Nichols famously thought about leaving but was talked out of it by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  She was never the star of an episode but she was in the second slot for two.

The Episodes Where Lt. Uhura is the 2^nd Most Important Character

"Mirror, Mirror"; "The Trouble with Tribbles"

Ensign Pavel Chekov

                Created in the second season to answer Russian critics that the first people in space didn’t have anyone on the Enterprise.  Ensign Chekov provided youth, enthusiasm, humor with his poor understanding of history.  Like Uhura he never had an episode of his own but he was in the second slot for two.

The Episodes Where Ensign Chekov is the 2^nd Most Important Character

"Spectre of the Gun"; "The Way to Eden"

Number One

                The original first officer of the Enterprise was gone so fast we never learned her name. She will get one in a later series coming out this year but for a long time she was just “Number One.”  Yet, because of her Majel Barrett appears on this list twice.

The Episode Where “Number One” is the 2^nd Most Important Character

"The Cage"

Lt. Bailey

                This poor sap got to sit in Gary Michell’s chair right after he died, no wonder he was so nervous.  One and done but the second most important that day.

The Episode Where Lt. Bailey is the 2^nd Most Important Character

"The Corbomite Maneuver"

Yeoman Janice Rand

                A character gone way too soon.  One of the very few franchise characters who was reoccurring and not a commissioned officer and the only one in this series.  After she left, Captain Kirk had revolving door of Yeoman.  Before she left, she was once the 2^nd most important. 

The Episode Where Yeoman Rand is the 2^nd Most Important Character

"Charlie X"

 

Dr. Helen Noel

                Of all the one-off characters Dr. Noel is by far my favorite.  An old flame of Kirk’s who now is on his ship—and he hates it.  I always like to see other doctors and engineers who aren’t the chief of their department.  She is also as sexy as hell.

The Episode Where Dr. Noel is the 2^nd Most Important Character

"Dagger of the Mind"

 

Lt. Marla McGivers

                Lt. McGivers is the ship’s historian who forgets to sew on her lieutenant’s stripes. She became the girlfriend of Khan Noonien Singh.  That status would lead her into trouble.

The Episode Where Lt. McGivers is the 2^nd Most Important Character

"Space Seed”

Lt. DeSalle

                Lt. DeSalle had made a single appearance on the show before moving on to become Scotty’s Assistant Chief Engineer.  As so he is left in Scotty’s usual place on the bridge and gets his own ‘b-plot.’

 The Episode Where Lt. DeSalle is the 2^nd Most Important Character

"Catspaw”

Lt. Carolyn Palamas

                Like McGivers before her she was an historian who became the arm candy of a powerful man.  However, where McGivres fell for superhuman, Palmas, one ups her by dating a god.  Still, she is only the second most important character in this episode.

The Episode Where Lt. Palamas is the 2^nd Most Important Character

"Who Mourns for Adonais?"

Ensign Garrovick

                Of all the one-off characters that got to be the star or co-star of an episode this one is my least favorite.  He is given an important connection to Captain Kirk only then we never see him again.  I really think they should have given this story to either Sulu, Chekov, or Uhura.

The Episode Where Ensign Garrovick is the 2^nd Most Important Character

“Obsession”

POOR SULU!

                Sulu is such a fun character.  He fences and his does botany.  He always has something important to contribute to discussions.  There are several times where he has to take command of the ship in dangerous circumstances, which normally got Scotty all sorts of time in the 2^nd slot.  Yet, Sulu is never the most important or 2^nd most important character and that is a shame.  Interestingly the first book I reviewed for this site had him as the 2^nd most important crew member of that story.