For the Love of Spock Page #4

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People sometimes think

they don't belong in a group.

And really that's what

I've found, you know...

I was very tall from

when I was young,

and I felt apart

from other people.

And I really associated

with that character.

[Leonard Nimoy] I think it

was the very first episode

We were filming after the pilot

when we started into production.

There was a scene in which

the ship was being threatened

by some outside problems,

outside dangerous force,

and there was a lot

of activity on the ship.

The captain was saying,

"Do such and such.

Press this button. Do this. Warp three.

Get us out of here," and so forth.

And Spock had one word to say,

and the word was, "Fascinating."

And we're looking at this thing

on the screen, you know,

and everyone else is reacting,

"Oh, look at it. Blah, blah."

And I got caught up

in that energy,

and I said, "Fascinating."

And the director gave me

a brilliant note, and he said,

"Be different. Be the scientist.

Be detached.

See it as something that's a

curiosity rather than a threat."

Fascinating.

Well... a big chunk of the

character was born right there.

If I seem insensitive to what

you're going through, Captain,

understand... it's the way I am.

A lesser actor would say, "Why would I want

to play him? He doesn't have any emotions."

But he has so many emotions.

But he also has

emotional control.

Expresses very little

of what he's feeling,

and I think it's fun

for the audience to watch

to see if there's a glimmer

of something that pops through.

I had a very interesting

conversation

with your father about Spock,

because we were talking about

him as a cold, unemotional guy.

And Leonard said, "I never

played him that way.

I always played him as a guy trying

to keep his emotions in check."

And I thought that was a subtle

and ingenious choice,

because it lent a dynamic tension

to what you saw on the screen,

particularly in the closeups,

of a guy trying

to keep a lid on it.

That thing must be destroyed.

You tried to destroy it

once before, Commodore.

The result was a wrecked

ship and a dead crew.

I am officially notifying you

that I am exercising my option

under regulations

as a Star Fleet Commodore,

and that I am assuming

command of the Enterprise.

You can't let him

do this, Spock.

Doctor, you are out of line.

So are you... sir.

Well, Spock?

Unfortunately, Star Fleet Order 104,

Section B leaves me no alternative.

Mr. Spock, I order you

to assume command

on my personal authority

as captain of the Enterprise.

Commodore Decker,

you are relieved of command.

I don't recognize your

authority to relieve me.

Commodore, I do not wish

to place you under arrest.

You're bluffing.

Vulcans never bluff.

I talked about it at the time

being heavily influenced

by what I saw Harry Belafonte

do on stage one night.

He came out on stage,

and a spotlight came up on him,

and he was there. He just

stood there very quietly.

Applause. Next song,

stood there quietly and sang.

Now he must have been

on stage 10 or 15 minutes.

He was just standing there

with his hands on his thighs,

and sang,

and when he made a gesture,

it was like

the whole place shook.

It was like, "Wow!" You know?

It was gigantic.

Wow, what a lesson.

If you are minimal,

then that becomes a big deal.

If you are minimal,

that becomes a big deal.

[dramatic music]

[screams]

He's gone.

[Leonard Nimoy] You make a

comment with an eyebrow,

that's just as powerful

as throwing punches.

He didn't wield the human side

frivolously for effect.

Most of the time,

it would be contained,

but occasionally,

you know, most notably

at the end of 'Amok Time,'

when he realizes that

he didn't kill Kirk,

there's a sweet moment

of like, "Jim!"

Which is just so...

It's so earned.

There can be no excuse for the

crime of which I'm guilty.

I intend to offer no defense.

Furthermore,

I shall order Mr. Scott

to take immediate command

of this vessel.

Don't you think you'd

better check with me first?

Captain!

Jim!

I'm... pleased

to see you, Captain.

You seem... uninjured.

[Leonard Nimoy]

What is the purpose of a toy?

To be played with.

[Leonard Nimoy] Therefore, to

not play with it would be...

illogical.

Damn it, Spock,

you're right.

You can look at a lot of

progenitor characters for Sheldon,

but absolutely, absolutely one

of them is Spock. Absolutely.

And in fact,

in the episode

in which Sheldon is interviewed

for this very documentary

that I am currently

speaking to you in,

one of the things

Sheldon talks about

is his desire to be Spock.

And that's not a new invention.

That's something that has existed for

that character from the very beginning.

When I was eight years old, Billy

sparks cornered me in the playground.

I asked myself,

"What would Spock do?"

Then I grabbed Billy

on his shoulder

and performed my first

Vulcan nerve pinch.

Did it work?

Oh, no, he broke my collarbone.

-[laughing]

-[audience laughing]

So the script was written then

that Spock comes up behind,

sneaks up behind the mean Kirk,

and hits him on the head

with the butt of a gun.

That's what was

written in the script.

So I said to the director, "I think we

should do something different than that."

He said, "What do you... What do you mean?

What do you have in mind?"

And I said,

"Well, Spock is a graduate

of the Vulcan Institute

of Technology..."

[audience laughing]

" ...where he took a number

of courses in human anatomy.

And the Vulcans have a kind of energy

that comes off their fingertips,

which if properly applied to the

appropriate pressure points

on the human anatomy, will

render a human unconscious.

- And the guy didn't know what I was

talking about. {audience laughing]

But I told him, and he knew

exactly what I was talking about.

And when I came up behind him, and

I put my hand on his neck, he-

He's the one that sold it.

He went like like that

and dropped like a rock.

[audience laughing]

[phaser firing]

There's a multi-legged creature

crawling on your shoulder.

I'd like you to teach

me that some time.

Our minds are merging, Doctor.

Our minds are one.

I feel what you feel.

I know what you know.

I like the fact that Spock could

communicate with other species

through thoughts rather than

through words. Brilliant.

What in the name of...

The man talked to a rock for

goodness sake in the Horta.

"Oh, she's pregnant."

It's a rock, okay.

That was good, because the rock is

not going to speak English to you.

Think of how many science fiction stories

in that decade and the decades preceding

where you'd meet aliens,

and the aliens spoke English.

We didn't think to think

that that would not happen.

You've got to crawl before you walk.

I get that.

But "Star Trek" not only knew how

to crawl, and knew how to walk.

It was running.

The Vulcan greeting is

a wonderful sentiment,

"Live long and prosper."

And this too is something that was

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