Alex Kurtzman: Spock is “broken” in Discovery Season 2

Showrunner Alex Kurtzman says that the Discovery Season 2 will show fans how Spock became the character everyone knows and loves.

One of the many things longtime Star Trek fans have taken issue with since the premiere of Star Trek: Discovery in 2017 has to do with Spock and his extended family. In particular, the fact the he had an adopted sister in the form of Michael Burnham (played by Sonequa Martin-Green) that no one has ever heard of.

Now, as someone who enjoyed the first season of Discovery immensely, I will readily admit that this little addition to the Trek mythos did throw me for a loop and didn’t make a heck of a lot of sense. But I was (and still am) more than willing to wait for an explanation.

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According to Star Trek showrunner Alex Kurtzman, my patience will be rewarded.

As reported by SyFy.com, Kurtzman recently spoke about the upcoming second season of Discovery, in particular the character of Spock and what fans can expect from science-fiction’s favorite Vulcan.

To begin with, Kurtzman explains that Spock’s silence about his adoptive sister will be addressed as well as the role she played in him becoming the Spock we see in The Original Series.

"“It’s through his relationship with Michael and their working out of their issues that Spock comes to understand where he lies in the line between logic and emotion and actualizes himself as the Spock that we do know from TOS. By the time that you get to the end of the season, you’ll see how he became that guy.”"

The reason he needs help to find a balance between his two halves? Because as Discovery Season 2 begins, Spock is broken and the cause is the Red Angel that is returning to bring armageddon the universe.

"“Spock, because of his experience with the Red Angel and because the seven signals and these visions that he’s had since childhood, all of his logical training cannot make sense of it.“These experiences have basically broken his brain and he doesn’t have the emotional understanding of how to deal with [it] either. So both logic and emotion have failed Spock. He’s not the Spock you know from TOS yet. He’s the Spock who’s still figuring out who he is.”"

When word first broke that Spock would be appearing in Star Trek: Discovery Season 2, some fans welcomed the news while others looked at it as the producers once again messing with the canon of Star Trek. The casting of Ethan Peck did nothing to quell those fears so it looks like viewers will just have to watch to find out.

And hopefully they will because whether you think Discovery is good Star trek or not, there can be little question that it is an excellent science-fiction story with a lot more story to tell.

Star Trek: Discovery Season 2 arrives on CBS All Access on January 17.