Though originally pitched for Star Trek: Enterprise, one episode could be perfect for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds
An outline of one particular episode involved Spock and T’Pol working together on a vitally important mission. During that mission, flashbacks would recount Spock’s time as a Starfleet cadet as well as how he chose his career. It was originally pitched by Michael Sussman who wrote many episodes for Star Trek: Enterprise. He wanted to include Leonard Nimoy in the event they could not make it work to have William Shatner appear on the series. Alas, the story didn’t get told before the series was cancelled, and the idea got shelved. However, Sussman’s outline detailed what could still be an amazing episode for another series, perhaps even Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. The episode was pitched in the 24th century but that could easily be changed to make it fit within the new series’ timeline.
"We could find Spock in the 24th century, a distinguished and retired Ambassador, who has a young visitor. Maybe this guy is a Vulcan/Human hybrid like Spock, and needs advice on balancing his two alien halves. This visit could lead Spock into recounting an adventure he had early in his career as a Starfleet cadet. This adventure could involve Young Spock (played by another actor) helping a middle-aged T’Pol (now in her early to mid-100’s) on some vitally important mission…. In the process, Spock could learn some lesson which helped him choose his own path in life. We may learn a lot of new info on Spock…. Perhaps he was torn between life as a diplomat (like his father) and a career in Starfleet when he was a young man. The flashback adventure should involve Captain Archer (and other members of our cast) in old-age make-up, playing early 23rd century versions of themselves. Maybe their adventure is something of a ‘Last Round-Up’ for the old crew, whom T’Pol reunites for a secret and possibly illegal TBD mission. I thought it might be fun if our crew have to steal an antiquated NX-class ship from the Starfleet museum for one last adventure together."
Even though Nimoy has passed away, there are enough Spock actors now who could portray this part well. And even as much as we know, we’ve never learned enough about Spock’s history, about his life on Vulcan and in the Academy. And since Spock will be in the new series, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, this could be a good opportunity to delve further into the half-Vulcan’s background.
As Star Trek: Picard has shown, fans are thrilled to see characters from previous series return, and this story idea could possibly bring back T’Pol who was a fan favorite on Star Trek: Enterprise. While it might not be everything Sussman pitched, even a portion of this type of episode could add a lot of interesting information to the Spock character. And perhaps move us one step closer to getting a Spock-centric series…at least that’s what I’m hoping for.