When Trekkies get together, one common question they ask each other is whether they saw Star Trek: The Original Series when it first ran in September of 1966 on NBC. Some Gen Xers born on the early side of the gap may remember their parents watching it, and older Trekkies such as myself got to know it in their late teens, in syndication.
No matter how fans find their way to Star Trek, one experience we all have in common is seeing the USS Enterprise's Vulcan/human first officer, Mr. Spock. Played by the late, great Leonard Nimoy, his mysterious Vulcan abilities thrilled us, especially during the first season. Let's take a look back at how the venerable Vulcan thrilled viewers with his mysterious abilities and gained fans from all over the globe.
1. Telepathic ability ("The Menagerie," Part I & Part II)
When Spock 's former captain, Christopher Pike, is terribly burned and paralyzed by radiation poisoning, he knows what he must do to give Pike a second chance at life. Only the Talosians of Talos IV can help, and Spock reaches out to them in a unique style of telepathy that lets viewers know Spock is no ordinary being.
Telepathy is a common theme throughout the franchise in general, but considering the year this two-part episode aired, it must have sent shock waves to the viewers! Spock sent his thoughts out like MLB pitcher Roger Clemens throwing a fastball, where it reached the aliens he and Pike had encountered over a decade earlier! This must have fired up imaginations all over the world. Star Trek TOS is, after all, considered the first series with an organized fandom that created fan fiction and other creative works.
2. The Vulcan nerve pinch ("The Enemy Within")
What's Spock's solution for removing aggressive adversaries from the equation? Answer: his bare hands. This is the first time Spock uses this move, which seems part Vulcan strength, part physiology, and part Touch of Death. And it takes down most humanoids with a pinching motion to the neck.
When a transporter malfunction splits Captain Kirk and creates two polar opposite beings, the aggressive side of Kirk immediately decides to cause trouble and creep on Yeoman Rand. Also, why did singular Kirk have foundation in his quarters? I have questions.
Spock uses the neck pinch to disable the anti-Kirk, which Nimoy came up with by improvising a way to take down the evil captain without using a traditional weapon. It must have seemed like such a karate-coded move for young people who would flock to theaters to see Bruce Lee movies less than a decade later.
3. Vulcan strength ("This Side of Paradise")
When troublemaking plant spores on Omicron Ceti III cause Spock to surrender to his emotions and run off with Leila Kalomi like a lovestruck teenager defying her father by hitchhiking to Woodstock, Kirk knows that he must bring out the violent, aggressive side of Spock to snap him out of the spores' grip--even if it kills him.
This is where viewers learn that Vulcans have many times the strength of a human and that if you rile one, he could easily punch your ticket to the afterlife before you can say "Plomeek soup." Spock throws Kirk around, damages machinery, and basically rips the transporter room to pieces and nearly kills Kirk before the spores are expelled. Is it just me, or did Kirk not have to reach too far to find the insults that finally cause Spock to lose his mind? I wonder if Spock took Captain Kirk aside after all that and asked if they should have a talk.
Mr. Spock's incredible abilities have fascinated fans all over the world (or even the universe, for all we know,) and next time, we'll take a look at some of the most memorable moments from the second season of Star Trek: TOS where Spock continued to show off his unique abilities. Until then, friends, be sure to share your favorite Spock powers with us on the Redshirts Always Die Facebook and X pages.