Synopsis: Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock take on a secret mission to steal the Romulan cloaking device.
In “The Enterprise Incident,” viewers are treated to perhaps the most sensual scene ever seen for Mr. Spock, when he has dinner with the Romulan commander in her quarters. It is sensitively written by Dorothy (D. C.) Fontana, and while taking Spock to perhaps the extremes of what his character will allow, we do not feel a false note. Important not only to the ongoing story arc of the character, but because as is stated in the episode, Vulcans are incapable of lying. And while the seducing is extremely intellectual, it does show the character of Spock in a very unusual way. Very exposed. And while Spock is an extreme example, it does show how even a logical, completely rational ego can still be capable of emotion. And how beautiful it can be to see it.
Spock is a Vulcan, a race that has suppressed all emotions for centuries, and because Spock is only-half Vulcan, he therefore requires of himself even greater discipline to not let his human half show through. Therefore, the only way that Spock can display emotions is if there is some intervening cause for him to let loose of his rational Logos driven ego consciousness. In “The Naked Time” it was a deadly virus, in “This Side of Paradise” it was alien spores, in “The Menagerie” it was arguably control of the Talosians, in “Amok Time” it was an inescapable biological imperative, and here in “The Enterprise Incident” it is under order from Starfleet Command. We have seen in “Journey to Babel” the touching of two fingers that occurred between Spock’s parents, but this was the mature affection of two long-time spouses. When Spock begins to stroke the hands and face of the Romulan Commander, this is much more passionate. At the end of the episode, in a final scene between Spock and the Romulan Commander, we learn that although he was under orders to obtain the cloaking device by any means necessary, what Spock felt for her was real. The type of words much often spoken by Captain James T. Kirk when he has to say goodbye to the love interest of the episode. And with that admission, Spock’s emotion is locked back into his psyche. Perhaps now in the current age of COVID-19, we even ache more for Spock, because isolation has allowed us to feel more deeply when we make an actual connection to someone, and how painful it is to say goodbye.
Original post created 9 March 2021
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