Why Enterprise and Voyager ruined Vulcans (for me anyway)

[Baffalo]

Everyone loves Spock. Whether it was the new movie or TOS, everyone loves them some Spock for his ability to remain cool under almost all situations, and those few that he wasn't, he was either a raging sex machine (pon far) or just a total bad-ass. Vulcans have always been with Starfleet from the very beginning of their exploration of space, and though Spock was originally supposed to be killed off or something, his ability to run counter to Kirk without hindering both of them and in fact making them a more formidable duo made him the icon, the pinnacle, of Vulcans on Star Trek.

Voyager and Enterprise, however, make Vulcans seem like they really need to get a life.

The concept of the Pon Far was perhaps to show that Vulcans, despite their logic and reasoning, sometimes are forced to accept that they are not perfect, and that they need to surrender to emotions every now and then. And Nimoy, despite being told his character would have no emotions, still manages to give the impression that, just under the surface, lies a person who feels just like everyone else. It's a very difficult performance to master, given that if too little emotion is shown, they appear wooden and uninteresting, while if they have too many emotions, it ruins the entire premise that they suppress their emotions. So it's a tough act, but it can be done.

Which is where we'll jump in on Voyager. Voyager's primary Vulcan was Tuvok played by Tim Russ, who managed to pull off several great performances as a Vulcan. Tuvok isn't a Spock, nor is he meant to be, since Spock devoted himself to Starfleet and the Federation and seemed quite pleased to try and make it work. Tuvok, however, is only in Starfleet the first time around because of his parents wanting him to be, and he doesn't particularly get along with humans. He finds them egocentric and annoying. While he would take a 50 year break from Starfleet, his return allowed him to take up the role of an instructor, where he even got to berate Katherine "Kill-em-all" Janeway in front of several admirals.

However, from a culture of pacifists, Tuvok's behavior is confusing. While not all Vulcans clearly are not pacifists (We've seen Spock kick quite a bit of ass over the years), they often seek to use logic and reason to avoid conflict. But Tuvok seems to focus with more emphasis on kicking ass than trying to negotiate, and while I can clearly understand his need to be the chief tactical officer and keep the ship safe, it just seems to be a bit contrary to the whole notion that Vulcans use logic first and foremost. Perhaps Tuvok came from a slightly different Vulcan culture, one that believed that tactics and strategy were just as important as maintaining perfect composure with logic. If that's the case, then I wonder what Tuvok's impression of Sun Tzu would be?

Regardless, Tuvok only slightly confused me, it was the others that just made me face palm. While I suppose it might just be my over-reaction to extras portraying Vulcans as wooden compared to their bigger-named actors, it's still a bit jarring to go from the enigmatic Tuvok to seeing someone who has the emotional depth of a cardboard cutout. And unfortunately, we still have yet to get to the Enterprise segment, so we might as well get started.

Enterprise, unlike Voyager, should be drug out and shot. Voyager at least managed to be entertaining enough to survive seven years of production, whereas Enterprise barely managed four. Their portrayal of Vulcans makes them seem like complete assholes who show no emotion other than disdain for anyone but themselves. And now, since I managed to go in-depth about Tuvok, I suppose I'll have to point out some things about T'Pol. I better get a solution of bleach ready to get the icky feeling off when I'm done.

T'Pol is not a member of the Earth Starfleet, and as such is supposed to be treated as a civilian adviser. It's clear from Broken Bow that both Archer and Tucker both dislike the Vulcans meddling in their affairs, and with good reason. Earth has just emerged from a devastating war with the ability to now travel the stars and explore. The last thing we would want is to have someone tell us we're not ready to explore the universe, and that if we do we need a babysitter. That is an insult to any species, regardless of who it is. While the Vulcans have certainly been exploring space for quite some time, and have no doubt encountered other species, trying to step in and stop another species from taking their place on the galactic stage would seem to be egotistical, until we see their reaction to the Andorians. From the way they're shown in Cease Fire, the Vulcans want to carve out their own niche in the universe, and aren't afraid to use any means they can. Even stomping on a young race, just to keep them from competing.

T'Pol arrives as Archer's babysitter from Vulcan, and right off the bat shows disdain for Humans. While constantly advising Archer and Tucker to respect the various cultures they encounter, the meal she shares with them is a fiasco as she berates them for eating meat (since Vulcans are vegetarians) and for touching their food with their hands (while she uses knife and fork). While I can certainly understand if she might want to EXPLAIN this to them, berating them for their choice is shallow and, honestly, a bitchy move. Logic should tell her that since Humans are omnivores, the easiest way to get protein in their diet would be to eat meat, and if she absolutely had to insist on them eating vegetarian, to suggest another source such as beans. From the way the two groups interact, it seems that Earth and Vulcan are on the verge of a cold war with each other, rather than partners in exploring space.

Another thing that strikes me as odd is that in the exact same episode, as Archer and Tucker both express displeasure at having T'Pol aboard, they hand her the keys anyway. Last time I checked, it was an Earth Starfleet ship, lead by humans, with a clear chain of command. I'm sorry, but if you have apprehensions about someone's loyalties aboard your own ship who isn't even in the official chain of command, why do you let them take over? If it were a Vulcan ship, would Tucker get to take command if the Captain died and his second in command was still there? Jesus, no wonder Starfleet's paranoid about Vulcans, every time they turn around they're sticking their noses in everything and taking over.

In Acquisition, as Ferengi come aboard and begin looting Enterprise for loot, T'Pol is forced to play the role of Archer's slave, and uses the situation to incapacitate the Ferengi before taking the keys to free Archer. After she taunts him and demands he apologize for referring to her as a slave. Seriously, where's your logic when your own emotional need to get back at someone gets in the way? What next, when Tucker takes command you're going to pout in the corner because you wanted to drive the space ship some more? Time and again, we see T'Pol showing contempt for humans and treating them as beneath her station, as if they should be back on Earth throwing feces while serious races get down to exploring the universe. I could go further in depth, but it's like looking for a slightly different shade of brown when you're already knee-deep in shit.

In conclusion, Voyager began a slow, gradual slide that, while forgivable, eventually setup the entire farce that would become Enterprise's mess with the Vulcans. Vulcans aboard Voyager at least tried to pretend they were connected to the Vulcans from TOS and TNG. Enterprise treated them as if they were just another antagonist, useful for creating tension and drama while using a hammer to pound them into shape to fit the plot. It was shallow and short-sighted, and I'm just thankful Star Trek (2009) managed to bring back the essence of what it means to be Vulcan. The emotions are there, but repressed, and logic is there to provide a quiet serenity to counter the hot-headed commander in times of crisis.

[Srelex]

Yeah, pretty much true. I did enjoy Tuvok on Voyager, and found him pretty much the only character I had any care for except for the Doctor. Furthermore, regarding Enterprise, did they even explain why Vulcans are vegeterians? It would seem more logical to balance your diet, after all...unless it's some biological thing.

[TOSDOC]

And Nimoy, despite being told his character would have no emotions, still manages to give the impression that, just under the surface, lies a person who feels just like everyone else.

I have to disagree with that point there--do you have a source? In "The Naked Time" Spock repeats to himself that he is in control of his emotions, not that he has none. And I've heard Nimoy state the same on several televised Star Trek specials.

I like what you said otherwise--full-blood Vulcans are at their most engaging when you have grown to like them, and they suddenly turn on you or one of your ideals for the simple reason that it was logical to do so. I faintly recall Tuvok doing this once to Janeway, although I can't remember the episode for the life of me. And it was chilling for Spock to explain in "Journey to Babel" that if there were a logical reason, his father was quite capable of killing (giving a hint that he could go ahead and do so despite ship's rules). But from what I've read of Enterprise, T'Pol's actress didn't quite get it.

[Setzer]

Yeah, pretty much true. I did enjoy Tuvok on Voyager, and found him pretty much the only character I had any care for except for the Doctor. Furthermore, regarding Enterprise, did they even explain why Vulcans are vegeterians? It would seem more logical to balance your diet, after all...unless it's some biological thing.

Perhaps they feel it's logical to subsist on vegetables rather then feeding food grains to animals and then eating the animals. Cutting out the middle man so to speak.

[Junghalli]

I don't know, honestly it sounds to me a little as if you think they should all conform to a single stereotype or personality template and are complaining that they aren't all alike. Maybe Tuvok is just more of a "kick-ass" kind of guy than Spock was? Maybe T'Pol is just a bit of a dick? They are an entirely planetary society so we really should see a wide variety of personality types, including some that don't conform to cultural ideals or stereotypes of how a Vulcan "should" act.

Mind you I'm not denying that some of these characters may be poorly written, but that's a different issue. There may be any number of reasons why T'Pol being a dick is bad writing, but I don't think the fact she's a Vulcan is one of them.

[Srelex]

I don't know, honestly it sounds to me a little as if you think they should all conform to a single stereotype or personality template and are complaining that they aren't all alike. Maybe Tuvok is just more of a "kick-ass" kind of guy than Spock was? Maybe T'Pol is just a bit of a dick? They are an entirely planetary society so we really should see a wide variety of personality types, including some that don't conform to cultural ideals or stereotypes of how a Vulcan "should" act.

Mind you I'm not denying that some of these characters may be poorly written, but that's a different issue. There may be any number of reasons why T'Pol being a dick is bad writing, but I don't think the fact she's a Vulcan is one of them.

Agree with you on Tuvok, but regardless of the need for varied species personalities, T'Pol was still just badly written and acted. We don't need to watch a smarmy bitch every episode. Although when better writers were on board her character also improved.

[Junghalli]

Furthermore, regarding Enterprise, did they even explain why Vulcans are vegeterians? It would seem more logical to balance your diet, after all...unless it's some biological thing.

I remember hearing a theory a while back that Surakism is really more about self-control than logic, and the Vulcan word that gets translated as "logic" actually means something more like "not acting like a savage". I think it fits with what we see pretty well.

If so, it may not be so much that they consider eating meat illogical in the way we think of when we hear the term, but they consider it uncivilized.

[Knife]

I rather liked the depiction of Vulcans on the first couple seasons of ENT. They were powerful and devious and never told us pesky humans the whole truth about what was going on in the local cluster.

[JME2]

I rather liked the depiction of Vulcans on the first couple seasons of ENT. They were powerful and devious and never told us pesky humans the whole truth about what was going on in the local cluster.

I agree that was one of the few things I like about early ENT.

It was a new take on the Vulcans, but one that made sense in hindsight. The Vulcans had been around since antiquity, they'd had spaceflight capabilities for centuries. I liked the idea that they would be the power brokers of that era, working their agenda, and keeping troublemakers like the Andorians and the Coridans.

It was their time, their era, and their zenith. If we'd seen the Romulan War unfold, I'd expected to have seen their influence waning as Earth rose into prominence within the Coalition and later UFP. No wonder Vulcans like T'Paal were late against the UFP and wanted to purge Vulcan of alien influences.

[Eternal_Freedom]

There may be any number of reasons why T'Pol being a dick is bad writing, but I don't think the fact she's a Vulcan is one of them.

I dunno, if she's badly written because the writers all had the mental image of "cold, calculating, humourless, logical to the point of aggravation with very occaisional outburst of emotions" then I think it would fit

Of all the vulcans on ENt, I liked Soval for some reason. He seemed more Spock-ish than most. As seen in the Season Four trio of episodes with the human embassy on Vulcan being bombed and Admiral Forrest dying. Soval promises Archer all the support he can because he wants to find who killed his friend Forrest

[Junghalli]

I dunno, if she's badly written because the writers all had the mental image of "cold, calculating, humourless, logical to the point of aggravation with very occaisional outburst of emotions" then I think it would fit

Yes, but that's not really what I meant. I meant I disagree with the idea that a Vulcan shouldn't act thin-skinned and smug because Vulcans don't act that way. That strikes me as sort of being disappointed that they aren't a Planet of the Hats where everybody has the same personality.

[Eternal_Freedom]

Ah I see, my apologies for the misinterpretation

[Junghalli]

Ah I see, my apologies for the misinterpretation

No apologies necessary.

[Eternal_Freedom]

Thanks, but as I was raised, politeness costs nothing

And who knows? maybe it'll be a good example to someone
::cough:: Stark ::cough::

[Freefall]

Come on now, let's be fair. Sure, T'Pol was disdainful towards Trip and Archer, but we're talking about friggin' Trip and Archer. Everyone has a right to be condescending to those two. One's an idiot hillbilly (in charge of running the warp core, no less), and the other's practically a human supremacist (in charge of the closest thing to a war ship humanity has) who spits on the cultures of others.

I honestly think all the other Vulcans on Enterprise were worse. There was one line that seemed to be repeated all the time, but several different vulcans.

Generic Vulcan: You are getting... EMOTIONAL.

Blech. Could the writers really not think of anything else? And it really felt delivered in that horrible manner too, like the vulcans actually dislike the taste of the word or something weird.

In fact, pretty much all of them tend to exhibit very thinly veiled passive-aggressive tendencies, from what I recall. T'Pol frankly seemed subtle compared to a lot of them. More like, "okay, I'm on a ship full of stupid monkeys. I'll just do my job, calmly point out when they're being exceptionally stupid even by their own standards (which happens surprisingly often), and hopefully they won't bother me too much and I'll get reassigned before I have to kill any of them."

The points about Voyager seem a little hallow. I mean, Tuvok you don't even say is bad, just different, and frankly, I don't think there have been enough vulcans on the show to get a truly universal sense of what they should be. They were almost non-existent in TNG and DS9. I don't know how many showed up in TOS, but surely there's room for one slightly militant vulcan out of the whole species.

I mean, how many other vulcans on the show were even black? He can't be the only one.

Aside from him though, the only vulcan I remember on Voyager was the guy who tried to get it on with Belanna, and yeah, he was flat and boring, but he was just a secondary character and not even in that many episodes. And I still thought he was substantially better than most of the vulcans on Enterprise.

[Gandalf]

I don't know how many showed up in TOS, but surely there's room for one slightly militant vulcan out of the whole species.

Tallera in TNG's Gambit was a violent isolationist. Is that what you mean?

I mean, how many other vulcans on the show were even black? He can't be the only one.

His wife was black too, As I recall another black Vulcan was visible in the 2009 film, when Spock describes his backstory, though he may be a Romulan.

There have also been a few black Romulans.

[TOSDOC]

I don't know how many showed up in TOS, but surely there's room for one slightly militant vulcan out of the whole species.

In Amok Time, T'Pring took her logic to the point where she was willing to set up a visiting human starship captain for death just so she wouldn't have to carry on her arranged marriage. Her actions were witnessed by multiple vulcans, including T'Pau no less, and yet she wasn't arrested on the spot for so much as even conspiracy to commit murder/manslaughter.

The race seems to make interesting exceptions in moral standards for the sake of logic.

[Stofsk]

'Amok Time' is one of those episodes which makes you think maybe the Vulcans only pay lip service to logic.

[Baffalo]

I want to clarify my position on Voyager, since many of you have come out and supported Tuvok. I myself find Tuvok to be an engaging, unique character who plays a Vulcan very well, and I like him. So why do I say Voyager ruined Vulcans? Because if you look at some of the attitudes and behaviors of Tuvok and then later look at Enterprise, you realize that they essentially took Tuvok, amplified his negative attitudes, and stuck them into the character of T'Pol and others. Tuvok expressed his annoyance with humans for being too emotional and for trying to impose their own morality on others, and in Enterprise, most Vulcans are shown to dislike humans because of their emotions and for imposing their morality!

Now granted, T'Pol did have to suffer through both Jonathan "Long-Winded Preacher" Archer and "Catfish" Tucker, so I'm going to just say that if Zephram Cochran had acted like either of those two when First Contact occurred, Picard and crew would get to watch from orbit as Vulcans just went ahead and killed everyone to save the galaxy from putting up with their stupidity.

[Freefall]

I'll also point out that Tuvok had to suffer through 7 years of Neelix. He was even fused into a single being with him once. That's got to be a strain on any Vulcan's self-control (I really loved the episode where he strangled Neelix on the holodeck).

But yeah, in your initial post it didn't really sound like you had a big problem with Tuvok, but mainly with Enterprise, and it seems a little unfair to blame Tuvok for what happened in Enterprise. After all, Enterprise did tons of things wrong; T'Pol's outfit, for instance, is pretty obviously done to try and imitate 7-of-9, who was a popular character, but the idiots in charge didn't seem to realize that 7 was actually an interesting character, not just a set of tits in a cat suit. Most fans would have probably been happy to see the catsuit replaced with actual clothes or a uniform, IMO.

Still, I will maintain that T'Pol was one of the least offensive Vulcans on Enterprise. While I was being slightly facetious in my initial post, it was only slightly. Archer really does come off as an insufferably smug and conceited most of the time, and Trip really does seem like an idiot hillbilly most of the time. T'Pol comes off as cold and condescending often, but at the same time, she actually is smarter and more rational than most of the other characters.

I'll also admit though, I felt kind of sorry for the actress. Apparently she's a genuine fan of the franchise and really wanted to be part of it (she's also been in Stargate and some other cheap sci-fi shows and movies), and then they shamelessly exploited her with various juvenile episodes where she was running around half naked and oily while suffering pon-far for whatever contrived reason.

Anyway, it sound like we can all agree though, that Tim Russ did an admirable job playing a vulcan. Looking back at Voyager after seeing the terrible portrayal of vulcans on Enterprise, I actually have far more respect for him for not only portraying a believable vulcan character, but doing it without trying to just be another Spock. I think Tuvok was probably the 3rd best developed character on the show, after 7 and the Doctor.

[Kane Starkiller]

IMO I don't think any of the writers "got" Vulcans at least the kind of Vulcans Spock was personifying. The way Nimoy played Spock, especially in the movies, I always got the impression that there is no way you can get under his skin. Remember all those discussions with Bones, Spock would just kind of raise his eyebrow at the raging doctor and there was almost a smirk as he demolished his argument. Kind of like an infinitely patient parent amused as his child's antics.

You look at Tuvok's interactions with Neelix and he is always on edge, annoyed, you almost expect him to roll his eyes. I can imagine Spock listening to Neelix prattle on about some Vulcan holiday he wants to recreate on the holodeck only to have Spock cock his eyebrow and then calmly proceed to explain to Neelix why that is a moronic idea.
There is no trace of Spock's serenity and patience in Tuvok and all the Vulcans afterwards were portrayed as even angrier Tuvoks and their entire "emotional suppression" was revealed as bullshit.
Maybe that was the intention I don't know.
The culmination was in the latest Star Trek movie, you can clearly see the vast difference between Quinto's and Nimoy's Spock. Quinto plays his Spock in the tradition of Tuvok and T'Pol (on edge, constantly annoyed or semi-annoyed) while Nimoy is again a pool of serenity. Nothing can throw this guy off balance.
There is also the fact that Spock's dialogue was much better written. In every movie Spock had a new memorable quote or dialogue which made him at least "feel" wise. Other Vulcans just recycle his quotes "logic dictates", "live long and prosper", "logical", "not logical" yadda yadda kind of like how SW prequels recycle memorable one liners from the old trilogy.
"Force will be with you always" made Obi Wan mysterious and kind-of wise. After prequels recycled and mangled the quote 50 times it just rang hollow and meaningless.

[mr friendly guy]

I mean, how many other vulcans on the show were even black? He can't be the only one.

His wife. In the later seasons they communicate with the Federation via hypersubspace technology or some technobabble solution and I remember seeing her being black as well. I believe we also see his son, who is naturally also black. Other than that, I am drawing a blank.

Aside from him though, the only vulcan I remember on Voyager was the guy who tried to get it on with Belanna, and yeah, he was flat and boring, but he was just a secondary character and not even in that many episodes. And I still thought he was substantially better than most of the vulcans on Enterprise.

I believe the actor who played him was a relative of Geri Taylor, one of the top writers. But you're right, his character wasn't particularly interesting.

You look at Tuvok's interactions with Neelix and he is always on edge, annoyed, you almost expect him to roll his eyes. I can imagine Spock listening to Neelix prattle on about some Vulcan holiday he wants to recreate on the holodeck only to have Spock cock his eyebrow and then calmly proceed to explain to Neelix why that is a moronic idea.
There is no trace of Spock's serenity and patience in Tuvok and all the Vulcans afterwards were portrayed as even angrier Tuvoks and their entire "emotional suppression" was revealed as bullshit.
Maybe that was the intention I don't know.

Well I believe McCoy once accused Spock of trying to "out-Vulcan the Vulcans". Maybe there is a truth to all that, in the sense that Spock was more in control of his emotions than the average Vulcan.

[Freefall]

His wife. In the later seasons they communicate with the Federation via hypersubspace technology or some technobabble solution and I remember seeing her being black as well. I believe we also see his son, who is naturally also black. Other than that, I am drawing a blank.

Exactly, not many, meaning they could very well represent another Vulcan sub-race and culture not normally shown in the series, which may have slightly different ethical axioms.

Or, like I said before, Tuvok could just be Tuvok and not Spock. I don't think there's a rule that says all Vulcans need to be Spock. In fact, I don't think they are even supposed to be. Spock was half-human, and suffered from the "trapped between two worlds" theme. I believe he was intended to be a unique individual, not necessarily representative of Vulcans in general.

Of course, I haven't seen much of the TOS series. I have seen the movies however, and Spock always seemed subtly different in his demeanor and approach to logic as compared to Saavik or Valeris. They seemed seemed colder, although they did not possess the same passive-aggressive attitudes of the Enterprise vulcans. Of course, you could also argue that you might not expect that from vulcans who had deliberately made the effort to join Starfleet.

From what I recall of Star Trek: The Motion Picture though, when Spock first came aboard the Enterprise, he was apparently in full-blown vulcan mode, and how did he act? Cold, aloof, perhaps slightly contemptuous. It seems to take him a little bit to get readjusted to humans there.

Anyway, I'm just kind of tossing stuff out there, but basically I feel that Spock should not be taken as the prototypical vulcan, both because it would simply reinforce the cultural homogeneity that Star Trek is infamous for, and because I'm doubtful he was even ever intended to be.

That all said, I still agree that the vulcans on Enterprise were terrible. Even if vulcans were always supposed to act like that, it would still be terrible.

[Terralthra]

The culmination was in the latest Star Trek movie, you can clearly see the vast difference between Quinto's and Nimoy's Spock. Quinto plays his Spock in the tradition of Tuvok and T'Pol (on edge, constantly annoyed or semi-annoyed) while Nimoy is again a pool of serenity. Nothing can throw this guy off balance.

I'm not sure I agree. While Quinto's Spock is on edge, the scene that sticks out the most to me is after having tossed Kirk off the ship, McCoy comes to him and lambasts him for it, quoting an aphorism about not leaving your best horse at home. Spock effortlessly (and with a bit of a smile) demolishes the argument. McCoy rejoinders with a demand that Spock at least not seem like it's an easy decision, and Spock very sardonically replies as to the pointlessness of that request. McCoy was left fuming while Spock appears rational. It was doubtless intended to cast aspersions on Spock's "cold logic," but it left me liking the character more.

On the other hand, when Kirk meets up with Old Spock, the single line that defines the serenity you were talking about. Kirk mentions that Captain Pike has been captured, Spock fills in "By Nero." Kirk says, "You know him?" Spock replies, "He is a very troubled Romulan."

A troubled Romulan. This is the man who just EXTINGUISHED Spock's home planet, along with billions of Vulcan lives WHILE SPOCK WATCHES, and Spock, while showing hints of emotion (guilt, mainly, and sorrow), doesn't recriminate or castigate Nero as a villain or evil in the slightest. I know I could not be nearly so equitable in the same circumstances.

[Molyneux]

The culmination was in the latest Star Trek movie, you can clearly see the vast difference between Quinto's and Nimoy's Spock. Quinto plays his Spock in the tradition of Tuvok and T'Pol (on edge, constantly annoyed or semi-annoyed) while Nimoy is again a pool of serenity. Nothing can throw this guy off balance.

I'm not sure I agree. While Quinto's Spock is on edge, the scene that sticks out the most to me is after having tossed Kirk off the ship, McCoy comes to him and lambasts him for it, quoting an aphorism about not leaving your best horse at home. Spock effortlessly (and with a bit of a smile) demolishes the argument. McCoy rejoinders with a demand that Spock at least not seem like it's an easy decision, and Spock very sardonically replies as to the pointlessness of that request. McCoy was left fuming while Spock appears rational. It was doubtless intended to cast aspersions on Spock's "cold logic," but it left me liking the character more.

On the other hand, when Kirk meets up with Old Spock, the single line that defines the serenity you were talking about. Kirk mentions that Captain Pike has been captured, Spock fills in "By Nero." Kirk says, "You know him?" Spock replies, "He is a very troubled Romulan."

A troubled Romulan. This is the man who just EXTINGUISHED Spock's home planet, along with billions of Vulcan lives WHILE SPOCK WATCHES, and Spock, while showing hints of emotion (guilt, mainly, and sorrow), doesn't recriminate or castigate Nero as a villain or evil in the slightest. I know I could not be nearly so equitable in the same circumstances.

What really appears to be the difference between the two versions of Spock - and I believe the actors did a brilliant job of portraying this - is experience. Young Spock's emotional control is strong, but brittle - whereas the elder Spock has been tempered by a long and interesting life, achieving true serenity under even the strongest pressure.