WARNING: Contains SPOILERS for Star Trek: Prodigy season 2!
Summary
Star Trek’s long-running partnership between James T. Kirk (William Shatner) and Spock (Leonard Nimoy) is so enduring that the franchise often seeks to replicate it. Spock provided a rational counterpoint to Kirk’s rasher tendencies, making them a winning partnership that saved the galaxy countless times. Kirk and Spock’s dynamic is a winning formula that has been repeated many times in otherStar TrekTV shows and movies. The most obvious replications of the Kirk and Spock relationship are those human and Vulcan friendships in shows likeStar Trek: VoyagerandStar Trek: Enterprise.
However, there are other Kirk and Spock-style relationships that don’t follow that pattern. Arguably,the dynamic between Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) and Lt. Commander Data (Brent Spiner) inStar Trek: The Next Generationwas a reflection of Kirk and Spock’s. However, because Commander William T. Riker (Jonathan Frakes) was Picard’s Number One, audiences rarely got to see Picard and Data’s interplay in a command-level setting. The more overtKirk and Spockreplacements post-Star Trek: The Original Seriesretain the dynamic of commanding officer and trusted advisor.
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5Dal R’El and Ma’jel
Star Trek: Prodigy
Ma’jel and Dal are more similar to the Kelvin Timeline’s Kirk and Spock, being Starfleet Academy rivals who build a mutual respect for each other
Star Trek’s latest Vulcan hero, Ma’jel (Michaela Dietz) debuted inStar Trek: Prodigyseason 2, and almost immediately formed a Kirk and Spock-style partnership with the show’s lead character, Dal R’El (Brett Gray).Dal was once compared to Captain Kirk by none other than Spock himself, albeit a holodeck recreation of the Vulcan, inProdigyseason 1, episode 6, “Kobayashi”.Prodigyseason 2 revealed that Dal has lost none of his swagger, making him the perfect foil for Nova Squadron member and budding Starfleet Academy cadet, Ma’jel.
Star Trek: Prodigy is the first TV series in the Star Trek franchise marketed toward children, and one of the few animated series in the franchise. The story follows a group of young aliens who find a stolen Starfleet ship and use it to escape from the Tars Lamora prison colony where they are all held captive. Working together with the help of a holographic Captain Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew), the new crew of the USS Protostar must find their way back to the Alpha Quadrant to warn the Federation of the deadly threat that is pursuing them.
Ma’jel and Dal are more similar to the Kelvin Timeline’s Kirk and Spock, being Starfleet Academy rivals who build a mutual respect for each other. Ma’jel’s logic and by-the-book approach to Starfleet regulations initially puts her at odds with Dal inStar Trek: Prodigyseason 2. However, once they’re catapulted into the alternate future, she begins to see the merit of Dal’s brasher approach to being a Starfleet hero. Like Kirk and Spock before them, Ma’jel and Dal learn from each other throughoutProdigyseason 2, and will hopefully continue to do so for years to come.
Star Trek: Lower Decks
T’Lyn’s ability to break through Boimler’s anxiety with Vulcan logic and some choice words proves what Kirk always knew; that Vulcans make the best, most honest friends.
Where Spock would act as a logical counterpoint to Kirk’s rasher tendencies, Lt. T’Lyn (Gabrielle Ruiz) used her Vulcan logic to temper the anxiety of Lt. Bradward Boimler (Jack Quaid). InStar Trek: Lower Decksseason 4, episode 3, “In the Cradle of Vexilon”, T’Lyn tried to get Boimler to see the folly of his attempts not to put his away team in mortal danger. Ultimately, he didn’t listen to T’Lyn’s sage advice about the responsibility of command and his illogical fixation with doing all the work himself, but Kirk didn’t always listen to Spock either.
“Star Trek: Lower Decks” focuses on the support crew serving on one of Starfleet’s least important ships, the USS Cerritos, in 2380. Ensigns Mariner, Boimler, Rutherford and Tendi must keep up with their duties and their social lives, often while the ship is being rocked by a multitude of sci-fi anomalies. The ship’s bridge crew includes Captain Carol Freeman, Commander Jack Ransom, Lieutenant Shaxs and Doctor T’Ana. This is the second animated spin-off in the franchise after 1973-74’s “Star Trek: The Animated Series,” but has a decidedly more adult tone and humor.
Later inStar Trek: Lower Decks' season 4 finale, Boimler was placed in command of the USS Cerritos during the daring mission to rescue Lt. Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome) and defeat Nick Locarno (Robert Duncan McNeill).Sat on Boimler’s right was Lt. T’Lyn, effectively acting as Spock to his Kirk once again. T’Lyn’s ability to break through Boimler’s anxiety with Vulcan logic and some choice words proves what Kirk always knew; that Vulcans make the best, most honest friends.
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3Captain Michael Burnham & Captain Saru
Star Trek: Discovery
Saru was the Spock to Burnham’s Kirk, a rational alien observer who knew when to rein in his commanding officer’s sometimes reckless behavior.
While Captain Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) was raised as amember of Spock’s family, she had more in common with Captain Kirk. Across four seasons ofStar Trek: Discovery, Burnham was a risk-taker, who was a firm believer that there was no such thing as a no-win scenario. Saru (Doug Jones) was the Spock to Burnham’s Kirk, a rational alien observer who knew when to rein in his commanding officer’s sometimes reckless behavior. In a direct parallel with Kirk and Spock’s working relationship in theStar Trekmovies,Burnham and Saru both served aboard the USS Discovery as captains in seasons 4 and 5.
Star Trek: Discovery is an entry in the legendary Sci-Fi franchise, set ten years before the original Star Trek series events. The show centers around Commander Michael Burnham, assigned to the USS Discovery, where the crew attempts to prevent a Klingon war while traveling through the vast reaches of space.
After his final mission with Burnham inStar Trek: Discoveryseason 5, episode 2, “Under the Twin Moons”, Saru followed Spock’s path by becoming a Federation Ambassador. Meanwhile, Burnham, like Kirk, looked into the face of creation itself, and found it lacking.Burnham and Saru were more tactile and emotionally honest than Kirk and Spock, and their close friendship and tight working relationship made them a formidable team inStar Trek’s 32nd century. Burnham and Saru’s legacy will inspire the next generation of Starfleet officers in the 32nd century, just like Kirk and Spock inspired Starfleet Academy’s 24th century intake.
As they traveled to the 32nd century at the end ofStar Trek: Discoveryseason 2, years before Kirk and Spock met, Burnham and Saru never met the best friend of Michael’s brother.
2Captain Kathryn Janeway and Lt. Tuvok
Star Trek: Voyager
…the biggest similarity between Kirk and Spock, and Janeway and Tuvok is how they would gladly defy orders to save the life of the other.
Unlike other Spock replacements,Tuvok (Tim Russ) wasn’t second-in-command to Captain Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew)inStar Trek: Voyager. However, he was the highest-ranking Starfleet officer aboard the USS Voyager, due to the ship’s unique command structure. This meant that Janeway often relied on Tuvok’s wisdom and advice when facing the new threats posed by their journey through the Delta Quadrant. Janeway trusted Tuvok more than Commander Chakotay (Robert Beltran), a relationship that the two had cultivated over years prior to her taking command of the USS Voyager.
The fifth entry in the Star Trek franchise, Star Trek: Voyager, is a sci-fi series that sees the crew of the USS Voyager on a long journey back to their home after finding themselves stranded at the far ends of the Milky Way Galaxy. Led by Captain Kathryn Janeway, the series follows the crew as they embark through truly uncharted areas of space, with new species, friends, foes, and mysteries to solve as they wrestle with the politics of a crew in a situation they’ve never faced before.
Star Trek: Strange New Worldshas revealed that Kirk and Spock had a similar early friendship, inspired by a shared love ofthree-dimensional chess. This retroactively makes Janeway and Tuvok more like the legendaryStar Trekduo, though Tuvok’s a kal-toh man. However, the biggest similarity between Kirk and Spock, and Janeway and Tuvok is how they would gladly defy orders to save the life of the other.TheStar Trek: Voyagerfinale saw an older Admiral Janeway break the Temporal Prime Directive to save Tuvok, drawing comparisons with Kirk’s own unauthorised mission inStar Trek III: The Search for Spock.
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1Captain Jonathan Archer & Sub-commander T’Pol
Star Trek: Enterprise
Enterpriseflipped the Kirk and Spock dynamic by emphasizing the sexual tension between Captain Archer and Sub-commander T’Pol.
Star Trek: Enterprise’s Captain Jonathan Archer (Scott Bakula) and Sub-commander T’Pol (Jolene Blalock) were the franchise’s most overt Kirk and Spock replacements. Given thatEnterprisewas a prequel toStar Trek: The Original Series, Archer and T’Pol were forerunners to Kirk and Spock in terms of Starfleet history.Archer was the most machoStar Trekcaptain since Kirk, and Scott Bakula’s swagger was perfectly at odds with Jolene Blalock’s chilly detachment.
Star Trek: Enterprise acts as a prequel to Star Trek: The Original Series, detailing the voyages of the original crew of the Starship Enterprise in the 22nd century, a hundred years before Captain Kirk commanded the ship. Enterprise was the sixth series in the Star Trek franchise overall, and the final series before a twelve-year hiatus until the premiere of Star Trek: Discovery in 2017. The series stars Scott Bakula as Captain Jonathan Archer, with an ensemble cast that includes John Billingsley, Jolene Blalock, Dominic Keating, Anthony Montgomery, Linda Park, and Connor Trinneer.
Enterpriseflipped the Kirk and Spock dynamicby emphasizing the sexual tension between Captain Archer and Sub-commander T’Pol. Instead of acting on their mutual attraction, the two characters remained friends and became trusted colleagues, helping to lay the foundations forStar Trek’s Federation. In doing so, Archer and T’Pol became just as important to the history of Starfleet and the United Federation of Planets as their successors/predecessors, Captains Kirk and Spock.
