Spock's appearance

[Trekfan12]

I don't remember this being addressed before, at least I don't recall seeing it. Why was Spock's appearance different from the way he looked in the "Cage" and in "Where No Man Has Gone Before." as opposed to how he looked the rest of the time? His eyebrows seemed to have made as shift on his face.

 

[johnnybear]

I think they gradually toned down his appearance over the first season! The Cage and Where No Man were the original look for his character!
JB

 

[Trekfan12]

I think they gradually toned down his appearance over the first season! The Cage and Where No Man were the original look for his character!
JB

I'm glad they made the change, I liked his eyebrows the way they looked later on

 

[KirkusOveractus]

Part of it had to deal with the use of different makeup artists. I think Robert Dawn worked on "Where No Man Has Gone Before", who really had an extreme look to Spock with the eyebrows!

My thinking also is that they decided to tone down the "Satanic" look a bit, while still keeping the distinctive look a Vulcan would have.

 

[dahj]

My thinking also is that they decided to tone down the "Satanic" look a bit

Wouldn't thinner eyebrows be considered more satanic, considering all the flames and heat in Hell would have singed them a bit

 

[KirkusOveractus]

Wouldn't thinner eyebrows be considered more satanic, considering all the flames and heat in Hell would have singed them a bit

But wouldn't everything be used to the heat and flames? I mean, he is satan. He'd have adapted to high temperatures and flames! Vulcan is also a very hot planet, and no singed eyebrows there!

 

[Nerys Myk]

I think the thinner eyebrows and more severe haircut made him look more "Satanic".

 

[JonnyQuest037]

Part of it had to deal with the use of different makeup artists. I think Robert Dawn worked on "Where No Man Has Gone Before", who really had an extreme look to Spock with the eyebrows!

Yeah, it was a different makeup person on WNMHGB.

 

[2takesfrakes]

I don't see why Spock's upward-slanted eyebrows were ever necessary. T'Pol, for example, started out on Enterprise with Jolene's eyebrows the way they are. Saavik, of course, had Kirstie Alley's eyebrows and she looked really good as a Vulcan. If Star Trek ever decides to not do the slanted eyebrows anymore for the Vulcans and just sticks with the ears, that could really work.

 

[KirkusOveractus]

I don't see why Spock's upward-slanted eyebrows were ever necessary. T'Pol, for example, started out on Enterprise with Jolene's eyebrows the way they are. Saavik, of course, had Kirstie Alley's eyebrows and she looked really good as a Vulcan. If Star Trek ever decides to not do the slanted eyebrows anymore for the Vulcans and just sticks with the ears, that could really work.

The slanted eyebrows are necessary. Why? #becausespock. Nuff Said!

 

[plynch]

Don't our eyebrows follow along our brow bones? (supraorbital ridge, yeah yeah)? Why would Vulcans' differ and go up?

Also they lowered his bangs a bit into S1 hiding a forehead wrinkle that made Spock look severe-er early on.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Don't our eyebrows follow along our brow bones? (supraorbital ridge, yeah yeah)? Why would Vulcans' differ and go up?

Also they lowered his bangs a bit into S1 hiding a forehead wrinkle that made Spock look severe-er early on.

Because they're not human?

 

[mos6507]

I'm pretty sure the only reason people like Kirstie Alley didn't do the eyebrows was she refused to shave them. Note that when Robin Curtis took over she DID have the eyebrows.

 

[Tracy Trek]

I don't see why Spock's upward-slanted eyebrows were ever necessary. T'Pol, for example, started out on Enterprise with Jolene's eyebrows the way they are. Saavik, of course, had Kirstie Alley's eyebrows and she looked really good as a Vulcan. If Star Trek ever decides to not do the slanted eyebrows anymore for the Vulcans and just sticks with the ears, that could really work.

Vorik and his brother Taurik had the slanted eyebrows, didn't they?

 

[2takesfrakes]

Yes, that is correct. They did have slanted eyebrows ... both of them.

 

[Christopher]

It's pretty normal for alien makeups to evolve a bit over time. Worf had a completely different forehead design in season 1 than he did from season 2 onward. Ferengi initally didn't have the cheekbone appliances they gained later. Ro Laren started out with a more complex nose-ridge appliance that was simplified later on (losing the sort of U-shaped feature at the top) for greater comfort or ease of application or something. And so on. Few things are perfect from the start -- you try something out, learn what works and what doesn't, and refine it over time.

 

[Ssosmcin]

I don't see why Spock's upward-slanted eyebrows were ever necessary. T'Pol, for example, started out on Enterprise with Jolene's eyebrows the way they are.

And I never liked that look. In the third season, she went to the upswept eyebrows and lighter colored hair and she looked stunning. Why were they necessary? Because Spock's an alien and had to look different than the average human. If they just went with the hair and ears, he would have simply looked like Leonard Nimoy with a Beatle 'do and pointy ears. Spock's look was striking, but minimalist. And the chicks really dug it.

Saavik, of course, had Kirstie Alley's eyebrows and she looked really good as a Vulcan. If Star Trek ever decides to not do the slanted eyebrows anymore for the Vulcans and just sticks with the ears, that could really work.

I thought she looked good because the actress was gorgeous, not because it was a good look for a Vulcan. At least Robin Curtis looked like a Vulcan and still was beautiful. Nah, the upswept brows are there along with the ears to set them apart from humans at first glance.

 

[Lance]

Don't our eyebrows follow along our brow bones? (supraorbital ridge, yeah yeah)? Why would Vulcans' differ and go up?

Also they lowered his bangs a bit into S1 hiding a forehead wrinkle that made Spock look severe-er early on.

Interesting thought. Consider also that when they revamped the Romulan look on TNG, they included more severe makeup, including a heavier brow.

If we were to retcon them as 'always' having had that look (ie, unlike Klingons, a canon "explanation" for the Romulan makeup changes was never offered, so we just accept that the brow line was always there), then perhaps Romulans retained these evolutionary brow lines after they seceded from Vulcan, whereas the Vulcans eventually evolved out of them over time. The eyebrows however were left as a evolutionary genetic hiccup even though the severe brow was gone.

 

[johnnybear]

I don't see why Spock's upward-slanted eyebrows were ever necessary. T'Pol, for example, started out on Enterprise with Jolene's eyebrows the way they are. Saavik, of course, had Kirstie Alley's eyebrows and she looked really good as a Vulcan. If Star Trek ever decides to not do the slanted eyebrows anymore for the Vulcans and just sticks with the ears, that could really work.

Let's not forget that Spock is 'the original Vulcan' and it's by his look we have the race! Forget about T'Pol or whatever, she's just a character from a show that wasn't that good or very rewatchable (sorry fans of it) but Nimoy's features and make-up are what I for one judge any other actors by!
JB

 

[FormerLurker]

It's pretty normal for alien makeups to evolve a bit over time. Worf had a completely different forehead design in season 1 than he did from season 2 onward. Ferengi initally didn't have the cheekbone appliances they gained later. Ro Laren started out with a more complex nose-ridge appliance that was simplified later on (losing the sort of U-shaped feature at the top) for greater comfort or ease of application or something. And so on. Few things are perfect from the start -- you try something out, learn what works and what doesn't, and refine it over time.

Scuttlebutt at the time was that someone broke into the makeup department at Paramount and stole the mold that Worf's forehead appliances were cast from, and they had to make a new one. How reliable that story is, I have no idea, but the fact that they so obviously did make a new one lends credence to its plausibility.