I can't be the only... (Michael and Spock)

Discussion in 'Star Trek: Discovery' started by Discofan, May 22, 2019.

  1. serabine

    serabine Commander Red Shirt

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    Let's just assume that it's not meant literally that they never uttered a single word to each other for the 8 to 10 years Michael was still living under Sarek and Amanda's roof. "Pass the salt", sure. Answering "Where is mother?", only polite. "Dinner is ready", just passing on information.

    But sitting in a room together and practicing the Vulcan salute? Talking about the future and making plans to one day live on earth together? That stops. Instead of seeking each other out, avoidance. Michael is in the living room area? Spock will be in his room. At the table Michael talks to her parents, Spock talks to his parents, but they don't talk to each other. And given how long Spock and Sarek were able to hold a grudge against each other, Spock might easily have maintained ignoring any overtures by Michael until she finally got the hint and stopped. That is, if there were overtures, and she hadn't convinced herself at the time that pushing Spock away was only "for the best".
     
  2. F. King Daniel

    F. King Daniel Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    I'm sure Sarek noticed.

    And if you don't think their home was huge... :shrug:
     
  3. Lord Garth

    Lord Garth Admiral Admiral

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    I won't go into specifics but there are members of my own family who won't speak to each other. When they're in the same room, they're on opposite ends, and never do they interact. If they have to, it's through clenched teeth. I have to spend some time with one side and some time with the other. If I don't, it looks like I'm taking one side over another.

    I can buy Spock and Michael not speaking to each other. And the awkward situation that put Amanda in.
     
  4. SJGardner

    SJGardner Commodore Commodore

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    Talking about Michael's childhood always carries the risk of me venting my own unresolved emotional baggage, so I was writing this for about half an hour, but the point is, there was a period of about 7-8 years from high school to around the end of university when there was so much bad blood between me and my sister that despite spending every weekend at our parents' home and the two of us actually living together for 3 years in an apartment rented for us by my parents, we spent about 80% of our time under one roof in separate rooms (to the point of regularly taking our meals back to our bedrooms). We could go on for almost a week without saying a word to each other, and even when we did, it was mainly petty squabbles over housekeeping. And it's damn hard to make any attempts at reconciliation when both of us each have always been as stubborn and rigid as Michael and Spock combined. I see nothing weird about the two of them being as cold and distant as they were.
     
    Last edited: May 23, 2019
  5. Timo

    Timo Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Well, that's human, alas. And I doubt anybody would consider either Spock or Michael as being more wholesome personalities than either of you. These are crazy folks by human standards, so crazy that they have devised a whole religion to help them delude that they are not. And both Spock and Michael are in a good position to be extra crazy with fries and mayo, considering their specific backstories and possible bad blood from their odd parents. And the thing is, it shows. From day one, it shows.

    Which I guess is rather the point of these lead characters. It always was with Spock in TOS; letting either him or his adopted sister resolve things like sensible adults would be betraying their dramatic selves. DSC is simply doing a good job with the hows and whys, showing how much ballast there is, explaining why Spock was Spock in TOS and why Sarek was Sarek - but many a Trek spinoff has already given us a good idea of how difficult it is to be a Vulcan, let alone half Vulcan genetically or spiritually. Worf or Seven of Nine had it easy...

    I rather enjoy the consistency. The woman who firmly believes the best way to open a dialog to secure peace is to fire the first shot in a war is unlikely to be a person person. And the way she "deals" with the fallout from that is but dress rehearsal to how she deals with a family reunion.

    Timo Saloniemi
     
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  6. NewHeavensNewEarth

    NewHeavensNewEarth Commodore Commodore

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    I had a similar situation, actually. Not worth getting into, but needless to say, I can relate to that sibling dynamic. Thank you for sharing some of your story.
     
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  7. Kor

    Kor Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    She went off to boarding school, then eventually reconnected with Sarek at a later point when Spock was away at Starfleet. Problem solved.

    Kor
     
  8. Lord Garth

    Lord Garth Admiral Admiral

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    That would work. Then pull a Mad Men. When the school year's over and Michael/Sally come home from Boarding School, they send Spock/Bobby to Summer Camp.

    So Spock's at home for 10 months and Michael's at home for two.
     
    Last edited: May 23, 2019
  9. Discofan

    Discofan Admiral Admiral

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    Ok, so maybe the question is not as clear-cut as I thought it was when I started this thread.;)

    BTW: I'd hate to be in a Vulcan boarding school. Plomeek soup every evening!!! And when you eat bread-sticks you have to use your cutlery to do so.:D And NO meat!!! I love meat!;)
     
  10. XCV330

    XCV330 Premium Member

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    Vulcan stoicism doesn't seem as extreme as they might put on. They live quite well. I suspect they have a varied and good tasting variety of foods.
     
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  11. Discofan

    Discofan Admiral Admiral

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    Yes, and in spite of all that logic, they still have the occasional nut that turns himself into a living bomb!!
     
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  12. fireproof78

    fireproof78 Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    One can make errors from total logic. It's all a matter of the information used to base the conclusion.

    We should not assume that all Vulcans precede from the exact same starting point with logic. Logic is a tool, but it has its downsides.
     
  13. Delta Vega

    Delta Vega Commodore Commodore

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    Its quite feasible that Michael was excluded by Spock, when he was playing Scalextric with Sybok in the other room
    Problem solved
     
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  14. F. King Daniel

    F. King Daniel Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Pretty sure if Sybok was still living there at the time, they'd locked him in the attic by then a la Hugo Simpson.
     
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  15. Serveaux

    Serveaux Fleet Admiral Premium Member

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    You have to twist yourself into pretzels for this backstory to make sense.
     
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  16. Discofan

    Discofan Admiral Admiral

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    Sybok was well-known by his school mates as the laughing Vulcan. Plus he was the son of a princess so maybe he inherited a palace or something.
     
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  17. XCV330

    XCV330 Premium Member

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    I want a wacky comic book or sitcom called the Sareksons about life in this messed up family.
     
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  18. Discofan

    Discofan Admiral Admiral

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    Good idea! :lol:
     
  19. Timo

    Timo Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    You mean DSC isn't it? Okay, so there are a couple of Klingons in it, too. But there's always the guy behind the fence.

    T'Kumvanders: "Remain Klingon-diddly-gon!"

    Timo Saloniemi
     
  20. Gonzo

    Gonzo Guest

    I dont think it was thought out properly, someone just decided Spock had to have a half sister and everything was then bent and shaped around that.
     
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