Warning: SPOILERS for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2, Episode 5 - "Charades"Star Trek: Strange New Worlds has cleverly taken 10 steps to set up the end of Mr. Spock (Leonard Nimoy) and T'Pring's (Arlene Martel) relationship in Star Trek: The Original Series. Set about 7 years before Spock stands beside Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) during the Starship Enterprise's five-year mission, Strange New Worlds is about the Enterprise's previous voyages under the command of Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount). Lieutenant Spock (Ethan Peck) is already Pike's Chief Science Officer, and he is in a relationship with T'Pring (Gia Sandhu).
The classic Star Trek: The Original Series season 2 episode "Amok Time" establishes how Spock and T'Pring's romance bitterly ends. As Spock undergoes the mating ritual pon-farr, he is driven to return home to Vulcan where T'Pring awaits him. T'Pring has found a new fiancé, Stonn (Lawrence Montaigne), and to break her engagement to Spock, she invokes Kal-if-fee, Vulcan ritual combat. But instead of Stonn, it is Captain Kirk who is chosen to fight Spock 'to the death.' Ultimately, T'Pring gets her wish, and her betrothal to Spock is ended for good. It's a sad end to the story of these Vulcan lovers. For decades, there were questions about what Spock and T'Pring were like in their younger years that Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is now answering, while also planting the seeds for what's to come in "Amok Time."
10 Spock's Dream About Star Trek: The Original Series "Amok Time"
In Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 1's Vulcan body swap comedy, "Spock Amok," Lt. Spock dreamed about the Kal-if-fee ritual in TOS' "Amok Time." But in Spock's dream, he fought as the two sides of himself, Vulcan and human. This reflected Spock's latent fears of being torn between two cultures, and the innate unworthiness he feels toward T'Pring. Although T'Pring has repeatedly promised Spock that she accepts him fully, Vulcan and human, Strange New Worlds establishes that Spock's inner doubts linger and will factor into his choice to later distance himself from T'Pring.
9 Spock & T'Pring Have Long Distance Relationship Problems
Spock and T'Pring only see each other rarely. Spock's choice to devote himself to Starfleet sees him traveling the galaxy aboard the Starship Enterprise. Meanwhile, T'Pring has her own career counseling Vulcan criminals who turned their back on logic. The long-distance relationship is challenging for both Vulcans, although it seems to be more of a burden for T'Pring than Spock. T'Pring accepts Spock's prioritizing his Starfleet career and the Enterprise, but not being together for months at a time will eventually become years and will take its toll on Spock and T'Pring's relationship.
8 Spock & T'Pring's Friendship With Captain Pike
A fascinating wrinkle Strange New Worlds introduced is that T'Pring is close friends with Spock's commanding officer, Captain Pike. In fact, T'Pring is on a first-name basis with Pike and calls him "Chris," something Spock does not often do out of deference to Pike's rank. The closeness between Spock and T'Pring makes it even more curious that in later years, Spock's best friend, Captain Kirk, had no idea T'Pring existed. However, Pike is also doomed to be horribly disfigured in an accident, and perhaps the loss of Spock and T'Pring's mutual friend will negatively impact their own relationship.
7 T'Pring's Job Brings Her Closer To Stonn
Strange New Worlds not only established that T'Pring is a rehabilitation specialist at the Ankeshtan K'til Vulcan criminal rehabilitation center, but her colleague is Stonn (Roderick McNeill), who would become her future paramour. The fact that T'Pring works alongside Stonn in a high-pressure and dangerous environment while her fiancé, Spock, is light years away for months at a time, is a clear setup for why T'Pring chooses Stonn to be her future husband instead of Spock.
6 Sybok Is One Of T'Pring's Prisoners
One of the most shocking Spock and T'Pring-related twists by Strange New Worlds is the revelation that Sybok, Spock's half-brother, is one of the prisoners in the Ankeshtan K'til Vulcan criminal rehabilitation center. The eldest son of Spock's father, Ambassador Sarek (Mark Lenard and James Frain) and a Vulcan princess, Sybok eschewed logic and was considered a Vulcan heretic. Strange New Worlds established that Sybok married a space pirate named Captain Angel (Jesse James Keitel) and he is incarcerated under the pseudonym Xaverius, which Spock deduced. It's unclear whether T'Pring knows Xaverius is Sybok, but this discovery could also negatively impact Spock and T'Pring's relationship.
5 T'Pring's Mother Hates Spock
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2, episode 5, "Charades," introduced T'Pring's parents, T'Pril (Elora Patniak) and Sevet (Michael Benyaer). Further, the domineering T'Pril "hates" Spock, who she considers beneath her daughter because of his 'handicap' of being half-human. The innate racism T'Pril feels towards Spock is very likely a contributing factor to his hesitance to pull the trigger on marrying T'Pring and fulfill the pact made when they were children. It's logical to guess that Spock, deep down, does not want to marry into T'Pring's family and have T'Pril as his mother-in-law.
4 Spock & T'Pring's Engagement Is Partly About Sarek
Spock and T'Pring were bonded as children, and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2, episode 5 reveals that part of that decision involved Ambassador Sarek. Spock's father is a powerful and influential Vulcan leader. T'Pring's father, Sevet, who is evidently a weaker man lorded over by his wife, T'Pril, covets a relationship with Sarek to bind their houses together through marriage. This internal pressure to marry Spock from T'Pring's father will result in Sevet never getting what he wants.
3 T'Pring Feels Spock Doesn't Trust Her
The comedic farce of Strange New Worlds season 2, episode 5, "Charades," saw Spock confess to T'Pring, T'Pril, and Sevet that he had been turned into a human, and he was conducting a ruse by posing as a Vulcan. But while Spock stood up to T'Pring's parents, his actions damaged his own relationship with T'Pring. She saw how Spock involved Captain Pike, several of the USS Enterprise crew, and even Spock's own mother, Amanda Grayson (Mia Kirshner), in his deception but Spock chose to exclude T'Pring. Justifiably hurt, T'Pring logically concluded Spock doesn't trust her, and she decided they should take "a break" from their engagement. This could be one of the biggest contributing factors to why Spock and T'Pring's relationship ended in Star Trek: TOS.
2 Spock Has Romantic Feelings For Nurse Chapel
Nurse Christine Chapel (Majel Barrett) carries an unrequited torch for Spock in Star Trek: The Original Series that the Vulcan its he can't reciprocate. But Strange New Worlds has added new dimensions by clarifying that Spock does have intense romantic feelings toward Nurse Chapel (Jess Bush). When Spock lost his Vulcan control over his emotions in Strange New Worlds season 1, episode 9, he became conflicted by the onslaught of feelings he has for Christine. It's logical to suggest that Spock actually feels a ion for Chapel that he does not for T'Pring.
1 Spock & Nurse Chapel Kissed
Nurse Christine Chapel did everything she could to restore Spock to his proper half-Vulcan and half-human state in season 2, episode 5, "Charades." But in the end, despite being Vulcan once more, Spock decided not to suppress his feelings for Christine any longer. Their ionate kiss (and possibly more) essentially means they will see if a romance between them can work in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. At this point, T'Pring doesn't know about Spock and Chapel (but she suspects it). If T'Pring does find out, it becomes a big leap forward to ending her relationship with Spock for good in Star Trek: The Original Series.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2 streams Thursdays on Paramount+.