I was hoping that you would cover some of Spock's recent evolution in the films.

After attempting to purge his emotions in ST:TMP, hi meld with the machine intellect that is V'ger demonstrates to him the value of feelings.

It is then a far mellower Spock we meet in ST:TWOK. He empathizes with Kirk's feelings of being put out to pasture and defers command to him. He jokes much more openly with McCoy.

After the momentary amnesia he experiences in ST:TSFS and ST:TVH, Spock regains his footing in ST:TFF, continuing an emotional evolution. This is most apparent in his willingness to embrace the camping experience with his friends, roasting "marsh melons" and singing "Row Your Boat" with little to no embarassment (can't say the same for fans).

In ST:TUC he has finally achieved a Zen-like tranquility, slipping in and out of his human and Vulcan personas with equal expertise. He allows himself to show anger when slapping the phaser out of Valeris, his protege, after discovering her betrayal. And he also concedes that Starfleet should "Go to hell..." after they decide to mothball the Enterprise and its crew which, yet again, saved the galaxy from interstellar war.

These acting choices by Nimoy were all conscious, as he admits in a recent interview at Trekmovie.com, where he speaks of the performance and character continuing to evolve in the new film.

Totally brilliant.

This ROCKS.

Colin Powell is Spockish in his soldierly cool masking streaks of mischief and hostility. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsN61h6iVwo

Matt, this lovely essay gets at the heart of the original series' appeal and longevity: Like the original Star Wars trilogy, the mythic elements and sci-fi fetishism fall second to the characters and their simple, universal struggles. We can laugh at the papier mache rocks and tribbles and a thousand other camp targets, but the psychological suspense of the Spock/Kirk/McCoy friendship remains solid. It's really what fans fear losing in a re-imagined, reloaded version.

I like that you carefully tune out ancillary media/marketing/cultural noise (while helpfully identifying it) to get at what's substantial in a pop product like Star Trek. I'm not too surprised that the substance is mostly in what the actors create with their characters over time. You'll find in a lot of hidden riches like that in 60's television (which, imo, whips contemporary Ho'wood's butt).

Thanks a lot for this really rich and rewarding work. It's been added to a list of scholarly but entertaining Star Trek Studies Online at Film Studies For Free