From Newsgroup: alt.tv.star-trek.tos   
   From Address: ryon@dslnorthwest.net   
   Subject: Re: "Tholian Web" Notes (K/S) [Humor, commentary]   
      
   On Sep 16, 10:51apm, ToolPackinMama  wrote:   
   > Tholian Web Notes   
   > by Laura Goodwin   
   >   
   > This is a great episode for Spock fans, because Spock is the star of the   
   > episode, and at the center of all the action. Even more delightful,   
   > Spock acts like a steely, logical, buttoned-up, _proper_ Vulcan the   
   > whole time.   
   >   
   > This is especially remarkable, since Spock is relentlessly bedeviled by   
   > Dr. McCoy through the whole misadventure. Normally McCoy can get a rise   
   > out of Spock, but NOT TODAY.   
   >   
   > This is not a good episode for McCoy fans. The relationship between   
   > Spock and McCoy is spotlighted, and it clearly is not a happy   
   > relationship. McCoy is nasty, cruel and unsupportive to Spock, pretty   
   > much through the whole thing. His bare-knuckled ugliness is not only   
   > painful to watch, but it's clearly unjustified and utterly   
   > unprofessional, to boot.   
   >   
   > McCoy has never been harder on Spock, but strangely, Spock's never   
   > stayed cooler. This is remarkable, and demands examination.   
   >   
   > As we saw in Journey to Babel and other episodes, Spock is a paradoxical   
   > creature. He's never more logical and relentlessly unemotional than when   
   > he is using his Vulcan mental disciplines to cope with huge emotional   
   > stresses. We've rarely seen Spock so stone-faced and mechanical as we do   
   > in this episode. Anyone who knows Spock well knows that he gets like   
   > that when he's coping with a horrendous emotional blow or strain.   
   >   
   > What blow or strain? Well, what's the whole episode about? Spock and   
   > Kirk are separated. Kirk's life is in danger. Spock risks absolutely   
   > everything, tries absolutely everything, and almost loses everything,   
   > including the crew and ship - because he adamantly refuses to give up on   
   > Jim. Even after he has formally declared Jim to be dead, he refuses to   
   > give up and leave without him. That, my friends, is not logical - and   
   > McCoy tries to draw our attention to the fact that it's not logical,   
   > several times.   
   >   
   > Spock's behaving logically, but he's not motivated by logic. Obviously   
   > he's motivated by love for Jim. His love for Jim, his desire to try   
   > anything, everything, in a wildly improbable attempt to rescue Jim -   
   > even if it costs everything... is nothing new. This insane, obsessive   
   > degree of devotion is a hallmark and linchpin of the Kirk/Spock   
   > relationship.   
   >   
   > There is no heterosexual "romance" for even a second in this episode,   
   > nevertheless it is a fiercely romantic episode. Spock spends the entire   
   > episode obsessing about Jim Kirk: trying to save Jim's life, trying to   
   > be reunited with Jim. Blah, blah, blah alternate universes. Blah, blah,   
   > blah Tholians threaten the ship.   
   >   
   > Boy visits derelict ship with boy, boy and boy are separated by bizarre   
   > circumstances, boy moves heaven and earth to get boy back, even long   
   > after it seems logical to try - that's basically the plot. Boy gets boy   
   > back... that's the happy ending.   
   Okay, before your brain blows a fuse, consider that ^all^ of the core   
   crew are intensely loyal to James kirk and to each other. Scotty,   
   Uhura, Sulu, and chekov risked not only their careers but also their   
   lives in trying to retrieve Spock from the Genesis planet--- they did   
   this on nothing more than a *hunch* that Spock might be brought bac   
   from death in some vague mystical way. And considering that they did   
   this, it's a bit of a miracle that Sulu got to be captain as he (and   
   the others) disobeyed Starfleet orders in a big way.   
   Thos people would have risked their lives for each other because they   
   were mor than friends, they were family. you can't argue this; you see   
   it when McCoy hypoed both Kirk and Spock, to be tortured to a   
   senseless death rather than let spock's prescious mind be destroyed.   
   So don't make out Spock's devotion to Kirk to be any greater than that   
   of McCoy-- or Sulu, or Scotty, Chekov, or Uhura.   
   Ron   
   --- Synchronet 3.15a-Linux NewsLink 1.92-mlp   
    * Origin: http://groups.google.com (1:2320/105.97)   
   --- SBBSecho 2.12-Linux   
    * Origin: telnet & http://cco.ath.cx - Dial-Up: 502-875-8938 (1:2320/105.1)