Leonard Nimoy Killed Spock’s Baby And It’s 100% The Right Call
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home will forever be known as “the one with the whales.” But believe it or not, it was almost “the one with Spock’s Baby mama.” Yup. If not for Leonard Nimoy nixing the subplot at the last minute, Star Trek IV would have featured Spock and Saavik’s illegitimate love child.
Star Trek III’s Ick Factor
Baby Spock’s genesis—pun intended—was the result of a questionable scene from Star Trek III that everyone seems to gloss over. In the movie, a reborn Spock reaches puberty and starts to experience Pon Farr—the Vulcan version of a cat going into heat. For Vulcans, this biological imperative to mate can be deadly if not taken care of … which is where Saavik comes in.
Saavik—old Spock’s Starfleet protege—has intercourse with 17-year-old young Spock to keep him from dying. If that’s not icky enough, she’s essentially making love to a body without a consciousness. If that’s still not icky enough, this intimate act between a 20-something and a lobotomized teenager was initially supposed to result in Saavik being pregnant with Spock’s baby.
Leonard Nimoy Was Uncomfortable With The Subplot
Given the circumstances, Saavik’s actions are understandable and even defendable. But bringing a baby into it is just weird. Apparently, Leonard Nimoy agreed, which is why Baby Spock was cut from Star Trek IV.
The original idea was for Saavik to take maternity leave on Vulcan, which explains why she doesn’t accompany the Enterprise crew on their time-travel adventure. Instead, Leonard Nimoy, who, according to Star Trek IV producer Harve Bennett, “was always very uncomfortable,” with the Spock baby subplot, had it changed to Saavik arbitrarily staying on Vulcan “just because.”
Removed From Star Trek IV
Nimoy’s role as the director of Star Trek IV gave him the clout to demand that the Spock baby drama be excised from the final film. While that may have been the right call, it unfortunately came at the expense of Saavik’s continued role in the franchise.
Saavik actor Robin Curtis claims that due to the baby Spock subplot, she was contracted to appear in “the fourth, the fifth, and the sixth” Star Trek films. Unfortunately, her contract had “a time-frame on it.” The actress claims the execs at Paramount waited until the contract expired before informing her that she would be coming back for a cameo in Star Trek IV, and nothing else.
Too Many “What Ifs” To Consider
Had things turned out differently, it’s unknown what direction Spock’s story would have taken. Would Spock have treated the baby as coldly as his own father, or would his human side prevail? Would he even accept the child since, technically, he wasn’t in his right mind when it was conceived?
At Least We Still Got “Row, Row, Row Your Boat”
All of these questions point toward Nimoy making the right decision. After all, there must be a reason why every other Star Trek writer also decided to keep Spock childless. Still, a scene of Spock trying to change a baby’s diaper would be comic gold.
Just imagine Spock asking, “Why would it wait until I have removed the absorbent garment to relieve itself? Peeing outside of the diaper is highly illogical.”
Oh well. At least we got something almost as funny with Spock singing “Row, Row, Row Your Boat” in Star Trek V.
