The best of Leonard Nimoy

A couple of days ago, the worlds of science fiction and pop culture lost one of its greatest characters and most talented actors.

When Star Trek premiered in 1966, it broke new ground in that it had an African American and an Asian American in its cast. Another character was Mr. Spock, a half-human, half-alien hybrid with pointy ears, who suppresses his emotions. I give Gene Roddenberry credit for coming up with these ideas. Many actors would have just recited the lines in a flat, emotionless voice, resulting in a one-dimensional character (like Tuvok on Voyager). However, Nimoy was able to give some subtle hints of emotion such as the raising of the eyebrows, and how he said "fascinating" in a semi-interested voice. Also, his friendships that developed with Kirk and McCoy, and their frequent debates about logic vs. humanity are some of the elements that made the original series great. Spock quickly became the most popular character on the series.

Star Trek is now a franchise that spawned four additional television series (of varying quality) and 12 movies (again, of varying quality), with a 13th movie due to come out in 2016 in time for the 50th anniversary of the franchise, not to mention video games, books, countless conventions, a now-closed theme park attraction, and enough fan fiction to provide a lifetime of reading material (mostly consisting of characters engaged in coitus with each other). Someone even wrote the Bible in Klingon.

Anyway, my point is, without Spock, there would be no franchise. He made the original series the phenomenon that it was, and the movies would not have been complete without him. One critic said that when it comes to all the characters in the entire franchise, he is "at the head of the table." Shatner, being the pompous ass that he is, may argue otherwise, and, I can't deny that Kirk's "Horatio Hornblower" style of command was another key element of the series, but Spock made the Star Trek the science fiction juggernaut that it is today.

Here are what I think are a few of Nimoy's greatest moments as an actor, mostly as Spock. I am told he had a great part on "Fringe," but I haven't had a chance to watch that show.  All five Star Trek TV series and some of the movies can be found on Netflix. Watch and enjoy!

Spoiler alerts!

"The Galileo Seven" (the original series, Season 1, Episode 16): Notable because it is Spock's first experience as a commanding officer. Spock and six of his fellow crewmen are sent to investigate some type of space anomaly. They end up crash landing on a nearby planet, and Spock, uses logic rather than emotion, to try to get him and his crew off the planet. A good, action-oriented episode with valid arguments from not only Spock but also some of the crew who disagree with him.

"This Side of Paradise" (TOS season 1, episode 24): Spock and the crew are on a planet in which plant spores induce feelings of euphoria, and Spock is able to experience a full range of emotions, from falling madly in love to nearly smashing Kirk with a table. Sadly, Spock acknowledges this was the first time he had ever been happy.

"Amok Time" (TOS season 2, episode 1): Here we get our first look at Spock's home planet of Vulcan. Spock is basically in heat, and he will die of horomone overload if he doesn't get back to Vulcan to mate. We meet Spock's "wife" through an arranged marriage, and Kirk ends up as her "champion" and is forced to fight Spock. Spock apparently strangles Kirk to death, but McCoy actually sedated him before the fight, so he was unconscious, not dead. Spock's reaction when he finds out his commanding officer and friend isn't dead is priceless. A campy episode overall, particularly during the fight between Spock and Kirk (which was gamely parodied in the vastly underrated movie "The Cable Guy), but we get to learn a lot about Vulcans and their rituals, giving us a bit of background into Spock's mysterious character.

"Mirror, Mirror" (TOS season 2, episode 4): My personal favorite TOS episode. A transporter snafu lands Kirk, McCoy, Scotty and Uhura in a mirror universe and the first thing they see is Spock with a goatee! In this barbaric mirror universe, crew members kill their superiors to get promoted. Mirror Spock is the highlight of this episode. Even though he is as ruthless as many of his crewmates, he still has the even temper and logical thought process that Spock is known for. Kirk uses logic to convince Mirror Spock to change things before returning to where he came from. In Deep Space Nine, characters return to the Mirror Universe several times, where we do find out that Spock was able to change some things and attempted to bring some peace to the mirror universe.

"Spock's Brain" (Season 3, episode 1): Spock's brain is stolen, and is used as a "controller" for the functions (heat, air, water, etc.) of a civilization on a nearby planet. Writer Gene Coon (using a pseudonym in this episode's credits) must have lost his brain when he wrote this episode, because it is truly awful. I include it here solely for camp value. It is so bad, it's fun to watch, kind of like "Plan 9 from Outer Space."

"Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan:" Easily the best of the Star Trek movies with a great story and a legendary villain. At the end of the movie, Spock makes the ultimate sacrifice to save the ship, because "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few... or the one." I know he comes back, but watching the ending scenes of Star Trek II still makes me choke up.

"Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home:" A very popular movie that Trekkers and nonfans alike were able to enjoy. The crew time travels back to the '80s to bring a pair of humpback whales back to the future to save the world. Many fish-out-of-water gags and comic hijinks ensue. Spock is especially funny here. The scene where he mind melds with the whale is unexpected and a good laugh, and he never can get the hang of those "colorful metaphors."

"Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country:" The chancellor of the Klingon high council is assassinated, and Kirk and McCoy are unjustly locked up for the crime. It is up to Spock, functioning as a 23rd century Sherlock Holmes, to spring his two shipmates, and find out who committed the crime. Nimoy co-wrote the story that is an historical allegory to the fall of the Soviet Union.

"Marge vs. The Monorail" (The Simpsons season 4, episode 12): One of the best episodes in The Simpsons 40 or so season run, in which, in a perfect send-up of The Music Man, a con man (played by the late, great Phil Hartman) sells a defective monorail to Springfield. Nimoy, as himself, appears as himself in a star-studded maiden voyage for the monorail. After Nimoy's speech in which he said that the monorail looked like it could do Warp 5, Mayor Quimby says "May the force be with you." Nimoy responds "Do you even know who I am?" And Quimby says "Weren't you one of the Little Rascals?" He then later said his work was done and transported away.

"Star Trek" (2009 movie): Nimoy is the only cast member asked to return, and he has a small but memorable part in this reboot of the franchise. He provides some great advice to a younger Spock and Kirk, and gives a needed connection to the original cast and series. Unlike Kirk's presence in "Generations," this appearance did not seem forced or contrived. I loved the short dialogue between the two Spocks that serves as a baton passing of sorts. Zachary Quinto, by the way, is doing a great job as a younger Spock, considering the size of the shoes he has to fill. Nimoy and Quinto became very close friends after this movie.

"The Transporter Malfunction" (The Big Bang Theory season 5, episode 20): Nimoy provides the voice of a vintage Spock action figure. Sheldon breaks Leonard's extremely rare Mego transporter toy, and Sheldon is ready to lie to Leonard about it, because he thinks it is in mint condition and never taken out of the box. The Spock action figure talks to Sheldon in a dream telling him to tell Leonard the truth. He is then attacked by a Gorn before he wakes up. Overall a great episode.