Leonard Nimoy's Favorite Star Trek Episode Showed Spock's Hidden Child

Emotional Spock: Why Leonard Nimoy Adored „This Side of Paradise”

Choosing a favorite Star Trek episode is tricky. Human tastes are fickle and change often. Leonard Nimoy played Spock for nearly fifty years. It is impossible to expect one constant answer. However, certain episodes remained favorites. He mentioned them in his 1975 autobiography, „I Am Not Spock.”One such episode is „This Side of Paradise.”D. C. Fontana and Nathan Butler co-wrote it. Fans consider it a top Spock story. The plot takes place on Omicron Ceti III. This colonial planet is home to a plant species. These plants release spores that attach to human hosts. Once attached, hosts feel perfect happiness. They lose all ambition entirely. The story likely references the Lotus Eaters from „The Odyssey.” Spock is one of the affected characters

Spock is one of the affected characters. His stone face cracks. He becomes joyful and expressive. He even revives a romantic relationship. His partner is local botanist Leila Kalomi. Jill Ireland played this role. In I Am Not Spock, Nimoy explained his love for the episode. It showed Spock in a rare mood. He was not cold or logical. He was not sarcastic or fighting emotions. Instead, he was truly carefree.

It is a very special episode for me for obvious reasons and in particular because, while Spock was so adult in his attitudes and reactions in most episodes of the series, this episode offered a chance to expose the complete child in him. I saw him love, picnic, play and literally swing playfully in trees. It was a total exposure of the inner Spock that many people have always suspected existed. Watching This Side of Paradisetoday feels familiar. It resembles the Apple TV series Pluribus. In that show, humanity becomes a happy hive mind. The collective is called The Others. In This Side of Paradise,strong negative emotions destroy the spores. This is also a weakness for The Others. However, there is no identity theft here. The spores let Spock be his inner self.

Compare this to other emotional moments for Spock. In The Naked Time,he cries. He never told his mother he loved her. In Journey to Babel,his mother Amanda speaks. Jane Wyatt played Amanda. She recalls Spock crying as a child. Vulcan children mocked him. Being half-Vulcan, Spock knows he must conform. He follows his people's teachings on logic. When the spores touch him, those anxieties dissolve.

Compare this to other emotional moments

Leila tells Spock he no longer needs to hide. She says he does not need to hide his inner face. Spock replies, I can love you. It feels like he finally allows himself something. He previously denied this feeling.

Nimoy described other Star Trek episodes as favorites too. Devil in the Darkis one example. The Enterprise crew visits a mining colony. They discover a creature killing residents. The culprit is a Horta. It resembles a mound of living lava. The creature is conscious. Spock communicates with it telepathically. He discovers it acted to protect its young. Nimoy praised this episode as a wonderful story about fear. It was also a favorite of William Shatner.

Devil in the Darkand This Side of Paradiseare very different. Yet, both are anchored by Spock. It is no surprise Leonard Nimoy loved them.