Star Trek’s Vulcans-- and Mr. Spock in particular -- have been a part of the pop-culture landscape for so long that it’s easy to forget what they began as. The sight of their trademark pointed ears, arched eyebrows and bowl cuts immediately lend a specific impression: stoicism, wisdom, perhaps a touch of arrogance, but above all, benevolent logic. It’s a testament to Mr. Spock’s influence because those very same traits were intended to give a much different impression.

Indeed, far from projecting compassion and wisdom, Spock’s initial look caused great hesitancy among executives who thought it was “too infernal.” That was part of Gene Roddenberry’s point, that surface impressions are arbitrary when it comes to people. However, it was lost on the network figures that signed the checks. Time has certainly proven them wrong, but Roddenberry didn’t have to wait: an episode of The Original Series poked sly fun at their concerns.

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Mr. Spock was famously the only nonhuman crewmember of the original Enterprise. The rest were intended to be “a United Nations of humanity,” as Roddenberry put it in his original pitch. The intention was to demonstrate how much a unified humanity could do when it set aside its difference. Spock was the crowning touch: an overtly inhuman character and yet no less invaluable than the rest of the crew.

According to The Making of Star Trek, that played a huge role in how Spock would be depicted. Roddenberry described him with “a face so heavy-lidded and satanic you might almost expect him to have a forked tail.” The TV special Leonard Nimoy: Star Trek Memories mentions how hard the studio fought to get rid of the character. They felt his satanic image would give the wrong impression for the new show. Roddenberry fought for Spock and won. The rest became television history.

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Star Trek Apple Kirk Spock McCoy

The show took its revenge on the board room's cold feet with Season 2, Episode 5, “The Apple.” The plot entails an idyllic planet holding untold dangers, populated by a species of child-like inhabitants who never age or bear children. The away team becomes trapped and massive energies buffet the ship, caused by a machine called Vaal that the inhabitants worship as a god. Kirk resolves the issue by destroying Vaal: a clear violation of the Prime Directive that he justifies by pointing out how stagnant the planet’s society has become.

The dig comes at the end, as Kirk, Spock and McCoy reflect on what took place. Spock compares Kirk’s action to that of Satan in Paradise Lost: driving the people of Vaal out of Eden. Kirk, with a twinkle in his eye, asks if anyone else on board might fit that description. Spock, irritated by the implication, says no. Besides the nod to Spock’s Devil-inspired features, the joke is a subtle reference to the Vulcan’s intellect and knowledge. Satan destroyed Paradise by introducing knowledge to Adam and Even -- symbolized by the apple they both ate -- which matches Kirk’s action of forcing the people of Vaal to start fending for themselves.

Naturally, no one in the cast or crew knew that the series would become so successful. The joke has lived on while the creative waffling that prompted it has long been forgotten. The satanic reference is evergreen, and the franchise wasn’t afraid to return to it. Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country gives Spock a similar reference to Paradise LostThe character never quite shook the reference, no matter how much larger his more benevolent qualities loomed.

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