Warning: SPOILERS for Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 4, Episode 3 – “In The Cradle of Vexilon”
Star Trek: Lower Decks‘ Lieutenant Brad Boimler (Jack Quaid) has a rapport with Lieutenant T’Lyn (Gabrielle Ruiz) that is pleasingly reminiscent of the classic interplay between Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) and Mr. Spock (Leonard Nimoy) in Star Trek: The Original Series. Boimler and T’Lyn, along with Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome), D’Vana Tendi (Noel Wells), and Sam Rutherford (Eugene Cordero), are newly minted Lieutenants, junior grade, although this still counts them among the Lower Deckers aboard the USS Cerritos.
Kirk and Spock are Star Trek’s defining relationship. The brash and decisive Captain of the USS Enterprise is perfectly balanced by his cool and logical Vulcan Science Officer. Spock and Kirk share a playful banter that is rooted in a deep respect and unbreakable bond of friendship. They both love each other, though Kirk and Spock would be at pains to vocalize it. Spock and Kirk are rounded out by Dr. Leonard McCoy (DeForest Kelley), who also shares an ironclad friendship with both men, and Kirk enjoys being in the middle of Spock’s mechanical logic clashing with Bones’ passionate humanity. When Kirk and Spock are together, along with McCoy, they are simply indomitable.
Boimler & T’Lyn Could Become Star Trek’s New Kirk & Spock
Star Trek: Lower Decks season 4, episode 3, “In the Cradle of Vexilon,” shows sparks of a Kirk and Spock-like potential between Lieutenants Boimler and T’Lyn. Commanding his first Away mission as a Lieutenant, Boimler is charged with leading a group of Ensigns to fix the power relay of Vexilon, the world computer of the artificial megastructure Corazonia. The overly anxious Boimler took on all of the responsibility himself, as T’Lyn observed her colleague’s chaotically neurotic behavior. Watching Boimler flailing as a leader, T’Lyn helpfully kept him on track and reassured him, and their banter evoked Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock’s relationship even though Brad and T’Lyn are far from considering each other friends.
Like Spock, T’Lyn is both frustrated and bemused by her human colleagues on the USS Cerritos, and she dispassionately observes their foibles while keeping the other Lower Deckers at a distance. T’Lyn may be a Vulcan, but it doesn’t mean she doesn’t care about the success of her mission or her coworkers, irritating as they may be. T’Lyn saw that Lt. Boimler clearly needed reassurance to keep him on track. While he isn’t nearly as decisive as Kirk, Boimler shows signs of being a good Captain one day. T’Lyn reminded Bradward that his promotion was deserved, and his work is exemplary, while also pointing out that Boimler’s record correctly evaluated his strengths and weaknesses. Star Trek: Lower Decks shows that there is a potential for a Kirk and Spock-like friendship between T’Lyn and Boimler that the series will hopefully explore.
Why Star Trek Still Needs A New Kirk & Spock
Kirk and Spock’s paradigm is such a core Star Trek relationship that the franchise has attempted to duplicate it on other occasions. Most notably, Star Trek: Enterprise tried to replicate Kirk and Spock with Captain Jonathan Archer (Scott Bakula) and Subcommander T’Pol (Jolene Blalock), with Commander Trip Tucker (Connor Trinneer) in the Dr. McCoy role. Archer and T’Pol started off at odds but slowly gained each other’s respect, and a genuine friendship was forged between them. In truth, T’Lyn and Boimler on Star Trek: Lower Decks could follow the Archer and T’Pol model more closely than Kirk and Spock, who share a solidarity that’s closer to brotherhood.
Star Trek: Lower Decks hinted that Boimler and Mariner have a Kirk and Spock-like friendship as well, and this was directly evoked in Lower Decks season 2, episode 5, “An Embarrassment of Dooplers,” when Beckett and Bradward drank in the same bar Kirk and Spock did. But Mariner and Boimler are bonded by their individual capacity for chaos. T’Lyn is a brilliant addition to Star Trek: Lower Decks because her Vulcan calm counterbalances the Lower Deckers’ manic nature. But if T’Lyn bonds with Boimler, their dynamic could become the 24th century’s version of Kirk and Spock.
Star Trek: Lower Decks season 4 streams Thursdays on Paramount+.
