Relationships
Love is a difficult concept for Spock. As a Vulcan, he experiences the pon farr mating ritual, which condenses marriage and sexual release into one short, secret ceremony. But Spock takes no wife during his first pon farr, and as part human, he continues to desire love. Having had no instruction in the subtle art of romance, he prefers women who are direct and self-assured. None of his relationships during the series last, and Spock remains alone for many years. He is said to have married late in life. Here are the women Spock encountered.
Christine Chapel. (Majel Barrett) A nurse aboard the Enterprise, Chapel works at Dr. McCoy's side, and sees the senior staff often. The mysterious and remote Mr. Spock holds romantic appeal for her, though her feelings are not returned. In The Naked Time, under the influence of the virus, she confesses her true feelings to the Vulcan, who explains he can't love her. Christine is persistent however, making him plomeek soup when Spock feels out of sorts in Amok Time. She is violently dismissed, and finally realizes there can be nothing between them. Later on Spock apologizes for his behavior, though not without a seduction attempt (due to his mating cycle) which she rightly ignores. There are a few more moments of tension: Spock and Christine "share one consciousness" in Return to Tomorrow and are telekinetically forced to kiss in Plato's Stepchildren. By the films Christine's "flame" is fully extinguished. Spock's attitude towards her represents his feelings for most women, or lack thereof. His experiences with her set a trend: Spock admits to his feelings and desires under outside influences, like viruses, biological factors, or as we'll soon see, spores.
Leila Kalomi. (Jill Ireland) Spock and Leila, also a scientist, first met on Earth six years before TOS, where she fell madly in love with the unreachable Vulcan. But as with Christine, the feelings were one-way. But in This Side of Paradise they encounter one another again on Omicron Ceti III. Leila is determined to have him stay, and this time, she has help. The planet's native spores free their hosts of inhibitions and provide a sense of peace and belonging, which Spock finds agreeable. Once affected Spock declares, " I love you!" but then revises this: "I can love you!" They kiss, frolic in the woods, and contemplate clouds. As the couple prepares for their new lives, Kirk is determined to win back his mutinous crew, starting with his first officer. He beams the unsuspecting Vulcan aboard the ship, hurls insults, and starts a brawl, negative emotions being the "cure" to the spores. Spock realizes his true place will always be on the Enterprise bridge and parts ways with the teary-eyed but sympathetic Leila. Spock says of the planet only that "for once in my life, I was happy," and this is understandable. Who wouldn't be with an open and understanding woman at one's side?
T'Pring. (Arlene Martel) Spock was telepathically bonded to the Vulcan girl T'Pring at age 7, in what was "less than a marriage, more than a betrothal." They do not see one another again till Spock's first pon farr in Amok Time. Through a complex series of ancient rituals, Spock is forced to fight for his wife in combat, against her "champion," one James T. Kirk. Spock wins, and thinking he has killed his captain, and snaps out of the blood fever. His career apparently finished, his best friend dead, Spock can't stay with T'Pring, but never really desired this. Spock is a little indignant in that she chose the Vulcan Stonn over him, but she claims she doesn't want to be the consort of a living legend. Spock returns to the ship overjoyed to find Kirk alive and well, and the "girl" is just as soon forgotten.
Droxine. (Diana Ewing) The elegant, educated, and naive daughter of Plasus, an official of the sky city of Stratos, Droxine falls for Spock from the moment he beams down in The Cloud Minders. The Vulcan is surprisingly receptive to her flirtations, though the planet's political crisis keeps them apart. During the arrest and torture of a rebel leader, Spock discovers Droxine's simplistic and outdated concepts of class. He realizes she wouldn't fit among his more liberal society, yet continues to speak kindly to her, and is pleased to see her grow more open-minded. She agrees to stay on the planet's surface help establish better relations between workers there and the aristocrats of Stratos. Spock returns to his duties. Her innocence, curiosity, and free spirit no doubt linger in the memory.
Zarabeth. (Mariette Hartley) Sent 5000 years into her planet's past by a tyrannical ruler, Zarabeth has spent years alone in a frozen wasteland, given only the basic necessities of survival. In All Our Yesterdays, companionship arrives in the form of Spock and McCoy, and she is quick to show affection to the Vulcan. Normally it would be uncertain whether he would reciprocate, but time warp strips him of his discipline. The now-passionate Spock responds to her advances, forgetting his duty to find his captain and return to the present. Only McCoy's intervention enables Spock to resume the mission and return to the Enterprise, though not without conflict. McCoy too tries to win over Zarabeth, but as a woman accustomed to independence, she dismisses the gentle, patronizing doctor quickly, preferring the more direct Spock. (In fact, she probably would have tired of "regular" Spock just as quickly.) But Zarabeth is aware of his internal dilemmas and makes every effort to keep her with him: little wonder McCoy considers her manipulative! When the two men finally return to the present - as Zarabeth cannot - Spock takes no comfort that she is safe in past, he says she is "dead and buried," laying his feelings to rest.
As mentioned above, Spock does marry, though nothing is known of this save that it happens before 2368, and that he is alone once more at this date. He also takes two female Vulcan protégés, and his closest companion has been and will always be Jim Kirk.