Spock’s 2 Star Trek Heartbreaks Explain Why The Vulcan Never Pursued Love Again

Despite his famously logical exterior, Spock has had several serious romantic relationships across Star Trek canon. In Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, Lieutenant Spock (Ethan Peck) has a short-lived romance with Nurse Christine Chapel (Jess Bush) and Spock's fraught engagement and divorce with T'Pring (Gia Sandhu). In Star Trek: The Original Series, Commander Spock (Leonard Nimoy) rebuffs lingering romantic overtures from Nurse Chapel (Majel Barrett-Roddenberry) and is dumped by T'Pring (Arlene Martel).

Through Strange New Worlds, audiences have a chance to see Spock's relationships with both T'Pring and Nurse Chapel at their most healthy, even if the canon established by Star Trek: The Original Series means that they can only end badly. And indeed, both of Spock's breakups are messy. In fact, it is arguably the pain that Spock experiences after these breakups that leads to him never marrying after T'Pring. After all, other logical Vulcans, like Spock's own father Sarek, marry multiple times. Spock, on the other hand, is a permanent bachelor by the time of Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Nurse Chapel Broke Spock’s Heart In Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ Musical Episode

Their Romance Was Always Doomed By The Original Series

In Star Trek: The Original Series, Commander Spock and Nurse Chapel's relationship is portrayed as largely one-sided. For the most part, Nurse Chapel pines for Spock, who at best suggests in "Amok Time" that they might have had something together under other circumstances. In Strange New Worlds, however, Spock and Nurse Chapel have a strong and supportive friendship that grows, over time, into romance. The budding romantic feelings that Nurse Chapel experiences in "Spock Amok," allow a softer aspect of Spock's character to take center stage.

Spock and Chapel's relationship comes crashing down in Strange New Worlds' musical episode, "Subspace Rhapsody." Nurse Chapel ends her relationship with Spock on her own terms. Whereas in Star Trek: The Original Series Spock rejects Nurse Chapel, in Strange New Worlds, Nurse Chapel takes the reins. Lieutenant Spock is clearly hurt by this rejection, and that pain might go a long way to explaining why, by the time of TOS, he is largely closed off to the possibility of romance.

Related Every Spock Love Interest In Star Trek As one of the most popular characters in the Star Trek franchise, Spock has had many love interests despite being a supposedly unemotional Vulcan.

Unfortunately for Lieutenant Spock, Nurse Chapel's rejections are going to keep coming. The timeline of Strange New Worlds keeps moving closer to Star Trek: The Original Series and Nurse Chapel's engagement with Dr. Roger Korby (Michael Strong). As such, any lingering romantic feelings that Spock might have for Nurse Chapel are doomed by Star Trek canon. After all, by the end of Strange New Worlds season 2, Nurse Chapel is on her way to a fellowship with Dr. Korby. Nurse Chapel and Dr. Korby’s engagement might serve as the ultimate rejection that closes Spock off to romance with humans.

Star Trek: TOS’ “Amok Time” Made Spock Decide To Permanently Remain Single

T'Pring's Rejection Is The Ultimate Rejection For Spock

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Both in Strange New Worlds and in Star Trek: The Original Series, Spock's primary romantic interest is not Nurse Chapel, but T'Pring. Spock and T'Pring bonded in childhood, and, by the time of both Strange New Worlds and TOS, they are engaged. In Strange New Worlds, the couple’s relationship starts healthy but quickly devolves. Central to their conflict is the fact that Spock feels like he is not "Vulcan enough" for T'Pring, whereas T'Pring feels like Spock does not trust her. As with Nurse Chapel, T'Pring rejects Spock in Strange New Worlds season 2, episode 5, "Charades," suggesting that they ought to take time apart.

Spock feels like he is not "Vulcan enough" for T'Pring, whereas T'Pring feels like Spock does not trust her.

Star Trek canon suggest that Spock and T'Pring will reconcile at some point after the end of Strange New Worlds season 2. At the start of Star Trek: The Original Series, the couple are still engaged. Nevertheless, Spock and T'Pring terminate their engagement in "Amok Time," when T'Pring chooses Stonn (Lawrence Montaign) for her mate. Once again, Spock is rejected by the woman he loved. If the pain of Nurse Chapel's rejection in Strange New Worlds closed Spock off from the possibility of romantic love with humans, T'Pring's rejection in TOS was the end of Spock's serious romantic pursuits in Star Trek entirely.