Warning! The following contains spoilers to Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' Season 2 episode "Charades." Read at your own risk!
Spock and T'Pring are on a break, but if you're a seasoned Star Trek fan who watched the original series, you're likely not too broken up about it. After all, many are aware Spock and T'Pring's relationship permanently falls apart years later, and ends in the discovery of her having an affair along with a duel between Spock and Kirk. As such, longtime fans might have trouble currently sympathizing with T'Pring after she broke up with Spock in the Strange New Worlds' installment "Charades," but actress Gia Sandhu makes a compelling argument for why we should take her side.
CinemaBlend had a chance to speak to Sandhu ahead of the onset of the SAG-AFTRA strike, and once I confirmed she was aware of T'Pring's narrative future in the franchise, I wanted to know if she sympathized with her character. Sandhu didn't hesitate to answer, either, and voiced why she truly felt for her character at the end of the latest episode:
Of course I do. And I'm hoping everyone rallies behind T'Pring as well. I think that the episode so beautifully shows T’Pring’s vulnerability and the fact that she is the one who's kind of being wronged in a way. You could say that she's left in the dark and is the only person who doesn't know what's going on with Spock. And certainly, she has no idea about the relationship between Spock and Chapel evolving. I think it's a position that probably does naturally evoke a lot of sympathy when you're watching it as an audience member.
Gia Sandhu brought up a great point as something to consider for those with a hardened heart toward T'Pring in this storyline. Sure, we saw T'Pring's future lover Stonn briefly alongside her in Season 1, but there was no evidence that anything inappropriate was taking place between them just yet. On the flip side, we've seen plenty of evidence that Spock is carrying on an inappropriate relationship with Nurse Chapel, with the latest passionate kiss they shared being something I'm sure she wouldn't permit.
In short, Spock's romanticized behavior with Chapel seems pretty shady for someone supposedly in a committed relationship. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds fans might not immediately frame it as such because of the character's legacy, but it's looking more like T'Pring's later actions may have been sparked by Spock's own. Gia Sandhu talked about the Vulcan's dilemma and how the series has introduced more of a gray area between who's truly in the wrong in this storyline:
Spock is the hero of the show, but he doesn't come without his faults. I think that this is an interesting dilemma for his character to be in where he obviously has a lot of integrity and he has extreme dedication to his work and anything that he chooses to do. But this love life of his, he just can't seem to figure out. So I think it makes for a little bit more complexity to play and I certainly love seeing the evolution of this, and I love that there isn't a clear-cut answer. There's no clear good guy or bad guy. And I think maybe there was a little bit more of that when we watched 'Amok Time.'
It was easy to present T'Pring and Stonn in a villainous light in Star Trek's "Amok Time," but Strange New Worlds has made the situation far more complicated than an arranged marriage and forbidden romance. We're seeing some clear signs that these two aren't meant for each other, but the blame for that is not squarely on T'Pring's shoulders.
As viewers finish "Charades" and binge new episodes of Season 2 with their Paramount+ subscription, they might wonder what it is that keeps causing strife between T'Pring and Spock. I asked Gia Sandhu her thoughts on what Spock misunderstood about T'Pring, and got some helpful insight that seems totally obvious once it's said aloud.
I think it might be less about misunderstanding than it is about oversight. I think that he probably isn't looking deeply enough at how much dedication she has shown to this relationship and how badly she really wants this to work. I think, despite his best efforts, he probably has a little bit of a blind spot because he's figuring out so much about himself, especially the conflict between his human side and his Vulcan side.
Spock's major failure in "Charades," above all else, is assuming that he couldn't trust T'Pring with the secret he had become human. The fact that Spock was so assured she'd reject him and the circumstances hurt her above all else and ultimately led to their break.
Now Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is putting its sights on a new relationship between Spock and Nurse Chapel, which was somewhat alluded to in the original series. It seems the series will more fully develop Chapel's future unrequited love for Spock and maybe depict why their relationship grew colder in later years. Or maybe we're in for more temporal timeline shenanigans in Season 2, and fans will see them get married. To be honest, I think after that last major canon change, we'll actually see Spock and T'Pring back together again before too long.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds airs new episodes on Thursdays on Paramount+. As Spock and T'Pring's relationship is on the rocks, keep an eye on CinemaBlend as we break down where their relationship is headed in upcoming episodes and other major storylines.
