✨Molly Pond✨

When Bones accidentally injects himself with Cordrazine after just having resuscitated Sulu and collapses in City on The Edge of Forever the first thing Sulu does is reach out for him and help him to his knees. He literally has to get picked up and pulled away by a crew mate and the yeoman because he’s still confused (and presumably weak from his heart almost frjucking stopping) so that Jim & Spock can help him.

Helping an unconscious Chekov into a chair after he went ballistic from phase sickness in The Tholian Web. Using his hand to cradle poor Pavel’s head so it isn’t just thunked onto the console and doesn’t move a muscle until two other officers can carry him to sickbay and he just, watches him go and it’s so sweet and sad!

There are people who headcanon that Sulu isn’t a very ~touchy feely~ guy and I just think about these scenes and I’m like...

Holding onto/staying with Joey after he accidentally stabbed himself with Riley went to go get help in The Naked Time.

Reaching out to Ensign Bailey when he accidentally upset him more while he was freaking out on the bridge in The Corbomite Maneuver.

Going back over to Bones’s body to comfort the Yeoman in Shore Leave.

Holding DeSalle back from getting himself hurt in Squire of Gothos.

Helping O’Neil up and trying to keep him calm while they were being pursued by the Lawkeepers in Return of The Archons.

Grabbing onto and staying with Uhura after Nomad wiped her mind in The Changeling.

Yeah, I can go on for...a while about the plots of the first two films. Alrighty then, main crew.

Captain James T. Kirk as played by Chris Pine

Not my Captain.  This Kirk is what parodies have made him out to be. This is somebody who only understood the surface level of Kirk and thought Zap Brannigan was an accurate interpretation. The Captain Kirk I know respects women, listens to his officers, and would literally die for every single member of his crew.  I understand this is a different timeline or whatever, but it’s obvious from the first movie that they’re trying to get everyone back in their original place.  Chris Pine is fine with the character he is given, but it took me seeing him in Wonder Woman to finally understand his appeal.  Do not like.

Spock as played by Zachary Quinto

He did a fine job.  Spock is so prevalent in pop culture that you have to actively try to sabotage his characterization.  Quinto is a fine actor and he got a lot of nuances of Nimoy’s performance down.  I will say I don’t like how emotional he is in the first movie.  I understand he’s going through a hard time and he lost his planet, but even before then the appeal of watching Spock is seeing how his attachment to the Enterprise and it’s crew allows him to be more human.  I would have liked to have seen a clearer difference between the Spock at the start of the first film and the end.  Having him be more detached would do that.  Also, THE SPOCK I KNOW WOULD NEVER DATE A STUDENT, SERIOUSLY WHAT THE FUCK ABRAMS????

Doctor Leonard McCoy as played by Karl Urban

Karl Urban does the greatest job interpreting McCoy and I will take no criticism.  It’s clear from every scene he’s in that he loves McCoy and adores DeForest Kelley.  My number one complaint is there is not nearly enough of him in the first two films.  He finally, finally gets his time to shine in Star Trek: Beyond, and we get to actually see him and Spock work off each other which was always my favorite dynamic in the show.  McCoy is part of the trio for a reason, and it pains me that we didn’t get more of the trio dynamic in the films.  No complaints from me about his interpretation, McCoy is the best in every universe.

Lt. Nyota Uhura as played by Zoe Saldana

Zoe Saldana is so good, I wished Hollywood would give her more to do.  Her Uhura is not as warm as her Original Trilogy counterpart, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.  We can see she’s ambitious and doesn’t take bullshit, which is an interpretation I can vibe with.  Again though, I cannot, for the life of me, figure out why this same ambitious, intelligent young woman would date her teacher.  Serious, WHAT THE FUCK ABRAMS??? They never develop the relationship that far, and it feels almost like an excuse to give her something to do rather than expand on her character or Spock’s. If anything, it undermines both characters and especially Uhura. Basically, I like this interpretation in theory, but in practice it didn’t work until Star Trek: Beyond.

Chief Engineer Montgomery Scott as played by Simon Pegg

I will watch Simon Pegg is basically anything and that is a fact. I like his Scotty and get a lot of enjoyment from him as a character.  My one gripe is he’s a bit too much of a joke. While Scotty was certainly funny in the show, he wasn’t really the butt of the joke.  The joke was more about just how much he loved the Enterprise, and we don’t really see that in the films. I also would have liked to have seen more of his dedication to the crew as a whole. He was one of the most vocally loyal to it and Kirk specifically.  There wasn’t a lot of that in the movies at all, so I can’t put it all on Scotty, but it’s the most pronounced with his character.  Good Simon Pegg performance, not great character interpretation.

Lt. Hikaru Sulu

Love it, no complaints. John Cho fought hard to get this role and his dedication shows.  He’s a bit more straight laced than the show, but that’s not a bad thing.  We still get his love of sword and dry wit, so wins all around.  I would have liked to see more of his plants though, but that may just be me.

Ensign Pavel Chekov

Keiko, in the direction of the window looking out toward the wormhole: Prophets, if you think I'm making lemon bars for the bake sale on Sunday, you better stop killing my plants!

Kira: I'm not sure the Prophets respond to threats and intimidation.

Julian: What happened to my first husband?

Sarek: Holding hands relieves stress and provides comfort to many humans.

Them: Oh, I thought you might have entered a relationship with her or something.

Odo: Isn't that just the wrong way again?