Why Star Trek's Lt. Saavik Underwent Major Changes After Kirstie Alley Left The Role

In "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan," we meet a young Kirstie Alley as a new Vulcan character named Lt. Saavik — and the role changed the actor's career. She's a fresh-face aboard the Enterprise, a far cry from the older, wiser, and much more experienced Vulcan science officer Mr. Spock (Leonard Nimoy). She had a special kinship with Spock in the film, owed to their common heritage, and the story seemed to be setting up a mentor/protege relationship. Unfortunately, Alley was replaced after negotiations fell through for the sequel, and subsequently, the character underwent major changes. Saavik became even more stoic and logical.

"Star Trek III: The Search for Spock" saw actress Robin Curtis step into the role of Saavik, and according to Curtis, it was Nimoy who suggested that Saavik lose what little emotion she'd displayed in the previous film. Nimoy, of course, was more than just the actor who played the first and definitive Vulcan in "Star Trek" — he was also the director on "Search for Spock." So Curtis wasn't about to doubt the actor's instructions.

"I admit it was very much direction," Curtis said in an appearance on The Sci-Fi Diner podcast. "Who was I to go into the franchise and go, 'Well, you know, this is what I think a Vulcan woman would do and say.' I shook Mr. Nimoy's hand the first day of work, and said, 'You seem to think I know what I'm doing, but I really don't.' And he said, 'Robin, I'll take you every step of the way.'"

Lt. Saavik had a key role in "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan," but perhaps an even bigger part to play in the sequel, "Star Trek III: The Search for Spock." In that film, the body of Mr. Spock is found reborn on the Genesis Planet — as a baby, in fact — and it's Lt. Saavik who suddenly finds herself playing the role of mother. But as Spock begins to rapidly age, becoming a child, then a teen (Carl Steven), and eventually the adult Spock we all know, Saavik is more than a mother. Because when Spock reaches the age of maturity, he enters the life-or-death Vulcan mating cycle called Pon-Farr, and Saavik becomes his mate to ensure his survival. Unfortunately, plans for Saavik's. future became a storyline that disappeared without explanation.

As Robin Curtis told Star Trek.com in a 2012 interview, the plan was to have Saavik return, pregnant with Spock's child. But when the time came to sign her deal for a role in the fourth film, Curtis says that she suddenly realized there would be no continued story for her. "That was just such a weird left curve, to be honest. ... [the studio] kept putting us off. That, of course, raised a flag." Curtis says that the lateness of their offer suggested that, perhaps, they were changing the plan for her character. And she was right, as the character only wound up appearing in a glorified cameo. "Lo and behold, all this hope that there might be greater involvement for the character turned into those few lines."