Saavik and Valeris

Fans of the original Star Trek films will be familiar with the characters of Saavik and Valeris. Like it or not, these two women are inexorably tied together, both because of their Vulcan ethnicity and their role in the films in which they appear.

 

Lieutenant Junior Grade Saavik was introduced in the second Star Trek film, the Wrath of Khan, where she was portrayed by Kristie Alley in her feature film debut. Alley was not the first choice to play the role, Kim Cattrall was, but Cattrall proved to not be available, and thus was recast.  In the movie, Saavik was Spock's protege, and upon the completion of her Kobiyashi Maru test, she tormented herself on why she was unable to pass the test without a destructive outcome. She is shown to be very close with Spock, speaking Vulcan with him and discussing how human Captain Kirk appears to her. In the original script and the novelization of the movie, she is revealed to be half-Vulcan and half-Romulan, which explains her heightened emotional state compared to other Vulcans. However, all mentions of her pedigree were cut from the movie, making their canonical accuracy questionable.

Saavik is depicted as being strong, capable, determined, and loyal; while series regular Nyota Uhura (Nichelle Nichols) was the O strong female character onboard the USS Enterprise, her role was unfortunately limited to intercepting communications; she was never given a chance to truly shine and take control, except for the episode "The Lorelei Signal" in which the men of the Enterprise succumb to a race of beautiful alien women, leaving Uhura and Nurse Christine Chapel (Majel Barrett) to save the day. Saavik was the first strong female character to be on the front line.

At the end of the Wrath of Khan, Spock sacrifices himself to save his beloved crewmates. At this funeral, Saavik is seen with tears in her eyes.  Considering that with the omission of her backstory, thus she is assumed to a full blooded Vulcan, it is surreal to see her shedding a tear for her lost mentor.

 

The Wrath of Khan was followed by the direct sequel, The Search for Spock. While the crew of the Enterprise have returned home, Saavik has stayed behind with Kirk and Carol Marcus' son David to study the Genesis planet. It is there that they detect a life sign and find Spock as a young child. For this outing, Saavik was played by newcomer Robin Curtis. Alley was asked to reprise her role, but given that Saavik had an even larger role in The Search for Spock than she did for the Wrath of Khan, Alley requested more money. Her request was denied and the role was recast. Under the direction of Spock himself, Leonard Nimoy, Robin Curtis's Saavik is a stark contrast to Alley's Saavik. While Kirstie Alley's Saavik had a cold facade, but emotions shone from her eyes, Curtis's Saavik was the Vulcan archetype: cold, logical, and unemotional. 

 

Saavik helps the reborn Spock his pon farr (every seven years, Vulcans go into heat and feel the urge to reproduce) and protects him until the Enterprise crew can reach the Genesis planet and reunite Spock with his katra (spirit or mind essence.)  The plan was to keep Saavik as a part of the Enterprise crew, but fans did not take well to Curtis in the role of Saavik and in the following film, the Voyage Home, Saavik was written out, deciding to stay behind on Vulcan, though it is never specified why. The writers of the film planned for her to be pregnant with Spock's child post pon farr. Since she is never seen or mentioned again in the subsequent films or TV series, this plot line is left dangling.

 Saavik's past is explored in novels such as The Pandora Principle, the Vulcan Heart, and Unspoken Truth -- she was the result of a scientific experiment, the result of forced Vulcan and Romulan copulation. She was raised on an abandoned Romulan colony called Hellguard, where she remained until Spock saved her and took her under his wing. In some novels, such as the Vulcan Soul trilogy, Spock and Saavik are said to be married. 

 During the planning stages of the final original TOS Star Trek film, the Undiscovered Country, Kirstie Alley was asked to reprise her role once again, but she was unable to; Robin Curtis was not asked back. Instead, a new Vulcan female character was created. Kim Cattrall--the original choice for Saavik--was able to appear in this film, and came up with the name Valeris for her character. Up until Saavik and Valeris, all Vulcan females had names beginning with T', The overall plan for Saavik was for the fans to fall in love with her, and in the end, to have her be revealed to be a traitor to the Federation. This idea was eventually scrapped as the writers were reluctant to tarnish a well respected character's name, and the plot was recycled into Valeris.
In the Undiscovered Country, Valeris is Spock's star pupil, serving as a lieutenant aboard the bridge of the Enterprise. She seems to be even closer to Spock than Saavik was, as she visits him in his private chambers and cautions him against trusting the mercurial Klingons in their proposed peace treaty. 

At first, Valeris comes across as highly intelligent, with a strong moral compass, but as the movie progresses, t is revealed that Valeris is the one behind the assassination of the Klingon officials and that she dispenses of the assassins to cover her own trail. She shows no remorse for the deaths that she has caused, firmly believing that what she did was for the best of the Federation. A broken hearted Spock performs a forced mind meld on her (the equivalent of Vulcan mind rape) and learns the identity of her accomplices as well as the location of their next sabotage. In the end, Valeris is branded a traitor and sent to prison. Her past and future is explored in the novel, Cast No Shadow.
I love both characters immensely, and am unable to say which one I like more. I am a huge fan of Kim Cattrall as an actress, and I love how savage Valeris was, but I am also a fan of Kirstie Alley and her portrayal of Saavik. I love nothing more than strong female characters in male dominated universes. Nothing personal against Robin Curtis, but I didn't care for her portrayal of Saavik; Curtis is a great actress, but I suspect that she was pressured to play up the Vulcan side of Saavik, and thus made the character just another cookie cutter Vulcan woman. There was nothing unique about her and she kinda fell by the wayside. It is true that Valeris had some of these lackluster qualities, too, but her slow-burning mental instabilities were bubbling under the surface and her conniving ways were quite a shock to me the first time I saw the movie. Before Valeris, to the best of my knowledge, there had never been an evil Vulcan before. I don't consider Valeris to be evil, misguided, sure, but not evil.  
Part of me would have preferred for the traitor to be Saavik, if for no other reason than the shock value of having an established, beloved character suddenly turn the tables and blow everyone's minds, but then again, I am grateful that her character is left intact and can live on in honor in the books. My greatest wish would be for a cross-over where Saavik and Valeris cross paths and maybe even join forces to save the Federation or something (cue future Star Trek novel written by yours truly.)
Who is your favorite Saavik? Kirstie Alley, or Robin Curtis? Do you prefer Saavik or Valeris? Would you like to see a Saavik/Valeris team up?