getting into character
mission impossible
when it was on
television, still
running new
episodes. i
watched it
mostly for
mister spock.
at six or seven,
i was already a
trekkie. and it
was a very odd
sort of thrill to
watch him play
a human. as
for the show
itself, i don't
remember
much of any-
thing else
about it. i
could never
muster what-
ever it took to
understand the
plot-line of any
episode. it
was too con-
voluted for me
at the time. it
was always so
quiet. as if
nothing ever
happened.
and as if to
make it even
more sleepy,
there was
the awesome
opening sequence,
filled with the
adrenaline-
inducing
theme song,
which, com-
bined with the
long, lit hissing
fuse that was
on-screen,
made me giddy
with urgency
and suspense.
i would be
on my feet,
right in front
of the tv set,
dancing in
five/four
time until
the song
was over.
and then,
after the
first set
of com-
mercials,
that sizzle
fizzled, and
i could never
catch hold of
anything that
was happening,
thanks to a plot
that would seem
to crawl at a
snail's pace
and which
would be
filled with
numerous
long periods
of just plain
silence. and so
it then became,
for me, a
show about
trying to watch
it long enough
to catch leonard
nimoy’s round-
eared human
character.
and when
i did last that
long, i would
always find
myself a bit
let down. on
this totally
different show
(which was de-
cidedly not a star
trek alternate
universe), this
character made
me skeptical
toward spock.
it defied my
tiny-headed
logic. how
could he,
after all,
betray
the crew
of the ent-
erprise by
being on
this sum-
marily mun-
dane show?
how could
he betray
vulcan by
totally de-
nouncing
that half
of his heri-
tage? for
a human
that was
so cruelly
boring?
except for
his laugh,
which would
erupt suddenly,
with some reg-
ularity, and which
would give me
such a case of
the heebiejeebies.
it was so freaky
that it was difficult
for me to watch,
and yet, from
which it was
even more
impossible
to look away.
but,
to this
day, when-
ever i hear
the theme
song?
it gets
me there,
fast and
focused.
