The recently released clip from Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ upcoming third season shows Lt. Spock (Ethan Peck) being reminded yet again that he is not the perfect Vulcan. With a Vulcan father and a human mother, Spock has struggled to reconcile his two identities throughout his Star Trek journey. By the time of Star Trek: The Original Series, Spock (Leonard Nimoy) has chosen to fully embrace his Vulcan side and strives to be the perfect Vulcan. However, as his story progresses throughout the Star Trek films, Spock comes to accept and even celebrate his more human tendencies.

As seen in the above clip, Spock will continue to confront his insecurities about only being half Vulcan in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3. Strange New Worlds has already been exploring this element of Spock, particularly in his romances with his Vulcan fiancée T’Pring (Gia Sandhu) and the very human Nurse Christine Chapel (Jess Bush).

While Spock’s current romantic status remains somewhat complicated, he made the choice to embrace logic in the Strange New Worlds musical episode. But when Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount) and the Enterprise crew members are turned into full-blooded Vulcans, Spock must confront his own perceived inadequacy.

How Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 3 Reminds Spock He’s Not The Best Vulcan

Spock continues to confront his insecurities about not being Vulcan enough.

When Spock is directly confronted with his friends as “perfect” Vulcans, it brings his own status as a half-Vulcan into sharp relief. In the clip above, Captain Pike, Nurse Chapel, Lt. La’an Noonien-Singh (Christina Chong), and Ensign Nyota Uhura (Celia Rose Gooding) all become full-blooded Vulcans. Spock then accompanies them on an away mission, which they complete in record time. Based on the short clip, it appears as though Spock ends up being basically superfluous on the mission, as his Vulcan friends perform even more efficiently.

Spock’s logical Vulcan mind often comes in useful, but he finds he doesn’t have much to do on a Federation landing party full of Vulcans. Spock is clearly annoyed at being called out for being less Vulcan than his friends, a fact that they continuously remind him of.

When it appears as though Pike, Chapel, La’an, and Uhura will be stuck as Vulcans, Spock looks very unnerved by the prospect. While it’s unclear why Pike and his crewmembers were turned into Vulcans, they will surly be returned to normal by the end of the episode. Still, this experience will likely continue to affect Spock moving forward.

Spock Deals With Being Half-Vulcan His Entire Star Trek Life

Spock feels like an outsider among Vulcans and humans.

As soon as Star Trek: The Original Series established Spock as being half Vulcan and half human, this became a defining trait of his personality. Because he chose to join Starfleet rather than attend the Vulcan Science Academy, Spock remains estranged from his Vulcan father, Sarek (Mark Lenard, James Frain), for years, which certainly didn’t help his struggle to feel Vulcan enough. Spock’s human mother, Amanda (Jane Wyatt, Mia Kirshner), encouraged him to be himself, but he continued to resist his most human emotions and impulses for much of his life.

Sometime after TOS, Spock began the Vulcan ritual of Kolinahr to purge his remaining emotions, but the process was interrupted thanks to the arrival of V’ger in Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Over the course of the Star Trek feature films, Spock learned to accept both his Vulcan and human sides, finally realizing that he is far more than the sum of his parts. In Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, Spock is still at the very beginning of this life-long journey, and will continue to confront his feelings of insecurity for years to come.