Star Trek: The Original Series — 2x01 — Amok Time
Synopsis
Spock undergoes the Vulcan mating ceremony.
Filler rating: not filler
Aside from being one of Star Trek's most famous episodes, this episode also contains a great deal of crucial exposition about Vulcans and is Chekov's first episode.
Remarkable scenes
- McCoy describing Spock's behavior to Kirk.
- Spock freaking out at Nurse Chapel.
- Sulu and Chekov discussing the abrupt course changes.
- Spock: "How do Vulcans choose their mates? Have you ever wondered?" Kirk: "I guess the rest of us just assumed it was done... quite logically!"
- Spock bashing his computer monitor. The effect was cheap and cheezy, but hilarious nevertheless.
- Kirk and McCoy expressing awe over the fact that Spock knows T'Pau, a revered Vulcan celebrity.
- Kirk and Spock fighting.
- Spock "killing" Kirk.
- T'Pring explaining her motives for the death match.
- Spock to T'Pring's new husband: "She is yours. After a time you may find that having is not so pleasing a thing, after all, as wanting. It is not logical, but it is often true."
- Spock and T'Pau to each other: "Live long and prosper."
- Spock's reaction to seeing Kirk alive and well. Gotta love Spock's brief smile.
Review
This episode skillfully dramatizes the secret mating ritual of the Vulcan people. Known as the pon farr, it is a time honored tradition that the Vulcan people seem to pour their entire emotional core into; the one exception to their rigid culture of emotional purging. Since Spock is half human, his emotional control has always been somewhat weaker than the average Vulcan and Spock had hoped in vain that his unusual ancestry would spare him the full effect of the pon farr. Like clockwork, Spock's marriage to T'Pring, arranged at childhood and consummated with a mind meld, reasserted itself at a most inconvenient time, causing Spock to experience the "blood fever." It is stated in this episode that had he not returned home to participate in the ceremony with T'Pring, the emotional trauma could have actually killed him. All of that exposition and so much more coalesces into what is easily the most nuanced and interesting depiction of an alien culture on Star Trek so far. Combined with great writing, good plotting, and even an excellent score, this episode is strikingly original.
Only minor blemishes diminish the storytelling. For instance, when Kirk spoke with Starfleet Command, he failed to mention that Spock's life was in danger. Although the conversation was cut short by the terse commodore, it still seems like Kirk should have mentioned that. The next most annoying detail was the unusual speech patterns of T'Pau. All of that "if thee this" and "thyself that" was pretty awkward stuff to listen to; definitely not the best aesthetic choice. Although I will confess to greatly enjoying her line questioning Spock "art thee Vulcan or art thee human" in spite of the old timey vocabulary. The ceremony itself slowed down the pace of the plot considerably and the episode probably could have benefited from being five or ten minutes shorter in general, but overall the episode was way above average. Everything from the smart inclusion of a Nurse Chapel subplot dealing with her unrequited love for Spock to T'Pring's chillingly logical explanation of her scheming to Spock was excellent drama.