2.1 — “Amok Time”
Plot: Spock is behaving strangely. He demands to be taken to the planet Vulcan for shore leave, for a meeting with… his wife? There he must begin the Pon-Farr mating ritual, or die from the hormones raging in his blood. Kirk and McCoy are his attendants, during the original series’ only visit to Vulcan.
Thoughts: Man, it’s great to get back to Star Trek. Changes in the new season: the incidental music is heavier and more complex, the opening theme is modified, Ensign Chekhov has joined the bridge, there’s a collection of skulls in McCoy’s office(!), and Shatner’s hair is longer. Not to worry, however–the skirts are the same length.
Why is Kirk is climbing a ladder at the beginning of the teaser? Sure it’s visually interesting, but is the lift broken? Is this the equivalent of taking the stairs?
In second season we know these characters so well that a threat to Spock is just as dramatic a opening, or more dramatic, than a threat to the ship, the typical start to first season episodes.
Someone decided to revive Nurse Chapel’s crush on Spock, last heard of in 1.4 — “The Naked Time.” Chapel only appeared in three first season episodes. The crush makes her a surrogate for all the women (and men?) across America who had developed similar crushes in 1967. I like the scene where Spock shows compassion for her by asking for more of the soup. I’m not sure if it was logical, but it was kind.
Spock is damnably prideful, for a man with no emotion. The secret to the character, of course, is that he’s always the most passionate person on board, and Nimoy does a great job at letting this peek through. Is that a knife he’s holding behind his back when he asks the Captain to divert to Vulcan? What is he planning to do with it?
Sulu and Chekhov together are funny. Giving Sulu someone we recognize that he can talk to (and comment on the action with) is a great idea.
During the elevator scene, where Spock asks Kirk and McCoy to beam down to Vulcan with him, I teared up.
Kirk comes off as a bit douchey in this episode–cocky to the point of recklessness. First he changes the course of the ship repeatedly, then agrees to participate in the combat. Reckless or not, Shatner is very precise about showing us Kirk’s emotional reactions and his relationships with the other characters. He does not get enough credit for the high level of acting he brings to this show.
Overall, a blockbuster episode which changes the way we think about Vulcans, and about the Kirk, Spock & McCoy three-way relationship, forever. We have the first Vulcan salute and “Live long and prosper.” Spock’s moment of joy that escapes when he sees Kirk alive at the end is imprinted in my memory like Sulu brandishing his rapier–one of a select few indelible images from TOS that effortlessly survives the 25-30 year gap from when I last might have seen the episode. If “Amok Time” is to be the standard for Trek in its second season, bring it on.
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