Writer: Theodore Sturgeon
Director: Joseph Pevney
Producer: Gene L. Coon
What can I say about "Amok Time", one of the all time classics of the series? You probably already hear the music in your head.
By the end of the show's first season, it was clear to all that Spock was the most popular character. Nimoy even managed to finangle his way into a raise, although the network had prepared the back-up of recasting the role if they couldn't reach an agreement. The biggest request from the nascent Trek fan community was to see more Vulcans, and to see the planet itself. So this episode was developed to deliver.
Most Trekkies can probably quote the plot chapter and verse. Spock's acting erratic, McCoy examines him and determine he must return to his home planet or he'll die. Spock is tightlipped about why, but it turns out it's the Vulcan mating season. This immensely logical race is driven by a biological urge to return home to mate, and while they'll covered it in rituals and ceremonies, essentially it drives them mad if they don't, and even if they do, it's a time when their logic is overpowered by their baser emotions.
Kirk violates Starfleet orders and diverts the ship to Vulcan, and Spock brings Kirk and McCoy down to the planet to stand with him at the ceremony, as "best men" of sorts. Turns out that Spock was telepathically joined to a girl named T'Pring when they were seven - "less than a marriage, more than a betrothal," - and thus this is the woman he must join with. The three men beam down to a spot seemingly in the middle of the Vulcan desert, a ceremonial place that has been in Spock's family for centuries. The wedding officiant is T'Pau, a renowned Vulcan personage who even Kirk has heard of, cementing the idea that his family is important. Curiously absent are Spock's parents, established as an ambassador and a teacher, but hey with all the guest stars and sets and make-up, this episode is expensive enough as it is.
The twist is, T'Pring invokes an ancient Vulcan law whereby Spock must fight a challenger of her choice to win her hand. There's an obvious challenger, Stonn, a guy who's come to the "wedding" even when Spock's parents didn't, but instead she chooses Kirk. Spock's in a "blood fever" by this point, driven by instinct, so Kirk thinks he can take him -- knock him out, honor is satisfied. It's only after he agrees that T'Pau reveals it's to the death. And Spock may be in a fever, but Vulcan's are stronger than humans, and this is their home planet - the air is too thin and hot for Kirk, to whom McCoy administers a shot to compensate.
And then it's the fight, friend against friend, dun dun da da, da da, da dun dun da da! Spock appears to kill Kirk. Afterwards, he comes out of the fever, and T'Pring explains herself -- she wants Stonn, not Spock, as Spock is too renowned among Vulcans. If Kirk had won, she could have Stonn. If Spock had won, he would reject her for invoking this challenge, and she would have Stonn. And if he didn't reject her, she'd get his name and property and then he'd be off again to his Starfleet duties... and Stonn would still be there. Spock lets him have her, but delivers the smackdown with this wonderful line - "After a time, you may find that having is not so pleasing a thing as wanting. It is not logical, but it is often true."
Some fans were disappointed with this episode because all we see of Vulcan is this ceremonial area in the desert. They wanted to see the cities, the people, a real alien world of the future! The fact is, season two's budget had been slashed from season one, and it's likely such a thing wasn't really possible. But what we get is great -- from the various unique costumes for the Vulcans, the nature of the Vulcans we do meet, it's all a "fascinating" insight into the culture and people, showing us shades of variation from Spock. And of course, we get "live long and prosper" and the Vulcan salute, that curious hand gesture by which all Trekkies know each other, and which Leonard Nimoy perhaps blasphemously stole from a secret Jewish ritual wherein the hand gesture invokes the name of God - or at least the hand sign forms a Hebrew letter which stands for a word which stands for the name of God. Jews have a whole system of ways to talk about God without actually saying His name.
Once Kirk is dead, T'Pau bids Spock to "live long and prosper." Spock says he will do neither, having killed his captain and his friend. So upon returning to the ship, it turns out Kirk isn't actually dead -- McCoy having granted that old pulp adventure standby of simulated death with his shot he administered earlier. Spock practically jumps for joy in an unforgettable outpouring of emotion from him.
"Amok Time" relies on a few old fashioned sci-fi standbys, a contrived melee fight to the death being the most standard among them, but it's importance to the overall series lies in its enriching of the character relationships between the Main Trio, the establishment of a cultural identity for the Vulcan people, and of course in giving us two amazing pieces of recurring music. I know everyone loves the fight music, but I for one will always love that amazing mysterious sounding bass line used from here on as "Spock's Theme."
Rating: 4 out of 4
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