Stardate: 3372.7 (2267)
Original Air Date: September 15, 1967
Writer: Theodore Sturgeon
Director: Joseph Pevney
“Live long and prosper.”
In this classic season two opener, Dr. McCoy begins by expressing concerns about Mr. Spock. According to Bones, Spock has been acting strange –“restive,” “nervous,” “irritable,” and he has not been eating food (not to mention the fact that he threatened to strangle Bones). Bones and Kirk catch Nurse Chapel attempting to bring a bowl of Vulcan plomeek soup to Spock in a show of affection (she never stops losing hope…), but when Spock erupts at her in a fit of rage, he immediately requests shore leave on his home planet of Vulcan. However, the Enterprise is already en route to Altair VI for the presidential inauguration ceremony for a new president of Altair VI. The ceremony is important because it will stabilize the whole Altair system, the presence of Starfleet will send an important signal of friendship and unity. Should the Enterprise obey orders and continue to Altair VI, or instead redirect to Vulcan as the ship’s first officer wishes? Regardless of the proper chain of command, Spock apparently redirects the Enterprise to Vulcan anyway. When confronted, Spock continually appears agitated and confused. Kirk orders Spock to sickbay where Bones concludes that Spock must be delivered to Vulcan urgently or else he will succumb to physical and mental pressures and ultimately die (he has perhaps eight days left).
As it turns out, Spock is a facing a “deeply personal” crisis wherein he must return to his home planet for pon farr (Spock pronounces it as “pone-farr”) –the seven-year cycle of the Vulcan mating ritual, which occurs naturally not unlike the rituals of giant eel-birds on Regulus V (once each eleven years they return to the caverns from whence they hatched) or the salmon on planet Earth (who return to the stream from whence they spawned). Once Kirk understands the situation, he orders the Enterprise to once again redirect course toward Vulcan at Warp Eight –notably, this is in direct disobedience of Admiral Komack of Starfleet. Apparently, in this case the needs of the one (Spock) outweigh the needs of the many.
When the Enterprise arrives at Vulcan, the screen is graced by the presence of a beautiful Vulcan woman named T’Pring (pronounced “Tee-Pring,” played by Arlene Martel) –she is actually Spock’s wife by parental arrangement, much to everyone’s surprise (“parted from me and never parted, never and always touching and touched”). Kirk and McCoy join Spock at his request on Vulcan in the center of a ceremonial ring where an ancient “koon-ut-kal-if-fee” ritual unfolds. Kirk notes that the breeze on Vulcan is warm, the sky is red, and the atmosphere is thinner than on Earth. Spock bangs a gong and the mistress of ceremonies arrives. Her name is T’Pau (Celia Lovsky) whom Kirk notes is the only person to ever turn down a seat on the Federation Council. During the course of this ancient ritual (which is filled with the sound of rattling bells), T’Pring decides not to select Spock as her mate because of his celebrity status on Vulcan which sends Spock into the strange state of “blood fever.” Instead she selects Kirk, and it is decided that a fevered Spock must battle Kirk to the death using bladed Lirpa weapons. Despite Spock’s protests, Kirk is compelled to accept the “combat to the death.” As the battle unfolds, McCoy slyly injects with Kirk with a “tri-ox compound” to help him better acclimate to the brutal climate on Vulcan. Shortly thereafter, Kirk is pronounced dead as a result of the battle while Spock and T’Pring decide they do not want one another after all. Spock has become too much of a legendary figure, and as it turns out T’Pring prefers to become the consort of another Vulcan male named Stonn (Lawrence Montaigne). Spock notes that T’Pring is “flawlessly logical.” Before he departs, Spock offers some sage advice to Stonn: “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 returns to the Enterprise, ready to hand himself over the Federation for trial, but as it turns out, earlier during the fight, Bones had merely used a neural-paralyzer, rather than a “tri-ox compound,” in order to merely simulate Kirk’s death on the battlefield. All is returned to normal in the end. T’Pau persuades Starfleet that this diversion to Vulcan was necessary, and the Enterprise speeds away for Altair VI. Curiously, Spock neglects to inform Kirk and Bones that T’Pring had chosen another male Vulcan over himself.
My Thoughts on “Amok Time”
From time to time Star Trek gives viewers the experience of being a futuristic traveler like Herodotus. In the same way that Herodotus traveled widely throughout the ancient world and observed different countries and cultures, in Star Trek we are given the chance to survey a panoply of distinct planetary worlds and cultures while conducting comparative anthropological studies. This episode presents a delightfully intriguing study of the Vulcans. Their cold-eyed logic is contrasted with primal urges to mate and reproduce, and this episode also offers our first glimpse into the elusiveness of ancient Vulcan mysticism and traditions. Vulcan rituals like the pon farr give the impression of being ancient in origin, with allusions to Indian, Mayan, Incan, and other longstanding human practices. And as Spock is drawn back to his home planet, we are reminded of just how distinct Spock is from his fellow crewmen aboard the Enterprise.
Shockingly, for all of his intransigence, Spock is not punished in this episode despite numerous outbursts, especially threatening to break Dr. McCoy’s neck and secretly brandishing a knife during Kirk’s interrogation. Spock’s behavior is reminiscent of his mutiny in the first season two-parter “The Menagerie.” Perhaps he is granted a degree of forgiveness as a result of the many moments he has saved the Enterprise. Still, the chance to see another side of Star Trek’s most popular character is a welcome adventure, as is the tender romance between Spock and Nurse Chapel which was previously glimpsed in “The Naked Time.”
Writer/Director
Director Joseph Pevney (1911-2008) is tied with Marc Daniels for most TOS episodes directed.
Legendary science fiction writer Theodore Sturgeon (1918-1985) also wrote the Star Trek episode “Shore Leave.” “Amok Time” was originally titled “Spock Blows Top” (thankfully the working title was eventually changed) and it was pitched for the first season. NBC was quite adamant about putting it into production as soon as possible, however Mr. Sturgeon was known for his extremely slow writing process and so this episode was temporarily shelved and produced early in the second season.
Star Trek Trivia:
- This is the first episode in which the famous phrase “live long and prosper” is used along with the Vulcan salute. According to Leonard Nimoy, Celia Lovsky had some trouble actually making her fingers form the famous Vulcan salute. Reportedly, William Shatner also struggles to make the Vulcan hand salute.
- This episode established the trend that nearly all female Vulcans have a name beginning with a “T” and apostrophe (in this case T’Pau and T’Pring).
- This is the first episode in which Ensign Chekov appears (wearing a wig as he did in his first few episodes). He also employs his classic mispronunciation of Vulcan as “Wolcan.”
- Majel Barrett reappears as Nurse Chapel again this episode.
- We learn considerable background information on Spock in this episode, namely that his family owns historic quite a bit of land on Vulcan and that he is regarded as a celebrity among Vulcans.
- Lawrence Montaigne, who plays Stonn in this episode, previously appeared as the Romulan Decius in “Balance of Terror.” He was once considered to replace Leonard Nimoy in the role of Spock for a brief time.
- Romulan helmets are reused in this episode from “Balance of Terror” in order to hide the pointed ears and thereby save money.
- This episode was nominated for a Hugo Award in 1968.
- Both Gene Roddenberry and Director Joseph Pevney ranked this episode among the best in the series. In addition, Michael Chabon praised this episode (he grew up watching Star Trek episodes).
- Gerald Fried’s iconic battle song has been parodied many times over in other shows, such as on The Simpsons.
It’s all the more interesting to reflect on Amok Time after the directions that Spock and T’Pring have taken in Strange New Worlds. Thanks for your review and trivia.