Amok Time

"Amok Time"
Star Trek: The Original Series episode
Spock attacking Kirk with the Lirpa
Episode no.	Season 2 Episode 1
Directed by	Joseph Pevney
Written by	Theodore Sturgeon
Featured music	Gerald Fried
Cinematography by	Jerry Finnerman
Production code	034
Original air date	September 15, 1967 (1967-09-15)
Guest actors
Celia Lovsky - T'Pau Arlene Martel - T'Pring Lawrence Montaigne - Stonn Eddie Paskey - Lt. Leslie William Blackburn - Lt. Hadley Byron Morrow - Admiral Komack Frank da Vinci - Vulcan Ceremonial Aide Walker Edmiston - Vulcan Space Central voice Russ Peek
Episode chronology
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List of Star Trek: The Original Series episodes

"Amok Time" is the second season premiere episode of the original science fiction television series Star Trek. It is episode #30, production #34, first broadcast on September 15, 1967 in the series' new time slot of 8:30 pm on Friday night, and repeated April 26, 1968. This was the first episode to feature regular cast member Walter Koenig, as the ship's navigator, Ensign Pavel Chekov, and also the first one to list DeForest Kelley as Dr. McCoy in the opening credits. It was written by science fiction author Theodore Sturgeon, scored by Gerald Fried, and directed by Joseph Pevney.

The episode features First Officer Spock returning to his homeworld for a brutal Vulcan mating ritual. It is the only episode of the series to depict scenes on the planet Vulcan.

Plot

Spock requests a leave of absence to his home planet of Vulcan after displaying irrational behavior. Captain Kirk, commander of the Federation starship Enterprise and Chief Medical Officer Dr. McCoy witness one of Spock's outbursts, and McCoy agrees Spock needs some "time off". Kirk is baffled by Spock's behavior, but diverts the Enterprise to Vulcan. Soon, however, Kirk receives a priority signal with orders to proceed to Altair VI to represent the Federation at an inauguration ceremony for the planet's new president. Kirk tells Spock his leave will have to be delayed, but Spock secretly has the ship rerouted to Vulcan. Kirk confronts Spock, who says he has no memory of changing the order. Kirk orders him to report to Sickbay. Dr. McCoy discovers Spock's blood chemistry is extremely active and has the presence of unknown hormones. If the condition persists, then Spock will die in eight days. Spock does not wish to discuss what is currently affecting him, but Kirk demands an explanation. Seemingly embarrassed, Spock informs Kirk that his condition is called Pon farr, a syndrome that all Vulcan males painfully endure periodically throughout their adult life. During this time, they must mate or die. He cites precedents in nature, such as Earth salmon, which "must return to that one stream where they were born, to spawn…or die trying."

Kirk contacts Admiral Komack at Starfleet and requests permission to divert to Vulcan. The admiral denies permission, but Kirk ignores the order, arguing there are already two other starships attending the inauguration. The Enterprise arrives at Vulcan, and Spock invites Kirk and Dr. McCoy to accompany him. Spock explains that Vulcans are married as children ("less than marriage, more than a betrothal") with the understanding that they will fulfill this commitment when they become adults. His bride T'Pring, who was betrothed to him at the age of 7 (played by the child Mary Elizabeth Rice in an image on a view-screen Spock crushed), awaits him.

T'Pau, a highly respected member of Vulcan society, best known elsewhere as the only person to ever turn down a seat in the Federation Council, arrives to conduct the ceremony. T'Pring arrives accompanied by Stonn, a pure-blooded Vulcan, who is obviously her lover. She invokes koon-ut-kal-if-fee, her right to a physical challenge between Spock and Stonn, but instead of Stonn, she picks Kirk to be her champion. Spock asks that T'Pau forbid it, because Kirk "does not understand, he does not know," but T'Pau allows Kirk to decide, telling him another champion will be selected if he declines. Kirk accepts the challenge thinking he can let Spock win—and only then discovers that the fight is to the death. Despite Spock's condition, he displays superior strength and agility, demonstrating his expertise with the Lirpa, a traditional Vulcan weapon. McCoy objects, telling T'Pau that Kirk is seriously disadvantaged by Vulcan's heat and thinner atmosphere (and, though it is not mentioned in the series proper, the higher gravity), and suggests he inject Kirk with a tri-ox compound to compensate. T'Pau allows the injection. The combat continues and Spock garrotes Kirk with another traditional Vulcan weapon, the Ahn'woon, at which point McCoy pronounces the Captain dead and beams back to the Enterprise with Kirk's body.

With the battle over, Spock gives up his claim to T'Pring, but questions her choice of Kirk as her champion. In a display of logic that impresses Spock, T'Pring explains that she "did not wish to be the consort of a legend," and developed a mutual attraction with Stonn. Since she could only legally divorce Spock through the koon-ut-kal-if-fee, and allowing Stonn to take the challenge as her champion would risk losing him, she instead chose Kirk, knowing that regardless of the outcome she and Stonn would be together — as Kirk would not want her and Spock would probably release her. Even if Spock held her to her vows, he would return to Starfleet, "and Stonn would still be here".

On the ship, Spock announces his intention to resign his commission and submit himself to Starfleet, to face the consequences for killing Kirk. However, in Sickbay he finds his Captain alive and well, and expresses overt joy in front of McCoy and Nurse Chapel. McCoy and Kirk then explain that McCoy actually injected the Captain with a neuroparalyzer drug that merely simulated death. Spock says that when he thought he had killed the Captain, he lost all desire for T'Pring. Starfleet retroactively grants permission to divert to Vulcan at T'Pau's request, thereby letting Kirk off the hook for disobeying orders. Spock denies having expressed undue emotion at seeing Kirk alive. McCoy is disgusted by this, and Kirk and Spock leave Sickbay without further illogical displays.

40th anniversary remastering

This episode was remastered in 2006 and aired February 17, 2007 as part of the remastered Original Series. It was preceded a week earlier by "The Doomsday Machine" and followed a week later by "The Paradise Syndrome". Aside from remastered video and audio, and the all-CGI animation of the USS Enterprise that is standard among the revisions, specific changes to this episode also include:

• The appearance of the planet Vulcan from orbit was changed to match its appearance in the remastered version seen in "Journey To Babel".

• A panoramic shot of Vulcan's surface has been created showing the characters walking across a stone archway to the temple which is atop a massive spire, and reminiscent of the temple seen in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.

• Also, seen to the background of the arena spire, is Spock's home city of ShiKahr, as seen in the animated Star Trek episode "Yesteryear".

Reception

Zack Handlen of The A.V. Club gave the episode an 'A' rating, describing it as "as good as it gets" for the series.

Series significance

Gerald Fried's incidental music for the fight became a standard underscore for combat-scenes in season 2. It was notably spoofed during the Medieval Times sequence in the Jim Carrey movie The Cable Guy, in The Simpsons episodes "Deep Space Homer" and "The Day The Earth Stood Cool", and on Futurama as the national anthem of Dr. Zoidberg's home panet, Decapod 10.

Spock's Vulcan hand salute, repeated many times in later episodes, movies and series, is given for the first time when Spock greets T'Pau.

External links

• "Amok Time" at StarTrek.com
• "Amok Time" at the Internet Movie Database
• "Amok Time" at TV.com
• "Amok Time" at Memory Alpha (a Star Trek wiki)
• "Amok Time" Preview of the remastered version at TrekMovie.com