The episode features First Officer Spock returning to his homeworld for a brutal Vulcan wedding ritual. It is the only episode of The Original Series to depict scenes on the planet Vulcan.
It was the first episode to air (though the fifth, by production code) of season 2 featuring Ensign Pavel Chekov (Walter Koenig) as the ship's navigator. It was also the first episode to list "DeForest Kelley as Dr. McCoy" in the opening credits, and the first episode broadcast in the series' new time slot of 8:30 pm on Friday night. This is the first episode to use the "Vulcan salute" and introduced the concept of pon farr, the Vulcan mating cycle.
Plot
Spock, first officer of the USS Enterprise, exhibits unusual behavior and requests leave on his home planet Vulcan. Captain Kirk and Chief Medical Officer Dr. McCoy agree, and Kirk diverts Enterprise. En route, Kirk receives orders from Starfleet to represent the Federation at the inauguration ceremony for Altair VI's new president. Though Kirk sets course for Altair VI, Spock secretly changes course back to Vulcan. Spock claims no memory of ordering the course change.
Kirk orders Spock to Sickbay, where McCoy finds evidence of physical and emotional stress which will kill him within eight days if not treated. Spock explains that he is undergoing pon farr, a condition male Vulcans experience periodically throughout their adult life, and that he must mate or die. Kirk sets course for Vulcan, believing that Spock's life is more important than his career.
At Vulcan, Spock invites Kirk and McCoy to accompany him to the wedding. T'Pring, Spock's betrothed, arrives with Stonn, a pureblood Vulcan whom she prefers to Spock. T'Pau, a renowned matriarch, begins the ceremony. However, T'Pring demands the kal-if-fee, a physical challenge between Spock and a champion she selects; unexpectedly, she chooses Kirk. Spock begs T'Pau to forbid it, but T'Pau leaves the decision to Kirk; another champion will be selected if he refuses. Kirk accepts the challenge, only to learn that it is "to the death".
The two fight with lirpa. Kirk is challenged by Spock's strength and agility as well as the thinner atmosphere of Vulcan. T'Pau lets McCoy inject Kirk with a compound to offset the effects of the Vulcan atmosphere. Spock later garrots Kirk with an ahn'woon. McCoy declares Kirk dead and requests transport to Enterprise.
Spock renounces his claim on T'Pring, who explains that she feared losing Stonn in the kal-if-fee. By choosing Kirk, T'Pring would have Stonn either way: If Spock was the victor, he would release her from the marriage for having made the challenge, and if Kirk won, he would not want her. Spock compliments T'Pring on her logic and returns to the Enterprise, warning Stonn that "having is not so pleasing a thing after all as wanting".
Aboard Enterprise, Spock announces his intent to submit himself for trial for killing Kirk, when he discovers Kirk is alive and well. The injection McCoy gave Kirk was a neuroparalyzer. Asked about what followed, Spock states that he lost all desire for T'Pring after he thought he killed Kirk. Kirk learns that Starfleet, at T'Pau's request, has belatedly given the Enterprise permission to travel to Vulcan.
Reception
For the franchise's 30th anniversary, TV Guide ranked "Amok Time" No. 2 on its list of the 10 best Star Trek episodes.[1] In 2009, Zack Handlen of The A.V. Club gave the episode an A rating.[2] In 2012, The A.V. Club ranked this episode as one of top ten "must see" episodes of the original series.[3]
In 2014, Gizmodo ranked "Amok Time" as the 12th best episode of Star Trek, out of the over 700 ones made by that time.[5]IGN ranked "Amok" number 9 in a top ten list of original series episodes.[6]
In 2015, Wired magazine did not recommend skipping this episode in their binge-watching guide for the original series.[7]
In 2015, Polygon ranked "Amok Time" as one of the three best Spock-centric episodes of Star Trek.[8]
In 2015, SyFy ranked this episode as one of the top ten essential Star Trek original series episodes.[9]
In 2016, The Hollywood Reporter rated "Amok Time" the 28th best television episode of all Star Trek franchise television prior to Star Trek: Discovery, including live-action and the animated series but not counting the movies.[11] In 2016, Newsweek ranked "Amok Time" as one of the best episodes of the original series, noting it has one of the most memorable fights in Star Trek.[12] In 2016, Business Insider ranked "Amok Time" the 10th best episode of the original series.[13]
In 2016, Radio Times ranked the duel between Kirk and Spock on Vulcan as the 15th best moment in all Star Trek.[14] They note this shows the audience the Vulcan home planet of Vulcan for the first time, and also introduces the Pon Farr aspect of Vulcan culture.[14]
In 2017, Business Insider ranked "Amok Time" the 10th best episode of the original series.[15] They note this is the first episode to use the phrase "Live Long and Prosper" in Star Trek.[15]
In 2018, Collider ranked this episode the second best original series episode.[16]
In 2018, PopMatters ranked this the 10th best episode of the original series.[17] They highlighted Spock's line "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." while noting the introduction of planet Vulcan, Pon Farr, various guest stars, and what they call a "thrilling gladiatorial battle".[17]
A 2018 Star Trekbinge-watching guide by Den of Geek recommended this episode as one of the best of the original series.[18]
In 2019, CBR ranked this episode as one of the top 8 most memorable episodes of the original Star Trek.[20]
In 2024 Hollywood.com ranked Amok Time at number 7 out of the 79 original series episodes.[21]
Legacy
Gerald Fried's incidental music for the fight—titled The Ritual/Ancient Battle/2nd Kroykah—became a standard underscore for combat scenes in season 2.[22][23] It was notably spoofed during the Medieval Times sequence in the Jim Carrey film The Cable Guy (1996).[24]
Vulcans, sometimes referred to as Vulcanians, are a fictional extraterrestrial humanoid species in the Star Trek media franchise. They are noted for their strict adherence to logic and reason and suppression of emotion. Known for their pronounced eyebrows and pointed ears, they originate from the fictional planet Vulcan. In the Star Trek universe, they were the first extraterrestrial species to make contact with humans.
Spock is a fictional character in the Star Trek media franchise. He first appeared in the original Star Trek series serving aboard the starship USS Enterprise as science officer and first officer and later as commanding officer of the vessel. Spock's mixed human–Vulcan heritage serves as an important plot element in many of the character's appearances. Along with Captain James T. Kirk and Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy, he is one of the three central characters in the original Star Trek series and its films. After retiring from active duty in Starfleet, Spock served as a Federation ambassador, and later became involved in the ill-fated attempt to save Romulus from a supernova, leading him to live out the rest of his life in a parallel universe.
"Mirror, Mirror" is the fourth episode of the second season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek. Written by Jerome Bixby and directed by Marc Daniels, it was first broadcast on October 6, 1967.
Saavik is a fictional character in the Star Trek universe. She first appeared in the film Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982) played by Kirstie Alley. Robin Curtis took over the role for Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984) and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986).
Christine Chapel is a fictional character who appears in all three seasons of the American science fiction television series Star Trek: The Original Series, as well as Star Trek: The Animated Series and the films Star Trek: The Motion Picture and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. Portrayed by Majel Barrett, she was the ship's nurse on board the Starfleet starship USS Enterprise. A younger version of Chapel appears in the 2022 series Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, portrayed by Jess Bush.
"Errand of Mercy" is the twenty-sixth episode of the first season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek. Written by Gene L. Coon and directed by John Newland, it was first broadcast on March 23, 1967. It was the first episode in which the Klingons appeared.
"Spock's Brain" is the third season premiere episode of the American science fiction television series Star Trek. Written by Gene L. Coon and directed by Marc Daniels, it was first broadcast on September 20, 1968.
"Journey to Babel" is the tenth episode of the second season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek. Written by D. C. Fontana and directed by Joseph Pevney, it was first broadcast on November 17, 1967.
"The Doomsday Machine" is the sixth episode of the second season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek. Written by Norman Spinrad and directed by Marc Daniels, it was first broadcast on October 20, 1967.
"Unification" is a two-part episode of the syndicated American science fiction television series Star Trek: The Next Generation which features Leonard Nimoy as Spock. The first of the two episodes earned a 15.4 household Nielsen rating, drawing over 25 million viewers, making it one of the most watched episodes in all seven seasons of The Next Generation's run.
"This Side of Paradise" is the twenty-fourth episode of the first season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek. Written by D. C. Fontana and Jerry Sohl and directed by Ralph Senensky, it was first broadcast on March 2, 1967.
"The Devil in the Dark" is the twenty-fifth episode of the first season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek. Written by Gene L. Coon and directed by Joseph Pevney, the episode first aired on March 9, 1967.
"The Naked Time" is the fourth episode of the first season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek. Written by John D. F. Black and directed by Marc Daniels, it first aired on September 29, 1966.
"The Enemy Within" is the fifth episode of the first season of the American science fiction television series, Star Trek. Written by Richard Matheson and directed by Leo Penn, it first aired on October 6, 1966.
"Operation -- Annihilate!" is the twenty-ninth and final episode of the first season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek. Written by Steven W. Carabatsos and directed by Herschel Daugherty, it was first broadcast April 13, 1967.
"A Piece of the Action" is the seventeenth episode of the second season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek. Written by David P. Harmon and Gene L. Coon, and directed by James Komack, it was first broadcast on January 12, 1968.
"The Enterprise Incident" is the second episode of the third season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek. Written by D. C. Fontana and directed by John Meredyth Lucas, it was first broadcast September 27, 1968.
"All Our Yesterdays" is the twenty-third and penultimate episode of the third season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek. Written by Jean Lisette Aroeste and directed by Marvin J. Chomsky, it was first broadcast March 14, 1969.
Spock's World is a 1988 science fiction novel by American writer Diane Duane, set in the fictional Star Trek universe. The plot revolves around a movement on the planet Vulcan to secede from the United Federation of Planets. The book alternates chapters that advance the main plotline with chapters that relate important scenes from Vulcan's history, and much of the book explores underlying themes in Vulcan philosophy and culture, especially the idea of cthia, a Vulcan philosophical concept translated in the book as "reality-truth — seeing things the way they really are, instead of the way we would like to see them".
The second season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek, premiered on NBC on September 15, 1967 and concluded on March 29, 1968. It consisted of twenty-six episodes. It features William Shatner as Captain James T. Kirk, Leonard Nimoy as Spock and DeForest Kelley as Leonard McCoy.
References
↑ Logan, Michael (August 24, 1996). "10 Truly Stellar Episodes". TV Guide.
↑ 1000 UK Number One Hits by Jon Kutner & Spencer Leigh, page 327
↑ Kristina Busse (November 26, 2013). "Pon Farr, Mpreg, and the rise of the Omegaverse". Fic: Why Fanfiction is Taking Over the World. By Jamieson, Anne. United States: Smart Pop. ISBN978-1939529190.
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