A guest blog Mindless-Droid

This week’s original series Star Trek episode is Amok Time. It was the season two premiere episode and a good one. You can watch the original version here on the official Star Trek site http://www.startrek.com/watch_episode/PWwuqNr4Lf4O and the episode summary is here http://www.startrek.com/database_article/amok-time. On a side note I would suggest that anyone wanting to watch the series watch the episodes on the official site or buy the DVD’s because the syndicated versions are heavily edited to the point of missing important parts of the stories.

The episode begins with Spock exhibiting unusual behavior and asking for leave on Vulcan. After an exam by Dr. McCoy Kirk finds out that Spock must return to Vulcan to marry or the stress on him will kill him. Complicating things the Enterprise is due at Altair 6 for an important ceremony. In the end Kirk decides to take Spock to Vulcan as knowing the Altair situation he risks the fallout from Starfleet to save his friend.

Arriving at Vulcan we find that Spock has a fiancé but she has other plans at the ceremony she challenges the prearranged wedding. In a surprise move she picks Kirk as her champion. Thinking he can save his friend from humiliation and not wanting to show weakness in front of T’Pau the head of the ceremony and extremely important Vulcan Kirk accepts but what he doesn’t know is it is a fight to the death. Spock in a deranged state fights Kirk until a break in the action McCoy sighting the heat and thin air of Vulcan asks to compensate with one of his hypos and is permitted to do so. The fight ends with Spock seemingly killing Kirk.

His madness gone it is revealed that T’Pring wanted out of the marriage and the only way was to challenge using Kirk she surmised that win or lose Spock would want out of the marriage to because she had used the challenge which is what happened .

Back on the ship Spock is surprised to learn that Kirk is indeed alive. The hypo McCoy gave him was to simulate death and once on board the ship everything returned to normal.

This episode we get a little of Spock’s background story and delve into Vulcan society although it’s more an exploration of the ancient rituals and the Vulcan past that is fleshed out expanding somewhat on some of the things we learned about the Vulcans in Balance of Terror. It was interesting to get to see Vulcan even though we didn’t get to see much of the planet and its modern society.

Now some mindless thoughts

Nurse Chapel (played by Majel Barrett Gene Rodenberry’s wife) brings Spock real soup instead of the multi colored food cubes we see in other episodes, sometimes in the original series they tried too hard to be futuristic like with the food cubes when why wouldn’t there still be soup.

Not only was this the premiere episode of season two but it also introduced another regular crew member in Pavel Checkov at the helm. The way they introduced Checkov here as if he was always a part of the crew and friends with Sulu left them the wiggle room for him to recognize Khan in the movie Wrath of Khan even though he didn’t appear in that episode which took place in season one.

I think I’m going to be space sick. Checkov after changing the course for the fourth time. LOL

Kirk telling Spock “You’re not a fish”

Love the Vulcan themes in this episodes and the music during the action sequences which ended up be used throughout season two.

Spock secretly tells Kirk his problem then talks to T’pring on the bridge full of people?

T’pau the Vulcan matriarch I like the way she talks. It’s also here we learn of the Federation Council as T’Pau is the only one to turn down a seat on said council.

Kirk seeing T’pau and commenting that he didn’t know Spock’s family was that important blends nicely with the scene in the episode Journey to Babel which is later in season two were Spock informs Kirk that the Vulcan ambassador Sarek is his father.

Wouldn’t it be logical to inform Kirk that the combat is to the death I’m just saying?

“Bring forth the Lirpa” “If both survive the lirpa combat will continue with the Ahn’woon.” always loved those lines.

When Spock says his blood burns I wonder if that was literal or figurative cause burning Vulcan blood could have been a cool effect.

McCoy’s line “In a pig’s eye.” LOL

There is actually a famous blooper in this episode when Spock is deep in the Plak Tow with his hands folded in a trance like state the next scene of Kirk talking to T’Pau you can see Nimoy casually leaning against the wall in the background.

As for the re-mastered effects there is a cool shot of the Enterprise orbiting Vulcan from daylight crossing the terminator into night. Vulcan looks better and they redid the location where the ceremony takes place with some cool long shots of the area giving it a grander appearance.

Like I said in the opening the edits of the syndicated episodes are downright horrible. This week they cut out portions of Spock and Kirk’s dialogue in the turbo lift. They completely cut Spock reporting to sick bay for his exam, smashing his computer terminal and Nurse Chapel visiting Spock in his quarters. In another example of cutting scenes that are referenced later they cut Sulu and Checkov talking about getting the course change from Altair to Vulcan ready again just in case. Then when Kirk calls them to change course Chechov tells him he already has it ready.

That’s all for this week sorry we’re a day later than usual but sometimes real life gets in the way and that’s the last time I try to sneak Romulan Ale across the neutral zone. Live Long and Prosper.