Amok Time (Star Trek TOS - S2E01)

[Hailing Frequencies Open]

Spock is dying.
The cure?
Apparently: getting married and fighting Kirk with a giant Vulcan salad fork.

This week on Treks and Tangents, we dive into Amok Time: the episode where Vulcan mating rituals somehow involve desert death matches, psychic engagement bonds, and absolutely zero emotional communication. Honestly, the Vulcans could have solved half their problems with one awkward conversation.

We discuss:
• Vulcan marriage customs making less sense the longer you think about them
• Kirk dramatically risking his life because his best friend is terminally horny
• T’Pring’s galaxy-brain manipulation tactics
• And why this episode is somehow both iconic and completely ridiculous

One of us left with serious questions about Vulcan society.
The other left wondering how this species survived long enough to invent space travel.

[End Transmission]

Transcript

Intro/Turbolift Tease Recap

SPEAKER_01 0:10

Hailing Frequencies Open and welcome aboard Treks and Tangents. I'm your co-host Brian.

SPEAKER_03 0:15

And I'm your co-host Jackie. I'm the Star Trek TV who checks off on tangents.

SPEAKER_01 0:20

And I'm your Star Trek expert who is here to get the tangents back on track. Each episode we watch and talk about a different Star Trek episode, and this week we watched Star Trek the Original Series. Welcome back, everyone. Welcome to season two of the original series. Exciting, exciting. Season two of our podcast. I've mentioned it a couple times. I'm most excited because now we can have uniform episode numbering for our podcast. We don't have to worry about wondering is the cage episode zero, episode one. We can just start over and call it season two, episode one.

SPEAKER_03 1:01

Yes, because my numerine system is all over the board from last season.

SPEAKER_01 1:06

Yeah, depending on what platform you look at, some of it was on track, some of it was not, some of it counted all the way back to the trailer that we put out and is pinned on most of our channels as the first episode. It was weird. So season two, episode one, fresh start. Thank you all for continuing to join us. As a reminder, we'll continue our Star Note bonus episodes over at our Patreon, patreon.com slash treks and tangents, where we'll post a little brief bonus episode where we'll dive deeper into a topic. Stick around to the end of this episode to find out what that topic is going to be this week. I love surprises. But without further ado, let's jump into this episode, season premiere, by revisiting our turbolift tease from last week. That's where we gave Jackie the title of this week's episode, and Jackie, with no other information, tried to give a guess to what this week's plot was going to be. So, computer. What was Jackie's Turbolift tees last week?

SPEAKER_00 2:21

Jackie's Turbo Lift Tees last week was this episode will be about one enterprise crew member by themselves, and they are going to have to go through a personal journey. On this journey, it is going to be like they are going to find something about their soul. But doing it alone is not fun, and Kirk and McCoy are going to force their way into it, because we might have a new character, you know, season two, episode one, and we are going to help this character be a success at this journey, and then we are all gonna go back home and chat about it.

SPEAKER_01 2:52

So, Jackie, in and amongst all of that, I think you hit closest to home with the quote, Doing it alone is not fun. Exactly. How do you think your prediction was?

SPEAKER_03 3:03

I mean, I did pretty well. I I mean, Kirk and McCoy do help someone, and someone does have to go on a journey by themselves, and we even got a new character.

Initial Impressions

SPEAKER_01 3:15

So I just checked them all off. I think in the most roundabout way and the most vague interpretation of your prediction, sure, we'll give you a couple points this week. Sounds good. So what were your initial thoughts? What did you think about this episode?

SPEAKER_03 3:33

I thought it was good to open up with. Um, I learned a lot about the Vulcans because season one always used to like hint towards them, and then this one episode like this season just boom. Here you go. Learn more about Vulcans.

SPEAKER_01 3:51

Definitely gonna be one of the most informative episodes in relation to Vulcans and Vulcan culture. We got a little bit of a taste of that in the animated series episode yesteryear with Spock going back in time and revisiting his childhood. But that of course will come out years after this episode was aired. So this is kind of from uh chronological airing standpoint. This is gonna be one of the first episodes where we get all of this insider detail to Vulcans and Vulcan culture, and we see other Vulcans and how they act, and it's a well-liked episode. I'll say that much.

SPEAKER_03 4:38

I like a CY. I mean, great choreography with the fight scenes, the costumes were very interesting. I would imagine, like on a show like this, it is hard to with the imagination to keep things looking different, and boy were they different.

SPEAKER_01 4:57

In some aspects, yes. Some costume parts are reused if you look closely, but it is one of the more striking sets that we've seen so far. Yes, beautiful. It's not just a s outdoor set in one of the film stage parks that they've used in the past. This would have been indoors, very, very different compared to what we've seen. Bright, vivid red, orange for that coloring for the set. And I don't know, they've done that type of outdoor set before on some of the previous episodes. Mud's Women, as an example, when they went down to the minor planet. We've seen the underground caves in What Are Little Girls Made Of. But this set just felt different. It felt, I don't know, impressive. Even Mud's Women felt kind of cheesy when they were outdoors. It felt very uniform, it felt very recycled. This set seemed very unique compared to what we've seen so far.

SPEAKER_03 6:02

Well, when you compare the two Mud's Women, it was more like Styrofoam Rocks and Pretend Wind, where I think this set was more we're in a dirt pit and we created these beautiful gongs and these um kind of cheesy bells, but you know, they did extra work to make it work.

SPEAKER_01 6:27

Right. And to your point of the fake wind and fake atmosphere, we've seen sets with fog machines. They didn't have any of that, but they were able to convey, at least as as I felt, Vulcan, the hot, humid, thin atmosphere. Some of that, of course, came from the fight scene and Kirk's acting and Shatner's acting skills, but as far as the coloration and the mood, you definitely felt, I think, what they were trying to convey.

SPEAKER_03 6:59

Well, I think they conveyed that also by showing before we got into the arena the far away as they were crossing that thin bridge. Sure. Like that entire scene looked scary and I think helped create the weather.

SPEAKER_01 7:20

What if they didn't have that scene? What if they didn't have those effects, those shots of the plateau with the ceremony site and the two land bridges connecting them? Would you feel the same way? How important was that shot to you?

SPEAKER_03 7:39

I don't think they needed it. In fact, the first I didn't notice it the first time I watched it. I the third time I watched it is when they was like, wait, what are they on?

SPEAKER_01 7:49

So I have to ask, is that would have been something that was added in the remaster when they redid when they went back and they remastered the episodes in the nineties? Let's say nineties, and they added a bunch of special effects and touched things up using modern technology. That would have been one of the things that they added to a degree. They touched that up and they added to it. It was a different scene than what aired in the 60s.

SPEAKER_03 8:19

Oh. When they were walking, I definitely imagined Timon and Pumba in The Lion King.

SPEAKER_01 8:27

Okay. But we've talked a lot about the costumes, we've talked about a lot of the set. The story. I'll put it here at the top of the hour. If you are here to listen to a mature scientific breakdown study of Vulcan mating rituals, you've come to the wrong place. We're gonna make some jokes at Spock's expense here.

SPEAKER_03 8:52

Well, I we don't even really get to the mating ritual. We just had a fight and then, oops, we gotta go home now.

SPEAKER_01 9:01

Right. Which is interesting in other episodes of later Star Trek series, this will be a theme that we come back to with other Vulcan characters and Ponfar and how they navigate it. Definitely, I don't remember other examples where the situation resolved itself with just combat, killing someone, and then those biological effects in the Vulcan character are gone. Spock didn't need anything else. He just had that release, and everything was fine. He was back to being his logical self once again.

SPEAKER_03 9:40

It may have been that it's because he had to fight, but he that wasn't the issue. It was the fact that he killed his friend.

SPEAKER_01 9:48

Yeah, I mean, there's not going to be other examples of that, so it's interesting that that's the resolution to it. I don't know. Maybe the episode is trying to set up the fact that the pawn far madness has nothing to do with the actual mating. It's the ritual of claiming a mate, and once that is over, maybe that's all that was needed to begin with. But that's not what happens in later Star Trek episodes.

SPEAKER_03 10:19

So that's weird because Spock was so concerned about the ritual part of it and it being so special and no Vulcan talks about it, blah blah blah. And in the fight, Kirk did not get a sash, but everybody else got to wear a sash.

SPEAKER_01 10:40

What do you mean he got a sash? You mean the little the little belt thing? Yes. Yeah, he gets a purple belt. Jump forward, we just went back and checked, and no, I was wrong. Uh-oh. I misremembered. I thought the moment I remembered in my watch through when Kirk accepted the challenge, but before he knew what the challenge was, as soon as he accepted the challenge, one of the side guys came in and put a purple belt on him. I was completely wrong. We just but went back and double checked. There's no belt that we can see unless we jump around way more and it's costuming error where it gets put on and then in the next scene it's off. But I also didn't see anything. I checked through those known bloopers and errors when I try to pull together some information for the episode. I didn't see anything along those lines either. So, no, he doesn't get a belt. It's a weird ritual. He doesn't get a belt. They're supposed to be observers, Kirk and McCoy, but they get to ask all the questions. They get to interrupt the ritual multiple times. We'll get to it, we'll talk about it more when we get to it, but it's gonna be an interesting episode, I think.

SPEAKER_03 11:54

And no education on how to use the weapons.

Treking Through the Episode

SPEAKER_01 11:57

No, they certainly didn't give the guy a tutorial before they started swinging them at each other. So I think we've talked enough about the episode and what our thoughts were. Why don't we just get into it? Jackie, why don't you walk us through this episode? Well, I do want to make note. I have a new font. In your notes? Oh, it's not Comic Sand. What is that? Nunito. Okay, I think it's better. I just stick with Ariel, but for those wondering, we write out our notes to the episode in a Google document, so yeah, no more Comic Sans. Okay. Okay. Change comes to the Treks and Tangents podcast. Just wait till season three. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 12:39

So this is for the layman, me, this is year two of the voyage, correct?

SPEAKER_01 12:48

Yes. I would not say that you can set a calendar to it. Like, don't try to say that this first episode takes place year two January.

SPEAKER_03 12:59

Right.

SPEAKER_01 12:59

But yes, as a rough measure of guidance, season one, the course of all the episodes and events that we saw took place over a year, and now we are starting the second year.

SPEAKER_03 13:11

Okay. All right. So we are starting the episode, and instead of starting on the bridge, we are in the hallway, and Kirk is climbing up a ladder in like a closet.

SPEAKER_01 13:23

It would be a Jeffree's tube or an access tubing to gain access to some of the inner workings of the ship. Interesting for the captain to be doing. He's could be doing lots of things. He could be doing an inspection. He could just be getting exercise. I don't really know what the security protocol is to who is allowed in the Jeffree tubes or not, but I would assume the captain would be. Oh, of course.

SPEAKER_03 13:49

I'm just interesting. So he climbs up and McCoy is walking down the hallway and he's trying to talk to Kirk about Spock not being his normal self. Uh, what's normal about Spock? But anyways, um Mike, he's not eating. He wants to sleep more, like this concerns. And Kirk hasn't noticed these things because he's doing captain things. And so he just like waves it off as a phase, and he has many things to do. And then we see Miss Chapel walk by and McCoy's like, Oh, what do you have there? Is that your famous flow meat soup? And she's like, Yes, I made it for Spock because he hasn't been eating.

SPEAKER_01 14:38

Yeah, and she comes around the corner and she sees the two of them and she tries to duck away, and that's when they call her out. It's funny that they all just kind of meet together, and then we realize they're outside Spock's chambers. Yes. Which is an even greater coincidence.

SPEAKER_03 14:56

So that's why I found it weird. Like one came up the ladder, one came down the hall, and one came from around the corner.

SPEAKER_01 15:03

Yeah, I mean, it's just practical for the show, but hell of a coincidence.

SPEAKER_03 15:08

And so she Miss Chapel goes in to give Spock the soup because, you know, she's being nice, and next thing we hear, she's screaming and running out, and Spock has thrown the soup at her, and it hits the wall as bright purple.

SPEAKER_01 15:30

Right. It stained the wall of the set. Oh, that's funny. For a long for several several weeks of production. It took a while to get the stains out of the set from that prop soup. But it's nice, I don't know, nice. It's it's I yeah, it's nice for the character development to see that Nurse Chapel still has this attachment to Spock that we saw. It's kind of creepy. I think the episode, she's a little too close. You think she's a little too close?

SPEAKER_03 16:02

Yeah, for what we've seen, she kind of like crosses that line, I think, that we see Kirk cross at times.

SPEAKER_01 16:11

Okay. So overall, though, I still think it's a nice thing to see for a character development for the show that this relationship continues on through multiple episodes, versus we don't get a lot of that, I don't think, or we didn't in the first season.

SPEAKER_03 16:28

No, I agree. I like seeing Nurse Chapel. She adds a lot other than just uh a female yeoman running around doing whatever. That's Chapel is a strong female character.

SPEAKER_01 16:42

That's exactly what I am referencing is that we have a character personality that transcends multiple episodes instead of just seeing them week after week. And once the episode is over, everything felt like it reset at times.

SPEAKER_03 16:59

And Spock like runs out and he's like, Oh shoot, I did all of this mean things right in front of Kirk. And so Spock immediately is like, I need shore leave, please. Can we please go to Vulcan? I need it to be now. Um, like immediately. And then Kirk wants more information, and Spock is like, just tell me yes or no. Um, well, maybe later. And then now we're in Spock's quarters, and Kirk has come in and he wants to know what the deal is. Cause he means bro to bro, you've never asked for leave in all this time that I've known you. You work super hard, and then Spock is like I just want to go on it. I I have more than enough time.

SPEAKER_01 17:50

Yeah, and I tried really hard to look up. There's a moment where there's like a a repeating of a line by Kirk where he says in all the years, and then Spock interrupts him, and then Kirk repeats the line exactly. And in the moment it felt like Leonard Nimoy stepped all over William Shatner's line, and that's just the take that stayed in. I couldn't find it anywhere. I couldn't find if it was a a mistake they kept in or if that's how the dialogue was written, but it just felt that way.

SPEAKER_03 18:23

Maybe if it wasn't when it was written that way, the character is reiterating how important his words are. Sure. And the reason Kirk is asking why it's so important is because the Enterprise is actually on its way to a planet called Altar Six, and it's supposed to be like a gigantic ceremony. Yeah. They're one of three spaceships. I don't know why only three are going to be there, but it's gonna be a big, giant ceremony, and the Commodore is like, you gotta be there.

SPEAKER_01 19:01

Well, there's gonna be more than three ships there, but there's going to be three starships like the Enterprise there.

SPEAKER_03 19:09

Oh, okay, that makes more sense.

SPEAKER_01 19:12

And so that's because the Enterprise is like, and that class of starship is the tip top ship one in the fleet. Oh, okay. And so they're going there as a way to represent the Federation and Starfleet, and the Admiral wants to make a big showing. We there's a whole backstory to the inauguration of the president there and how it's bringing about an era of peace after a long period of civil strife, and they're joining the Federation, none of which is expressed in the episode.

SPEAKER_03 19:48

Okay, well that makes more sense why Altair Six is so important. Because Kirk is like, we're gonna be to Altair super soon, and it's so beautiful, blah blah blah, and Spock continues to focus on no I need to go to Vulcan. So without any more, finally Kirk just calls over to the navigator, who is a new character, his name is Chekov, and he's like 12, to plot a new route to Vulcan and leave now.

SPEAKER_01 20:22

How old is Chekov? Twelve. He's 22, the character. The actor who plays him is in his early 30s. That's funny, because he looks 12. Well, what do you think of his hair? He's a wig. It is a wig. It's a bad wig. I mean, he wears a well though. We'll get to why it's a wig later.

SPEAKER_03 20:44

He's gonna be a balding 35-year-old man.

SPEAKER_01 20:46

No, no, different reason.

SPEAKER_03 20:48

And so as he is walking out, as Kirk is walking out of Spock's room, he also goes, I guess Vulcans aren't indestructible. And once he leaves, Spock is like, yeah, we're just us. And then of course we have a captain's log, and we're talking about going to Altair 6 via Vulcan. And I granted the shore leave, but he's gonna be under McCoy's supervision until we arrive. Like, that's the main caveat. And now we're on the bridge. Ohura has received an urgent transmission from Starfleet Command saying that the inauguration ceremony has moved up a whole week. And that kind of puts the plan of dropping off Spock at Vulcan at jeopardy. And so, sorry, Chekhov has to now plot their navigation system to go straight to Altair.

SPEAKER_01 21:48

And I like how every time we get this course correction, because we bounce back and forth a couple times where they're going to Altair, then they go to Vulcan, then they go to Altair, they set plots. And they set a course for these different destinations. There's a couple times where Chekov kind of makes a comment of, like, oh, I guess I better I better plot a course back just in case. And I kind of like how they address that. How it's kind of ridiculous that they're changing the course all this time. It'd be a little weird if it was never mentioned by any of the characters.

SPEAKER_03 22:21

Sulu is the one that cut catches that.

SPEAKER_01 22:23

Right. He's like, you might as well get ready. And this is one of the first, well, of course it's the first time, but it's one of the rare times that Chekhov and Sulu appear together in the second season. Uh, because Sulu still has other acting commitments, and so their schedules just don't work out. It's one of the reasons why Chekoff becomes such a popular character, is he gets a lot more screen time with Sulu being gone at other acting commitments.

SPEAKER_03 22:53

Yeah, because they have the same personality, which brings in the humor. That makes sense. And so with the inauguration moved up a week, Kirk does tell Spock, I will get you there, I'll just figure it out. It'll probably be after the inauguration. And so we pop back into Kirk's quarters. Everything is kind of going fast for a little bit. And he's laying on his bed. I noticed that his books face down. I didn't notice that before, but it was interesting. So I, anyways, Kirk is laying in bed and he is like, hmm. He calls Navigator Chekhov from the phone in his room, the little communicator, and he wants to know, just thinking, how much off course will he be if they drop Spock off at Vulcan and then go as fast as they can to Altar. And then confused Chekhov is like, but I already am going to Vulcan, just as Spock requested.

SPEAKER_01 23:51

Right.

SPEAKER_03 23:52

Then Kirk is like, oh man.

SPEAKER_01 23:54

Yeah. Because now we've got Spock running amok and disobeying and countermandering orders. Kinda kind of an interesting little thing that Spock would be able to because the course going to Altair 6 was set by Kirk in response to the Admiral's orders. And there would be that order from the Admiral on record. So everyone knows this is why we've changed course back to Altair 6. Why would Spock be able to countermand Kirk's orders in response to the Admiral's orders? That seems kind of weird that Spock would even have that kind of authority and no one would question it or check with Captain Kirk to be like, hey, Spock is trying to change it back to Vulcan. Should we do it? Kinda weird that he has to find out this way.

SPEAKER_03 24:44

Well, isn't he in charge when Kirk is gone? Because remember, he hasn't he has not gone to Sick Bay yet. He's not been ordered yet. That was just in the log.

SPEAKER_01 24:55

Correct. But with the standing order of the Admiral weighing over everything. Oh, yes. And that's the whole reason they gotta bypass Vulcan first to go to Al TR6. Why would Spock be able to be like, nah, hey, let's go back to Vulcan. Forget what Captain Kirk said, forget what the Admiral said. We're going back to Vulcan. And Chekov never or Sulu neither decided to speak up and be like, well, let me just check with Captain Kirk first. It's just odd.

SPEAKER_03 25:26

So Kirk like runs onto the bridge and he just like calmly goes, Spock, come with me now. And in the turbo lift, he's Kirk is trying to keep his cool and again he wants to know what is going on and why did you change course? Talk to me. And Spock's like, I don't remember chase changing navigation course.

SPEAKER_01 25:48

Do you think he doesn't remember or do you think he's trying to stay out of trouble?

SPEAKER_03 25:52

I don't see Spock as a fibber.

SPEAKER_01 25:55

I think he might be really so out of it that he doesn't remember.

SPEAKER_03 26:00

Yes. Cause I mean, I kind of have compared this time as Rut and Deer, and Deer are crazy.

SPEAKER_01 26:09

Okay. Alright. We'll go off of that assumption that he's just so out of his mind that he actually doesn't remember doing this.

SPEAKER_03 26:17

And it's not logical to lie to your commanding officer.

SPEAKER_01 26:20

I'm trying to think if the other times we've seen Spock be disobedient if he's actively lying or if he walks that tightrope and he just refuses to lie by and he's only lying by omission. I don't remember.

SPEAKER_03 26:33

So Kirk is like, navigation said you did it, so I'm just gonna go with it. And now you need to go to Sick Bay and stay with McCoy. Those are my orders, and stay there until we figure out what we're going to do. Spock gets off onto the floor to go to Sick Bay, and he walks into Sick Bay where McCoy is like, Finally, you're here. And Spock says, Great, I've arrived, I've reported to Sick Bay, now I'm leaving.

SPEAKER_01 27:06

Yeah. Screw you, McCoy. I was only ordered to show up. Why did he Kirk was stupid and didn't escort me all the way. He trusted that I'd show up. So here I am. Now I'm out of here.

SPEAKER_03 27:19

Right. Well, like they don't know what's wrong with him. And he usually you say go left and he goes left. So they don't say, What's up? But I did have to like stop and be like, is that what he said? Like he's leaving?

SPEAKER_01 27:32

Yeah, he's like, I have followed the orders to the letter. I have shown up at Sick Bay. Peace out.

SPEAKER_03 27:39

And McCoy yells at him that he has been giving orders and he responds to the same commanding officer, so you are staying here. And then he even says, just yield to the logic of the situation. I mean, we know that McCoy is a gray area kind of guy.

SPEAKER_01 27:55

And I guess Spock makes the determination in his own brain that the medical examination would not reveal anything too incriminating because he wants still wants to keep this matter private and secret. So he just goes, eh, what's the medical scan gonna tell anyone except I've got some weird things going on?

SPEAKER_03 28:15

And so he succumbs and he lays on the tilt table, but as he is laid flat, we see that his right hand is shaking, and he has to like figure he has to actually hold it down to make it stop. And then also like this little break in time, it's also where we see Sulu and Chekhov actually doing that chat back and forth. How many times are we gonna have to change this? First to Vulcan, then to Altair, back and forth. And then Chekhov jokes he's going to be spacick. He needs a paper bag. So now we're back in Kirk's quarters and McCoy just like barges in and he's like, We have to go to Vulcan immediately. And Kirk is like, Yeah, we'll I we're gonna go right after the ceremony's done. Easy peasy. But McCoy is like banging this dead horse. We have to go or he's going to die if we don't go before eight days.

SPEAKER_01 29:16

Yeah, it gives him like seven days to live, eight days at most. But we still don't know why.

SPEAKER_03 29:23

Like McCoy is like, we only got eight days. I still don't know why. Spock won't tell him. Um, he didn't I guess he and then he explains like it's like in the human body, too much adrenaline, and you gotta get rid of it. There's a huge imbalance of emotional and bodily functions, and all of this craziness inside will kill Spock. And then he McCoy even compares Spock to, I'm assuming it's an alien, an Aldeborin shell mouth. Sure. It's weird. Well, it could be like a clam.

SPEAKER_01 29:56

I think that's what it's supposed to be referring to. It's supposed to be a made-up alien clam.

SPEAKER_03 30:03

Oh, I got it right.

SPEAKER_01 30:04

I think that's in the name.

SPEAKER_03 30:07

So now we're in Spock's quarters, and he's just sitting at his desk looking at a photo of a young girl. So it's like, mmm. And then Kirk like it at that.

SPEAKER_01 30:21

Let's just let's spoil it and just say that this is a young photo of Tepring, his betrothed wife. They were betrothed and promised to each other the marriage was arranged by his parents when they were young. We will get that revelation later, but to clear it up, that is why Spock is looking at the photo of a seven-year-old.

SPEAKER_03 30:44

After they told the story, then I was like, oh, that's cute.

SPEAKER_01 30:47

Right. But in the moment you're like, who the hell is Spock looking at?

SPEAKER_03 30:51

Like, does he have a daughter? That question, that's what it raised in me. Like, whoa, his daughter's going to die. That's why we have to get there.

SPEAKER_01 31:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 31:00

But, anyways, Kirk like booms into Spock's quarters and he's like, You will tell me why you are going to die if we don't go to Vulcan. You are going to tell me, and I don't care what I will do to you, tell me. But I did notice that now the Enterprise has like a little buzzer lock on their doors. Cause it went beep and then opened.

SPEAKER_01 31:25

Right. Doesn't happen every time. Because in the next couple scenes, we see Nurse Chapel come in and we don't get that buzzer. Um she gets special Nurse Chapel approval.

SPEAKER_03 31:37

That's not a thing. So, anyways, Kerrika's like, you have been called the best officer in the fleet. You're a huge asset to me. Please tell me so I can understand, so I can actually, you know, get you to where you need to be. And Spock finally is like, okay, this is super confidential, but it has to do with biology. And I think the way that William Shatner and Linda Nimoy act in this this particular scene, it's very delicate, and I think they do a fabulous job. The faces they make, like, I don't know, it's just they did a really good job, I think.

SPEAKER_01 32:16

Yeah, it portrays the awkwardness of the conversation that they're having without it being corny or cheesy. As much as I want to make fun of Vulcan mating rituals and horny Spock, this is a scene that is Spock conveying a very private, delicate matter to Kirk, and Kirk doesn't have any of his sarcasm that we normally see in his character.

SPEAKER_03 32:42

No, he's trying to be like a comfort to not only his friend, but his first officer, who obviously is in dire need of help. Yeah. And so he like, what kind of biology? Like, I mean, do Vulcans have birds in the bees? And then Spock goes on about how Ponfar is a seven-year mating cycle. If they don't meet, then they will die. And we go on to like, come on, Kirk, have you never wondered how we Vulcans mate?

SPEAKER_01 33:20

We don't bang birds and bees, stupid human.

SPEAKER_03 33:24

And then Kirk actually says, Well, I presume it is done logically, and I thought that was a fantastic answer.

SPEAKER_01 33:31

Yeah, there was a tinge of amusement in the line, but no.

SPEAKER_03 33:36

Well, at that point, I don't think he knew how important it was.

SPEAKER_01 33:39

Yeah, so he's definitely going, Oh, I thought it was just logical. And Spock is like, No, we we got some we got some real primitive stuff behind this.

SPEAKER_03 33:49

And so Spock simply tells him we return to the place we were we uh were born, like your salmon. They go to where they were they respond and to die. And so either we return, we take a wife, or else we die. Like that's how Vulcans are.

SPEAKER_01 34:06

That's right, Kirk. Damn it, Kirk. I'm a Vulcan, not a fish. I know, wrong character. Don't comment. I know I got the reference wrong.

SPEAKER_03 34:15

I also think it's interesting how Spock is so worried about this part as a Vulcan. What about his human side? Like he is taken in this episode, he is 100% Vulcan.

SPEAKER_01 34:28

Yeah, there's a couple comments, and I don't remember if it's this scene exactly, but as Spock is talking about this, he was saying that he was hoping, because he was half human and half Vulcan, that the human DNA and his human side would kind of override the Vulcan side and he wouldn't be subject to pawn far and it would just kind of skip over him. And I think he even goes so far as to say that I he he explains it's this cycle, but it's not a regular cycle with him because of his duality and his heritage.

SPEAKER_03 35:06

I believe that this is the scene, yes. Because that's why it's taken so long.

SPEAKER_01 35:11

Yeah, meanwhile, I'm just distracted by the the glowy statue behind them in his little Yeah, it's like a shrine. Yeah, his little shrine. I'm like, oh, it's blinking. Now it's smoking and on fire. Now it's blinking, now it's smoking.

SPEAKER_03 35:26

So Spock then goes to where that shrine is and he's drumming his hand harp that last season O'Hara was singing with, if you don't remember. Or if you do remember. And she actually, speaking of her, tries to send a message to Spock and he just crushes the communicator and says, Leave me alone. Yeah, beats the crap out of that thing. And so Kirk has contacted Starfleet Command, and he's like almost praying, like, please can we I'll just be a day late, but I have an important thing to do first.

SPEAKER_01 36:02

Yeah, I I gotta play wingman to Spock. I gotta get this boy laid.

SPEAKER_03 36:07

Because uh yeah, because he and McCoy have talked it over, and Spock is very important to them. Not only is he the first officer, he's their friend. Like, come on. Like, we want him to live. And I mean, Kirk even says he saved my life. How many times uh I would end my career for him.

SPEAKER_01 36:29

Yes, because ultimately this is something that while it seems incredibly trivial that his mission is just show up with the Enterprise and sit there and look pretty for this presidential inauguration, it is countermanding and going against the orders of an admiral, his superior. It is worthy of a court martial.

SPEAKER_03 36:51

And so, but Kirk's like, okay, and he calls Chekhov again and plot that course to Vulcan, which Chekoff already did, and Miss Chapel overhears this and she jumps from her desk so she can go tell Spock in person.

SPEAKER_01 37:08

Yeah, Nurse Chapel kinda overstepped.

SPEAKER_03 37:12

Thank you. And this is the part where I think she has overstepped her friendship, like this upcoming part.

SPEAKER_01 37:20

Right. Little so she goes to Spock's quarters to tell him no door knock, no doorbell, just walks on in, barks, sneaks in, finds him sleeping, kind of sneaks in. I'm sitting there going, Uh we're about to see the dark side of Spock. We don't, but it sets it up for that.

SPEAKER_03 37:41

Yes, because she like checks on him and she's like, Oh, I'll sneak out because he's sleeping, and then as she's leaving, he calls for her, and she's like, You know, my name is Christine, and she's crying, right?

SPEAKER_01 37:59

Because she cares for Spock. I mean, romantically cares for Spock. She wants to be his wife. This is what I got. This is not a friendship. We've established that in past episodes. They Nurse Chapel wants to experience Spock's pawn far.

SPEAKER_03 38:19

And Spock tells her about a dream that he had, and as he's talking, he wipes the tear from her cheek because the tears have fallen, and he goes, Your face is wet. Like, not like you're crying, you're emotional, your face is wet. And then she goes, and she just, you know, like agrees, and then he asks her to make the foamic soup again that he threw at her that morning.

SPEAKER_01 38:48

Hey baby, your face is wet. Go make me some soup.

SPEAKER_03 38:52

And I'm pretty sure if she could skip out the room like a seven-year-old, she would.

SPEAKER_01 38:57

Yeah. Suddenly it's just like, oh my god, he he desires something from me. Yes, I'm gonna make fun of Nurse Chapel in this moment. As much as I enjoy the character arc and the fact that it continues between episodes, come on.

SPEAKER_03 39:12

I do not like her hair this season, FYI.

SPEAKER_01 39:16

Okay, alright. Hold on. I'm gonna pen a note to the to the show. Change Nurse Chapel's hair style. Okay. O'Hura's is great. I'll put hold on. Don't change Ohura's hairstyle. Her cute little victory rolls. Okay, I don't have room on the note card for all of this. Oh, that's fine. We'll drop it in the mail.

SPEAKER_03 39:42

Thank you. So now we're all not all of us, but Kirk, Spock, and McCoy are in the turbo lift and they're going to the bridge. And they're Spock is telling them what they're going to be seeing on Vulcan because he left out a lot.

SPEAKER_01 39:58

You're gonna watch me bang. Come on. That's what we all think is gonna happen. We don't know that this ceremony is gonna happen. Spock hasn't explained it. All he says is, I need to go home and mate. Well, you want to watch? It's a ritual cloaked in antiquity. Call it what you will. I there's this there's we gotta keep it PG. Maybe we'll keep maybe hey, you know what? Join us on our Patreon for our Star Note bonus episode. We'll we'll uh we'll make it not PG.

SPEAKER_03 40:30

So, and he tells them that the male is able to bring his closest friends.

SPEAKER_01 40:36

Damn right he is.

SPEAKER_03 40:38

And so he asks Kirk, please come with me. And Kirk is like, oh, I'm honored. And then McCoy, who is just like, doo do-doo-do-doo, I'm just in the turbo lift. Uh, he says, Dr. McCoy, because they are on only doctor and last name, uh, I'd like you to join me too. And then Dr. McCoy says, I'd be honored. I thought that was really cute. Right. O'Hura has connected with Vulcan, and she's letting Kirk know that the channel is open. So Kirk introduces himself and Enterprise, and he'd like to, you know, orbit the planet, and the Vulcans welcome them there. And then next we see Tipring. And Spock has recited some like a poem, I'm presuming, that he has memorized. And then Tipring does the same.

SPEAKER_01 41:36

Yeah, I don't think it's a it's not a poem, it's more of a ritualistic greeting.

SPEAKER_03 41:42

Okay, well, it was kind of weird because they didn't say hi, they just said this thing.

SPEAKER_01 41:47

Right.

SPEAKER_03 41:48

And then uh click, she's gone. And then Ohura says, Oh, she's quite lovely. Who is she? And Spock goes, Oh, that's my wife.

SPEAKER_01 41:59

Silence. Silence. Nurse Chapel is upset. Spock is like, What do you want? She makes better soup than you, Chapel. Oh my.

SPEAKER_03 42:08

So now we're on Vulcan, and the three have been down to the planet, and they're walking this super long pathway that I mentioned earlier that reminded me of Lion King. And now they've entered this round ceremonial area, and Spock is ahead of them, of course, and he leaves Kirk and McCoy at the entrance. And they're like, What happens now? And they don't know. But boy, do they ask a ton of questions. Yes, they're trying to learn so they can support their boy. So Kirk also tells McCoy in the past, Vulcans have fought to the death for a mate. And McCoy's like, Oh, this atmosphere is super thin, and now I know why they call it the Vulcan heat.

SPEAKER_01 42:58

Yeah, they've fought to the death in the past. Let's just point that out for a moment. Yes, in the past. It was so barbaric in the past, guys. Like, you have no idea. We used to just beat the crap out of each other until one was dead.

SPEAKER_03 43:18

Implying that now it's just ceremony. Now it's just ceremony. So while they're chatting, we can hear, you know, like drums and bells and people are coming. And it's the marriage party. And so this is also when Spock tells Kirk and McCoy about how they were chosen as partners, that when they were seven, their parents had them like touch hands so that they'd be able to hear each other's thoughts. So that later in life this mental tie would have them both come together in a very special way.

SPEAKER_01 43:58

This ritual. Yeah, so okay, let's see how well that works out for everyone in a few minutes.

SPEAKER_03 44:05

So now the party has arrived and Kirk fanboys because we learn that the Vulcan leader, her name is Top, and she's the only person to turn down a seat in the Federation Council. And he's like, oh my gosh, oh my gosh. And we also see the the that very special hand sign that we all know with the split fingers. Yeah, Vulcan hand salute. Yes. And they both do it, and there's two gentlemen that are just shaking bells. That's all their job is. They are the bell ringers. It's kind of cheesy, but that's their job.

SPEAKER_01 44:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 44:49

And then Tip Pring comes, and then a super large Vulcan is behind her, and then more scary men are behind him. Tippao asks Spock who he brought, and then Spock introduces who they are. And then Ti Pow tells Kirk and McCoy that they're about to see a lot of wild things happening, but don't get overwhelmed. Of course, she says it in a very royal way.

SPEAKER_01 45:17

Yeah, in a very vague way.

SPEAKER_03 45:20

Yes, just like you know, Spock.

SPEAKER_01 45:22

And they even make Spock vouch for Kirk and McCoy, and is basically Spock has to say, like, no, I I pledge with my life that they will, as outsiders, respect our ways and not interfere.

SPEAKER_03 45:36

Yes, that is part of the deal for them coming. They uh they're special. So Spock then goes to the center of this ring where a giant jade-looking gong is hanging.

SPEAKER_01 45:51

That's right.

SPEAKER_03 45:52

And he's going to ring it. But before he can ring it, Taprine like jets over there and she is calling for a challenge.

SPEAKER_01 46:01

Yeah, she stops him from banging the gong and getting it on. She's like, You ain't gonna bang this gong, buddy.

SPEAKER_03 46:08

And so once she does that, Spock just like jets off the platform and goes into the corner and is like ringing his hands and his eyes are rolled up. He's super creepy, and he's in what Tapau calls red fever.

SPEAKER_01 46:24

Sure. Even though his blood is green, but whatever.

SPEAKER_03 46:28

But it burns from the flame. Sure. Well, he said that. But so now Taprin can have anyone fight Spock for herself. So she can decide who she wants to kill Spock so she can be that one's husband.

SPEAKER_01 46:44

Yeah, it's important to point out that the winner of this challenge is going to own her. She is going to belong to them. At least she gets a choice. And I and it's not so and it's definitely not on the same level of like slavery. It's not gonna be like ownership of her as a person, but it is definitely ownership of the relationship. She is going to have to marry that person.

SPEAKER_03 47:13

Yes, so either what your your parents chose at seven or what you chose now twenty years later.

SPEAKER_01 47:20

Right. So why are we even betrothing children if they get a chance to be like, nah, go fight for me.

SPEAKER_03 47:26

Well, that's why they're supposed to hear each other's thoughts and keep in touch, I guess.

SPEAKER_01 47:31

I guess.

SPEAKER_03 47:32

And so Taprine is like, I want that one. And she points at Kirk. And Kirk goes, I what? I what's happening?

SPEAKER_01 47:41

Right. And up until this point, Kirk and McCoy have not shut up. They have asked like 50 questions of like, what's this? What's that? Why are those two idiots ringing the bells? Why can't Spock bang the gong and get it on? What's happening? And they're standing directly in front of Tapao. Who is at least being nice and answering the questions? But it's like you guys on Spock's life promised to just shut up and not interfere. But the whole time they're just like, What? What?

SPEAKER_03 48:15

What? And it gets worse because Tapring chose Kirk. And then Spock like jumps out of whatever fever he was in, and he's like, TePao, Kirk doesn't know what he's getting into.

SPEAKER_01 48:28

And then Yeah, for the 50 million questions he's asked, no one's explained to him what's happening.

SPEAKER_03 48:34

And then Tap like talks to Spock and is like, I mean, are you sure you're worthy of this? I mean, you you are a half-breed. So are you gonna fight or are you gonna be a wimp? Oh, she called you a half-breed, bro. Come on. Yeah, because she says your blood is thin. Cause you know blood is supposed to be thicker than water. Whatever.

SPEAKER_01 48:59

Yes, that's the saying.

SPEAKER_03 49:01

And so as he's like talking that he is worthy, that giant Vulcan ties a purple sash around Spock's waist and forgets Kirk. And then the bells go jingle jingle really, really fast. Like, whoa, it's coming. And so McCoy is trying to talk Kirk out of this challenge. Um, because and Kirk is still a fan blowing over to Powell. He's like, Okay, I'll do it. Yeah, I'll do whatever you want, lady. And so he accepts the challenge, and the first weapon is called a Lurpa. I mean, I think Kirk presumed it was just like a hand-on-hand combat because McCoy was like, Can you take him? And he's like, I probably can. And then I'll knock him out and Spock can win, or something like that.

SPEAKER_01 49:49

Well, up until this point, again, we're super vague in the explanation to all of this, but at least up to this point when they're at this moment, it's been explained. Whoever wins, Kirk, Spock, you own to pring. You're gonna marry her. So why did Kirk accept the challenge?

SPEAKER_03 50:09

I think he really wanted to like pretend that he was harmed because he didn't know it was till the death.

SPEAKER_01 50:15

No, no, no. You are right. We have not covered that aspect of this bullshit ritual yet.

SPEAKER_03 50:21

Because if he let Spock win, then to pring would win, he would win to pring.

SPEAKER_01 50:26

That's my point, is well, I want to be respectful to the ceremony. Bro, if you win, you get to pring. So are you going so you either win and then you have to reject to pring because you can't marry her, and you've disrespected the ceremony. Or you throw the match so that Spock can win and win the girl, but you've then disrespected the ceremony because you've thrown the match. And if you get caught throwing the match, it's over. Big bad happens.

SPEAKER_03 50:54

So Tipau calls for the first weapon, which is the Lyrpa, and then she says, the next weapon, if they survive, is the on wound. And this is when Kirk actually like stops fanboying and says, if they survive, and then he learns that this is fight till the death. And now he's like, uh.

SPEAKER_01 51:14

Right. And again, why is Kirk doing this? Why doesn't he just beam away? Why doesn't he just take off?

SPEAKER_03 51:25

Now he's kind of stuck because once Tapao left, that's when Spock tried to kill him.

SPEAKER_01 51:31

Yeah. They went right after it. Yeah, Spock's like, I'm gonna kill something, I'm gonna have sex with something, and then my day's gonna be complete. And Kirk's like, I hope it's in that order.

SPEAKER_03 51:43

So the Lerpa is like a very it reminded me of the gladiators, the American Gladiators, when they try to hit each other off the tall, tiny off the tall landings with like what look like giant Q-tips.

SPEAKER_01 51:58

Yeah, you're thinking of the the gladiator tournament event, the joust.

SPEAKER_03 52:03

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 52:04

Great show. Go watch it. I'm very sad that the most recent reboot didn't get past the second season.

SPEAKER_03 52:10

Oh, I'll just I'll have to watch the new one.

SPEAKER_01 52:12

Yeah, it's great.

SPEAKER_03 52:14

So they but one side is actually a knife and the other is the q-tip. And it's super heavy. Like Kirk didn't expect the weight. But before long, uh Spock has already cut into Kirk's shirt and almost slices his chest open. Now he's bleeding, and we see nipples.

SPEAKER_01 52:35

And we see we see blood and we see nipples, and boy howdy is it fight night on Vulcan.

SPEAKER_03 52:41

And they do a really good fight. I think the videography and the choreography looks great.

SPEAKER_01 52:49

Right. It's almost as if you can't tell that it's Kirk's and Spock's stunt double.

SPEAKER_03 52:55

I didn't even think about that.

SPEAKER_01 52:56

Yeah, hold on. We're gonna pause so I can show Jackie that it is, in fact, their stunt double. But yes, and this we just came back and we just took a look at the fight scene again. Yeah, the scenes where they use the stunt doubles, they do good camera work and it's pulled back, and certainly for television and how clear television was in the late 60s, you wouldn't be able to tell.

SPEAKER_03 53:19

Well, the stunt doubles do really well with their fighting. And so McCoy during this whole time is freaking out about the air. And then so the first round has changed, and the giant Vulcan is now taking the Lyrpas and giving each one the on wound. And Kirk is like, what the heck do I do with this? Because it's like a giant, like half of a fire hose with balls on each end, just one. So they like wrap it around and use it like that. And McCoy is like, I can make it more even and helpful to Kirk if I give him this shot. No one asks what's in it.

SPEAKER_01 54:05

No, he tells them it's a triox compound. Well, he tells Kirk that. I think he tells that to to Pa too. I think he explains to her that it's a triox compound and it will allow him to better breathe in the thin atmosphere of Vulcan.

SPEAKER_03 54:21

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 54:21

We're gonna go with that because I don't want to go back and watch the scene again.

SPEAKER_03 54:25

Well, and then because like Kirk is like overacting at this point, I think, when he's like, Oh, I can't breathe.

SPEAKER_01 54:31

Right.

SPEAKER_03 54:32

But that oh well he's showing he cannot breathe. And he's like, sure, just shoot, you know, jab me up. So he's jabbed, and now Spock immediately throws Kirk onto the floor with his on moon, because he like wraps it around his legs, and then they're just running around each other trying to stay away from the uh moon. And as they are fighting, they're using it as a noose, even Spock is in it to win it. He almost burns Kirk in this fire pit, and I'm sorry, I also loved the beautiful trombone music at this point as Kirk dies.

SPEAKER_01 55:14

Yeah, this musical score is the fight music for Star Trek. This fight scene, this music is what people remember from this episode. This is kind of like if you go all the way back to Arena where Kirk is fighting the giant lizard. Yes, that scene is lampooned so many times and no one remembers the rest of the episode. This is very similar to that. Everyone remembers the fight scene in the music, and everyone lampoons this fight.

SPEAKER_03 55:44

Well, that makes sense. This is also the most action in the entire episode. But the uh this trombonist, uh, ten out of ten love him or her. But anyways, Kirk has now died, quote unquote. And McCoy pushes Spock off and is like, he's dead. And he calls immediately to Enterprise to take him away. But first, as we're waiting, he goes to Spock. You're now, you know, commanding officer, as awkward that that it is.

SPEAKER_01 56:19

Yeah, he's like, Hey, this was the shittiest bachelor's party I've ever been to. But you're in charge now, so figure it out.

SPEAKER_03 56:27

Yeah, what do I tell Chekhov to do now? And then Spock has Check tells McCoy to have Chekhov plot a course to the nearest star base because he's turning in himself for killing Kirk. So Kirk and McCoy have gone back to the Enterprise, and Spock is still on Vulcan, and now he goes to the pring and goes, Why why the challenge? Why with Kirk, my captain? And we learn that the big dude's name is Ston and he wanted her and she wanted him. And Spock's like, I don't see the logic in your decision.

SPEAKER_01 57:10

Yeah, why didn't why didn't you make me fight Stoon?

SPEAKER_03 57:15

And she's like, Well, if you are kind of a legend, so and I didn't want to be a legend's consort, you know, like just because. So if Kirk did win, he wouldn't choose her, so she'd have Ston. And if Spock won, they could be free from their duty with a divorce, and then she'd be with Ston. And if Spock refused to free her, he wouldn't be around anyway, so all of his property would still be hers, and she could be with Ston. Yeah, what a bitch.

SPEAKER_01 57:51

All flatlined, like she's female Spock. Yeah, she's just like, doesn't really matter what happened. I engineered this, so at the end of the day, I get all of your stuff, and I get to stoop my boyfriend. So what a bitch.

SPEAKER_03 58:08

Well, Spock praises her flawless logic. What a logical bitch. And he explains that actually having isn't as great as wanting. You know, you should probably understand that. And then he goes, peace, back to enterprise.

SPEAKER_01 58:24

Yeah, it's uh he's just he looks at he looks at uh the boyfriend and just goes, Good luck with this with this situation, dude. I hope it's worth it.

SPEAKER_03 58:34

And Son really is like this big booming, he kind of looks dumb and he has like a grumpy face on the whole time. Like he's constipated. Yeah. I mean, I guess she finds that sexy. But now we are on the Enterprise and in the sick bay, McCoy enters Chapel, and Spock be comes right in and he starts telling McCoy's plans. He will be resigning at his post. He will we will have Scotty take control of Enterprise, like we'll just take care of all this because I don't I did this all wrong. I I killed Kirk, and then while they're talking, uh Spock has his back towards like an entryway, like a door, and Kirk walks up behind him and he listens for a bit, and then after Kirk, after Spock has said all this, Kirk's like, shouldn't I be consulted first? And then Spock practically yells in happiness as he swing Kirk around gleefully, and then he's so glad that Kirk is uninjured, he lost his mask, and he's like, How are you alive?

SPEAKER_01 59:46

Yeah, he's like super exuberant and smiling and excited. Huge smile.

SPEAKER_03 59:51

Huge smile. And then he sees, of course, oh shoot, Miss Chapel and McCoy are still here, and he like goes back to normal while he while McCoy explains, well, I actually gave him a neural paralyzer instead of that triox compound. So he kind of died for a little bit.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:12

We knocked out your Romeo, Spock.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:15

And so Miss Chapel leaves the boys alone and McCoy, he's like, Oh, what happened when we left?

SPEAKER_01 1:00:21

You know, the girl. And Did you finally get to bang the gong?

SPEAKER_03 1:00:26

Well, they actually broke the gong when they were fighting. Okay, you ruined the joke. And Spock replies to like, once he learned that he killed Kirk, he no longer wanted to pring.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:38

Yeah, so literally killing your best friend fixed the pawn far.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:44

Uhura interrupts them with a message from Starfleet granting to Pau's request for them to go to Vulcan first and then to Altair Six. And Kirk's like, TePau is a quite powerful woman, isn't she?

SPEAKER_01 1:00:59

Yeah, I kind of liked that little toss-in at the end on how, hey, don't worry about the court martial, and specifically tying it to that character instead of just a comical, oh thank god they said we could go. I I really liked that. I like tying up that loose end.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:16

Well, it goes to show just how powerful she is in when she denied the Federation seat. Right. Like she's like big time. And then McCoy, you know, has they always go back and forth. McCoy, you know, ribs Spock if he was going to give a giant emotional display that Kirk was alive. And Spock states simply, you know, logical relief that Starfleet hadn't lost an important captain. Uh-huh. Sure. But Kirk and Spock then leave to mine the store, which I didn't understand. Stupid saying. And then McCoy is like, in a pig's eye.

Final Thoughts

SPEAKER_01 1:01:55

Right, and roll credits. So, Jackie, what are your final thoughts? What did you think about season two, episode one, Amuck Time?

SPEAKER_03 1:02:06

I mean, it's really good to learn more about the Vulcan side of a Spock, but like I said, it was so Vulcan heavy, and he's supposed to be like half. It would have been interesting to see more of like the human like fight inside, I guess. Like himself.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:27

Yeah, it well, and and they and they touch on that very briefly, talking Spox saying, Well, I thought I might not have to go through the pawn far because I'm half human and all of that. So, yeah, it was a little interesting to see that kind of tossed in briefly, but then boom, he's back into full Vulcan lust mode. And why was his hand shaking? I think that was just him trying to control all of these because it's hormonal, is what it has to be. Yeah, so he's literally got all of these hormones, adrenaline, all this stuff pumping through his body, and he's just like, I just gotta get home. And I don't want to die. Then I don't want it, and it literally would kill him.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:14

So well, I mean, overall, I liked it, and like I said, that trambutan solo, I still remember it, and it's absolutely beautiful.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:25

Yeah. Uh fantastic. One of my favorite musical scores is that fight scene again, mainly because it's so lampooned and it's so ingrained in pop culture, but it it's a good episode. It's entertaining, it talks a lot about the Vulcans, it portrays an alien species early in Star Trek that doesn't come across as, I'll just say, problematic. There's some episodes later that will show off some other alien species where you just kind of go, ugh. But at no point do you ever kind of look at this and go, no, this isn't Vulcan culture. At no point do I think either of us, in our knowledge of Star Trek, my knowledge and your knowledge, think to ourselves, this doesn't fit in the zeitgeist of what Vulcans are.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:18

No, it totally goes with what Spock has told us all along. These people are logical, they go by the rules, they have ceremony.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:28

Yes, I and they suppress their emotions as part of their own societal choices and how that society has evolved. So I think for that aspect, it's a fantastic episode. And yeah, I think it's entertaining. I do too.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:44

And I forgot to add though, I do not like the woman singing and the opening credits anymore.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:50

Okay, she ruined it. Sorry, we're gonna be stuck with that for a while. I'll fire the singing woman from the credits. I'll okay. Thanks. All right, and before we give our final quotes, just as a reminder, we will have our Star Note bonus episode posted over at our Patreon, patreon.com slash treks and tangents, where we'll dive into a deeper topic. This week's Star Note topic, I think, is going to be is the Vulcan marriage ritual necessary for pawn far? So join us over there. We'll have more talk about horny Vulcans and banging gongs, and yeah, we'll probably make this one a little bit more R-rated than other episodes because it's the topic. So, with that, don't forget to join us and Jackie round it out. What is your favorite quote from the episode?

SPEAKER_03 1:05:48

I'm gonna have to go with Tapao again and asking Spock. It is said thy Vulcan blood is thin. She's telling Spock. Are the Vulcan or are the The human. So at this time she's telling him, prove, prove that you are a Vulcan and take up the challenge. I mean, I just like it because we have to see Spock think about it. And then I mean he keeps he prides himself in being a Vulcan. And this is kind of his way of proving, I think, to himself also that he is worthy of being with these people.

Tribble Tidbits

SPEAKER_01 1:06:26

All right. My favorite quote comes from the scene in Spock's quarters where Spock finally opens up to Captain Kirk and kind of explains what is happening. And Spock says, The birds and the bees are not Vulcans, Captain. Again, it's just it's a great scene. We talked about it earlier in the episode. It's well shot, it's great dialogue where it is being taken seriously for an episode that goes kind of off the rails toward the end. So that's gonna be my favorite quote just because it is from that scene that I like so much. But now we have a few fun tribble tidbits or interesting facts about the episode. And why do we call them triple tidbits, Jackie? Because they are fantastic. Because tribals can be both fun or not. First airing September 15, 1967. This is, of course, going to be the first appearance of the Vulcan hand salute. It is iconic within Star Trek. There is a lot of history behind it. Leonard Nimoy is the actor who comes up with it. Dive deeper as you should with any of these episodes that you like. We're just scratching the surface. But the actress who plays to Paw, which is, and I'm gonna screw this one up, Celia Lovsky was unable to form the salute naturally on her own. I think throughout pop culture, we've met someone who's a Star Trek fan, but they can't make their hand do the Vulcan hand salute. Me, Jackie. And so her fingers are taped together at the end when she raises her hands. It's taped together and she just has it placed on the armrest. So if you watch closely, she raises her arm and the fingers are already in that position. It also is probably the explanation that in previous shots she's wearing a ring on that hand, and in the shot where she's giving the hand salute, she's not wearing a ring. So the Romulan helmets from Balance of Terror, of course, are the same as worn by some of the marriage party Vulcans. The reason was the same. It allowed the production to save money and not put fake ears on every Vulcan. Walter Koenig, who is the actor who plays Chekhov, we mentioned, wears a wig and has longer hair, and is in specifically cast as a younger actor because the show is trying to at this point appeal to a younger audience. He is wearing this hairstyle. He's trying to appear as one of the musicians from the band The Monkeys. Oh my gosh, that's hilarious. When his hair finally grows long enough, the wig disappears. I can't wait for that. The child actress who is posing for the still image of Te Prig that Spock is looking at in his quarters. She's fun fact, it's a side profile, so she was only wearing one pointed ear, so that saves money for the show. But at the time that they were shooting this uh photo of her, she had the chicken pox.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:39

Oh.

Episode Ranking

SPEAKER_01 1:09:40

And the actress as she grew up and gave fan interviews and so forth, mentioned that she remembered that having the chicken pox, she was miserable and so and wasn't feeling well. That led to, she believes the image making her look so serious and having that Vulcan aura because as a person she was not happy to be doing it. Thanks, chicken pox. The city of Shikar is seen in the background of that scene where the marriage ceremony site is on the plateau with those two land bridges. That city in the background is Spock's home city. Again, when this aired in 1967, we did not have this scene in the episode. The first time that audiences would have seen Spock's hometown was in the animated episode yesteryear. And then when they remastered the show, they added this scene and they made sure to add Spock's home city. And finally, the statue in Spock's Quarters that we mentioned sometimes was blinking, sometimes was smoking, sometimes was blinking, is later retconned and is named Sharil and is the Vulcan death god. So they went back and they actually gave it a reason to be in Spox Quarters and tie it to Vulcan culture. And yes, I know I butchered the name. That's just how we go. But those are gonna be your triple tidbits. And this is of course where we're gonna share our episode ranking where we pretend the episode is a member of our crew for our fictitious starship, and we assign them a rank based on how not only entertained we were when we watched the episode, but how important we think they would be as a crew member to our ship. A higher rank means that we find the episode more entertaining, but more importantly, more valuable to our ship. And a lower rank means we weren't as entertained and they're a more disposable member of our ship. We're keeping the same ranking system from the first season. We're gonna keep the same ranks throughout the series, and we'll change the ranks to reflect the series. So we have our enlisted members starting at the bottom. Our first rank is ensign, lieutenant junior grade, and lieutenant. We can have an unlimited number of crew members at those ranks, and our officers we limit to lieutenant commander, seven, commander, five. We can have one captain, and we can have one overarching best episode of the season as an admiral. If none of that makes sense, we will post a graphical representation of our ranking system over at our Patreon, patreon.com slash treks and tangents, on Wednesday, the day after this episode goes live, and it is free for everyone to view. But Jackie, it's the first episode of the season. So we retired our starships from the last season. She was a good one. Our new starships need names. So what is gonna be the name of your starship for season two of the original series?

SPEAKER_03 1:12:49

Season two will be the USS Luminara. Alright. Any reason? I think it sounds a little more fancy because we're going up in our fanciness.

SPEAKER_01 1:13:03

Alright, so for the USS Luminara, what rank do you give this week's episode?

SPEAKER_03 1:13:12

I'm going to just start off in the middle and give it the nice lieutenant spot.

SPEAKER_01 1:13:19

Lieutenant, so the top of the enlisted. Why that rank?

SPEAKER_03 1:13:24

I mean, while I learned a lot about Vulcans and I saw a great death scene and that beautiful music. I don't know, I just kind of there's something missing, you know, like that human side, I guess, is what I'm missing. Like a full story.

SPEAKER_01 1:13:39

Alright. For me, my season two original series Starship is going to be the USS Comet spelled with a K, named after the minor league hockey team, the Fort Wayne Comets. No other explanation. Fantastic hockey team. That's okay. Comets are also in the sky. That's right. It is space related. I've been a big fan of that hockey team for many, many, many years, so that is going to be my season two ship. Go, Penguins. This is why we keep a divorce lawyer on retainer during the Stanley Cup. And for my starship this week's episode, I kind of waffled between commander and lieutenant commander. It it is an iconic episode. You have to go and give it an officer's rank, I think. But I don't really know if it holds up to a commander rank. I'll put it this way, it's gonna come down to how entertaining I was. I have the sense of humor that I can just laugh at horny Spock the entire time. So it was a very entertaining episode. We're gonna give it the rank of commander.

SPEAKER_03 1:14:51

Yes, I see.

Turbolift Tease

SPEAKER_01 1:14:51

Horny Spock all over your notes. That's right. It's just everywhere. So that is gonna be the first rank of the season for us. As of this recording over at IMDB, Amok Time is ranked 8.6 out of 10. It's gonna be one of the top ranked episodes this season. But that's gonna wrap up our ranking for this episode, and we're going to take it out with our turboliftees as we always do. This is where we'll give Jackie the title of next week's episode, and Jackie, without any other information, is going to try to guess the plot of the episode. So, Jackie, next week's episode is entitled Who Mourns for Adonis?

SPEAKER_03 1:15:37

Alright, the Enterprise is receiving a distress call from a planet that is not on their way to wherever they were supposed to go, and they have to debate whether or not they go and help this planet or ignore them and keep going to their final destination.

SPEAKER_01 1:16:01

And tune in next week to see how accurate Jackie's TurboLiftes is. But if you want more show information, you can find and directly support our podcast on Patreon at patreon.com/slash Trucks and Tangents. Again, we post our bonus Star Note episode and our graphical ranking representation for free for anyone who wants to follow our Patreon. We also have posted there our deeper dive into Star Trek the Animated series for our crew members who support our Patreon. We post those every fourth Friday of the month. We have all of our test episodes posted there for anyone who supports the Patreon to listen to, where we started going into SG1 and Fringe to kind of work out the bugs to the podcast. And hopefully we'll have some more stuff added this season to that. So go check it out if you want to support us. Again, you can follow us on x.com at treks underscore tangents. We're also on Instagram and Blue Sky at Treks and Tangents. But Jackie, where can people find you and what are you up to?

SPEAKER_03 1:17:05

I'm really focusing on Instagram at the moment at jaboomjb o M. It's kind of slow at the moment because I have a lot going on on the outside, but check it out. And I mean, I always am looking for followers because my goal this year is to get to a thousand.

SPEAKER_01 1:17:26

And you can watch me stream a variety of video games over at twitch.tv slash piratepoundtown. On YouTube I post video games and other random content on my main channel, PiratePoundtown. My secondary YouTube channel for coin collecting and hobby content is Pirate Treasure Hunting. And I post socially on Blue Sky at PiratePoundtown. And you can occasionally catch me over on Instagram under Pineapple Cannibal. Links to all social media mentioned can be found in the episode description. Thank you everyone for tuning in to this week's episode. We hope you had fun like we did, and we will see you all next week.

SPEAKER_03 1:18:01

Be sure to not break your gong. End transmission