History Recap / StarTrekS2E1AmokTime

* TheBadGuyWins: T'Pring isn't a villain ''per se'', but she's nonetheless the instigator of the episode's conflict, and gets exactly what she wants. Though, it is possible that her invoking of an ancient, pre-Surakian custom would have made her a social pariah. Then again, the whole ''koon-ut-kal-if-fee'' ceremony is pre-Surakian, which is one reason it's so damned embarrassing.

* BitchInSheepsClothing: T'Pring. Granted, being married to a guy who you haven't seen in years would be potentially trying, but Vulcans have come to expect it. She is willing to force a fight between two best friends, one of whom is completely ignorant of what she is asking and the other of whom possibly has no more control over the ArrangedMarriage than she does.

[[caption-width-right:512:"As it was in the dawn of our days, as it is today, as it will be for all tomorrows, I make my choice. This one!''"]]

* XanatosGambit: Even if Kirk had refused the challenge, or Spock had won but still been willing to go through with marrying her, her husband's Starfleet position would mean that he'd be gone most of the time, leaving her free to have an affair with Stonn in his absence (of course, it is shown that Spock would probably have killed himself if Kirk had died in the duel, leaving her free to marry again, but she couldn't have known that); at a minimum, she's no worse off than she was to start with. Spock himself acknowledges the logic of her plan, even while personally repelled by it.

[[caption-width-right:512:some caption text]]
[[caption-width-right:320:''"As it was in the dawn of our days, as it is today, as it will be for all tomorrows, I make my choice. This one!''"]]

[[quoteright:320:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/amok_time_5381.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:320:''"As it was in the dawn of our days, as it is today, as it will be for all tomorrows, I make my choice. This one.''"]]

* DeathWorld: Vulcan is quite inhospitable to humans, to the point that "hot as Vulcan" has become a common saying. [=McCoy=] brings this up when arguing for the right to give Kirk something to compensate (though here he’s just trying to save Kirk’s life by giving him a neuroparalyzer to simulate death).

* DeathWorld: Vulcan is quite inhospitable to humans, to the point that "hot as Vulcan" has become a common saying. [=McCoy=] brings this up when arguing for the right to give Kirk something to compensate.

** T'Pring's is also implied to be one. It seems that the initial plan was for her to choose Stonn, and then Stonn and Spock would fight over her in full accordance with Vulcan tradition. Upon seeing Spock bring two humans with him, one the Captain of ''Enterprise'', she gets a better idea: make Spock and Kirk fight each other, and no matter who wins, [[XanatosGambit neither one will want her, and she is free to be with Stonn at zero risk to him]]. ([[BoldlyComing Though she may have underestimated Kirk's interest in nonhuman females]].)

* BladeOnAStick: The ''lirpa'' is basically a quarterstaff with a semi-circular blade on one end and a bludgeoning weight on the other.

It turns out that Spock has hit that time in his life where as a Vulcan, he needs to return home and mate. If he can't, the massively elevated levels of adrenaline and other hormones will kill him within a week. [[note]] As he is half human he had hoped he would be spared from this. It is implied he already has had it delayed. [[/note]] Kirk, sympathetic, tries to talk to Starfleet about a quick detour to Vulcan, but his refusal to go into Vulcan reproductive habits [[note]]Which does bring up the question of why no one in the Federation didn't know about them until now, what with Vulcans being one of the ''founding members'' of the organization and all. Maybe the Vulcans, obsessed as they are with the Stoic personas, refused to reveal this major AchillesHeel...[[/note]] doesn't convince them. [[ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight Kirk, having made his own assessment of the situation, decides they can do without the Enterprise for a bit and heads to Vulcan anyway.]]

** Poor communication also almost killed Kirk in this episode. Would it have hurt T'Pau to tell him that the fight was a [[InvoluntaryBattletotheDeath death match]] ''before'' he signed up? Maybe she assumed that, since Spock apparently trusts these two enough to bring them with him, they do know the details... Or may be she just doesn't care either way.

It turns out that Spock has hit that time in his life where as a Vulcan, he needs to return home and mate. If he can't, the massively elevated levels of adrenaline and other hormones will kill him within a week. [[note]]As he is half human he had hoped he would be spared from this. It is implied he already has had it delayed.[[\note]] Kirk, sympathetic, tries to talk to Starfleet about a quick detour to Vulcan, but his refusal to go into Vulcan reproductive habits [[note]]Which does bring up the question of why no one in the Federation didn't know about them until now, what with Vulcans being one of the ''founding members'' of the organization and all. Maybe the Vulcans, obsessed as they are with the Stoic personas, refused to reveal this major AchillesHeel...[[/note]] doesn't convince them. [[ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight Kirk, having made his own assessment of the situation, decides they can do without the Enterprise for a bit and heads to Vulcan anyway.]]

It turns out that Spock has hit that time of the decade where Vulcans need to return home and mate. If he can't, the massively elevated levels of adrenaline and other hormones will kill him within a week. Kirk, sympathetic, tries to talk to Starfleet about a quick detour to Vulcan, but his refusal to go into Vulcan reproductive habits [[note]]Which does bring up the question of why no one in the Federation didn't know about them until now, what with Vulcans being one of the ''founding members'' of the organization and all. Maybe the Vulcans, obsessed as they are with the Stoic personas, refused to reveal this major AchillesHeel...[[/note]] doesn't convince them. [[ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight Kirk, having made his own assessment of the situation, decides they can do without the Enterprise for a bit and heads to Vulcan anyway.]]

Once at Vulcan, Spock introduces the crew to T'Pring, his wife-to-be, and offers an invitation to both Kirk and [=McCoy=](?) to the wedding ceremony. Arriving at Spock's ancestral home, they learn that T'Pau, ''the'' face of Vulcan, and the only person ever to decline a seat on the Federation council, is overseeing the proceedings. Then T'Pring throws a spanner in the works by invoking a rule allowing her to refuse her husband-to-be unless he proves his worth by fighting a champion of her choice -- and she chooses Kirk. Although he is offered an opportunity to decline, since he's not a Vulcan and needn't be bound by Vulcan law, Kirk accepts, intending to either knock Spock out or find a way of taking a dive. It's only after he's accepted that anybody thinks to mention that the fight is -- of course -- to the ''death''. A protracted fight scene between the two friends ends with Spock seemingly killing Kirk after [=McCoy=] gives him something to help fight in the more hostile environment of the planet.

* AFriendInNeed: Kirk is patient with Spock's antics while in ''pon farr''. Later, he sacrifices his command to save him (and almost sacrifices his life). His reason why? "He's my friend."

* TheBeCarefulSpeech: [=McCoy=] tells Kirk to "be careful" as he enters the second round against Spock.
-->'''Kirk''': [[DeadpanSnarker Sound medical advice.]]

-->'''[=McCoy=]''': As strange as it may seem, Mister Spock, you're in command now. [[SarcasmMode Any orders?]]
-->'''Spock''': Yes. I'll follow you up in a few minutes. You will instruct Mister Chekov to plot a course for the nearest Starbase where I must surrender myself to the authorities.

** In return, Spock humiliates himself in front of [[GrandeDame T'Pau]], the woman Kirk referred to as "all of Vulcan wrapped up in one package", by begging her to keep Kirk out of the ''kal-i-fee''. T'Pau throws it back in his face with a few insults about his humanness, and it still isn't enough to stop him. As much as he fears breaking the taboo against emotions in front of his people, he fears more that Kirk will die if he doesn't attempt to save him.

* TheBadGuyWins: T'Pring isn't a villain ''per se'', but she's nonetheless the instigator of the episode's conflict, and gets exactly what she wants. Though, it is possible that her invoking of an ancient, Pre-Surakian custom would have made her a social pariah.

-->'''[=McCoy=]''': Of course, Mr. Spock, [[SarcasmMode your reaction was quite logical]]. ...[[{{Not}} In a pig's eye!]]

* ComfortFood: For Spock, plomeek soup.

* DutchAngle: Canted camera work appears soon after the three heroes arrive for the wedding, focusing on the Vulcans. It serves to show just how unbalanced Vulcans in ''ponn farr'' become.

* EngagementChallenge: Well, sort of. A Vulcan bride can make her husband-to-be fight a challenger to win her, a remnant of the past when Vulcan men fought each other for mates before the whole process became cloaked in ritual and tradition (and as much logic as possible when ''pon farr'' is involved). And it may be that the "property of the victor" clause is a consequence of invoking this ancient and little-used tradition.

* HeroicBSOD: Spock breaks after the ''koon-ut-kalifee'', realizing he has killed [[TheNotLoveInterest his Captain.]]

** Before that, he chases Nurse Chapel out of his quarters, hurling the soup she made for him against the wall.

* LivingLegend: T'Pring tells Spock that he's too famous for her when explaining her rejection.

* MindlinkMates: Spock had a mindlink placed in him as part of an ArrangedMarriage when he was a child. This mindlink was suspiciously easily overcome. Ted Sturgeon's idea was that ''pon farr'' was relieved either by having sex or engaging in mortal combat. This would dissolve the mind link because it would no longer be needed. Spock is cured when he believes he has been in and won a fight to the death. In the novel ''The Vulcan Academy Murders'', Spock reveals to his father Sarek that he'd attempted to reach T'Pring via this mindlink in order to try and quell his madness. However, he wasn't able to, and later realized that she'd rejected him so thoroughly that the link was all but gone anyway.
* MoreDeadlyThanTheMale: While Stonn would presumably have thrown his all into the ''kal-i-fee'', his girlfriend proves to be the far greater danger.
* MortonsFork: When Spock confronts T'Pring after killing Kirk, she explained that by selecting Kirk she kept Stonn out of harms way while hoping Spock would be so disgusted with her actions he would release her from the marriage. Of the many possible outcomes, her worst case scenario was to still be wed to Spock but as he would be gone on Starfleet duties she would have ample opportunity to remain with Stonn. All other outcomes, including Spock's death and Kirk would naturally reject her, would allow her to safely be with Stonn anyway.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Spock, believing that he has murdered Kirk, loses his will to live.

* PleaseSpareHimMyLiege: Spock begs T'Pau to block Kirk from the ''Kal-i-fee''. She throws it back in his face with a few insults about his [[HalfBreedDiscrimination humanness]].

*** This gets dissected and analyzed in a monumental FanFic series, Jacqueline Lichtenberg's ''[[http://www.simegen.com/fandom/startrek/kraith/ Kraith]]''. In the ''Kraith'' novel ''[[http://www.simegen.com/fandom/startrek/kraith/kc002/kc02_01.html#FEDERATION Federation Centennial]]'', we learn that Vulcan has been trying for decades to get Starfleet to make a new regulation to grant home leave to Vulcans who request it, no questions asked.

* RememberTheNewGuy: Chekov is introduced as already an established crew member, though there's some odd close-up camerawork to make sure we know he's not just another one-off co-pilot for Sulu.

* RepressionNeverEndsWell: Vulcans suffer from an intense mating drive, coupled with a total loss of control, every seven years. While this might appear to be just BizarreAlienBiology, Dr. [=McCoy=] theorizes that the race pays for their complete repression the rest of the decade with this madness. Given that Romulans (Vulcans who split off from the planet when emotional repression became the norm) are never mentioned as suffering from ponn farr, he may have a point.

* CoolOldLady: T'Pau is an ''archetype''. Few television shows ''ever'' have portrayed a woman of such advanced age (according to canon, she's 145, with Celia Lovsky herself being 70 at the time) in such an exalted position of power -- aside from UsefulNotes/QueenVictoria or [[UsefulNotes/HMTheQueen her descendants]]. You're looking at the gal who once told the Federation Council what they could do with their invitation, and who with a simple phone call to Starfleet Command saved Kirk from getting busted down to Spaceman Third Class for his hijacking of the Big E to take Spock home. ''[[NeverMessWithGranny All of Vulcan in one package.]]''

-->'''[=McCoy=]''': As strange as it may seem, Mister Spock, you're in command now. Any orders?

** Of course, since the entire duel was in accordance with Vulcan tradition and thus perfectly legal, there is a possibility that Spock can't be held responsible for Kirk's death. After all, considering Spock's mental condition at the time,Kirk was the only one of the pair who was legally responsible for his own actions, and he had agreed without coercion - in fact, almost everyone else (including Spock) had asked him not to do it.

* DueToTheDead: Me TV rescheduled this episode to play in the wake of Creator/LeonardNimoy's death. While the previously scheduled [[Recap/StarTrekS1E24ThisSideOfParadise "This Side of Paradise"]] did also focus on Spock, this episode explored his character just a bit more.

* MindlinkMates: Spock had a mindlink placed in him as part of an ArrangedMarriage when he was a child. This mindlink was suspiciously easily overcome. Ted Sturgeon's idea was that ''pon farr'' was relieved either by having sex or engaging in mortal combat. This would dissolve the mind link because it would no longer be needed. Spock is cured when he believes he has been in and won a fight to the death. In the novel "The Vulcan Academy Murders", Spock reveals to his father Sarek that he'd attempted to reach T'Pring via this mindlink in order to try and quell his madness. However, he wasn't able to, and later realized that she'd rejected him so thoroughly that the link was all but gone anyway.

* WomanScorned: T'Pring and Spock were bonded at seven. They should have been mated at eighteen - that's right, T'Pring has been waiting ''twenty years'' for her wedding night - instead Spock humiliates her by putting off their consummation and, according to D.C. Fontana's novel ''Vulcan's Glory'' (which considering her Creator status should count at least as WordOfDante) tries to buy her off by announcing their marriage but paying the "bride price"[[note]]Once a marriage is announced, the groom must make monthly payments to the bride's family. T'Pring has been extracting huge amounts of money from Spock for years -- even though her family is also rich and she doesn't need it.[[/note]] until ''pon farr'' forces them to go through with it. Is it any wonder she wants him dead?

* AbsenteeActor: Scotty does not appear in this episode, although Spock briefly speaks of him.