T'Pring — justifiably angry Woman Scorned or nasty, manipulative villainess? On the one hand, one might expect she and Spock should have been married before now, which could have been embarrassing for her, and her affair with Stonn could be seen as an attempt to get the affection and positive treatment she isn't getting from her betrothed. However, we never find out why Spock shows such reluctance to marry her, leaving open the possibility that she provoked this coldness, nor does the viewer ever find out if Spock has power to cancel the wedding that she doesn't or is just as much a victim of the Arranged Marriage as she is.
Related to this, what were her reasons for preferring Stonn to Spock? She says that she didn't want to be the consort of a Living Legend and that she "wanted" Stonn. Did she have any other reasons (Resentment? Fantastic Racism? Simple carnal desire?) and what were they?
Spock's brief interaction with Christine Chapel when she comes to tell him the news can be construed as more or less romantic depending on perspective. On the one hand, Spock says he had a dream about her (at a time when his biology is focusing all his attention on his wife-to-be) and he makes a cryptic comment about the illogic of "protest[ing] against our natures", which could imply he has feelings for her that he's repressing due to his engagement. On the other hand, his "dream" could have been the half-sane Spock mistaking the waking reality of her appearing to talk to him as a sleeping vision, and his comment could be a gentle way of trying to tell her their natures wouldn't permit a successful relationship.
When Spock tells T'Pau that he will "do neither [live long or prosper]", did he mean he was suicidal or did he expect to suffer Death by Despair over Kirk's murder? (Note that he wouldn't be expecting execution; "The Menagerie" established that the Talos IV travel ban was the only Federation law carrying the death penalty.)
Just how oblivious was T'Pau to the "neural paralyzer" scam? While the episode could support the interpretation that McCoy fooled her, at least one fan suggested that she knew McCoy was pulling something and let him get away with it because she was secretly disgusted by T'Pring's scheme but had no legal recourse to prevent it. For that matter, how long did it take her (or anyone else in the wedding party, for that matter) to work out T'Pring's exact motive for choosing a man she'd just met and presumably knows next to nothing about as an alternative husband? Vulcans are stereotypically the collective Smart Guy of the Federation, after all.
Angst? What Angst?: Kirk and Spock are both awfully calm after their reunion considering that Spock almost killed Kirk.
This episode is widely acknowledged as the original wellspring for the phenomenon of Slash Fic between Kirk and Spock, and therefore for Slash Fic as an entire phenomenon. (See Ho Yay below.)
Fanfics have been penned on how young Spock and T'Pring felt about the Arranged Marriage and how Kirk and Spock coped with the aftermath of the kal-i-fee.
When Stonn says "The woman is —" is he about to say mine, or pregnant? Some fans decided it was "pregnant", by Stonn himself. Years later Arlene Martel revealed that she had been playing T'Pring as trying to conceal a pregnancy (see Throw It In, Trivia).
Heartwarming Moments: Oh, yes. This is practically a Crowning Episode of Heartwarming.
T'Pring's Xanatos Gambit comes off as worse than before once you've read Spock's World and Vulcan's Glory by D.C. Fontana.
DC's Star Trek reveals in one story arc that Spock's warning to Stonn comes to pass: His relationship with T'Pring ultimately implodes, and they wind up divorced with an unruly daughter over whom Stonn has custody (whom he is perfectly happy to abandon to her fate when she ruffles feathers with local authorities). And then Stonn dies of a heart ailment by the arc's end, ruining months of Federation negotiations.
It also makes Spock's outburst towards Chapel in the beginning, when she brings him the plomeek soup, all the more painful - not just because of the length of their friendship, but even in the words he shouts at her, remembering the circumstances of their prior fling.
Ho Yay: Kirk and Spock's infamous fight scene, and the obvious affection. To the point where The Ship's Closet host Brittany needed a two-part special to cover all the gayness. For the record, D.C. Fontana hotly denies that any of the gay "subtext" seen by viewers yearning for canon slash was ever intended or written in deliberately by the dozen or so writers who worked on this episode. She said the conflict was meant to be between Spock's Vulcan and Terran sides, as he struggled to maintain a facade of normality while being torn apart from the inside by forces he could not control. Nimoy was not portraying Spock as battling an instinct to rape Kirk; he was making an effort not to kill him, seize control of the ship, or go into convulsions and die.
The episode tries to wring tension from two main characters' possible deaths (and the supposed death of one). Given that the show is from the era of strict Status Quo Is God, the ending is never in doubt.
Also, Kirk sacrifices his career to save Spock. Yeah, that'll stick.
Sacred Cow: While not considered the best episode of the Original Series (that is universally held to be "The City on the Edge of Forever", also a Sacred Cow), "Amok Time" is still widely considered one of the best (usually in the top 3), and the best Spock-centric one.
Signature Scene: Kirk and Spock's duel, especially for the accompanying score.
to cover all the gayness. For the record, D.C. Fontana hotly denies