History Recap / StarTrekS2E1AmokTime

* JerkInSheepsClothing: 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. She does this over a guy who she only chose because of his docility, according to the original script.

* {{Bowdlerize}}: The German dub infamously completely changed the plot to remove all sexual references, due to WhatDoYouMeanItsNotForKids

** Poor communication also almost killed Kirk in this episodes. Would it have hurt T'Pau to tell him that the fight was a [[InvoluntaryBattletotheDeath death match]] ''before'' he signed up?

** Poor communication also almost killed Kirk in this episodes. Would it have hurt T'Pau to tell him that the fight was a [[InvoluntaryFighttotheDeath death match]] ''before'' he signed up?

With the shock of killing his best friend acting like a bucket of cold water on the horny Vulcan, Spock orders Kirk's body and [=McCoy=] back to the ship while he confronts T'Pring on her choice; turns out, T'Pring hated the idea of marrying for money and fame, and fell in love with a more obscurely-known Vulcan male named Stonn, and arranged everything so that, [[XanatosGambit regardless of the outcome, she'd be able to stay with Stonn]] (even though, logically, her plan could've been derailed if Kirk either took her as his lover, like the player we know him to be, or, y'know, ''refused the challenge'', as he's informed he could by T'Pau, before he learned of the "battle to the death" thing). Satisfied, Spock leaves the crafty bitch with her lover, and returns to the ''Enterprise'' to turn himself in for murder.

* XanatosGambit: Even if Kirk had refused the challenge, or had won and claimed T'Pring as his wife, 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; 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.

* XanatosGambit: Even if Kirk had refused the challenge or Spock had still been willing to go through with marrying T'Pring, Spock's Starfleet position meant that he'd be gone most of the time, leaving her free to have an affair with Stonn in his absence; 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.

Series:Main/{{Star Trek The Original Series}}\\

Such an infamous episode and no recap? For shame, Tropers!

* ThrowItIn: The Vulcan salute makes its first appearance in this episode. LeonardNimoy came up with it on set.

* HoYay: Kirk and Spock's infamous fight scene, and the obvious affection.

* XanatosGambit: Even if Kirk had refused the challenge or Spock had still been willing to go through with marrying T'Pring, Spock's Startfleet position meant that he'd be gone most of the time, leaving her free to have an affair with Stonn in his absence; 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.

* IndyPloy: [=McCoy=] improvises a way to keep Kirk and Spock from killing each other pretty much on the spot and with no opportunity to discuss it with anyone else.

No, I'm not kidding; it turns out that Spock has hit that time of the decade where Vulcans need to mate, lest their suddenly raging hormones kill them. Yeah, I don't get it, either. Kirk, sympathetic, tries to talk to Starfleet about a quick detour to Vulcan, but his refusal to go into Vulcan reproductive habits (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, I have no idea) doesn't convince them. So, like a good, dutiful little captain, Kirk...disobeys orders and heads to Vulcan, anyway.

So, par for the course, I guess.

* PoorCommunicationKills: Spock would literally rather die than have the problem explained to Starfleet Command.

* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: Spock warns Stonn that he may find that "having is not so pleasing a thing, after all, as wanting."

* Ho Yay: Kirk and Spock's infamous fight scene, and the obvious affection.

But wait! Turns out, Kirk isn't dead! Yes, the substance [=McCoy=] gave him during the battle was actually some AppliedPhlebotinum which allowed Kirk to simulate death. The episode ends with Spock barely catching himself from having a joygasm over Kirk's survival, and Kirk and [=McCoy=] having a good tease over it. Meanwhile, T'Pau covers for Kirk's shenanigans, saving him from another court martial.