History Recap / StarTrekS2E1AmokTime

* WorstWeddingEver: Spock has to go through with a childhood betrothal to T'Pring. T'Pring does not love Spock, and uses the ancient Rite of Challenge to either kill Spock (so that she could be with her lover Stonn) or have Spock win (in which case he would either reject her and she could be with Stonn, or go through with the marriage and she would still be with Stonn because of Spock's career keeping him off-world).

!!Tropes:

* WeddingDay: Well, kind of.

* {{Bowdlerize}}: The German dub infamously completely changed the plot to remove all sexual references, as over there, they think ''Star Trek'' is a kids' show. As a result, the entire episode plays out as if the whole thing was just a dream, which is kind of a screw to the audience if you've ever seen the episode as it was in America. In the 90s, a correct dub of the episode was finally released.

** 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, [[XantaosGambit 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]].)

* 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.

--> [[http://vakarangi.blogspot.com/2013/08/but-what-about-sex-amok-time.html Josh Marsfelder]]: Topping it all off is the mythically good performance of Austrian actor Celia Lovsky as T'Pau, “the only person to ever refuse a seat on the Federation council”. Lovsky has a black hole level of gravity and utterly owns every single scene she's in. She, more than anyone else in the production, completely throws herself at the ancient, ritualistic pageantry of the setting and sells every iota of it. When William Shatner-as-Kirk expresses has awe at being in her presence, we believe it.

* DueToTheDead: Me TV rescheduled this episode to play in the wake of Leonard Nimoy'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.

** Kirk sacrifices his career to save Spock. He gets it back, [[LikeYouWouldReallyDoIt of course]], but he didn't know that that would happen.

* ArrangedMarriage: Spock and T'Pring.

* BigNo: ''"Spock! NO!!!"'' Shouted by an utterly terrified [=McCoy=], when a ''pon farr''-riddled Spock comes this close to beheading his captain.

* DeathWorld: Vulcan is quite inhospitable to humans, to the point that "hot as Vulcan" has become a common saying.
* DidNotSeeThatComing: [=McCoy=]. T'Pring never mentioned him when explaining her plan to Spock, and Spock invited him as a friend, not as backup. Nonetheless, he's single-handedly responsible for the episode's HappyEnding.
* DontMakeMeDestroyYou: Not directed at Kirk himself, but on the verge of losing his sanity Spock practically begs T'Pau not to let him go through with the fight, as he does not want to kill his best friend.

* EasilyForgiven: In spite of Spock's attempt to murder him, Kirk is back to their [[HeterosexualLifePartners regular]] [[TheNotLoveInterest relationship]] by the end of the episode.

* ExactWords[=/=]LoopholeAbuse: Spock attempts to use this on [=McCoy=], saying that the Captain told him to "report to Sick Bay", and now that he has done so, he intends to leave. [[RealityEnsues [=McCoy=] doesn't buy it, countering that he (obviously) has orders to give Spock a medical checkup.]]

* MateOrDie: Bones speculates that this is the price Vulcans pay for keeping their emotions bottled up the rest of the time. Ultimately {{Subverted}}, however, as (seemingly) killing Kirk snaps Spock out of it.
** The dialog reveals that ''pon farr'' has a number of effects. Spock explains it in terms of natal homing. On Vulcan, Kirk says ''koon ut kal-if-fee'' is "marriage or challenge" because Vulcans once killed to win their mates. [=McCoy=] says "They still go mad at this time", indicating the involuntary loss of emotional control, not just a mating drive, is the "price".
* 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.

* PetTheDog: T'Pau comes across as cold and [[FantasticRacism a touch xenophobic]], but she saves Kirk's career by sending a request to Starfleet for the Enterprise to go to Vulcan.

* SeriesContinuityError: T'Pau is shown to speak unaccented English in the [[Series/StarTrekEnterprise prequel series]].
** Kara Zedicker, who played young T'Pau, modeled herself closely on Celia Lovsky and said if they'd wanted her to speak with a similar accent she was ready.

* RedSkyTakeWarning: Vulcan's sky is scarlet when the PowerTrio arrive for the wedding, almost as though foreshadowing what's going to happen.

* SeriesContinuityError: T'Pau is shown to speak fluent English in the [[Series/StarTrekEnterprise prequel series]].

* 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'' tries to buy her off by announcing their marriage but paying the "bride price" until ''pon farr'' forces them to go through with it. Is it any wonder she wants him dead?

* {{Understatement}}: After almost giving Kirk the biggest and most joyous ManHug in the history of HoYay, Spock quickly restrains himself and simply says "I'm...pleased...to see you, Captain." Really? We would never have guessed.

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 (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. [[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.]]

** And she says "human" like it was "hyena turds". WOW.

* 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 QueenVicky 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.]]''

* 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 QueenVicky 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. ''All of Vulcan in one package.''

* AccidentalHug [=/=] TheUnHug: Overjoyed that Kirk wasn't KilledOffForReal, Spock grabs him by the arms... and quickly attempts to pretend he didn't when he notices that Chapel and [=McCoy=] are watching.

* 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 QueenVicky or [[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. ''All of Vulcan in one package.''

* 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 herself 70 at the time) in such an exalted position of power -- aside from QueenVicky or [[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. ''All of Vulcan in one package.''