Weird Star Trek Eps. - Amok Time aka "Spock Loses His Mind... and is Hot and Bothered!!!"

Well, it's official: Microsoft does make it to the 23rd century.

So, why am I talking about this episode in this month? It's so simple. We get to see Spock lay some of that Vulcan-Fu on Kirk! Yes, I'm going with that explanation! There's also the fact this post is a replacement for another one I wanted to do. Unfortunately, that post has to wait. Anyway, this episode is one of those memorable episodes from The Original Series. It's the first episode of the second season and it's the first episode that features Spock's Vulcan (or Vulcanian) culture.

We see that all is not right with Spock when the episode starts. He's irritable, loud, and close to being emotional. McCoy and Kirk find out that Spock might die if he doesn't get back to Vulcan in a few days. After some prodding, Spock secretly tells Kirk about Pon-farr, the reproductive cycle of Vulcans. He has to go back to Vulcan and "be" with his betrothed wife, T'Pring. Kirk decides to break the rules and help Spock get back to Vulcan. Once there, the three (Kirk, Spock, and McCoy) teleport down and we see the ritual commence with the priestess T'Pau over the whole thing.

Kirk: .... Uh... It wasn't me! I've never even touched a Vulcan woman before!

Shockingly, it turns out T'Pring doesn't want to be with Spock which leads to a challenge to the death. She picks Kirk because... she's a cold-blooded witch. Spock, who's ready to hit something, doesn't want to fight Kirk. Still, the fight must commence or Spock will die. Kirk and Spock fight and Spock seemingly kills Kirk. After Spock comes to himself, he tells McCoy to take Kirk back to the ship. He says his goodbyes to his people and then teleports up as well. On the ship, it's revealed that Spock didn't kill Kirk. McCoy gave Kirk a drug that simulated death. After all of this and a little word from T'Pau on Kirk's behalf to Starfleet, the Enterprise heads off to another mission.

This episode is definitely one of this show's best. So much is done right. We get to see a side of Spock that we hadn't see at this point. Even though the first season had Spock getting emotional at times, this took the cake and ran with it. It was awesome. We also hadn't seen any other Vulcans other than Spock till this episode. The planet Vulcan looked pretty cool. The whole ritual was weird and unintentionally funny at times.

And on that day, slash fanfiction was born! Ugh...

I also like that Kirk is really willing to risk everything in order to help his friend. Even McCoy gets some good moments to shine. We also get that awesome fight and that cool fight music. If you haven't seen the episode, then sorry for spoiling something that has been out for 50 years. It's really a good one. It may even be the episode that got me to really like The Original Series. Well, I think my next weird episode will have to be something that isn't critically acclaimed. Peace, God Bless, and "Live long and prosper."