Star Trek TOS: Amok Time

[aTOMiC]

Leonard Nimoy as Spock in "Amok Time".

Through earlier installments of TOS, Leonard Nimoy had a number of opportunities to demonstrate his considerable acting talents in episodes including "The Naked Time", "Dagger of the Mind", "This Side of Paradise", and "Devil in the Dark", to name only a few. But in "Amok Time", his portrayal of Spock's biological crisis is some of his best work in the series.

"Amok Time" was an episode that gave Nimoy the potential to take his character through many drastic, dramatic, and emotional phases that were unusual for Spock. It was also a chance to dive into a story that digs deeper into the mysterious Vulcan culture than ever before and on an unexpectedly personal level. As we begin the episode, Spock is definitely not behaving like himself. Nimoy is brilliant as he portrays Spock as highly agitated and losing control but still struggling to maintain a tenuous grip on his composure.

MCCOY: Jim, when I suggested to Spock that it was time for his routine check-up, your logical, unemotional first officer turned to me and said, "You will cease to pry into my personal matters, Doctor, or I shall certainly break your neck."
KIRK: Spock said that?

Moments later, Spock unexpectedly hurls a bowl of soup through the doorway of his quarters and against the opposite corridor wall. As Nurse Chapel runs out, he angrily rushes after her and appears furious and unhinged. I suspect Nimoy may have enjoyed this scene in particular as one of the best of the episode to play against type.

SPOCK: What is this?
SPOCK: Poking and prying! If I want anything from you, I'll ask for it!

Once out into the corridor, he is observed by Kirk and McCoy, who are both astonished by his behavior. This is not the Spock we know. The doctor and captain ask Spock repeatedly to explain what is wrong, but Spock refuses to answer. All Spock will say is that he needs rest and it must be on his home planet of Vulcan. Under normal circumstances, Kirk would be happy to comply with Spock's request, but the ship is ordered to Altair 6, and the Enterprise must comply. Later, because of his condition, Spock absent-mindedly changes the ship's course to Vulcan against orders. Once Kirk discovers what Spock has done, he confronts him in the turbolift.

KIRK: You've changed course for Vulcan, Mister Spock. Why?
SPOCK: Changed the course?
KIRK: Do you deny it?
SPOCK: No. No, by no means, Captain. It is quite possible.
KIRK: Then why'd you do it?
SPOCK: Captain, I accept on your word that I did it, but I do not know why, nor do I remember doing it. Captain, lock me away. I do not wish to be seen. I cannot. No Vulcan could explain further.
KIRK: I'm trying to help you, Spock.
SPOCK: Ask me no further questions. I will not answer.
KIRK: I order you to report to the Sickbay.
SPOCK: Sickbay?
KIRK: Complete examination. McCoy's waiting.

Nimoy conveys Spock's feelings of defeat and bewilderment exceptionally as the turbolift doors close, and he is left with no choice but to obey orders. The scenes of Spock with a knife in his hand, struggling to keep it steady, and the outburst of fury that leads him to crush his desktop monitor with his bare fist are both acted superbly with extraordinary emotional intensity.

After McCoy's examination of Spock the doctor tells Kirk his findings and that Spock's condition will be fatal unless something is done. Kirk goes to Spock's quarters to get answers and Nimoy conveys Spock's reluctance and discomfort with sincerity.

KIRK: Would it help if I told you that I'll treat this as totally confidential?
SPOCK: It has to do with biology.
KIRK: What?
SPOCK: Biology.
KIRK: What kind of biology?
SPOCK: Vulcan biology.
KIRK: You mean the biology of Vulcans? Biology as in reproduction? Well, there's no need to be embarrassed about it, Mister Spock. It happens to the birds and the bees.
SPOCK: The birds and the bees are not Vulcans, Captain. If they were, if any creature as proudly logical as us were to have their logic ripped from them as this time does to us.
KIRK: But you're not a fish, Mister Spock. You're
SPOCK: No. Nor am I a man. I'm a Vulcan. I'd hoped I would be spared this, but the ancient drives are too strong. Eventually, they catch up with us, and we are driven by forces we cannot control to return home and take a wife. Or die.

It now has become clear that Spock must be taken to Vulcan, and though Starfleet command refuses to allow it, Kirk orders the Enterprise to Vulcan against Admiral Komak's directive in order to save his friend no matter what the cost.

SPOCK: "It is obvious that you have surmised my problem, Doctor. My compliments on your insight. Captain, there is a thing that happens to Vulcans at this time. Almost an insanity, which you would no doubt find distasteful."
KIRK: "Will I? You've been most patient with my kinds of madness."
SPOCK: "Then would you beam down to the planet's surface and stand with me? There is a brief ceremony."
KIRK: "Is it permitted?"
SPOCK: "It is my right. By tradition, the male is accompanied by his closest friends."
KIRK: "Thank you, Mister Spock."
SPOCK: "I also request McCoy accompany me."
MCCOY: "I shall be honoured, sir."

Once the Enterprise arrives at Vulcan, Spock, Kirk, and McCoy beam down to Spock's ancestral homeland for the Koon-ut-kal-if-fee ceremony. Nimoy's performance in the third act is excellent. After T'Pring unveils her plan and subverts the expectations of the gathering by choosing Kirk as her champion, Nimoy is at his very best pleading with T'pau to prevent Kirk from participating in the conflict.

SPOCK: "T'Pau."
T'PAU: "Thee speaks?"
SPOCK: "My friend does not understand."
T'PAU: "The choice has been made, Spock. It is up to him now."
SPOCK: "He does not know. I will do what I must, T'Pau, but not with him! His blood does not burn. He is my friend!"
T'PAU: "It is said thy Vulcan blood is thin. Are thee Vulcan or are thee human?"
SPOCK: "I burn, T'Pau. My eyes are flame. My heart is flame. Thee has the power, T'Pau. In the name of my fathers, forbid. Forbid! T'Pau. I plead with thee! I beg!"
T'PAU: "Thee has prided thyself on thy Vulcan heritage. It is decided."

During the conflict, Shatner and Nimoy, along with their stunt doubles, perform well, but it's when Spock believes he has killed Kirk that the scene reaches an emotional pitch, and Nimoy plays Spock's shock and sadness with believable conviction.

T'PAU: "Live long and prosper, Spock."
SPOCK: "I shall do neither. I have killed my captain and my friend."

Of course, the coup de grace is Spock's reaction to seeing Kirk alive in sickbay. The unbridled joy Nimoy gives his character is a pleasure to watch over and over again.

"Amok Time" is simply Spock's story, and Leonard Nimoy appeared to relish every moment of his performance, giving us some of the most quoted and talked-about moments in all of TOS.

[SoulBiter]

Love this episode for many of the same reasons. Plus we get to explore more of his planet, people, and their culture.

Funny enough when I read the quotes I hear them in my brain in Spock's voice exactly as he said it in that episode.