Star Trek -- Season 2 Episode 1 (Amok Time)

During the first season of Star Trek, the Vulcans were established as being very logical.  Everything about their race and culture was done logically.  Their reproductive habits weren’t talked about much, though.  As Kirk put it in this episode, everyone just assumed it was done logically.  But, Vulcans do mate and it’s not a very logical time for them.

The episode starts with Dr. McCoy telling Captain Kirk that something about their resident Vulcan is off.  If it were anyone else, they might be described as temperamental.  But, this is Spock we’re talking about.  Something is off.  He even requests to be taken back to Vulcan.  He won’t give any details other than that he has to go there immediately.

Kirk agrees.  The only catch is that they have to go to an important ceremony that can’t be delayed.  There’s no way that Kirk can drop Spock off at Vulcan and still make the engagement at Altair VI.  When Kirk diverts course, Spock diverts back to Vulcan.  Why?  It turns out that Vulcans have an uncontrollable urge to mate every seven years upon reaching adulthood.  Spock was bonded to a woman years ago and it’s now time for him to marry her.

Of course, it’s not that simple.  His bride challenges the marriage and has Kirk fight Spock…to the death.  No, they’re not going to have the first officer kill the captain this early in the second season.  (McCoy has a trick up his sleeve.)  I must admit that it’s an interesting way to start a new year.

The big plus for this episode is that we get to see some development for Spock and Vulcans in general.  I must admit that his parents are suspiciously absent.  You’d think they’d make the time for his son’s wedding.  For that matter, it would seem that neither side has any family present.  I can see that it might have been short notice, considering that the wedding takes place literally when the urge hits them.  You’d still think that they’d be on call.

It’s also curious that other Federation worlds don’t know anything about the Pon Farr.   It’s said that Vulcans are secretive about it, which is understandable.  It’s not clear what percentage of Starfleet officers are Vulcan, so it’s plausible that most were able to discreetly request personal time when the occasion presented itself.  Also, in The Immunity Syndrome, it’s stated that there was a ship staffed solely by Vulcans.  I’d think that at least a few officers would be gone at any given time.  In any event, it was great episode to lead off the second season.

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Star Trek -- Season 1 Episode 14 (Balance of Terror)

There were some things about the original Star Trek that made you wonder.  For instance, exactly how did stardates work?  It was supposed to be a way of having a standard calendar, but what was a year?  How did you measure a week or a month?  I don’t think it was every explicitly stated.  (To make matters more confusing, The Next Generation seemed to use a different system.)

Balance of Terror introduced the Romulan Star Empire, which posed an interesting problem: The Romulans didn’t have warp drive.  This meant that they had to go between stars at sublight speeds.  Romulans are suspected to be an offshoot of Vulcans, which would make them long-lived.  However, even if we assume this, that’s no way to run a star empire.  The closest star outside of our system is 4 light years off.   That means that it takes light four years to get from there to here.  It would take years (if not decades) to travel interstellar distances.  (For that matter, how did they destroy the outposts in short order?)

We can ignore that for now.  Why?  Because the Romulans have a cloaking device.  The have to become visible to use their super weapon, but they can travel and not be seen.  It makes for a pretty good episode because the commanders of both ships (Kirk on the Enterprise and the unnamed Romulan Commander) have to use their wits.  Both seem equal in skill.  The Romulan Commander even admits that they may have been friends under different circumstances.

The episode works because it deals with the issues.  At least one crew member is paranoid.  No one has ever seen a Romulan, meaning anyone could be a spy.  When the appearance of a Romulan is revealed, it ups the paranoia.  Not only do they look like Vulcans, the Romulan Commander is played by Mark Lenard, who would go on to play Spock’s father.  Does this mean that Spock is one of them?  Even though Spock has been in Starfleet for years, his pointy ears are a liability now.

This is to say nothing of the potential for war.  The Romulans have crossed The Neutral Zone.  This would be an act of war, except that the Romulan ship has some deniability in that they usually can’t be seen.  If the Enterprise crosses in, that would give the Romulans cause to start a war.  (Does it really even matter who started a war?)

The thing I like most about the episode is the use of appearance.  Romulans and Vulcans look similar.  This is the only reason that doubt is cast upon Spock.  Simple appearance.  This still holds true today, where people of a certain nationality or skin color are suspect simply because of the way they look.  Sometimes, no other consideration matters.

The Romulans are also portrayed in a sympathetic light.  The Romulans all have families waiting for them.  They really aren’t much different that the crew of the Enterprise except that they’re from the other side of a border.  Reacting out of fear and impulse might be understandable, but will often lead us to the wrong conclusion. 

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