Spock has delivered quotable quotes for many decades. Witness, “Live long and prosper,” the most quoted of Vulcan sayings. But there are other quotes out there from other characters. For instance, Jean Luc Picard’s “Things are only impossible until they’re not.” And there is even the redoubtable Mr. Scott (a human quote machine if there ever were one), saying, “I cannot change the laws of physics, Captain! A’ve got to have thirty minutes.”
Leave some of your own favorite quotes in the comments below – I promise to add a few of my own as counter-comments!!
In this, the fifth episode of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, titled, “Spock Amok,” there are many amazing quotes that truly help shape the narrative and a host of others that are just plain fun to hear. If you’ve watched this show, you may be able to match them up with their characters (answers appear at the end).
- “Oh, no. That’s not because you’re a senior officer. That’s because you terrify people … That’s a compliment.”
- “I know how a door works.”
- “… I do not like hijinks.” / “In that we are in agreement. Neither do I, but it appears that hijinks are the most logical course of action.”
- “What the hell is Enterprise Bingo.”
- “Have you ever fought with a lirpa? I have actual scars.”
#1: __________________________________
#2: __________________________________
#3: _______________ /_________________
#4: __________________________________
#5: __________________________________
The Set-Up
After the recent dust-up with the Gorn vessels, the Enterprise puts into Starbase 1, which has just finished being repaired and refurbished after the conclusion of the war with the Klingons (which was detailed as part of Star Trek: Discovery). Everyone is given shore leave that doesn’t have important duties to perform, so the ship rapidly empties out.
More Set-Up
The first act of the show sets up situations that later events help resolve. In fact, because the ship is orbiting a planet, crew activities can take place on the Enterprise, within the Starbase, or even on the planet’s surface. This allows the writers to concoct a crazy quilt of mini situations, and they do.
Tension In Paradise
Spock (Ethan Peck) and his fiancé, T-Pring (Gia Sandhu) meet in Spock’s quarters to further discuss their relationship. She is quick to disparage his quarters for being too “human.” Spock assures her that he is in the act of remodeling them; she demurs.
Fashion Faux-Pas!
Dr. M’Benga (Babs Olusanmokun) is traveling to the planet’s surface with data sets to share with a female colleague. The exact nature of the relationship is open to discussion between Nurse Chapel (Jess Bush) and Lieutenant Ortegas (Melissa Navia). They ridicule him for wearing a floppy hat bedecked with fishing lures.
Negotiate This!!
Captain Pike (Anson Mount), Spock, and cadet Uhura (Celia Rose Gooding) are to meet a delegation of R’Ongovianian diplomats. The aliens are swithering between joining the Federation of Planets or possibly dallying with the Romulans or Klingons. There’s a lot at stake and Spock delays his own dallying with T-Pring because of his obligations. Tension is in the air.
The Games People Play
Secretly happy, Number One (Rebecca Romijn) and security chief Noonien-Singh (Christina Chong) find their own activities during the shore leave. Each has their own designs on how to fill the time. While settling in, however, they discover two yeomen in the act of completing a game that violates many of the sacrosanct rules kept on board the Enterprise. Purely on the premise of better understanding the younger crew, they undertake to finish the game on their own.
A Teensy Bit More Set-Up
This hither and yon list of plot devices doesn’t even get close to the notion that Spock follows Nurse Chapel’s relationship advice and joins in a Soul Sharing ritual with T’Pring. Naturally, something interrupts the ceremony. After soul sharing, they stay in one another’s bodies! A galactic-level Freaky-Friday if there ever was one.
Bonus Link: Let’s Talk: Space Force
Yah! That’s enough spoiler material. And yet it’s not spoilers. It’s still just setting up what happens (and almost all of this happens prior to the opening credits).
What You Need to Know
The writers of “Spock Amok” were very clever in their story’s design:
- It engages the viewer right from the start
- The humor is puckishly delicious, especially with the verbal and physical repartee between Number One and Noonien-Singh as they navigate through the newbie game
- It employs rapid-fire plotting. There’s no time to hit the fridge, (unless you take your portable viewing device with you to the kitchen).
- They take great delight turning Captain Pike into a yo-yo, alternately making him the star of the R’Ongovianian negotiations and throwing him under the bus because of forces beyond his understanding. Good thing that he stays resilient, or they’d by halfway to Romulan space by the closing credits!!
The Skinny
In short, “Spock Amok” is so packed with interweaving plots and intrigues, the viewer might think they’ve viewed more than the standard 52 minutes of program. That’s not a negative in any way. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is quickly redefining what excellence is in episodic programming, and not just specifically for Star Trek-related shows, or for science fiction in general. They follow in the footsteps of the great storytellers such as Ray Bradbury, Rod Serling, David Chase, Norman Lear, Alfred Hitchcock, and so many others – they make us think even as they entertain us.
Keep it going. That’s all we, the audience, can ask!
Answers:
- La’an Noonien Singh to Number One
- Spock to T’Pring (while T’Pring is in Spock’s body, so actually T’Pring to Spock)
- T’Pring in Spock’s body to Spock in T’Pring’s body, then vice versa
- Number One speaking to Noonien-Singh
- Lt. Ortegas to Nurse Chapel
* Source: YouTube – Star Trek: Strange New Worlds S01E05 Easter Eggs, Breakdown, Ending Explained [Amok History!]
** Source: YouTube – Enterprise Bingo – Star Trek Strange New Worlds S01E05
*** Source: YouTube – Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Episode 5 BEST SCENES – SHORE LEAVE s01e05
**** Source: YouTube – Star Trek Strange New Worlds – Episode 5 Breakdown & Review!
