Star Trek: The Original Series
"Journey to Babel"
Air date: 11/17/1967
Written by D.C. Fontana
Directed by Joseph Pevney
Review by Jamahl Epsicokhan
Spock's parents, Vulcan ambassador Sarek (Mark Lenard) and his wife Amanda (Jane Wyatt), board the Enterprise for transport to a conference for Federation consulates. But trouble arises when a heated argument between Sarek and a Tellarite representative forms the basis for the suspicion of Sarek when the Tellarite later turns up dead—by way of an ancient Vulcan method. Meanwhile, the episode scrutinizes Spock and some of his life's choices, which has formed the uneasy rift between him and his father.
There are a lot of good uses of characters in "Journey to Babel," which has a plot that seems to go in every direction at once, yet still makes plenty of sense. In addition to the murder mystery, there's a medical emergency when Sarek suffers a heart attack and the only chance for his survival is an experimental surgery requiring a blood transfusion from Spock. Meanwhile, Kirk ends up in sickbay after being attacked by an Andorian. This puts Spock in command, who is forced to delay the transfusion because he must be on the bridge as an alien ship pursues the Enterprise with less-than-friendly intentions. Kirk slyly being a trouper and coming to the bridge to allow Spock to attend to his father is a humorous and very Kirk-like endeavor—especially after the crisis breaks out and Kirk finds he can't go back to sickbay. The murder mystery angle is maybe a bit unnecessary (Sarek is of course absolved), although it connects with the espionage angle involving the alien ship.
"Journey to Babel" probably has just a little too much plot, but fortunately this doesn't get in the way of seeing how Spock addresses his duty, his family, and the uneasy balance between his humanity and Vulcan rationality.
Previous episode: Metamorphosis
Next episode: Friday's Child
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41 comments on this post
Tue, Oct 15, 2013, 11:24pm (UTC -6)
This episode is why I personally love the Trek universe.
Fri, Apr 11, 2014, 10:07am (UTC -6)
"Well, what do you know! I finally got the last word!"
Tue, Sep 9, 2014, 12:11am (UTC -6)
I loved it, and one reason why is we FINALLY get a real taste of the Federation. A couple of the trial episodes hinted at it, but this is the most Federation-focused TOS episode.
From this one outing, Andorians and Tellerites became Trek folklore. I don't know why they didn't develop them a bit more.
Fri, Oct 31, 2014, 10:57pm (UTC -6)
Tue, Dec 23, 2014, 10:59am (UTC -6)
I also agree that it's kind of too bad that the Andorians and Tellerites didn't get much play in later series, except for Enterprise (and the Andorians in particular were quite the highlight on that otherwise hit-and-miss, often lacklustre show).
Sat, Apr 9, 2016, 1:51pm (UTC -6)
However, I am somewhat surprised that no one realized a glaring inconsistency in Spock's mother's behavior: when she first learns that Spock might die trying to save his father, she sternly opposes it, claiming that she "won't risk both of" them. But later, when Spock prioritizes his duty to the ship over the blood transfusion, she desperately tries to convince Spock to help Sarek.
3.5 stars from me.
Fri, Mar 3, 2017, 3:17pm (UTC -6)
This is a very well thought out episode - the backdrop of ambassadors dealing on their way to a conference underlies murder/spying/Spock's family, and as others have said, getting a better idea of UFP (not just Earth and Vulcan) members.
In the opening scene, I would have thought Kirk knew that Sarek was Spock's father. He has egg on his face when Spock informs him.
I guess it was convenient Scotty wasn't involved in the episode (no Sulu either) -- I think Spock should be able to give command to him and go to give his transfusion initially -- but that would rob us of his mom slapping his face.
I think the challenge of Spock's mom is well portrayed and the episode continues to chip away at developing Spock's character (after "Amok Time"). Spock is a major part of Trek and probably back in the 60s, folks would have benefited from seeing his Vulcan character develop.
This is another 4/4 stars episode for me. Edge of your seat stuff - can't really find any faults with it -- it's an action-packed hour with a clever plot and all the qualities that made Trek TOS so good, including the usual bit of humor at the end.
TOS Season 2 is doing quite well thus far -- I don't think I'm generous in my ratings, but as I go through chronologically, I've given 3 of the last 5 episodes 4/4 stars! More of a coincidence than anything.
I don't know what's up with Jammer for rating "Journey to Babel" the same as "I, Mudd". Don't see how that can be the case.
Sat, Mar 4, 2017, 5:36am (UTC -6)
Sun, Mar 19, 2017, 10:08pm (UTC -6)
Tue, May 9, 2017, 5:49pm (UTC -6)
Thu, Oct 26, 2017, 5:33pm (UTC -6)
The dialogue is great in this one. And I love the mutual stubbornness of Spock and Sarek, who both agree it's more logical to let Sarek die than risk the ship by taking Spock off the bridge during a crisis while Kirk is incapacitated. That's hardcore stuff, but it fits the characters so perfectly. Amanda gives us a solid human foil to the whole affair, played by the legendary Jane Wyatt, and her insights into Spock's shame over being human and his childhood teasing for it tell us a lot about him. The characters love each other and work for the common good, but always within the limits of their characters, presented so sharply.Just great stuff all around.
Sat, Nov 18, 2017, 5:41am (UTC -6)
Wed, Dec 27, 2017, 5:46pm (UTC -6)
Thu, Jan 4, 2018, 9:47am (UTC -6)
:))))
Mon, Mar 12, 2018, 3:22pm (UTC -6)
The Orion spy already tried to kill Kirk and is on a suicide mission (as is their ship) -- he had taken a slow-acting poison but also could have turned into a suicide bomber. He basically stands beside Kirk's chair with the 2 security guards several feet away.
Anyhow, just a minor nitpick on one of TOS best episodes.
Sat, Sep 1, 2018, 9:49pm (UTC -6)
Fri, Sep 14, 2018, 8:05pm (UTC -6)
Sun, Jan 13, 2019, 1:13am (UTC -6)
Sat, May 4, 2019, 5:44am (UTC -6)
The Spock character development is great, with good dialogue and performances from mom, dad, and son.
Amanda did a plot-serving 180 (first strongly forbidding Spock from helping dad, then begging him to do so) that could have been better handled - because it was believable enough that once she truly saw her beloved husband at Death's door, her reservations vanished.
Great scene with the slap.
The whole thing just worked. Some minor inconsistencies and such, but nothing unusual for a weekly series. I can live with wondering why the "Andorion" was given so much freedom on the bridge, though I did wonder that, and why Kirk left Chekhov in charge near the end. But no big deal.
DeForest Kelly continues to be a delight. Great casting that truly helped make the show. He has a nearly unstoppable likability. He can say the most dubious or corniest of lines and still seem like your best pal.
Chekhov's hair. Oh, my. Don't really know what else to say there, but I've been noticing it all season and I thought it deserved a mention.
Some weird lighting in this ep that makes McCoy's face look green and Amanda's hair look purple, but that was kinda fun.
Tue, Oct 29, 2019, 8:49am (UTC -6)
Oh and also McCoy not relaying Spock's important info to Kirk just before he went into the operation. I mean typical every time -.- Bones is always like "hush hush you're a patient.......who cares if the information could save the whole ship you need to rest lmao XD"
Other than that the episode was awesome and I enjoyed the story!
Fri, May 1, 2020, 6:13pm (UTC -6)
A silly thing to point out, I know, but it's always neat to spot something you missed despite years of watching.
Tue, Sep 22, 2020, 7:54pm (UTC -6)
Tue, Sep 22, 2020, 8:05pm (UTC -6)
Thu, Dec 17, 2020, 11:09am (UTC -6)
Star Trek season 2 episode 10
"Mother, how can you have lived on Vulcan so long, married a Vulcan, raised a son on Vulcan, without understanding what it means to be a Vulcan?”
- Spock
4 stars (out of 4)
I can’t even count how many times I’ve seen this episode over the past decades of my life, and yet every time I enjoy it.
Journey to Babel is for me, quintessential Star Trek. Here you see the scale of the canvas Gene was painting on. Not just humans and Vulcans. But also Tellerites, Andorians, little gold men, a beautiful woman in a purple dress with a sheer back. A pink lady with gold hair and very nice legs. 100 Federation delegates. A cornucopia of sentient life.
Yes, this is my favorite episode of The Original Series. It's been my favorite since I was a little boy.
Don’t believe what Kirk tells you (“the issues of the council are politically complex”). No sir, the political intrigue at the heart of the episode is actually fairly straightforward. It comes out in splendid detail during the verbal sparring between Sarak and Gav,
SAREK: We favour admission.
GAV: You favour? Why?
SAREK: Under Federation law, Coridan can be protected and its wealth administered for the benefit of its people.
GAV: That's well for you. Vulcan has no mining interest.
SAREK: Coridan has nearly unlimited wealth of dilithium crystals, but it is under-populated and unprotected. This invites illegal mining operations.
GAV: Illegal? You accuse us?
SAREK: Some of your ships have been carrying Coridan dilithium crystals.
GAV: You call us thieves?
At the planet code-named Babel, the Federation Council will debate whether or not to admit Coridan.
So interesting that at this time in Star Trek canon, the decision does not depend on Coridan’s culture, world government, peaceful relations, abandonment of the caste system or religion, or any of the other myriad issues that predominate such decisions in TNG, and even more so, in DS9.
No, at this time, the Federation has 1,000 planets and is growing strong, and she is refreshingly clear-eyed about what she looks for in a new member planet. If this was the perspective we got on Enterprise, I imagine that show would have lasted a lot longer. I don’t think Archer would have known what mining interests were if they stabbed him in the back and left him for dead.
It turns out that it is not the Tellerites, however, who are intent on sabotaging the meeting. It’s the Orions, the most dependable villains for 60 straight years of star trek!
The political machinations are fascinating. The battle of wits with the Orion ship is edge-of-your-seat engaging. But two things really elevate this episode for me to an all-time classic Trek affair.
The first is Kirk faking that he is well enough to get Spock off the bridge, only to get stuck there when an emergency befalls the ship. Shatner plays the whole sequence, from the moment he steps onto the bridge, right to the death of the “andorian” (really Orion) perfectly. Who ever says The Shat can’t act doesn’t know what acting is!
And the second is the entire sequence, quoted at the top of my review, between Spock and his mother, when they discuss duty and love and family and loyalty. And she slaps him.
Now for a moment just to appreciate the score to that scene.
https://youtu.be/KJgT1GQWVcE?t=715
Those strings are exquisite!
And that scene with Spock and his mother is immediately followed by a bridge scene with a version of the standard Star Trek Theme, but also done in strings!
https://youtu.be/KJgT1GQWVcE?t=808
What could be more perfect? This show truly was a labor of love. 3 stars, @Jammer?? Have you no heart?
Thu, Feb 25, 2021, 10:22am (UTC -6)
Thu, Feb 25, 2021, 10:32am (UTC -6)
Have you watched the old animated series episode "Yesteryear"? Spock's pet plays a big role in the episode. It's quite good.
Thu, Mar 25, 2021, 4:03pm (UTC -6)
Thu, Apr 8, 2021, 2:41am (UTC -6)
The political aspect would of course be seen again often - in TNG, DS9 etc. As others have said, I just wish the Tellurites and Andorrans had been seen again in TOS but you can’t have everything and the producers of the time didn’t have a crystal ball.
This episode was where Spock and McCoy really shone as characters, and it was refreshing to see Kirk take a (relative) back seat. I wasn’t quite so convinced by Spock’s mother; though she was well played, and added to what was written as a one-off episode, she would - as pointed out - have lived long enough on Vulcan to understand her husband and son better.
This episode is classic Star Trek and more than makes up for the weaker Series 2 episodes. If I could give more than 4 stars I would.
Thu, Sep 2, 2021, 8:46pm (UTC -6)
One question though: Is DeForest Kelly smoking a cigarette in the first surgery scene? I could swear that’s cigarette smoke coming up from his side of the heart surgery box in sick bay. 😁
Tue, Mar 29, 2022, 8:10pm (UTC -6)
How does it happen that Orions, who are clearly at least somewhat known to the Federation, have a code that is utterly unrecognizable even to a highly skilled cryptographer like Spock or an experienced communications specialist like Uhura?
Assuming that it wasn't Sarek who killed the Tellarite Gav but Telev, the Orion agent disguised as an Andorian, how does it happen that an Orion agent is skilled at a traditional Vulcan method of execution?
And was the motive for the murder simple chaos?
Fri, Sep 16, 2022, 2:13pm (UTC -6)
My first problem is that, despite or maybe because of the episode’s obvious intention to make the viewers take sides with her, I just can’t stand Amanda. As others have already pointed out, her character is totally inconsistent. At the beginning of the episode, when talking to Kirk, she praises the “Vulcan way”. Later, during her confrontation with Spock, she rejects and despises it and keeps going on about Spock’s human half. Even though I can understand that she’s worried about her husband, I find her behavior in that scene absolutely repugnant. She guilt-trips Spock, accuses him of letting his father die, threatens to hate him for the rest of his life, skillfully striking every key on the board of emotional blackmail.
It’s the climax of a conflict based on logic vs. emotion, and I feel that Spock, representing the logical approach, is being treated quite unfairly – not only by his mother, but in general. He comes across as callous, devoted more to his duty than to his family; his motives are constantly questioned and depicted as insufficient; his decision to remain on his post instead of helping Sarek is being criticized; when he finally agrees, it doesn’t seem to come from own, deep insight; on the one hand, it’s Amanda who has finally gained the upper hand with her manipulations, and on the other it’s Kirk who literally orders him to participate in the surgery, which makes the positive outcome seem less to be to Spock’s merits and more a magnanimous sacrifice on Kirk’s part. At least, that’s what it looks like on the surface. I don’t deny that it’s more complex than that and that there’s a lot going on under said surface (I’ll get to that later), but I can’t help feeling that Spock’s motives and reasons don’t deserve being overridden in that way. They are totally plausible and reasonable: regardless of his parents’ presence onboard, he is ON DUTY, which means that he’s primarily the First Officer and – after Kirk’s injury – the acting Commander of the Enterprise and NOT mommy’s baby boy. He keeps explaining this to almost everybody throughout the entire episode, but his arguments are not considered valid. It’s revealing that when he asks Amanda what Sarek would think of him evading his command responsibility, “all for the life of one person?”, she doesn’t answer the question, she doesn’t even seem to consider it… all she does is to put more emotional pressure on him with a childhood story about his human half. She’s constantly infantilizing him (note that she even slaps him to make him obey her!), just as much as Sarek who has been sulking for eighteen years because Spock once decided to go his own way instead of following his father’s path. Their behavior is a startling display of adult immaturity – and that’s my second problem. The episode depicts it as normal that parents treat their adult son like an infant, just as that adult son is expected to assume a child’s role in presence of his parents, even to the disadvantage of the life he’s chosen for himself. What happened to the idea that children grow up, leave home and become independent persons?! Well, maybe I’m on the wrong track, but I always found the episode’s approach to describe a relationship between parents and their adult children somewhat wrong-headed.
Coming back to Spock’s decision-making, however, it seems to me that the scene on the bridge with Kirk faking recovery and ordering Spock to sickbay for the surgery is indeed a crucial moment, especially if we raise the question – which the episode leaves unanswered – whether Spock sees through Kirk’s ruse or not. If we assume that he doesn’t, it makes Spock appear in a bad light, as I have already described. To be honest, I always thought he does, but until now it never occurred to me that this changes the whole situation.
Let’s look into the scene: Kirk comes in, and everyone on the bridge can see that he’s barely able to walk. Note that Uhura extends her hand when he walks past her, as if to help him, and Spock himself seems quite suspicious, asking Kirk if he’s alright and glancing doubtfully at McCoy who confirms his medical consent. I’d say that Spock clearly knows that Kirk is in no condition to command and that he’ll probably turn command over to someone else as soon as Spock has left the bridge. It may seem inconsistent that turning command over to Scotty is something Spock explicitly refuses to do while it seems perfectly fine for Kirk, but I find it quite understandable and I’m sure it has nothing to do with confidence: they both know that Scotty is able to command the ship even in a critical situation – he’s done that more than once. The reason why Spock doesn’t want to put Scotty in charge is that, with the captain incapacitated, it’s his duty as First Officer to command the ship, it’s his responsibility to protect the ambassadors aboard, and that’s not something he can just choose to fob off on the engineer, in favor of devoting himself to another task… even if his father’s life depends on that “other task”. That’s Spock’s whole dilemma. When Kirk orders him to “report to sickbay with Dr McCoy”, he takes that responsibility from Spock’s shoulders. Even the stern commanding tone is not meant to put pressure on Spock or to infantilize him like Amanda does: Kirk’s simply making for him the decision he knows Spock would have made, had he been free to decide. I think that in this very moment Spock knows that Kirk has understood his dilemma and is now wordlessly offering him a face-saving possibility to solve it… which Spock gladly accepts. If we look at this scene from this angle, it’s not patronizing at all. What’s more, it becomes another example of their deep friendship, showing how well they understand each other’s motives and needs.
Fri, Sep 16, 2022, 2:24pm (UTC -6)
I'd have to watch that scene again to be sure, but I get the sense this conflict is supposed to be about Spock's relationship to his father in the end. The writing seems to me to suggest that keeping to his duty is a way of avoiding facing his father's weakness, or himself becoming weak to help him when he father was merciless to him. If it was just a question of overriding his real desires then I could see Kirk ordering him to go as infantilizing him. But what if instead it's his friend giving him permission to do the thing he needs to do, with the understanding that no one will view it as an emotional desire to help the father he loves? Regarding Amanda's inconsistency, I think this reading would also address that: she probably does truly believe in logic, and appealing to Spock's human side is the logical thing to do since it's very likely his emotional pain causing him to want nothing to do with Sarek.
Sat, Sep 17, 2022, 2:30pm (UTC -6)
Thanks for your thoughts on this... I'm not 100% sure either, and the episode certainly leaves a lot of room for different interpretations. Concerning Spock, I could indeed imagine that his refusal is a kind of avoidance strategy, even though I'm not sure if this fits together with what we see earlier in the episode. Before the attack on Kirk, Spock is totally willing to participate in the operation: he is the one who suggests using the Rigelian drug and he volunteers himself as blood donor for Sarek. He changes his mind only when Kirk's injury leaves him in command. I still have the impression that his refusal then had in fact nothing to do with the tense relationship between him and his father, but that it was really his sense of duty which made him act this way.
And Amanda... well, her outburst in the final scene suggests what she thinks of logic, and in the scene when she's in their quarters with Sarek, she also seems to be toying with the image of being an emotional human female, in contrast to her husband and son. Even if her pressure on Spock springs from logic, as you say, it's still cruel and nasty.
Thu, Sep 29, 2022, 7:40pm (UTC -6)
Thu, Sep 29, 2022, 7:58pm (UTC -6)
Sun, Oct 16, 2022, 1:27pm (UTC -6)
I watched this one last night with special attention to matters we were discussing, and I have decided I was wrong about something. I always considered Spock's decision to command the ship rather than help his father to be an extension of the tension between them, but as you pointed out he seemed quite ready to help Sarek prior to Kirk's stabbing. In fact, he was not only ready, but was putting forward a risky procedure McCoy wouldn't have even considered, something above and beyond even what was being asked of him. So what gives?
But it all makes sense to me now, and it does come down to Spock's relationship with Sarek. What is the one thing that they have in common? Kirk said it, they're both stubborn. And although that's a human weakness, Spock is half-human, and Sarek himself is clearly an odd duck to have found it logical to marry a human. Maybe he does have a strong enough affinity for human weakness that marrying a human was more logical than marrying a Vulcan, who may have found his stubbornness irrational. And both being stubborn, Spock and Sarek seem to base their relationship on just that: neither of them will ever let the other have the last word. Even after all these years Sarek still brings up Spock's decision not to go to the science academy, and he does so on very little pretext. And once we start to see things in this way I think it becomes pretty clear that Spock and Sarek and constantly competing with each other, trying to one-up each other about everything. I'll go through a few examples:
-Sarek comes on board, Spock makes no acknowledgement of him in any personal way. And Sarek then ignores Spock even more than Spock does.
-Kirk gives Spock a chance to show off his computer knowledge in engineering, Sarek immediately replies that he first taught Spock about computers, before betraying him.
These first two could perhaps be seen as merely striking blows at each other rather than competing. But there's also this:
SPOCK: Doctor, do you propose surgery for the heart defect?
MCCOY: I'm not sure. It's tough enough on a human. On a Vulcan, an ordinary operation's out of the question.
KIRK: Why?
SAREK: Because of the construction of the Vulcan heart.
SPOCK: I suggest that a cryogenic open-heart procedure would be the logical approach.
SAREK: Yes, unquestionably.
It's hard to tell from the transcript, but the way they play the scene it really feels like Sarek is one-upping Spock, going from Spock making a suggestion to Sarek stating it as unquestionable. The scene really doesn't feel like they are agreeing, but rather that each is trying to demonstrate their own intellect to the other.
If we accept for the moment that Spock and Sarek need to compete with each other, it makes sense of why Spock would suggest the risky transfusion strategy: it would be both creatively innovative as well as something Sarek himself is too weak to do. Adding this to the fact that Spock won't give up command later to help Sarek, we have to then examine that again. I previously assumed it was because he wanted nothing to do with his father. But that idea doesn't work, certainly not how I see things now. And even Kirk says Scotty could take command no problem, crisis or no crisis. But what if retaining command in a crisis is yet another way for Spock to prove to Sarek how important his duties are, even if it will kill Sarek? If Spock steps down it shows that Sarek means more to him than his role in Starfleet, therefore making it illogical that Spock ever chose Starfleet over Sarek's wishes. To maintain his position with the argument with Sarek he can't back down, and must assert that his duties are more important than Sarek. So to show how much it matters to prove his position to Sarek he has to prove that Sarek doesn't matter compared to his duty: a funny logical loop there.
The interesting thing is the resolution:
AMANDA: And you, Sarek. Would you also say thank you to your son?
SAREK: I don't understand.
AMANDA: For saving your life.
SAREK: Spock acted in the only logical manner open to him. One does not thank logic, Amanda.
AMANDA: Logic, logic! I'm sick to death of logic. Do you want to know how I feel about your logic?
SPOCK: Emotional, isn't she?
SAREK: She has always been that way.
SPOCK: Indeed? Why did you marry her?
SAREK: At the time, it seemed the logical thing to do.
Spock and Sarek join together in hoisting up logic over human emotion, even though from a certain point of view they've been the most emotional ones in our story. Maybe Sarek finally realized he's become too weak to always try to prove he's the stronger; or maybe Spock proved himself to Sarek by refusing to give up command in the crisis while Kirk was out. Or maybe Sarek really did appreciate that Spock saved his life. Part of the problem is that the only vehicle available to the two Vulcans to resolve their dispute was logic, and if each side was logical how could they ever give up? It's not like a Vulcan can just throw up his arms and say, aw shucks, I guess the logic doesn't matter, we need to make up now. One way or the other their logic would have to be reconciled, which is perhaps why they can't resolve their argument in any way other than competitively or combatively. It reminds me a bit of Chinese "face" where you cannot back out of a situation in such a way as to lose face, so the only acceptable resolution would be one where neither side loses face. The problem is that any admittance that one's logic was flawed would be the ultimate loss of face for a Vulcan. So the logic kind of makes things stuck if they cannot agree. That's probably why we have this exchange:
SPOCK: Doctor, do you propose surgery for the heart defect?
MCCOY: I'm not sure. It's tough enough on a human. On a Vulcan, an ordinary operation's out of the question.
KIRK: Why?
SAREK: Because of the construction of the Vulcan heart.
This excerpt strikes me as being about Vulcan relationships as much as about Vulcan physiology. Sarek and Spock seem to have been trying to punch through the barrier between them using the force of logic, and it has failed so far. And I think Spock's willingness and then unwillingness to help Sarek can both be accounted for if we consider them to individually be stratagems in winning the larger argument against Sarek.
Sun, Oct 16, 2022, 6:11pm (UTC -6)
Sun, Oct 16, 2022, 7:00pm (UTC -6)
Mon, Oct 17, 2022, 4:05pm (UTC -6)
Thanks for the brilliant analysis. Spock's and Sarek's constant attempts to one-up each other are one of these things beneath the surface which I never noticed before, but you're totally right, and it explains their relationship better than any other theory.
@Steve
Good observation regarding Kirk and Chekov... I've noticed that too, and I even think that when Kirk turns command over to Chekov at the end, it's a way of giving him credit for his performance in the battle with the Orion ship.
Mon, Oct 17, 2022, 4:11pm (UTC -6)
Sat, Nov 12, 2022, 9:19am (UTC -6)
But “Miss Jane" Wyatt is atrociously awful as Amanda. As many have pointed out above, Amanda's schizophrenic writing doesn’t help. But even when Amanda is at her best, she always comes off as a haughty, unbearable hag. Sure, lots of people have mothers like this (or a mother-in-law in my case). But an examination of Amanda’s struggles between Vulcan logic and human mothering needed a lot more dichotomy. Unless the show’s point was to reveal that the “logical” path and the “human” path are ultimately very much the same, which I don’t think it was, we already have excellent counterpoints among Kirk, Sarek, McCoy and Spock without Amanda’s scenes grinding everything to a halt. Wyatt has no nuance, no depth, and no charisma here. You can portray “stern” and “stubborn” without being so monotonous. To say nothing of the histrionics--she may as well have spanked Spock right on the ass, as slapping him across the face pretty much had the same effect. Both the writing and the acting utterly fails us here.
The meat of the story, obviously, is the relationship between Spock and Sarek, and as @Lannion and @PeterG have pointed out above, their mutual stubbornness and one-upmanship. It’s left to Kirk to force the issue, which I think is as brilliant a use of Kirk as the scene in “This Side of Paradise” where he had to literally knock some sense into his logical best friend.
I’m with Peter G -- if Spock gives up his command on the Bridge, he’s showing Sarek that his decision to join Starfleet means less than his familial ties to the father who strongly disapproved of said decision. @Lannion, I think Kirk correctly realizes this and is offering his friend a way out. Does Spock see through Kirk’s ruse? I think he absolutely does. And with Spock now free to relinquish command to Kirk, the stalemate with Sarek in his mind has now resolved itself. I doubt that Spock will ever thank Kirk for what he did, but intrinsically he will always be grateful. I like how this tale therefore examines not only family, but friendship.
The murder mystery oddly descends into an afterthought, though it does come to a satisfying resolution. I think it’s obvious that the Fake Andorian is the killer. By the way, what a hoot when his latex antenna pops off. “Surgically altered,” my ass. The Orions just have the same makeup skills as the Star Trek production staff, and that’s apparently enough for them.
Speak Freely:
Gav: “There will be payment for your slander, Sarek.”
Sarek: “Threats are illogical. And payments are usually expensive.”
(No one can take the piss out of someone like a Vulcan.)
My Grade: B-
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