IR TV Review: STAR TREK - STRANGE NEW WORLDS - EPISODE 5 (“Spock Amok”) [Paramount+]
The aspect of the psychology of Spock especially from "Discovery" moves on the basis of how he deals with his humanness. But unlike "Discovery", a great amount of humor enters into the proceedings in "Strange New Worlds". In Episode 5: "Spock Amok", there is a reference back to obviously "Amok Time" at the inset and the presence of T'Pring because there has to be a reason for her shunning him in the later TOS. This episode allows for that history but also the deeper context of what motivates Spock versus his want for normalcy. Again Star Trek can work the best when it shows the inherent human flaws of its participants even if they are not human. Everyone makes mistakes, even the smartest people. The key here is in the situation which both paints to the comedy but also the inherent understanding of behavior, be it Vulcan or human.
The episode also allows for a genuinely deep relationship beyond T'Pring which also has its bearings in the original series (that of Spock and Christine Chapel but was never brought to bear per se. But here we begin to see more context. The continuing strength of "Strange New Worlds" is that it allows you to care for these people in their personal life, even when there are stakes. "Enterprise" as a series did this very well with Trip and T'Pol but it never reached its full potential because it was cut short. Many saw that relationship as indulgent and overplayed but it really anchored the series (as the Spock/Chapel dynamic might do here). Pike's fate will always be at the backdrop but the beauty is that it is being mentioned less because there are more important lessons to be learned, aliens to meet and experiences to have. Spock gets the joke and though he cannot laugh, understanding and embracing certain elements of that psyche is half the battle. Ethan Peck (as Spock) seemed stilted at times in the first few episodes of "Strange New Worlds" because of how physically and mentally different the character was in "Discovery. But now, with this episode, he is fully coming into his and creating "his" Spock. A
By Tim Wassberg
