Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Episode 5 Review – Spock Amok

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Episode 5

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ first season has ticked a lot of boxes thus far, from stories of alien encounters to high-octane face-offs. Now, with “Spock Amok,” the show tries its hand at comedy, and it’s utterly delightful. The hour isn’t a terribly substantial one in terms of larger forward narrative progress, but it’s an utterly delightful time.

The main characters, Una and La’an, are trying to prove they’re people who can enjoy themselves outside of work. There hasn’t been much focus on comedy or even just simple fun in recent episodes. Playing Nurse Chapel’s dating life for laughs is going to get real old, real quick.There’s nothing wrong with episodes that have low stakes and straightforward problems to solve, like an awkward diplomatic meeting with some rude aliens or a relationship misunderstanding. But these are exactly the sort of slice of life stories I love because they let us get to know these characters as people, outside of the missions they serve.

Dr. M’Benga is excited to fly fish, and Chapel is looking forward to seeing a guy she’s sort of dating. Spock’s planning some quality time with his fiancee T’Pring, who has made a special trip to make up for their last interrupted visit.

“Strange New Worlds” finds a solid balance between respecting the story Discovery introduced and forging its own path. I like the two of them together, dangit. The fact that “Spock Amok” manages to make revisiting many of those same issues feel both fresh and necessary is a relief.

The idea that Spock is afraid he won’t be Vulcan enough for T’Pring or human enough for his shipmates makes a lot of sense to me, and is a version of this character that exists at a natural spot in between what we saw in Discovery and the Spock of the Original Series. (And, hey, the inclusion of the music from “Amok Time” was a nice touch.).

I’m always down for a good accidental body-swapping story, and the fact that it’s two differently gendered Vulcans forced to pretend to be the other while gaining a new understanding of their partner’s perspective along the way just makes it all even more fun to watch. Ethan Peck and Gia Sandhu share a charmingly offbeat chemistry and, surprise, both are fantastic comedic performers.

“Spock Amok” is one of the best episodes of Star Trek so far, and comes as close as the show has ever come to defining a larger mission statement for the Pike era of the franchise. The episode’s subplots involve Pike, Spock, and Admiral Robert April attempting to negotiate with a prickly alien race known as the R’Ongovians. They control a key piece of territory between Klingon and Romulan space and have been very private and extremely resistant to diplomatic negotiation.

Game of Thrones star Chris Pike plays a captain who is more interested in leading by collaboration than by fiat and values input rather than following orders. He already practices radical empathy and seeks to work with rather than rule others, which is why he’s such a great captain. What will his evolution over the course of this show look like? I hope we spend many seasons finding out.