"Threats are illogical and payments are usually expensive"
--Sarek
"Worry is a human emotion"
--Spock
"Indeed... I would estimate the odds..."
--Spock
"Please don't."
--Amanda
"Shut up!"
--McCoy to Spock
"What do you know... I finally got the last word in."
--McCoy
PLOT
Crisis piles atop crisis when the Enterprise is in charge of transporting a
volatile cargo of Federation diplomats (114 delegates, many of them
admirals), including Spock's parents (Sarek and Amanda). Sarek is having
problems with his heart, though he hasn't told his wife about it.
First, Spock uses illogic to say that the death of the two outweighs the
death of the one. Amanda argues (logically) that "why should you both
die?" Kirk gets injured and cannot command the ship (confined to sick bay
or he'll bleed a lot). Now (reversing her logicity) Amanda says Spock
should do the transfusion.
The intruder is signaling to a small kamikaze scout ship which is going at
warp 10. Andorians are blue aliens with antennae. Telleroids are
snout-nosed aliens, hot to pick a fight with Sarek over his vote in the
upcoming vote of whether or not to let some dilithium-rich planet into the
federation.
Sarek shows almost human pride according to Amanda. Kirk (not wanting to
let Spock "commit patricide" although he "can't condemn him for his
loyalty") pretends to be okay so he can take command back, then give
command immediately to Scotty. But before he can call Scotty, the
Enterprise is under attack so he tells Scotty to forget it (even though the
battle seems to go on for a long time (plenty of time for Scotty to come up
and take over and let Kirk get back to sick bay)).
Spock figures out the answer, so naturally (instead of letting him save ALL
the lives on board) Nurse Chapel sedates him so there's a CHANCE of saving
his father (who might die along with everyone else now that Spock can't
tell Kirk what he knows).
FACTS
Spock and Sarek haven't spoken in eighteen years.
Spock hasn't been to Vulcan in 4 years.
Sarek is 102.437 Earth years old (young for a Vulcan).
Sarek's blood type is T negative (rare even for a Vulcan). Spock's blood
is the same type, but has human elements mixed in with it (but they can
be filtered out).
After slapping Spock, Amanda walks to a door, it opens, she walks
through, and it closes. Spock starts to follow, walks up to the door,
and it doesn't open.
Amanda mentions that Spock had a pet salek (selat?) (a live, fat teddy
bear with six inch fangs) when he was a child, and McCoy teases him
about it.
Sarek thinks that Amanda embarrassed Spock, but my guess is that
embarrassment is a human emotion.
Tal-shiah is the Vulcan art of neck-breaking.
Rigelian physiology is similar to Vulcan.
Sarek married Amanda because "at the time it seemed the logical thing to
do."
Shatner pronounces it "bAY-bel".
A red shirt discovers a dead diplomat and hits a communications panel;
the artificially intelligent comm panel KNOWS that he wants to talk to
the bridge and connects him there without even saying anything.
When Kirk calls Spock's mother "Mrs. Sarek" she says to call her
"Amanda" because the family name is too hard to pronounce (although she
has been able to after quite some time). Is Kirk's remark something like
calling his wife "Mrs. Jim"? McCoy continues to call her "Mrs. Sarek"
throughout the show (apparently he prefers being incorrect to being
familiar).
McCoy gets the last word in.
At the end of the show, Uhura is the highest ranking officer left, but
since the writers (or whomever) couldn't stomach the idea of putting her
in charge, Chekov takes the con.
