#there's also deela's prurient suggestion that she wants to watch kirk and spock 'demonstrate' their great affection. which. ummm.

[anghraine]

Honestly, the thing about Spock's nervous reaction to being perceived by Gem the mute empath (turning away, pretending to study his tricorder, ignoring her until she walks over and emotes her delight at what he specifically felt for the unconscious Kirk while gentle music plays) that gets me is how much it mirrors the final scene of "Amok Time."

I mean, "The Empath" is no "Amok Time" as an episode (though it's fine). But the transformation of Spock's devastation over Kirk's "death" at his hands into raw joy and delight, the only time in TOS that he shows such a thing without some outside force screwing with him, is such a moment. And the reason it's only a moment is because he hurriedly hides it in the same guilty, nervous way he'll do in "The Empath" later, for the same reason: realizing he's being perceived by a third party. In "Amok Time," of course, that's the smiling Chapel and McCoy; Spock seems to have genuinely forgotten that they were even in the room when he saw Kirk alive, and as soon as he sees them again, he stops short and hides his feelings again, lying that he doesn't care about Kirk in any capacity but professional respect.

Kirk seems to just be affectionately amused by this and shepherds him off, but I think it's interesting that the thing that really alarms Spock is the sudden realization that other people are watching them. He does have to be pretty blatantly reminded that other people exist are present and can see everything, but once Spock sees others observing them, he has this brief moment of panic and then retreats into his usual composure while just lying or pretending he revealed nothing. This isn't set off by Kirk himself at all—his reaction, something he did, something he might have done. Spock's alarm in these scenes is all about being perceived by people other than Kirk.

If they had been alone, well— It does seem like something quite different might have happened in both cases.

[livrelady]

#the anxiety around what's going on between them being seen by other people is very homophobia coded obviously#and i do always wonder about spock switching into repression mode because of the presence of chapel and mccoy and apparently nothing else#there's this distinctly nervous guilty quality in his response both times despite the fact that the 'audience' is obviously charmed#amok time in particular really seems to suggest spock wouldn't have dialed the joy of their reunion down nearly so fast w/o others there#and likely he /would/ have just stayed at kirk's side watching him sleep if they didn't have to worry about being seen by others#there's also deela's prurient suggestion that she wants to watch kirk and spock 'demonstrate' their great affection. which. ummm.#so. hmm. hmmmmmm.#anyway. cool cool it's all fine.#anghraine babbles#otp: the premise#c: who do i have to be#c: i object to intellect without discipline#star peace#anghraine's meta#tos: s2#tos: s3#star trek: the original series#tos: amok time#tos: the empath#and for the tags:#tos: wink of an eye (X)

Honestly, the thing about Spock's nervous reaction to being perceived by Gem the mute empath (turning away, pretending to study his tricorder, ignoring her until she walks over and emotes her delight at what he specifically felt for the unconscious Kirk while gentle music plays) that gets me is how much it mirrors the final scene of "Amok Time."

I mean, "The Empath" is no "Amok Time" as an episode (though it's fine). But the transformation of Spock's devastation over Kirk's "death" at his hands into raw joy and delight, the only time in TOS that he shows such a thing without some outside force screwing with him, is such a moment. And the reason it's only a moment is because he hurriedly hides it in the same guilty, nervous way he'll do in "The Empath" later, for the same reason: realizing he's being perceived by a third party. In "Amok Time," of course, that's the smiling Chapel and McCoy; Spock seems to have genuinely forgotten that they were even in the room when he saw Kirk alive, and as soon as he sees them again, he stops short and hides his feelings again, lying that he doesn't care about Kirk in any capacity but professional respect.

Kirk seems to just be affectionately amused by this and shepherds him off, but I think it's interesting that the thing that really alarms Spock is the sudden realization that other people are watching them. He does have to be pretty blatantly reminded that other people exist are present and can see everything, but once Spock sees others observing them, he has this brief moment of panic and then retreats into his usual composure while just lying or pretending he revealed nothing. This isn't set off by Kirk himself at all—his reaction, something he did, something he might have done. Spock's alarm in these scenes is all about being perceived by people other than Kirk.

If they had been alone, well— It does seem like something quite different might have happened in both cases.