Spock’s parents are on the Enterprise! Spock’s parents are on the Enterprise! Oh, man, this is intensely fantastic.
Spock’s dad is there for peace talks and he gets framed for murder and then he gets sick and then Kirk gets attacked while the ship is being followed/attacked/whatever-ed so Spock can’t give his dad a blood transfusion for a very tricky operation because he has to be in charge and Kirk risks his own life faking that he’s okay long enough to hand control over to Scotty and OH MY GOD tricking Vulcans into doing what you know they should have been doing in the first place is super tricky but totally worth it.
How you like the longest run-on sentence I’ve probably ever written in my adult life? It’s got problems and issues. I like that it paves they way for this William Congreve quote:
If there’s delight in love, ‘tis when I see that heart, which others bleed for, bleed for me.
Also, Spock’s mom is a fantastic conduit for seeing both Spock’s more human side AND his father’s (and through him all Vulcans’) capacity for tenderness. Boom.
Starfleet Academy Secret Lecture Recommendation: So-Called Compromises With Vulcans & Their Requisite Convolutions