Leonard McCoy: Potential alcoholic?

[Dusty Ayres]

I get the feeling watching TOS and the new movie that McCoy might have a bit of a potential alcoholism problem brewing. If ever something was to happen to him emotionally, McCoy would probably be hitting the Saurian brandy or Jack Daniels pretty hard. Does anybody else see this too, or is it just I?

[Nerd unRage]

Actually, watching TOS, one would think Scotty has the problem. He mentions scotch a few times in the series.

[Mr. Laser Beam]

How often did we see McCoy drinking in TOS?

[Mr Silver]

The guys nervous about getting on the Shuttle, he takes a few sips from his hipflask to settle his nerves, thats about it...

Sure in TOS Dr McCoy liked a drink from time to time but it was never at the stage of problem drinking, if anything from what I recall, Kirk dabbled in the Sauce more than anyone else

[Mr. Laser Beam]

^ Really? I don't remember Kirk drinking a lot either. I think Scotty drank more than any other main character.

[Mr Silver]

Mr. Laser Beam wrote:

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^ Really? I don't remember Kirk drinking a lot either. I think Scotty drank more than any other main character.

The only episode I can recall Scotty drinking was "By Any Other Name" where he gets utterly toasted with the Kelvin, in order to "Overstimulate" the "Human-Like" responses

Sure its a recurring theme that Scotty likes to Drink, but we don't see it happen on screen very often, in TWOK its hinted that Scotty had a major booze-up just prior to the Training Cruise and it was Dr McCoy that helped sober him up, asides from that in TNG's "Relics" we see Scotty drinking and in a slightly "Drunken" condition

[M'Sharak]

Mr. Laser Beam wrote:

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How often did we see McCoy drinking in TOS?

Corbomite Maneuver, This Side of Paradise and Wolf in the Fold, off the top of my head. Any others?

[Devon]

M'Sharak wrote:

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Corbomite Maneuver, This Side of Paradise and Wolf in the Fold, off the top of my head. Any others?

He was drinking in the films too. "Tennessee Whiskey" and all that jazz.

[Timo]

The only episode I can recall Scotty drinking was "By Any Other Name" where he gets utterly toasted with the Kelvin, in order to "Overstimulate" the "Human-Like" responses.

He spoke about drinking on duty, though - even during working hours and crises. See "Tholian Web" where he thinks the cure for the week's space-sickness would go down better with Scotch. Although the cure itself was supposed to be an inebriant of sorts, so...

... a potential alcoholism problem brewing.

I guess this is the right forum for the question. After all, in TNG, "alcoholism" would probably not have existed: being addicted to ethanol would carry no bigger consequences than being addicted to oxygen, thanks to the wonders of 24th century medicine. Some TOS novels suggest there were 23rd century cures for both the associated problems and the addiction itself, too, and you'd have to be quite a pervert not to take those cures - more akin to a cancer victim deliberately skipping his miracle medicine than to a schitz skipping his happy pills.

The JJ take on the Trek universe is less likely to eliminate the dramatic potential of conventional alcohol addiction that way, though. And it's canonically free to choose that path, since aired TOS never said alcoholism wouldn't be a problem.

Timo Saloniemi

[Ar-Pharazon]

^ I think it's more of a statement of the (60's) era the show was filmed in. It wasn't a hot button topic in those days.

[Dusty Ayres]

I wonder if being in Starfleet might help put his drinking away (hard work, dealing with crises, etc.)

[Timo]

With the resources of a starship, he could be making all sorts of uppers, downers and sidewaysers for himself, plus antidotes and cures for those, and having the happiest time of his life...

...As perhaps necessitated by the burden of hard work, dealing with crises etc.

Timo Saloniemi

[Franklin]

In ST09 it looked like Kirk was the one heading down the path to becoming a drunkard. McCoy had been going through what must have been a brutal divorce. A casual drinker doesn't usually carry a flask, but he did seem quite stressed out, too. If anything, joining Starfleet got both their lives back on track. I doubt McCoy had a flask on him on board the Enterprise.

That said, from TOS, McCoy struck me as a good southern gentleman who enjoyed a cocktail from time to time.

In earlier treatments of the TOS characters, weren't McCoy and Scotty supposed to be drinking buddies? I seem to remember that, but don't know where I read or heard it.

[BillJ]

Timo wrote:

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He spoke about drinking on duty, though - even during working hours and crises. See "Tholian Web" where he thinks the cure for the week's space-sickness would go down better with Scotch. Although the cure itself was supposed to be an inebriant of sorts, so...

It was a Klingon nerve gas...

SCOTT: What is it?
MCCOY: It's a diluted theragen derivative.
SPOCK: Theragen? A nerve gas used by the Klingons.
SCOTT: Aye. And deadly, too. What are you thinking of, Doc? Are you trying to kill us all?
SPOCK: If I remember correctly, it caused fatality only when used in pure form.
MCCOY: That's right, and in this derivative, mixed with alcohol, it merely deadens certain nerve inputs to the brain.
SCOTT: Oh, well, any decent brand of Scotch will do that.
MCCOY: One good slug of this, and you can hit a man with phaser stun, and he'd never feel it or even know it.
SCOTT: Does it make a good mix with Scotch?
MCCOY: It should.
SCOTT: I'll let you know. (leaves with the remaining contents of the flask)

I'm pretty sure Scott was the one with the problem.

[Commodore_Rook]

In the movie, McCoy drank a few sips from a flask to calm his nerves as mentioned above. Kirk, however, had maybe 6-8 beers in that bar and continued to drink while chatting with Pike. Hell, Uhura out drank McCoy too and ordered like six drinks as well! The only one NOT shown drinking in the movie, was the one character known to drink: Scotty!!! lol