McCoys Unprofessional Behavior in "The Man Trap"
- Thread starter TRON JA307020
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I have been to the funerals of people whom I truly loved whose deaths I truly grieved and laughed hysterically with my brothers. Just because they're laughing doesn't mean they don't care. People deal with grief differently. Maybe we can cut them some slack for the laughter.
Especially when Spock claims to be insulted, or insults humans himself.
Noticed last night watching "The Tholian Web" that when McCoy and Spock lie and say they didn't play Kirk's Last Orders, Chekov seems to somehow be in on the joke. Can't figure that out, since he was delirious through most of the episode, and wasn't there when they viewed the tape.
Noticed last night watching "The Tholian Web" that when McCoy and Spock lie and say they didn't play Kirk's Last Orders, Chekov seems to somehow be in on the joke. Can't figure that out, since he was delirious through most of the episode, and wasn't there when they viewed the tape.
McCoy is a doctor in his 40's. One can assume he's been in medicine for well over 20 years. He's seen it all. After a while, doctors develop a thick skin. It's not like Darnell was his close personal friend. Kirk, on the other hand, is affected by the loss of every crewman under his command.
I was fine with it. You want unprofessional behavior? Try Bones getting up Spock's ass for the entire running time of The Tholian Web.
I was fine with it. You want unprofessional behavior? Try Bones getting up Spock's ass for the entire running time of The Tholian Web.
Now that I agree with.
True, but doesn't explain why Kirk was unaffected from the beginning. Having McCoy and Random Crewman of the Week affected but not Kirk is, shall we say, odd.
Just watched tonight. I've always assumed it used some form of telepathy, if it's able to disguise itself from information in peoples' memories. We see her initially as McCoy remembers her. That memory may be close enough to Crater's memory of his wife that the creature projects that image to Kirk. The question is why it doesn't choose an old friend from Kirk's memory. Darnell may have been specifically targeted because he was young and his blood smelled best.
He sees her older long before that. In the first act, Kirk tells him she's gray, then Crater tells him she'll look closer to her age the next time. When they question her after Darnell's death, McCoy is distracted because she looks older than before.
Since McCoy and Crater have similar memories, maybe she chose that as the dominant one to show Kirk. He must not have smelled as tasty as Darnell.
Why is laughing after somebody died "unprofessional"? It goes against certain fairly arbitrary cultural mores of today, but it's hardly relevant to the professional conduct of one's duties either way.
Wearing a black ribbon for people who died doing what they had sworn to do (and to die doing if need be) is just plain silly. Essentially, all is well at the conclusion of the events. There could be some drinks to the heroism of the fallen, perhaps a commemorative dance if need be, but in the end, it's just pretentious and closer to demeaning than honoring - wakes are for the living, and life must go on or the mission never gets done.
Timo Saloniemi
Wearing a black ribbon for people who died doing what they had sworn to do (and to die doing if need be) is just plain silly. Essentially, all is well at the conclusion of the events. There could be some drinks to the heroism of the fallen, perhaps a commemorative dance if need be, but in the end, it's just pretentious and closer to demeaning than honoring - wakes are for the living, and life must go on or the mission never gets done.
Timo Saloniemi
Right. Do we need everyone openly weeping at the end of each episode?
McCoy's function in the show is to be "unprofessional". He's not "regular" Starfleet, he joined later in life (after a bad divorce if you like). He speaks his mind and goes of half cocked.( at Kirk, Spock or anyone else) He wears his heart on his sleeve and is on the bridge for no reason.
You might as well complain about Spock being emotionless. (Which is McCoy's "job" anyway)
You might as well complain about Spock being emotionless. (Which is McCoy's "job" anyway)
Don't get me wrong. McCoy is great. I am kind of chalking up his grin and "mooning" as a lingering effect of the salt vampires mental powers affecting McCoy.
It depends on your definition of "unprofessional." Laughing after somebody died (we are talking Star Trek episodes here) can be considered disrespectful. Being disrespectful can be considered unprofessional. For example, in The Galileo Seven, Kirk, and McCoy joke around with Spock's "desperate" act in igniting the shuttle's fuel and they laugh about it despite the fact that 2 of the shuttle crew were brutally killed (not to mention one of the landing party members.) The way the episode plays out, it seems that this happens fairly soon after those events.
That could be considered by some to be disrespectful to those killed and therefore unprofessional behavior.
It depends on the circumstances. If a friend dies and a bunch of people sit around remembering the good times, telling stories and laughing, that's not considered disrespectful in my opinion but that's not what happens in TOS.
There are many episodes where we can't be sure if the tag scene is taking place immediately after the main events, and "Galileo Seven" is one of them. Would Kirk suddenly be in a jovial mood while Commissioner Ferris is still on the ship bossing him around? I don't think the tag actually happens until after they'd reached Makus III and Ferris is gone.
Please don't put this idea in anyone's head. The last thing the world needs is K/M slashfic.
So, a day or two later? Is that enough time to forget the dead crewman and get back to hamming it up with the boys?
I understand that the light hearted banter on TOS is part of what makes it a great show but sometimes the timing of it is just....off.
This wasn't even an issue when the episodes originally aired. I think it's only in the last 20 years or less that people are thinking this way because of modern programming. A 50 year old show is not going to conform to 21st century standards. Some people seem to want everything to be dark and depressing.
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