I haven't. Sounds intriguing. What's the general summary of that annual?
What if Gary Mitchell had survived and been cured?
- Thread starter Mr. Laser Beam
- Start date
Mysterious anomalies draw the Enterprise back to Delta Vega, where Kirk investigates if the evolved Gary Mitchell could somehow be responsible. More than that starts to get into spoiler territory. I recommend it, though.
If you're curious about the series as a whole & want to sample more than one story, you can get the first volume pretty cheap for the Kindle: https://www.amazon.com/Star-Trek-New-Visions-Vol-ebook/dp/B00MUZ0XIC
Well, I think he'd have been a little ticked about Kirk trying to kill him.
So the cured Mitchell sits at his station and next to him is .. well, not Kelso because, you know, you sorta strangled him to death, a@@hole, nice job.
...Of course, the relatives could then be rallying for allowing Mitchell to regain his powers so that He can then bring back to life their son (and cure that annoying balding on the side, and perhaps a bit of musical talent wouldn't be completely out of the question...?).
Mitchell really dying under the rock would be understandable if He wanted to die. And He had indicated something of the sort just moments before.
Timo Saloniemi
Mitchell really dying under the rock would be understandable if He wanted to die. And He had indicated something of the sort just moments before.
Timo Saloniemi
Not Gary's fault. Besides, as Kirk so famously informed his staff, "Risk is our business!"--meaning the nature of their job carries the chance of injury or death. Kelso simply lived up to his potential to experience the meaning of risk in Starfleet.
I'm actually not sure if I agree with that. Did the "power" take away Gary's free will? Did it make him kill Kelso? It wasn't some alien entity that possessed his body.
Not. Gary's. Fault.
Gary's newly acquired power may have corrupted him. Kirk did mention to Gary about "absolute power corrupting absolutely". Even if that was the case, Gary did appear to retain his free will, and he chose to play god.
It amplified the ID... and we all have an ID. Hasn't anyone ever pissed you off so much, you fantasized killing them? But of course, you wouldn't. Some people do. Their road rage overloads their mental faculties and they can't see beyond the moment. Sheer rage. I knew a guy who had to undergo medication because of his condition. Repressed anger for many years--it mounts up. And it gets misdirected to the next individual who "pressed his button." He slammed his car into someone else's car because they flipped him off after he honked his horn in response to being cut off. It was just the right timing... he floored his car and RAM... right into that other vehicle. He was lucky he didn't kill anyone. But the other driver was injured. Sure messed up his situation for a good long while. When he cooled off, he couldn't believe he had been such as @sshole, totaling his car and bringing upon a lawsuit... all because he was angry. Talk about wishing he could go back in time and make a different choice.
Gary had a bit of latent hostility in him. Lacking professional decorum on the bridge, he makes a play for Dr. Dehner, who blows him off... leading to his "walking freezer unit" quip. I do agree with our Gary Mitchell here, that it wasn't Gary's fault. His "ID control" was wiped away.
Gary had a bit of latent hostility in him. Lacking professional decorum on the bridge, he makes a play for Dr. Dehner, who blows him off... leading to his "walking freezer unit" quip. I do agree with our Gary Mitchell here, that it wasn't Gary's fault. His "ID control" was wiped away.
Self-defense.
And I gotta go back to the Riker example. He got the power of the Q, which arguably was just as powerful - probably even more so - than what happened to Gary. Yet did Riker turn psycho? No. He even had the presence of mind to refuse to use the power. So I don't suppose there's an explanation as to why the 'absolute power' corrupted Gary and not Riker?
Barrier radiation is different than Q. IIRC, the affected crewmembers on the Valiant also went mad.Self-defense.
And I gotta go back to the Riker example. He got the power of the Q, which arguably was just as powerful - probably even more so - than what happened to Gary. Yet did Riker turn psycho? No. He even had the presence of mind to refuse to use the power. So I don't suppose there's an explanation as to why the 'absolute power' corrupted Gary and not Riker?
Gary didn't go instantly mad. Immediately after the accident, he had (mostly) his normal personality. (Dehner also had hers.) So the actual energy of the barrier didn't make him go nuts - the enhanced abilities did.
Yeah, but the radiation in combination with his latent ESPer abilities are the source of his powers. As his power increased so did his madness.
Self-defense.
And I gotta go back to the Riker example. He got the power of the Q, which arguably was just as powerful - probably even more so - than what happened to Gary. Yet did Riker turn psycho? No.
Poor example. Riker was still himself and not suffering from the complete, mind and body altering effects of the barrier. He was becoming another being with none of the character that was a part of the original man. He's not responsible for not being able to stop his unnatural growth of power.
What if the inner barrier and the outer barrier are part of the same prison? What if the God Thing from Star Trek V was the evil that was influencing Gary? He did reach out telepathically to find Sybok. Gary had esper abilities. Its not a huge stretch, for something like Trek, is it?
How much better would TFF have been received if that had indeed been the climax?
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I don't think this applies. Q simply gave him omnipotent powers, which... he started to flex a little. But that's all. The "enhancement" Gary Mitchell received was something quite different. It wasn't just an assignment of omnipotence (which it wasn't really -- it was enhanced ESP that was growing stronger gradually, maybe "Q" level abilities would eventually unfold). His brain was altered. I posit that the "ID control" center of his brain was compromised. Riker didn't have that issue.Self-defense.
And I gotta go back to the Riker example. He got the power of the Q, which arguably was just as powerful - probably even more so - than what happened to Gary. Yet did Riker turn psycho? No. He even had the presence of mind to refuse to use the power. So I don't suppose there's an explanation as to why the 'absolute power' corrupted Gary and not Riker?
I think Gary would have had a hard time giving up that power. It really brought out parts of his personality, amplifying his feelings toward his shipmates: superiority, overconfidence in his own abilities. All these things were already within. I wonder what would have happened if her were to live his power continues to grow. What is the end game there? Infinite expansion cannot sustain itself without some sort of transcendental metamorphosis. Think V'Ger joining with a human...where did it go? New planes of existence? I really think the way it went was the only way it could have gone without exploring this idea. Gary's body would not have been able to sustain what he would ultimately become.
Although they have denied it, I have always wondered if Q are the ultimate endgame of human evolution. They claim our uniqueness is why they study us, but it would make more sense to me (shades of Fringe and the Observer science team) if the Q were studying their own history (right down to Trelane play acting Earth History) and were making sure we stay on the path that leads to enlightenment, to ensure their own later existance, or just to get a better idea of what they used to be like. Even better if you could tie in the V'Ger/Decker merging as a piece of that evolution, maybe.
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