Matt Decker IS Will’s father

[Dukhat]

Some of the background in the novels works well. Other stuff like the second crewman dying on the transporter being Kirk's ex wife really doesn't.

For the latter, was there a cut scene with Kirk and 'Ciana' before the tram docks? When Kirk exits, the woman next to him looks at him with a smile like she knows him, but he just exits without looking at her or saying anything to her. I'm assuming this was the same woman who dies in the transporter accident.

 

[JonnyQuest037]

Apart from Carol Marcus, the little blond lab technician could be Janet Wallace.

And she was in the initial drafts of what became the second ST movie, but I think they made the right call to have it be a new character instead. Not only would Janet Wallace secretly having Kirk's son make no sense with what was shown in "The Deadly Years", but Janet Wallace just wasn't that interesting or well-acted of a character. Bibi Besch's Carol Marcus was someone that I could imagine Kirk having a relationship with.

But with Janet Wallace, Carol Marcus, Areel Shaw, and possibly Ruth, it seems pretty obvious that young Kirk had a thing for brainy blondes.

 

[JonnyQuest037]

For the latter, was there a cut scene with Kirk and 'Ciana' before the tram docks? When Kirk exits, the woman next to him looks at him with a smile like she knows him, but he just exits without looking at her or saying anything to her. I'm assuming this was the same woman who dies in the transporter accident.

I've never heard that. I think that was just an extra who was jazzed to be in Captain Kirk's introductory scene.

 

[Pauln6]

I've never heard that. I think that was just an extra who was jazzed to be in Captain Kirk's introductory scene.

I just assumed she was the equivalent of a shuttle stewardess. She probably repeated the computer for the passengers.

 

[JonnyQuest037]

I just assumed she was the equivalent of a shuttle stewardess. She probably repeated the computer for the passengers.

Sure. You always need a woman around to repeat what the computer says.

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

 

[Christopher]

For the latter, was there a cut scene with Kirk and 'Ciana' before the tram docks? When Kirk exits, the woman next to him looks at him with a smile like she knows him, but he just exits without looking at her or saying anything to her. I'm assuming this was the same woman who dies in the transporter accident.

No, different person altogether. She's in a gray uniform, while the accident victim was in beige. And I don't see anything in her expression that suggests personal intimacy; if anything, she seems more like a flight attendant, or perhaps the air tram pilot, or maybe just another passenger showing recognition to a senior officer.

Anyway, the idea that the woman in the transporter accident was someone close to Kirk comes exclusively from Roddenberry's novelization. As far as the filmmakers were concerned, she was just some random crewperson; Robert Wise suggested she was the navigator Ilia was brought in to replace.

 

[ZapBrannigan]

But with Janet Wallace, Carol Marcus, Areel Shaw, and possibly Ruth, it seems pretty obvious that young Kirk had a thing for brainy blondes.

He also had a thing for women he could call Jan: Lester, Wallace, Rand.

 

[JonnyQuest037]

And I don't see anything in her expression that suggests personal intimacy; if anything, she seems more like a flight attendant, or perhaps the air tram pilot, or maybe just another passenger showing recognition to a senior officer.

Plus, you'd think that if that woman was someone Kirk knew, he'd be polite enough to at least nod in her direction as he was getting off the shuttle.

 

[Therin of Andor]

No, different person altogether. She's in a gray uniform, while the accident victim was in beige.

Not only that. The same tram extra later appears on the rec deck! So she is definitely not Ciana.

Not only would Janet Wallace secretly having Kirk's son make no sense with what was shown in "The Deadly Years"

Correct. When David Wallace existed in script form, it threw in a complication that Janet Wallace might have cheated on her husband.

 

[Mysterion]

Not only that. The same tram extra later appears on the rec deck! So she is definitely not Ciana.

Hmmmm. Wonder then if she was perhaps a staff aide who transferred from the Admiralty Staff to Enterprise when Kirk made the move?

 

[diankra]

There's never been dialogue that explicitly confirmed they were related, but it's become such a commonly accepted bit of fanon over the years, it seems like it's practically canon. Kind of like Carol Marcus being the "little blonde lab technician" that Gary Mitchell set up with Kirk, or Saavik being half Vulcan and half Romulan. It seems to fit, it adds a little more history & depth to the characters, it doesn't seem to contradict anything, and it's unlikely to ever be addressed again in a live action Trek production, so why not?

Will Decker being Matt's son was carried over from Phase II. Would presumably have been mentioned, but not necessarily in the opening episode that became TMP.

 

[JonnyQuest037]

Hmmmm. Wonder then if she was perhaps a staff aide who transferred from the Admiralty Staff to Enterprise when Kirk made the move?

Oddly enough, I recently came to theorize that Uhura was Kirk's personal attache at the time of TWOK. I got the idea from the way Kirk just wordlessly hands his copy of A Tale of Two Cities off to her when comes aboard the Enterprise to begin the inspection. Since it's never really clear what her current assignment was at the time, I figured that worked as well as anything.

 

[Therin of Andor]

Oddly enough, I recently came to theorize that Uhura was Kirk's personal attache at the time of TWOK. I got the idea from the way Kirk just wordlessly hands his copy of A Tale of Two Cities off to her when comes aboard the Enterprise to begin the inspection. Since it's never really clear what her current assignment was at the time, I figured that worked as well as anything.

Actually, this was mooted at the time. If not in the novelization, then certainly in a "Best of Trek" volume or fannish circles.

Memory Beta: "Uhura was assigned to cadet training and Starfleet Command Communications in 2277. (ST website: StarTrek.com)"

 

[Timo]

In-universe, it's very dangerous to "assign" any of our heroes to the hero ship in TWoK...

Sulu we know was not part of the ship's operating team, as per his "Any chance to visit" line. McCoy speaks ill of training a "new crew" and defending sending the supposed old one instead - should this mean he's one of the old codgers and itching to go, or (more probably) somehow obligated to support the new team and absolutely hating the idea of having to go to space again?

Scotty and his students seem to be the ones best associated with the ship herself. Kirk could be the Academy Commandant, and Spock and Scotty instructors of different sorts, the latter perhaps specializing in the quirky Enterprise while the former just commands random available ships when needed for training purposes (and pulls a few strings to get the Enterprise for Kirk's birthday). The rest? Birthday cruise guests, also invited to participate in the birthday simulation. And the point with Kirk's behavior is that he's happy to fall into his old patterns, and might next expect Commander Uhura, Second Officer of USS Prestigious and Professor of Creative Soldering at the Interstellar Communications University, to bring a cup of coffee.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[johnnybear]

The Romulans must have left Vulcan a hell of a long time ago for the Vulcans not to have known where they went or that they now called themselves Romulans, even if both races still kept similar traditions, language and hand gestures! I mean Spock is as surprised as the rest of the crew when the Romulan Commander appears on screen in Balance of Terror!
JB

 

[diankra]

The Romulans must have left Vulcan a hell of a long time ago for the Vulcans not to have known where they went or that they now called themselves Romulans, even if both races still kept similar traditions, language and hand gestures! I mean Spock is as surprised as the rest of the crew when the Romulan Commander appears on screen in Balance of Terror!
JB

Perhaps, though Spock's under-reaction could just as easily be "Ah, so now they know too..."

 

[EnriqueH]

The Romulans must have left Vulcan a hell of a long time ago for the Vulcans not to have known where they went or that they now called themselves Romulans, even if both races still kept similar traditions, language and hand gestures! I mean Spock is as surprised as the rest of the crew when the Romulan Commander appears on screen in Balance of Terror!
JB

Could easily be retconned as Spock thinking, “Holy shit, that looks just like my dad...”

 

[Khan 2.0]

Was hoping to see Stephen Collins in the new films as Matt.. but then stuff happened..

 

[Christopher]

Was hoping to see Stephen Collins in the new films as Matt.. but then stuff happened..

Even aside from the "stuff," I don't think that would've worked age-wise, since the films were set a decade before TOS, William Windom was in his mid-40s in "The Doomsday Machine," and Collins would've been in his 60s when the movies started.

Then again, I guess it's no worse than the age discrepancy between Roger C. Carmel and Rainn Wilson as Harry Mudd.

 

[Ssosmcin]

Even aside from the "stuff," I don't think that would've worked age-wise, since the films were set a decade before TOS, William Windom was in his mid-40s in "The Doomsday Machine," and Collins would've been in his 60s when the movies started.

Then again, I guess it's no worse than the age discrepancy between Roger C. Carmel and Rainn Wilson as Harry Mudd.

Or Chekov, who should have been whatever number of years younger than Anton Yelchin's 20 years old at the time of the 2009 film. Or Simon Pegg, who was a little older than Doohan would have been at that same period. It's not so much the age of the actors, but how old they look. Pegg skewed younger and could pass for a younger Scotty at the time. William Windom looked older than his age, as people did tend to look older in the 60's for a variety of reasons. Windom could have passed for mid-50's.