Should novels set in the JJVerse rectify the film's plot holes?

[Christopher]

And it's probably worth noting that when McCoy tells Kirk about the divorce, he's not all weepy and "Woe is me, my heart is broken." He's making a wry, humorous remark about his ex-wife.

I wrote a bit in Seek a Newer World where Spock asks why Kirk calls McCoy "Bones" and McCoy is a bit abashed when Kirk chortles and repeats the "she left me nothing but my bones" line. Spock takes it literally and asks if McCoy's ex-wife was an archaeologist. McCoy smirks and says, "Yeah. She specialized in gold-digging."

 

[Greg Cox]

And it's probably worth noting that when McCoy tells Kirk about the divorce, he's not all weepy and "Woe is me, my heart is broken." He's making a wry, humorous remark about his ex-wife.

I wrote a bit in Seek a Newer World where Spock asks why Kirk calls McCoy "Bones" and McCoy is a bit abashed when Kirk chortles and repeats the "she left me nothing but my bones" line. Spock takes it literally and asks if McCoy's ex-wife was an archaeologist. McCoy smirks and says, "Yeah. She specialized in gold-digging."

Hah! I wish I thought of that.

 

[Nerys Myk]

And it's probably worth noting that when McCoy tells Kirk about the divorce, he's not all weepy and "Woe is me, my heart is broken." He's making a wry, humorous remark about his ex-wife.

I wrote a bit in Seek a Newer World where Spock asks why Kirk calls McCoy "Bones" and McCoy is a bit abashed when Kirk chortles and repeats the "she left me nothing but my bones" line. Spock takes it literally and asks if McCoy's ex-wife was an archaeologist. McCoy smirks and says, "Yeah. She specialized in gold-digging."

One line down.

We'll get that book by hook or by crook!

 

[Thrawn]

Not bad.

I really hope those books see the light of day. They sound like fun.

 

[JarodRussell]

I found my version better.

IT'S SHORT FOR SAWBONES, DAMNIT!!!

 

[Shazam!]

Humans really did draw the short straw when it comes to how cute their offspring are.

 

[Therin of Andor]

Hm well, did he really? Most of the people I know, who watched the new movie said stuff like "Yeah well, this movie was cool, but that old stuff? Still wouldn't watch it."

I seem to recall announcements from all over the world that boxed sets of anything Star Trek - and especially TOS - did a roaring trade in DVD stores in the months after the movie's debut.

But it wasn't about selling old product, it was about selling Part 1 of a trilogy of big budget ST movies.

 

[CaseyF]

I seem to recall announcements from all over the world that boxed sets of anything Star Trek - and especially TOS - did a roaring trade in DVD stores in the months after the movie's debut.

I Netflixed all of TOS after the movie came out, and several times I had to wait a while for the next DVD to become available. When I called them to sort out an error with one of the DVDs, the customer service rep told me there'd been a big demand for the original series DVDs ever since the movie. Of course, who knows how many of those were new viewers and how many were previous fans whose interest in the franchise was revived by the new movie (which was the case with me).

 

[F. King Daniel]

Hm well, did he really? Most of the people I know, who watched the new movie said stuff like "Yeah well, this movie was cool, but that old stuff? Still wouldn't watch it."

I seem to recall announcements from all over the world that boxed sets of anything Star Trek - and especially TOS - did a roaring trade in DVD stores in the months after the movie's debut.

But it wasn't about selling old product, it was about selling Part 1 of a trilogy of big budget ST movies.

Since I was little I was convinced they only made new Star Trek films to shill more old videos (and now DVD and Blurays)

 

[Turtletrekker]

^To my mind, almost every movie's (your Avatar's notwithstanding) entire theatrical run has long been simply an extended commercial for its up-coming VHS/DVD/Bluray release. It sometimes seems that that's where the real money is.

Look at all of the recent Iron Man animated releases timed with the release of IM2. It's hardly a phenomena that's Trek specific.

 

[JD]

^What is say there is actually very true. Back when I was in high school my marketing teacher said that the theatrical releases of movie are basically just commercials for the DVD release.

 

[Therin of Andor]

Since I was little I was convinced they only made new Star Trek films to shill more old videos (and now DVD and Blurays)

Well, let me assure you that when first ST:TMP, ST II and ST III came out on VHS, Beta and laserdisc there were only about six episodes of TOS available to buy on sell-thru VHS, and they were made from badly red-shifted film reels. At least that was the situation Down Under. "The Menagerie Part 1", "The Menagerie Part 2", "Miri", "Space Seed", "Dagger of the Mind" (which was sometimes rendered as "Dagger of the Wind") and "The City on the Edge of Forever". That was it.

 

[EJA]

(Also, we don't know when McCoy was involved with Nancy not-yet-Crater. Anything that wasn't established onscreen is open to interpretation. Besides, the movie skipped over the three years Kirk and McCoy spent in the Academy. Bones could've dated Nancy during that gap, for all we know.)

McCoy and Nancy had parted ways ten years before "The Man Trap", i.e. 2256. The dialogue and the way they are with one another in the episode suggests to me that they were involved for quite some time, at least a couple of years, more than just one.

 

[F. King Daniel]

Re: Forced Mind Meld?

One of the old Best of Trek books I'm absorbing suggested that it was McCoy's affair with Nancy that led to his divorce!

Maybe he deserved to lose the whole damn planet

 

[Shazam!]

But it wasn't about selling old product, it was about selling Part 1 of a trilogy of big budget ST movies.

Are we still in the trilogy Hollywood fad? I thought trilogy had been replaced by reboot.

 

[Therin of Andor]

I thought trilogy had been replaced by reboot.

The cast were signed for one movie and options for two sequels. Therefore = trilogy.

 

[Christopher]

(Also, we don't know when McCoy was involved with Nancy not-yet-Crater. Anything that wasn't established onscreen is open to interpretation. Besides, the movie skipped over the three years Kirk and McCoy spent in the Academy. Bones could've dated Nancy during that gap, for all we know.)

McCoy and Nancy had parted ways ten years before "The Man Trap", i.e. 2256. The dialogue and the way they are with one another in the episode suggests to me that they were involved for quite some time, at least a couple of years, more than just one.

Well, in the movie, Kirk and McCoy enroll in the Academy in 2255 and we then cut to 2258, so I see what you're saying. Of course, in the Prime timeline, Kirk entered the Academy in 2250 and graduated in 2254. We're dealing with two distinct realities here, so it's possible that Abramsverse McCoy never met Nancy Crater at all. However, if we assume McCoy's life was subject to fewer changes in the new timeline than Kirk's, it's quite possible that McCoy Prime also got divorced in 2255 and was involved with Nancy for about a year thereafter (and possibly was already involved with her before his divorce). Or he could've gotten divorced a year or two earlier. Since it's a different reality, there are abundant possibilities.

 

[RookieBatman]

Personally, I did find the "nothing but my bones" line a bit too cutesy. But the initial complaint, made by whoever first brought it up, was not that the "bones" line was badly written, but that it was disrespectful of continuity by "changing" the origin of "Bones." That's wrong for several reasons; one, the origin of "Bones" was never canonically established to begin with; two, this version of the origin is not at all irreconcilable with the other one; and three, the scene actually respected McCoy lore quite well because it acknowledged and canonized the behind-the-scenes backstory that McCoy's divorce was what led him to join Starfleet.

I agree with all that, but I thought the line sounded terrible taken on its own.

I think that last fact scores the scene far more points for continuity than the "bones" line could detract from it.

For myself, I don't think it scores high enough to make up for how ridiculous the line sounded to me. After all, it was never canonized before, and somehow we survived. Not everything needs to be spelled out.

Not all that differnent that saying, all she left me were the clothes on my back. It shows how little he has.

Yeah, but what's different about saying "clothes on my back," is that people actually say that, ever. "Nothing but my bones" doesn't sound (to me) like anything anyone would ever say, unless they were trying to get Jim Kirk to call them "Bones" for the rest of their life.

Well many nicknames aren't affectionate, but you learn to live with them.

Yeah, but the only people who call you nicknames that aren't affectionate aren't the kind of people I would want to hang around with, or generally consider heroic. Bones was an affectionate nickname before.

Indeed. Heck, maybe the reason Kirk calls him "Bones" is because he's ribbing him for saying something as silly and awkward as "All she left me were my bones." So it fits perfectly!

Okay, I'll give you that one. Best excuse I've heard so far, anyway.

 

[JD]

I'm sorry, but I really don't see where the "nothing but my bones" line was that horrible. I've heard people talk like that before, and I think I might have heard that exact saying before.

 

[RookieBatman]

Different strokes for different folks. I certainly know I've never heard it in real life.