Very subtle joke from Scotty in TMP

[BoredShipCapt'n]

Either I'm extremely dense or Scotty's sense of humor is extremely subtle, because it took me 34 years for the penny to drop on this one.

Decker: "Don't worry. She'll launch, on schedule, if we have to tow her out with our bare hands. Right, Scotty?"

Scotty: "Aye. Er, that we will, sir."

"We" is not the subject of the sentence in Decker's line, but only of the dependent clause. So Scotty's not saying, "Yes, she will launch on schedule." He's saying, "Yes, we will have to tow her out with our bare hands."



Maybe it went over my head because I was only 11 at the time...

 

[Robert Comsol]

Very good catch, thanks you mentioned it so I won't look like an idiot in 34 years if somebody brings it up.

Bob

 

[Captain Clark Terrell]

^I don't think the line was intended to be humorous at all. If anything, Scotty delivered that line rather glumly because he knew that whatever shape the Enterprise was in by the time she launched, she'd no longer be Decker's ship. The script actually says that the delivery of the line is supposed to reflect embarrassment and even a touch of regret on Scotty's part. There's no humor there at all. Not intentional, at any rate.

--Sran

 

[Robert Comsol]

Seriously? But maybe Scotty's subtle suggestion did make sense after all, knowing that Decker would be momentarily relieved of his duties: "Aye sir. We [you and I] will tow her out with our bare hands".

Bob

 

[Captain Clark Terrell]

Seriously? But maybe Scotty's subtle suggestion did make sense after all, knowing that Decker would be momentarily relieved of his duties: "Aye sir. We [you and I] will tow her out with our bare hands".

Maybe. Thinking about it now, I'd say it was really Decker who was trying to be funny. But his joke fell flat because Scotty knew what was about to happen. As an aside, I've always wondered why Decker wasn't notified about Kirk's coming before was aboard the ship. I suppose Kirk asked that he be allowed to tell Decker about the change himself.

--Sran

 

[trevanian]

I've always figured it was Scott's discomfort with the Kirk Decker situation myself.

But this thread made me think of the b-t-s still for RAISE THE TITANIC that shows a burly diver hauling a huge model of the TITANIC up with just a rope over his shoulder. Probably need to airbrush doohan's face onto it.

 

[publiusr]

That would be a sight to see.

 

[Mycroft Maxwell]

Scotty was trying to hold his composure, and upbeat (failing miserably) because he did not want to see what was about to happen. Kirk saw it and got Decker to himself. Then afterwards, Scotty gave Kirk that look right before all hell broke loose with that console behind him. I think Scotty felt bad for Decker, because Decker seemed so excited at that moment to get underway...then Kirk bursted his bubble.

 

[Captain Clark Terrell]

^If you watch the conversation closely whenever Decker is shown in close-up, you can see Scotty in the background looking in their direction, as if he's trying to listen in. There's actually an interesting plot-line that develops from this that's used in Ex Machina.

--Sran

 

[Dukhat]

"We" is not the subject of the sentence in Decker's line, but only of the dependent clause. So Scotty's not saying, "Yes, she will launch on schedule." He's saying, "Yes, we will have to tow her out with our bare hands."

Sorry, but I'm not seeing Scotty making a joke, intentionally or unintentionally. He's just in an awkward situation and was trying to be nice about it.

 

[BoredShipCapt'n]

Scotty was trying to hold his composure, and upbeat (failing miserably) because he did not want to see what was about to happen. Kirk saw it and got Decker to himself. Then afterwards, Scotty gave Kirk that look right before all hell broke loose with that console behind him. I think Scotty felt bad for Decker, because Decker seemed so excited at that moment to get underway...then Kirk bursted his bubble.

All true. That's why the joke is barely there, if it's there at all. It's definitely not the dominating feature of Scotty's line or demeanor.

 

[Mr. Comic Book]

Seriously? But maybe Scotty's subtle suggestion did make sense after all, knowing that Decker would be momentarily relieved of his duties: "Aye sir. We [you and I] will tow her out with our bare hands".

Maybe. Thinking about it now, I'd say it was really Decker who was trying to be funny. But his joke fell flat because Scotty knew what was about to happen. As an aside, I've always wondered why Decker wasn't notified about Kirk's coming before was aboard the ship. I suppose Kirk asked that he be allowed to tell Decker about the change himself.

--Sran

I don't think Kirk was aware that Decker didn't know. He seemed a little uncomfortable when Sulu told him Decker didn't know about the change of command. My assumption was that Kirk thought Decker had been notified already.

Having said that, Decker was going to take it badly either way, so there wasn't anything Kirk could have done about it.