"...and another thing..."...besides what?

[LMFAOschwarz]

Star Trek: The Motion Picture
Kirk: Mr. Decker, I'd like to see you in my quarters.
McCoy: Mind if I tag along, Captain. (I love how he asks the question as a statement)

That must've been an awkwardly quiet turbo lift ride that followed! What, though, is exactly the significance of using Kirk's quarters? He could have chewed him out in the turbo lift. Though, if Kirk had said "I'd like to see you in the turbo lift." that would be weird.

I seem to remember Kirk doing the 'I'd like to see you in my quarters' thing before, possibly Amok Time, with Spock?

Anyhow, I'm getting into post drift! My main question: after Decker left Kirk's quarters and conveniently ran into Ilia who just happened to make herself available in the vicinity of Kirk's quarters (unless she was on break, I suppose), the scene returns to Kirk's quarters. McCoy says "And another thing...", Kirk obviously annoyed like McCoy were a fly in the room. McCoy continues "As ship's doctor, I am now discussing the subject of command fitness. ".
"Make your point, Doctor."
"The point, Captain, is that it's you who's competing. "
And on it goes.

What on Earth was McCoy discussing with Kirk at first to get him so annoyed? While we were watching Decker and Ilia stand in front of an orange door and talk, I feel like we missed something. I thought the Starfleet's throat/using this emergency/blind you to critical responsibilities stuff was McCoy's main beef?

 

[Dukhat]

Star Trek: The Motion Picture
Kirk: Mr. Decker, I'd like to see you in my quarters.
McCoy: Mind if I tag along, Captain. (I love how he asks the question as a statement)

That must've been an awkwardly quiet turbo lift ride that followed! What, though, is exactly the significance of using Kirk's quarters? He could have chewed him out in the turbo lift. Though, if Kirk had said "I'd like to see you in the turbo lift." that would be weird.

I seem to remember Kirk doing the 'I'd like to see you in my quarters' thing before, possibly Amok Time, with Spock?

Anyhow, I'm getting into post drift! My main question: after Decker left Kirk's quarters and conveniently ran into Ilia who just happened to make herself available in the vicinity of Kirk's quarters (unless she was on break, I suppose), the scene returns to Kirk's quarters. McCoy says "And another thing...", Kirk obviously annoyed like McCoy were a fly in the room. McCoy continues "As ship's doctor, I am now discussing the subject of command fitness. ".
"Make your point, Doctor."
"The point, Captain, is that it's you who's competing. "
And on it goes.

What on Earth was McCoy discussing with Kirk at first to get him so annoyed? While we were watching Decker and Ilia stand in front of an orange door and talk, I feel like we missed something. I thought the Starfleet's throat/using this emergency/blind you to critical responsibilities stuff was McCoy's main beef?

He was probably just reiterating what Decker had mentioned previously, about how Kirk hadn't logged any space time in years and how he basically stole the Enterprise from Decker for his own personal reasons. In this instance Kirk really was being a dick and both Decker and McCoy were well within their rights to be pissed at him.

 

[Indysolo]

...the scene returns to Kirk's quarters. McCoy says "And another thing...", Kirk obviously annoyed like McCoy were a fly in the room. McCoy continues "As ship's doctor, I am now discussing the subject of command fitness. ".
"Make your point, Doctor."
"The point, Captain, is that it's you who's competing. "
And on it goes.

What on Earth was McCoy discussing with Kirk at first to get him so annoyed? While we were watching Decker and Ilia stand in front of an orange door and talk, I feel like we missed something. I thought the Starfleet's throat/using this emergency/blind you to critical responsibilities stuff was McCoy's main beef?

The specific dialogue you are referring to is only heard in the "Special Longer Version" of the movie. It was cut from the theatrical release and "The Director's Edition".

Neil

 

[AgentCoop]

It does seem odd that Kirk uses his quarters for this sort of thing. Did he not have a ready room?

 

[LMFAOschwarz]

It does seem odd that Kirk uses his quarters for this sort of thing. Did he not have a ready room?

I've wondered if it's some old tradition/procedure on sailing vessels or something. On the series, there were others who were brought to the Captain's quarters. Offhand I recall Harry Mudd and that pilot Christopher. Must have been more of a first season thing, though I don't trust my memory that much.

Come to think of it, in that very episode Harry Mudd, the women, and even the miners met Kirk in his quarters!

 

[2takesfrakes]

I do like it, though, when Bones leaves and we see Kirk through the glass doors as they close -- COOL!!!

 

[CaptPapa]

It does seem odd that Kirk uses his quarters for this sort of thing. Did he not have a ready room?

Actually, not odd; as noted by others, he used his quarters several times for this kind of thing. And no, he did not have a ready room - that was a TNG addition.

ME

 

[Lance]

Theoretically, on old school naval vessels if the captain wanted a word of quiet discipline he might pull you into his cabin (usually located near to the bridge) for a chat. Although strictly speaking such matters as crew discipline would usually be handled by subordinates anyway.

The 'ready room' seen from TNG onwards is essentially closer to this concept than the idea of the captain's quarters being on a lower deck. Although I think the movie First Contact was the only time we ever saw one with an actual bunk?

 

[Mudd]

Yep, no "Ready Room" prior to TNG. Also no "Away Teams," just landing/boarding parties.

 

[Indysolo]

I do like it, though, when Bones leaves and we see Kirk through the glass doors as they close -- COOL!!!

Yes, at that point Kirk is unenlightened.

 

[FormerLurker]

We did get a 'Captain's office' in TMP, when Kirk and Bones have their conversation with Spock. Admittedly, it was never identified as such, but a desk can be seen in the last little room the trio didn't quite get to before sitting down to chat.

 

[ZapBrannigan]

We did get a 'Captain's office' in TMP, when Kirk and Bones have their conversation with Spock. Admittedly, it was never identified as such, but a desk can be seen in the last little room the trio didn't quite get to before sitting down to chat.

I thought that was the Officers Lounge, with the big windows facing aft.

In TMP, as in TOS, the outer room of Kirk's cabin doubled as his office. What Kirk really needed was a little room with a cot adjacent to the Bridge, where he could get some Z's but still be two steps away in case of emergency.

 

[Nightowl1701]

"He may be right, Jim. As I seem to recall, you were put in overall charge of the starship refit program. And considering this particular ship was the guinea pig, I'd have thought you'd be devouring every blueprint and schematic the engineers coughed up. If anybody up there should've known about that whole phaser warp engine thing that almost got us all killed just now besides Decker and Scott, it was you. Or were you even reading the paperwork that crossed your shiny new office desk before you signed it? And another thing..."

 

[Kirby]

I wonder what happened to that conference room that had in TOS, that would have been a better place to have a conversation like that. Although knowing Kirk...
Kirk: Ensign, I need to see you in my quarters.
Ensign: I'm a guy, sir.
Kirk: Very well, the conference room then.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

It does seem odd that Kirk uses his quarters for this sort of thing. Did he not have a ready room?

I thought his quarters were divided in half (by the clear door), half of which is a ready room and the other half is where he actually lives.

 

[LMFAOschwarz]

"He may be right, Jim. As I seem to recall, you were put in overall charge of the starship refit program. And considering this particular ship was the guinea pig, I'd have thought you'd be devouring every blueprint and schematic the engineers coughed up. If anybody up there should've known about that whole phaser warp engine thing that almost got us all killed just now besides Decker and Scott, it was you. Or were you even reading the paperwork that crossed your shiny new office desk before you signed it? And another thing..."

I think you're right on the money there. That fits perfectly, and spares us the viewer of having to hear essentially the same information twice. So, cut ti Decker and Ilia standing in front of the orange door, then switch to McCoy and Kirk talking in front of a giant Chekov.

 

[AgentCoop]

It does seem odd that Kirk uses his quarters for this sort of thing. Did he not have a ready room?

I thought his quarters were divided in half (by the clear door), half of which is a ready room and the other half is where he actually lives.

You could be right (I haven't seen the movie in ages), but shouldn't a "ready room" be closer to the bridge?

 

[J.T.B.]

I've wondered if it's some old tradition/procedure on sailing vessels or something. On the series, there were others who were brought to the Captain's quarters.

Yeah, if you go back to the sailing days, the "cabin" was the captain's combination office, bedroom and dining room and was really big, taking up maybe a fifth of the ship's length. It was divided into the great cabin (dining and entertaining, official business), stateroom (sleeping), and steerage (office space). There might also be a small office for the clerk. (It also had guns in it, so all the interior walls and furniture had to be removed for battle stations, as part of "clearing for action.") It's hard to explain but here's a quick sketch of what I'm talking about:

The captain dined by himself (or with invited guests). The other officers ate in the wardroom, sleeping in small staterooms along both sides. The midshipmen ate in the gunroom.

Anyway, as you can see from where the wheel was, the ship could be controlled from just outside the captain's door. When steel ships became more compartmentalized, the captain's cabin moved further from the bridge, so it became common for him to have a "sea cabin" right adjacent to the bridge, with a bed and minimal furniture, so he could be close to the action when needed, more like the TNG Ready Room. The main captain's quarters on a big ship remained pretty large and more formal, and was often a small suite of rooms with extra dining space that could also be used for conferences and such.

In this shot

the thing on the right looks like a bed. It seems too wide to be useful for anything else.


And then here:

it looks like there is a small table with pull-out stools, which might be usful for small-scale briefings or something like that (as in TWOK). So it seems like maybe the quarters does have "business" as well as living space. What seems odd, though, is that visitors have to walk through the living space before getting to the official space.

That console with the colored lucite wedges... I have no idea what that was supposed to be.

Yep, no "Ready Room" prior to TNG. Also no "Away Teams," just landing/boarding parties.

And midshipmen at the Academy, what happened to them?

 

[Nightowl1701]

That console with the colored lucite wedges... I have no idea what that was supposed to be.

If I had to hazard a guess, I'd say it was Decker's equivalent of a bookshelf. (Remember, these were Decker's fully customized quarters he'd just been kicked out of.) Those wedges are probably the TMP equivalent of the TOS library computer tapes that Decker could browse from and enjoy on the monitor. (Kirk, of course, preferred real books.)

 

[drt]

Yeah, I always felt the weird sculpture on the little table next to the blue couch had to be Deckers' too. Since I can't imagine Kirk would have had much in the way of personal effects beamed up, particularly room decorations.

It must have double-sucked for Decker to get dressed down in a room full of his own crap.