Dr. Gillian Taylor

[2takesfrakes]

What is Dr. Gillian Taylor's story in STAR TREK IV: The Voyage Home? Her passion for these captive whales, to the exclusion of all else, seems unhealthy. Bob seems to like her, but she's clearly not interested. You can see her becoming visibly tense, when he draws near.

Is she afraid of being hurt? Does she send out these vibes to ward off men, who might come between she and her precious whales? One thing is for certain ... she's well on her way to becoming an Old Maid. She couldn't have been more set-up to encounter Admiral Kirk's party.

She seems strangely pliable in the sense that here's Spock who's caught harassing a whale, by diving into the tank and putting his hands all over it and when Taylor kicks him out, what does she go ahead and do, when she encounters them on the street? She offers Spock & Kirk a ride in her truck to wherever it is they're going, for no other reason than "it's in the script."

 

[Dukhat]

She was a cetacean biologist and clearly cared a great deal about the whales. What more do you need to know about her?

The one thing I can't wrap my head around is why she would be assigned to a science vessel when she should clearly have stayed on Earth to offer her services to caring for the whales, as no one in the 23rd century would have known anything about them. Unless that "science vessel" was actually a seagoing ship and not a starship, but that's not what the scene implies. The only purpose of that scene was to keep Gillian away from Kirk, but he has a new ship, so he'd be away from her anyway, so why'd she need to be in deep space to accomplish that?

 

[MacLeod]

I took the scene to mean an ocean going vessel not a starship.

 

[Khan 2.0]

One thing was made certain, no one was going to miss her in the 20th Century!

 

[Timo]

The only purpose of that scene was to keep Gillian away from Kirk, but he has a new ship, so he'd be away from her anyway?

...Establishing that Gillian has a job on Earth would be the necessary other half of that equation. But admittedly saying "science vessel" is the least effective way of achieving that.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Commishsleer]

Does she send out these vibes to ward off men, who might come between she and her precious whales? One thing is for certain ... she's well on her way to becoming an Old Maid.

Perhaps Gillian needs a man like her whales need a bicycle?

 

[Timo]

Or then she's got a special other of the H.sapiens type out there at her field trips to Norway, and has to ward off nerds like his boss at the other end of her trips because one is enough. Or two, or six, or whatever.

I didn't get any "disappointed with life and men" vibe from her, just frustration that her career involved fighting some very sharp-bladed windmills. But no, that doesn't mean she would have been romantically involved, or in need of such, either.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Commishsleer]

Or then she's got a special other of the H.sapiens type out there at her field trips to Norway, and has to ward off nerds like his boss at the other end of her trips because one is enough. Or two, or six, or whatever.

I didn't get any "disappointed with life and men" vibe from her, just frustration that her career involved fighting some very sharp-bladed windmills. But no, that doesn't mean she would have been romantically involved, or in need of such, either.

Timo Saloniemi

I wasn't too impressed by Bob.

Or Kirk either...

Perhaps Gillian has standards.

 

[f14peter]

that someone is so dedicated to their career, particularly one involving assisting endangered living things, doesn't strike me as unusual. It's an old story in fact ... someone so passionate about their profession that it overwhelms nearly everything else in their life. Who do we know that fits that description? <cough>Kirk<cough>

Her initial, "get the colorful-metaphor out of my Cetacean Institute" reaction was just that, a reaction to somebody hassling her whales. I believe in retrospect she recognized that possibly Spock and Kirk weren't that much of a threat and Spock's statements upon exiting the tank implied grave concern for the whales' well-being ... all of which she remembered.

as for what type of "science wessel" she was assigned to, I'm not entirely convinced it was an earth-bound sea-going ship. I always considered it a space vessel and she was going out to "catch up" on the current state of the natural sciences. Not too much of a stretch to imagine that in the enlightened future that the oceans were in pretty good ecological shape and not too unlike the oceans of today and recent past, albeit without whales (at least, humpback whales). Thus, how much "help" would the whales need? Maybe generation and seeding of sufficient krill if that doesn't exist anymore but not much else ... unless the whales were going to be confined to another aquarium or a restricted part of the ocean. That said, nothing in the film confirms or disputes any theory about the future of the whales.

 

[Shat Happens]

Kirk is not James Bond, what he was is completely focused on the mission. From TOS we know he would totally do her if he saw any sign that it would help, but it was not the case.

And Dr. Taylor did *exactly* the same thing. Those two should be a match made in Heaven (much better than Kirk going back to Marcus btw). But it would have to be after the ending of the movie, for either one wouldn't even think about it one second before the whales (in Taylor's case) and Earth (in Kirk's) were safe.

Also, when I was a kid I failed to notice how hot she is. And that she spends the entire movie without a bra.

edit: she is

 

[Shatinator]

What is Dr. Gillian Taylor's story...Bob seems to like her, but she's clearly not interested. You can see her becoming visibly tense, when he draws near.

Is she afraid of being hurt? Does she send out these vibes to ward off men, who might come between she and her precious whales? One thing is for certain ... she's well on her way to becoming an Old Maid. "

What a priggish attitude..no?

Does she send out these vibes to ward off men, who might come between she and her precious whales? One thing is for certain ... she's well on her way to becoming an Old Maid.

Perhaps Gillian needs a man like her whales need a bicycle?

Beat me to it Mutoid!

.... Those two should be a match made in Heaven (much better than Kirk going back to Marcus btw). But it would have to be after the ending of the movie, for either one wouldn't even think about it one second before the whales (in Taylor's case) and Earth (in Kirk's) were safe.

Also, when I was a kid I failed to notice how hot is she. And that she spends the entire movie without a bra.

"Fail to notice how hot is she". Is that a question or statement --

As to her under garments, she a daughter of hippie commune, of course (from just a cross the bridge in Berkley)

 

[f14peter]

(from just a cross the bridge in Berkley)

You know, Berkeley ... where they did too much LDS in the sixties.

 

[LMFAOschwarz]

as for what type of "science wessel" she was assigned to, I'm not entirely convinced it was an earth-bound sea-going ship. I always considered it a space vessel and she was going out to "catch up" on the current state of the natural sciences.

Of course we don't really know much of anything of how the 23rd century is set up, but to put her on a space ship to catch up on things would seem comparable to a dis-placed 17th century person in our time being sent to the international space station to catch up.

I'm going with the sea vessel, judging from that odd square badge she wore. We learn stuff in classrooms, whereas in the 23rd century hands-on learning may be the way of things, putting students where their subjects lie.

Catherine Hicks is actually a pretty impressive actress, having a very 'natural and normal' air about her. Judging just from her performance in Child's Play, she would have been outstanding in another time, probably doing a bag-up job in an Alfred Hitchcock movie or something.

 

[Margaret]

What is Dr. Gillian Taylor's story...Bob seems to like her, but she's clearly not interested. You can see her becoming visibly tense, when he draws near.

Is she afraid of being hurt? Does she send out these vibes to ward off men, who might come between she and her precious whales? One thing is for certain ... she's well on her way to becoming an Old Maid. "

She is obviously committed to her Career and the Whales. Why does she have to a man to make her happy or complete.

 

[Dukhat]

Thus, how much "help" would the whales need? Maybe generation and seeding of sufficient krill if that doesn't exist anymore but not much else ... unless the whales were going to be confined to another aquarium or a restricted part of the ocean. That said, nothing in the film confirms or disputes any theory about the future of the whales.

So what if the whales got sick, and the only person who would know anything about them is in deep space?

 

[Cyke101]

Does she send out these vibes to ward off men, who might come between she and her precious whales? One thing is for certain ... she's well on her way to becoming an Old Maid.

Perhaps Gillian needs a man like her whales need a bicycle?

Perfect. Just perfect

Anyway, I never got any vibe from her of being any sort of anti-male sentiment. She was *mildly* flirtatious with Kirk (and frankly, I'm surprised Kirk was equally only superficially flirtatious, but that's just Iowan charm right there), but that's about it, and that wasn't her function in the story, either.

But if there's one thing that the Trek future is always constantly on the look out for, it's driven, smart, people who are explorers deep down. She didn't want or need a man, she needed a new environment where she and her whales could thrive. She was an independent woman whose chief concern was for two majestic creatures.

 

[Gassy Man]

I don't know what her deal was with Bob or whatever, but I always found her an annoying character. Catherine Hicks plays her with a kind of kooky abrasiveness, like nails on a chalkboard, that reminds me somewhat of Diane Kruger's high-functioning autistic character on The Bridge.

 

[Franklin]

Does she send out these vibes to ward off men, who might come between she and her precious whales? One thing is for certain ... she's well on her way to becoming an Old Maid.

Perhaps Gillian needs a man like her whales need a bicycle?

Perfect. Just perfect

Anyway, I never got any vibe from her of being any sort of anti-male sentiment. She was *mildly* flirtatious with Kirk (and frankly, I'm surprised Kirk was equally only superficially flirtatious, but that's just Iowan charm right there), but that's about it, and that wasn't her function in the story, either.

But if there's one thing that the Trek future is always constantly on the look out for, it's driven, smart, people who are explorers deep down. She didn't want or need a man, she needed a new environment where she and her whales could thrive. She was an independent woman whose chief concern was for two majestic creatures.

+1 to Mutoid

+1 to Cyke101, especially the part about Iowa charm.

I think the part that confuses whether or not she was assigned to a seagoing vessel or a starship is that she says she has 200 years of learning to catch up on. Still, I'd say it was an ocean-going vessel. They'd probably want her to be around when Gracie has her calf. Heck, she'd probably want to be around too, not off in deep space.

 

[2takesfrakes]

Catherine Hicks plays her with a kind of kooky abrasiveness ...

This point about Catherine Hicks playing Dr. Taylor as "kooky" did not go past me, either. I wasn't annoyed by it, for its own sake, but rather, because it seemed to want to be compensating (some) for the fact that Gillian's got nothing going on for herself, outside of the whales. This movie really should've given us more reason to care about Taylor outside of her being The Whale Watcher. She has no life. She's far too trusting and that's about it, for depth of character here, and we're meant to care about this woman. Oh, dear! Didn't think of that! Just act kooky, Cathrine, this is a "comedy," you'll do fine. And outside of her obligation to the whales, we have no reason to care about her. NO reason to. I mean, look, Hicks plays her straight, which is good, she tries to invest Gillian with sweetness, but she's got nothing to work with. Nor do we, the audience.

 

[LMFAOschwarz]

I still can't figure out what Gillian's job was. I don't know what an actual whale biologist would do during the course of an average day, but in this case we see her conducting tours of the Cetacean Institute. Though she may not be for long, considering she ran off in the middle of the tour. It might have been nice (in an odd way) if there were a scene in which she'd been fired for that. At least that would back up her later claim of 'I've got nothing here'.