Gary Mitchell victim or megalomaniac?

[Gotham Central]

"Were No Man Has Gone Before" seems to have something of a mixed message when it comes to the fate of Gary Mitchell.

On the one hand, the episode discusses the issue of abolute power and corruption. The idea being that Mitchell's attitude was a direct result of his access to extraordinary levels of power. However, the end of the episode has Kirk suggesting that Gary was a victim who did not ask for what happened to him.

I suggest that these two ideas are somewhat contradictory. If Mitchell were a victim, it would be of a powerful force which apparently warped his mind into believing that he was becoming a god. In that case, the story had nothing to do with corrupting influence of power. It was about an unknown force driving a mortal man mad while bestowing great power.

If the episode is really about the corrputing influence of power, then we must assume that Mitchell was in full control of his faculties. He was simply a guy who crossed over to the dark side at the first opportunity. The speed with which he turned on Captain Kirk and the crew of the Enterprise makes this idea more likely. He had no hesitation about grabing power and hurting his "friends." This might also suggest that he bore some type of resentment toward Kirk. He seemed to show more respect toward Spock than he did Kirk. This suggests that he was never corrupted but was "bad/evil" at heart. The evidence for this seems to come from the fact that Dr. Dehnner never becomes a killer and retains her humanity. Indeed, it was not until she came under Mitchell's malevolent influence that she even entertained the idea of their "superiority." The flip side of this is that both Kirk and Spock prove to be naive in their assesment of Mitchell. Even after everything that Gary did, Kirk still believed that he was a good guy and his friend.

What say you?

 

[Captain Pike]

It's both.

Ultimate power corrupts absolutely. Even the purest souls are eventually dragged in and cannot resist temptation so extreme.

His character came across as a bit of a jerk before he even got zapped though, so I'd probably vote Power-hungry sociopath just because of that..

 

[Admiral James Kirk]

Mitchell was an asshole to start but... I wonder how much of what he became was really him. I mean when he lost his power and was vulnerable for a brief moment he seemed confused by what was happening. Like maybe it wasn't him. Sometimes I wonder if he wasn't carrying something else inside of him. Some sort of mental parasite or something that was attracted to his esper ability and was able to control and amplify it.

 

[Gary Mitchell]

Sometimes I wonder if he wasn't carrying something else inside of him. Some sort of mental parasite or something that was attracted to his esper ability and was able to control and amplify it.

That's what it was. I could see everything that was happening but I couldn't stop it. I even tried to give Jim a hint when I put the wrong middle initial on his grave stone but he didn't understand.

 

[Basil]

The funny thing is Mitchell seems more like an older version of the Kirk character I've seen in the clips of the latest movie than Shatner's Kirk throughout the first season of TOS. Mitchell is certainly more cocky and sexist, and it wouldn't surprise me if he was an adrenaline junkie, whereas Kirk comes across as more "square."

 

[stonester1]

Both. Gary wasn't a "sociopath", but he did have a tendency to be a manipulative jerk. The force that inhabited him locked into character traits that allowed the weilding of the power with no restraints, but question is, is Gary himself the sort of person who would want to abandon such restraints?

I say there is no easy answer, so both is the best I can say.

However, Jim Kirk knew him well and considered him a close friend. And he's not the sort to choose his friends lightly. Kirk probably cut his friend some considerable slack, but he surely wasn't an irredeemable fuckwit. He just encountered something beyond the experience of any of them and, like many mortal people, wasn't up to it.

Kirk loved his friend and forgave him.

 

[Gary7]

There was a kind of personality amplification going on. Otherwise Dr. Dehner would have not been so benevolent to Kirk. But I do not think Mitchell was a sociopath. Men tend to have aggressive tendencies, an instinctual need for power. Most have it under control. In the case of Mitchell, the shock from the field stripped away his self control. As his power developed, that control weakened more and more. It corrupted him.

"Manipulative jerk"? Based on what? We barely get to know the guy before his personality is altered. Yeah, a bit of a womanizer. "Walking freezer unit" was in bad form. But if Jim Kirk was friends with him, I'd have to give him a lot more credit.

So, I'd have to vote that he was a victim, not a megalomaniac at heart.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Sometimes I wonder if he wasn't carrying something else inside of him. Some sort of mental parasite or something that was attracted to his esper ability and was able to control and amplify it.

That's what it was. I could see everything that was happening but I couldn't stop it. I even tried to give Jim a hint when I put the wrong middle initial on his grave stone but he didn't understand.

I like the explanation given in a certain novel:

Spoiler: novel

In Q-Squared, we learn that it was Q that was responsible for this. He was battling Trelane in TNG's timeframe and accidentally got kicked back here. Oh, and the James R. Kirk thing is explained as well - it's another universe.

 

[plynch]

That's what it was. I could see everything that was happening but I couldn't stop it. I even tried to give Jim a hint when I put the wrong middle initial on his grave stone but he didn't understand.

Elvis was a powerful king, and he left us a similar clue. "Check the spelling on the stone."

 

[Praetor]

Absolute power corrupts absolutely. He was a victim.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Then why didn't he realize what was happening to him? If he knew the kind of power he had, he should have *known* it would corrupt him, and then take steps to prevent it. By ending his own life, if necessary.

Unless we're suggesting that there was an alien presence inside him which was controlling his every move, I can't absolve him of responsibility on this. Nobody made him do the things he did. He did it of his own free will.

 

[iguana_tonante]

I say victim. People are not perfect, and a power like that would latch to our dark side (which we all have) and bring it to the surface. I don't think anyone could resist to use that power. Maybe Mitchell was on a bit of a power trip by himself, but that doesn't make him a sociopath.

 

[Brutal Strudel]

Victim of circumstance, easy. Gary's rapid evolution came too fast for his moral sense--shaky in even the best of us--to catch up. Ain't none of us angels, folks.

 

[Praetor]

Victim of circumstance, easy. Gary's rapid evolution came too fast for his moral sense--shaky in even the best of us--to catch up. Ain't none of us angels, folks.

Exactly. IMO, he underwent a fundamental and instantaneous change in the way his brain worked, and his personality had no time to cope and develop against it. The Gary you see in sickbay does not behave like the same Gary who was manning the helm moments earlier - except for those moments where he was 'weakened' and the influence of the barrier seemed to momentarily stop, leaving Gary disoriented.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Ain't none of us angels, folks.

But don't we have an obligation to at least try? Gary sure didn't seem like he cared.

 

[Brutal Strudel]

After he had the power of god? Many of us would stop caring at that point, too.

Before then? "Remember those rodent things on Dimorus, the poison darts they threw, I took one meant for you." "And almost died." The real Gary loved Jim Kirk, had a cordial relationship with Spock and was a bit of a womanizer--I don't see him as a jerk. I see him as the kind of friend many of us would love to have.

 

[JustKate]

I'm going to have to go along with Babaganoosh at least somewhat here. I have the power to go find an anthill, poor oil on it, set it on fire and watch all the little ants burn. It would be easy to do. But should I do it if the ants aren't doing me or my property or anything like that any harm? No.

The problem with Gary is that he didn't seem to fight his baser instincts at all. But I do understand the "absolute power corrupts absolutely" argument as well. So I'm stayin' in the middle of this one. I'm not sure he counts as a sociopath, but I wouldn't call him completely innocent, either.

 

[Nerys Myk]

He warned Kelso about the worn points in impulse packs. Though he was a bit a a jerk about it.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Gary should have known what was going on. He wasn't stupid. He knew exactly what his powers were. And he did nothing. He should have realized what was going on. If need be, he had an obligation to take whatever steps were necessary - even if it included his suicide - to stop it. He had an obligation to his friends, and to the universe at large.

 

[Nerys Myk]

It's a fun trope to build fiction around. Might some truth to it judging from history.