Mis-conjugation is one of the classic indicia of the the deadly bacteria synthococcus novae, poor devil.
Hey, I never noticed that before....
- Thread starter Warped9
- Start date
In my headcanon Dr. M'Benga comes aboard the Enterprise because McCoy's troubles in "Journey to Babel" convince him that he doesn't have the grasp on Vulcan anatomy that he should have.
What trouble did he have?
He correctly diagnosed the problem. He correctly stated that an operation would be needed to confirm the diagnosis. He also correctly notes that operations of this type are tricky because of the structure of the Vulcan heart. Then Sarek and Spock start Doc blocking him. He's only hesitant because of the lack of the proper blood type. And later when the procedure to produce more blood endangers Spock's life. He winds up juggling three patients at once: Sarek, Spock and Kirk. All three survive.
They did say M'Benga was more of an expert on Vulcans, didn't they? *** In season 1, I wonder if they were setting up McCoy as being of questionable competence. In Man Trap he seems to be day dreaming about Nancy right after having lost a patient. He's drinking alone during working hours in Sick Bay later. In O:A!, he screws up on Spock's eyes.
This is the same doctor that
Forgive me: I've been pondering McCoy's blunders for many years and I never expected I'd find an outlet to vent my spleen about Starfleet's favorite sawbones. I'll move on.
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Maybe she had a blind spot as far as Spock is concerned. In her eyes (imagination), he's this strong, powerful man that nothing can harm. She was more interested in pleasing him with soup from home and thereby winning his favor than imagining him ill or in pain and what to do if he ever was.
Tight budgets notwithstanding, I seriously doubt Justman would have gone around SAG to negotiate with an actor directly like that.
When did he do that?
IIRC, McCoy's self-described lack of qualification in JtB was just that he didn't have actual surgical experience. I think what he was getting at was that he didn't want to do such a major procedure, unless it was absolutely necessary, because there were going to be risks. He seemed thoroughly trained and capable. Given Spock's uniqueness, that was probably the first time that exact operation had ever been done anywhere, and he pulled it off under combat conditions sometimes without power. 
Watch in Journey to Babel when he has Spock and Sarek on the table. You can see smoke from Kelly's cigarette wafting up from behind the patient. He'd probably just taken a puff and tried to hide the butt when the cameras rolled.
I doubt McCoy was sneaking a smoke.
He certainly did more than fine in the end but the script (and much of the drama) of the episode requires him to act like Vulcans are some bizarre, unknown quantity for medical purposes. I would think that Starfleet Medical School would require some pretty comprehensive courses in exobiology covering humans, Vulcans, Andorians and Tellarites at a minimum. Similarly, I would think that Starfleet would require any ship's surgeon on a ship with a Vulcan crewman to have experience with, you know, Vulcan surgery.
Also, the episode doesn't really need to make him look foolish or out of his depth to be dramatic. Just tell us that he hasn't performed this sort of surgery because it's experimental and leave the "He's a Vulcan, Jim!!!!!" histrionics out of it.
In universe - "Phew! Spock, what did you eat for breakfast this morning?" (it looks like it's emanating from the Vulcan) 
That, or the unit's about to pull an exploding console...
That, or the unit's about to pull an exploding console...
She wasn't interested in 'Vulcans' per se - just one particular Vulcan/Human hybrid.
Yes I know all of that - ever hear of 'sarcasm'?
Maybe it's just because the smoke stands out so much in HD, but I'd lean towards the idea that it was actually intentional and meant to suggest a laser-scalple or cauterizing beam or something.
It does? He's pretty much on the money here and while he admits Vulcan physiology make things difficult, he's not going on about how bizarre they are.
Not here either, Just concern for his patient. He seem familiar enough with Vulcan physiology to know how difficult the procedure is and what would be required to pull it off.
Oh, what's this? He's actually studied Vulcan anatomy!
Looks like that's exactly what they did,
Oh and Spock's the one who used the term "cryogenic", not McCoy.
