Plus we got an explanation as to how the Enterprise-A was able to reach the Great Barrier so quickly(warp modifications that Scotty found to be absolutely stunning). If you haven't read the Dillard novelization you'd think that the galaxy was much smaller than previously thought...or that the new Enterprise was a HELLUVA lot faster than anyone imagined.
Also the shield modifications to survive the passage. I still think we'd be better off with a retcon that the prison world was something in the great barrier at the edge of the galaxy (already seen a couple times in TOS and established as dangerous and relatively accessible). They could have even tossed a reference to the "fake God" as having been the one to influence Gary Mitchell, if not shown a flashback or something...
Agreed. When I first saw TFF in 1989 I thought for a few moments that the Great Barrier was the energy field we had already seen several times on TOS...it wasn't until a few scenes later that I realized it was something completely different, this one being at the center of the Milky Way rather than ringing the edge. It would have been a nice piece of continuity with the original show, but alas we got a new energy barrier and had to make do with it. And the crappy "swirling paint" f/x used to depict it didn't help matters any.
Thinking about this a bit more, wouldn't it have been interesting if "Fake God" actually was Gary Mitchell, even? Or perhaps just claiming to be him...