By the way, I always got the vibe that TMP was a reflection of the 60s-early 70s counterculture. You see each character, mainly Spock though, going through the kinds of spiritual cleansing stuff that was big in the 70s at places like the Escelon Institute and such - basically, these guys all parted ways in 1969 and went off in search of "grander" things that meant "more" to them in the 70s (seemed to mean more to them than Star Trek)- the same way a lot of people tuned out of mainstream society in the 60s and 70s in such of "loftier" and deeper goals. Spock goes to cleanse himself of human emotions and become fully Vulcan, but accepts at the end that emotion is a key part of existence and is something he needs. Kirk takes a bump up to an administrative position to validate the hard work he put in during the five year Mission and perhaps to make up for all he lost during that period, but realizes that captaining a Starship is where he feels the most whole. McCoy goes "off the grid" and becomes a bearded country doctor, probably his deepest dream, but realizes his true "best destiny" is on the medical bridge, at his friend's side. Similarly, our cast realizes that their best place is at each other's side in the Star Trek universe - that no matter what else they do, this is who they are ultimately - who they're meant to be. It was not intended perhaps as such but I see TMP as being very "meta" to the film series as well as to the counterculture of the 60s and early 70s.
For me the film really feels like a metaphor for all the 60s Hippie people who jettisoned mainstream life for communes and such coming 'back to Earth' and finding that they could be happy in 'straight' society.
