Should Chapel Have Become a Doctor?

[Greg Cox]

Which is actually one of the reasons why the film is criticized. As much as fans liked seeing the crew reunited, a lot of people have since observed that TMP suffers from trying to make it appear as though only a short amount of time has passed since the end of the five-year mission. The problem is that over ten years have passed for the actors.

Could be. Worse, though, were The Waltons reunion movies, though their problem was actually the opposite. The family aged, but time seemed to move faster than it should have. They're all still reasonably young during the Kennedy assassination?!? Was there a Guardian of Forever portal on Walton's Mountain? If they made more of those movies, I swear there would have been one based the events of 9/11!

In fact, my rough math actually has the family still going strong when Kirk's Enterprise is launched!

Have you seen Richard Thomas in The Americans?

I swear the man has a portrait in his attic that's doing his aging for him . . . .

 

[LMFAOschwarz]

Have you seen Richard Thomas in The Americans?

I swear the man has a portrait in his attic that's doing his aging for him . . . .

I've forgotten what it was I saw him, in, Mr. Cox, but I think you're on to something about the portrait: I couldn't believe how good he looked!

 

[Therin of Andor]

On the question of 'how' it happened, the Phase II format document offers this tidbit:

her medical degress have been accepted by Starfleet, and she has returned to the Enterprise to serve as McCoy's associate.

This doesn't really match what we see on screen though (where she's clearly on the Enterprise before McCoy is).

Chapel is actually missing for most of the second season of TAS. IIRC, this is when Majel Barrett was due to give birth to her son, Rod. (She does one Chapel episode and one M'Ress episode only.) But Dr Chapel could have then "returned to the Enterprise to serve as McCoy's associate" before McCoy left the ship.

"In Thy Image" begins McCoy's arc with him as a vet on Earth, and Kirk having to take Dr Chapel off her previous assignment because he can't get McCoy back as Chief Surgeon. McCoy being drafted back into Starfleet by Kirk is similarly scripted in ITI and TMP.

 

[Mister Spock]

Its not even clear to me that in TWOK that ANY of the primary characters (other than Spock and Scotty) were actually part of the ship's crew. It looked to me like they were comng along for the ride at the request of Admiral Kirk.

It always seemed odd to me that Kirk assumed he'd be returning to command Enterprise after repairs were completed. In The Wrath of Khan, Enterprise is under the command of Spock and is just a training ship.

 

[Therin of Andor]

It always seemed odd to me that Kirk assumed he'd be returning to command Enterprise after repairs were completed. In The Wrath of Khan, Enterprise is under the command of Spock and is just a training ship.

When did he assume that?

 

[Captain Clark Terrell]

It always seemed odd to me that Kirk assumed he'd be returning to command Enterprise after repairs were completed. In The Wrath of Khan, Enterprise is under the command of Spock and is just a training ship.

When did he assume that?

I think he's talking about The Search for Spock. Kirk and Scotty assumed that Enterprise would be refitted after the damage she sustained due to the Reliant attacks. Admiral Morrow told them otherwise and refused Kirk's request that he be allowed to take the ship to Genesis to retrieve Spock.

The Enterprise was under Spock's command in TWOK because the vessel was undertaking a training cruise. Kirk assumed command once the ship went on actual duty due to the Regula I emergency.

It's my understanding- and Christopher detailed this in one of his novels- that the Enterprise was under Spock's command for training missions but that as Commandant of Starfleet Academy, Kirk used the vessel as his flagship when he was aboard or when the ship was assigned to regular missions; therefore, Kirk remained in command after Spock's death because Enterprise was still on active duty following the incident with Khan.

--Sran

 

[2takesfrakes]

I don't know whether Christopher based his book on something "official" or if he just went off of his own bat, but I can tell you that this is not the tonality of what's in the actual STAR TREK II movie. It's very apparent and abundantly clear that Kirk is a visiting dignitary and that's it. He has no claim on this ship, other than usurping it from Spock, which he initially resists doing, until Spock steps down, voluntarily. This "Kirk was always in command, except on training cruises" spin doesn't really even fly.

 

[Captain Clark Terrell]

This "Kirk was always in command, except on training cruises" spin doesn't really even fly.

As no one said that, I'm not sure what point you're trying to make. The Enterprise was assigned to Starfleet Academy, so Spock was its primary commanding officer. In the event that the vessel went on actual duty, Kirk assumed command- something that was clearly the exception rather than the rule.

--Sran