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Spock has met Carol before but not David.

Really Timo, you are really reaching here. It's much less likely that Kirk had 2 separate serious relationships with blonds who were scientists before he became captain of the Enterprise, than if they are both the same person. But we are leaving the main question of how Carol and Spock met. It is abundantly clear from the tone of voices used in the Transporter room that they have met in person and and are on friendly terms, and Kirk knows that and was probably there when they met.
Easy, read Admiral Young's and my assumption on this...;)
 
I always assumed "That little blonde lab tech was Carol" I would assume that Spock met her back before David was born and as McCoy is Kirk's best friend he would at least know about her. His rain statement however does imply that he knows her too.
When this comes up I usualy wonder if, give Carol's obvious career path and accomplishments, she was was ever a "lab tech".

Well she had to start as someones intern/lab assistant/TA
But are those jobs the same as a "lab tech"? Which to my undertanding of "lab tech" is not.
 
As for Bones knowing or not knowing Carol...it's possible that Kirk through their numerous conversations over Saurian Brandy mentioned the extent of his relationship to McCoy and Bones was aware of her through that. I never really took either comment as McCoy or Spock knowing Carol personally before Wrath of Khan but knowing OF her which are two completely different things. We must think logically about this people ;)
 
From what I've researched its a specific type of job in a lab not an intern or TA type of position.

You may be being overly literal....... :vulcan:
Or you are fighting against opposition against your belief that the "Little blonde lab tech" isn't Carol Marcus...:rolleyes:

You are the one fighting the more common opinion and I don't have a horse in the race but you do seem to really be reaching in this attempt of yours.

Sure the Carol = Blonde lab tech doesn't have a lot of evidence backing it up but it does have some and it is the commonly accepted theory.

And lab tech is what student research assistants are often called.

The question remains why are you so intent on disproving the Carol "lab tech" theory? Please if you have any evidence pointing to a different character, present it.
 
You may be being overly literal....... :vulcan:
Or you are fighting against opposition against your belief that the "Little blonde lab tech" isn't Carol Marcus...:rolleyes:

You are the one fighting the more common opinion and I don't have a horse in the race but you do seem to really be reaching in this attempt of yours.

Sure the Carol = Blonde lab tech doesn't have a lot of evidence backing it up but it does have some and it is the commonly accepted theory.

And lab tech is what student research assistants are often called.

The question remains why are you so intent on disproving the Carol "lab tech" theory? Please if you have any evidence pointing to a different character, present it.
If Jim referenced in TWOK, I was about to marry you or some other reference, but it didn't happen...:rolleyes:
As far as TOS goes..Jim was always concerned about his command. Why are you so intent to try to persuade?? I personally DO NOT think that it was Carol.
 
Or you are fighting against opposition against your belief that the "Little blonde lab tech" isn't Carol Marcus...:rolleyes:

You are the one fighting the more common opinion and I don't have a horse in the race but you do seem to really be reaching in this attempt of yours.

Sure the Carol = Blonde lab tech doesn't have a lot of evidence backing it up but it does have some and it is the commonly accepted theory.

And lab tech is what student research assistants are often called.

The question remains why are you so intent on disproving the Carol "lab tech" theory? Please if you have any evidence pointing to a different character, present it.
If Jim referenced in TWOK, I was about to marry you or some other reference, but it didn't happen...:rolleyes:
As far as TOS goes..Jim was always concerned about his command. Why are you so intent to try to persuade?? I personally DO NOT think that it was Carol.

And that's fine so lose your snotty attitude. My opinion is just as valid as yours and also has at least some evidence backing it up. Although it's unlikely the answer will ever be answered 100%
 
There's no evidence either way to prove or disprove that the blond lab tech was Carol or someone else. We're all just speculating here, some are making more leaps than others but it all doesn't really matter. As much as I'm fond of my theory anyone is really valid until it's proven not :)
 
There's no evidence either way to prove or disprove that the blond lab tech was Carol or someone else. We're all just speculating here, some are making more leaps than others but it all doesn't really matter. As much as I'm fond of my theory anyone is really valid until it's proven not :)
I agree...;)
 
It's how I have always heard the term used.
From what I've researched its a specific type of job in a lab not an intern or TA type of position.

You may be being overly literal....... :vulcan:
Literal? Only in that its an actual job that often requires training and certification but isn't alway a step on the path to becoming, for example, a microbiologist. Any more than being a nurse is a prerequisite for becoming a doctor.
 
I don't really think there's any evidence one way or the other, but if David is in early to mid 20's the time frame would fit.

Works for me.
 
That depends on one's take on the big mess that we call James T. Kirk. When exactly did he teach Gary Mitchell? Soon after graduation? Long after graduation? Before graduation (despite the Lieutenant rank)? That's when David would have been conceived, supposedly, as Mitchell's "campaign" didn't sound as if it would have extended across several years following the initial assault...

Kirk claims he has known Mitchell for 15 years, thus probably since he was in his late teens (because he'll be 34 just a few years later) - yet Mitchell says he was introduced to a Lieutenant Kirk, creating a contradiction of sorts. We may sidestep this by saying that Kirk is rounding up, or by saying that Mitchell already knew Jim Kirk but the guys warning him about Lt. Kirk weren't aware of this.

An early teens Kirk would not be a likely candidate for fathering David 23 years before ST2:TWoK. A late twenties Kirk would fit that timeframe better, but then he and Mitchell would have met less than ten years prior, not 15 years prior. An older David thus fits the picture better IMHO.

It's much less likely that Kirk had 2 separate serious relationships with blonds who were scientists before he became captain of the Enterprise, than if they are both the same person.
This, too, brings forth our contradictory views of James T. Kirk. Some sources suggest he would have been a womanizer in his youth, and also possessing of a good all-round, in-depth education - meaning he would be quite likely to meet lots and lots of blonde female scientists in his formative years. Others suggest a nerdy guy who might indeed spend some time in various labs during his studying years but would steer clear of the women there unless his more outgoing buddy actively steered them his way.

Blond scientist broads featured prominently in Kirk's TOS days, beginning with Elizabeth Dehner and ending with Janice Lester. For all we know, Lester was the blond lab tech - nicely explaining why Kirk recoils in horror at the thought that his best buddy almost made him marry the total nutcase.

Timo Saloniemi
 
From what I've researched its a specific type of job in a lab not an intern or TA type of position.

You may be being overly literal....... :vulcan:
Literal? Only in that its an actual job that often requires training and certification but isn't alway a step on the path to becoming, for example, a microbiologist. Any more than being a nurse is a prerequisite for becoming a doctor.

Within the sciences, several different types of position might be termed "lab technician." In medicine, certified technicians are required, but in areas of biology not requiring patient treatment - such as DNA experiments with swiftly-reproducing animals (e.g. rats, fruit flies) - laboratory technicians are much less rigorously identified. A friend of mine actually became a biology lab technician for a professor at a world-class university during her first year of college, directly from high school with no training beyond AP Bio.

The problem with a blond lab technician other than Carol Marcus is that there is very little room for one in Kirk's history. Kirk was an ensign aboard the Republic "some years" after Finney served as his instructor at the academy. He was a plebe in 2252, according to "Court Martial," so he entered the academy no earlier than 2251. Kirk was a lieutenant by 2255, according to "A Private Little War", so he must have reported Finney aboard the Republic by then. He moved on to the Farragut by late 2256 or early 2257, according to "Obsession." At some point in his lieutenancy, he became an instructor at the academy, met Gary Mitchell, and was steered toward a "little blond lab technician." He "nearly married" this technician.

If David Marcus was the same age as Merritt Butrick in TWOK, he would have been conceived in 2259. In view of the rest of Kirk's history, it doesn't seem likely that he would have nearly married two different women within the span of only two years (and conceived a child with one) - let alone nearly married two different blond scientists.

Even if David were slightly younger than he appears (at Butrick's age he would already be a 23-year-old PhD), there is little room for an additional relationship. Kirk and Areel Shaw parted ways by September 2262, harboring strong continuing feelings for each other (Shaw knew how long they'd been apart "four years, seven months, and an odd number of days" later). Their relationship certainly began before then; even if it was a short matter of days in length, the potential timeframe into which a second near-marriage relationship (aside from the then-non-Marcus lab technician) would fit is very limited.

(As it happens, if Carol Marcus was roughly BiBi Besch's age in TWOK, she would have been somewhere near 20 in 2259, a likely age for a PhD-bound biologist to have worked as a lab technician while pursuing her education.)
 
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In view of the rest of Kirk's history, it doesn't seem likely that he would have nearly married two different women within the span of only two years (and conceived a child with one)
Umm, what? Within the span of only two years (allowing for a bit of time travel), he met, wed and knocked up Miramanee, and dated quite a number of women within the limitations of his tour of duty, apparently often only being held back by a Starfleet- or self-imposed no-fraternizing, no-marriage rule.

The essentially non-serialized nature of TOS has the incidental consequence of showing Kirk as a guy who doesn't believe in mourning periods longer than a few days at most. (Whether he'd be two- or three-timing is left unestablished.)

Timo Saloniemi
 
I think the thing everyone is probably missing here is 'real world intent'. We know Harve Bennett went back and watched every bit of Star Trek prior to formulating the story for The Wrath of Khan. So I wholly believe his intent was for Carol Marcus to be the same person as the lab tech from Kirk's past.
 
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^ A good point.

In view of the rest of Kirk's history, it doesn't seem likely that he would have nearly married two different women within the span of only two years (and conceived a child with one)
Umm, what? Within the span of only two years (allowing for a bit of time travel), he met, wed and knocked up Miramanee, and dated quite a number of women within the limitations of his tour of duty, apparently often only being held back by a Starfleet- or self-imposed no-fraternizing, no-marriage rule.

The essentially non-serialized nature of TOS has the incidental consequence of showing Kirk as a guy who doesn't believe in mourning periods longer than a few days at most. (Whether he'd be two- or three-timing is left unestablished.)

Timo Saloniemi

I meant that Kirk, absent memory loss or other mental influence, doesn't ask anyone else to marry him (so far as we know) - including, to his regret, Antonia.

So far as literal mourning, after Miramanee's death, Kirk doesn't show non-tactical romantic interest in anyone until nine months later, in "Is There In Truth No Beauty?" How serious he is there isn't really clear (his approach is very different from most other occasions).


Kirk's relationship with Janet Wallace, which ended in June or July of 2261 further constrains the window in which David Marcus might have been conceived. However, Wallace was also a blond medical researcher, which does raise the possibility of another candidate for the "blond lab technician," though that would constrain the window further.
 
So far as literal mourning, after Miramanee's death, Kirk doesn't show non-tactical romantic interest in anyone until nine months later, in "Is There In Truth No Beauty?" How serious he is there isn't really clear (his approach is very different from most other occasions).

I don't think he was all that serious. He was part of the fawning process in the beginning, but that came off as a lot of flattery and some admiration (McCoy was more smitten). Later on, Kirk is simply distracting her so Spock can have time with Kollos. So, that could very well count as tactical romantic interest.

As to the topic at hand, I would imagine Spock knew Carol professionally. Either one of them could have attended a lecture given by the other, or both could have been on a panel together at a science seminar.

I actually like that it was left unresolved, leaving us to read into the quick exchange.
 
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