I'm going to have to disagree with a few on these boards that late late 60's/early 70's TV would never have allowed for a character like McKenna on the show, or that the show would have ever done an episode with this subject matter... I say bull to both.
1) Contrary to the myth that Roddenberry liked to spin about TV execs, TV was changing, as were the attitudes, and roles for women and minorites at the time of Trek's cancellation.
AT the time The Mod Squad was extreemly popular with it's African-American lead, and a costarring role of the character Julie Barnes, an undercover cop. Another Desilu production, Mission Impossible, had Cinnamon Carter. Heck only a couple of years after Trek's cancellation Angie Dickenson had her own spin off series in Police Woman, based off a 1973 episode of the anthology series, Police Story. In 1970 the Mary Tyler Moore Show became one of the most popular series on TV, with Moore playing a professional.
It's easy to make the leap that Trek could have introduced a more active female costar on the cast; after all, by it's third season, Trek was no longer as progressive as other shows on the air. There was one female costar, and by the third season she was reduced to little more than saying, "Hailing frequencies open, Captain."
Certainly, you would not want to interrupt the Trifecta, and that's where I think Star Trek Continues has done a fantastic job. McKenna is a co-starring role, and not one of the primaries. In fact her role reminds me a bit of Yeomen Rand in the early run of Season 1. She's featured here and there, but is definitely a supporting character. Plus she does bring something different to the table than Spock and McCoy, namely a more clinical look at specific issues. I think it's a very interesting take on the role of ship's counselor, and certainly more thoughtful than TNG's approach to the roll with Tori frequently reduced to "I sense," or "...they feel."
2) Which of course goes to the heart of introducing a ship's councellor. Well, the position was first mentioned in the Star Trek Phase II series bible, so there's certainly some precedence for introducing such a character. It was clearly something Roddenberry could have explored had he remained on the show. In reality with most of the original writing/creative staff gone, it's doubtful anything like that would have happened if NBC had ordered a 4th season. But in STC's defense I think they are imagining a Star Trek Season 4 closer to that of the 1st and 2nd seasons.
3) Finally, the argument that the original series characters did not engage in a lot of psychoanalysis, or that the story was "out of character" for Kirk. Disagree on all counts. Trek, especially the first season, almost revelled in deconstructing our leads and examining what makes them tick. The Naked Time is an obvious example, but even an episode like The Enemy Within really lays Kirk's character bare... heck he even shows doubt, and indicision in front of the crew as he tries to reconcile his good nature with evil Kirk. Other episodes like This Side of Paradise examine a more human Spock by means of the spores, and even McCoy is given the treatment in Man Trap.
However, the episode where Kirk is really forced to examine himself, and his decision is Conscience of the King. Here we see a Kirk torn in two by his desire for some modicum of revenge against Kodos the Executioner, with his doubts about the identity of the man, and his moral compass (vocied by McCoy) which is telling him that revenge is not the way. In fact in this episode Kirk does quite a bit of vacillating, and frankly errs of the side of caution so much that he appears to ignore evidence that's clear as day (much to the astonishment of Spock). The moral dilemma and the wonderful debate between his logical side (Spock) and his emotional side (McCoy) is one of the reasons it's a favorite of mine.
So yes, Trek frequently engaged in hero deconstruction like many other shows of the era. Gunsmoke in particular would often examine a moral dilemma and the consequences of Matt Dillon's actions... and frequently Miss Kitty was there to be his counselor. So I have zero problem with this approach when it comes to Kirk's treatment in White Iris. It's an engaging examination of Kirk and how he deals, or in this case does not deal, with the death of loved ones he's in some way responsible for.
This show continues to amaze me with each subsequent release, and White iris is no exception. The attention to detail is simply stunning from the sets and costumes, to Doug Drexler's intentional special effects gaffes meant to mimic some of the problems that came from certain effects houses the original Trek production ran into.
But more importantly I think the story and writing is spot on. Sure, it's convenient that Kirk is the only one who knows the code to the energy shield, but that was not an uncommon plot device in adventure television of the era. Now would Trek have done what amounts to a partial flashback episode in Season 4 or 5? Maybe, it was not an uncommon practice back in the day to save a few bucks, but it probably would have been achieved using existing footage from the series with inserts of Kirk rather than news scenes with the original actresses, but it's fun to speculate.
However, like others I do hope the next couple of adventures are original like Lolani. It's fun to go back from time to time and follow up on a loose story thread here or there, but the STC crew has shown they are more than ccapable of producing their own content.
....and I'll be eagerly awaiting it.
Yancy
