Weird sickbay scene in ST VI

[Mr. Laser Beam]

In ST VI, when Valeris goes to sickbay to (supposedly) kill Burke and Samno, before the sickbay door opens there is somebody standing directly in front of it. Who is that?

We only see this person for a second or two. When the door opens and Valeris actually walks into sickbay, he's not there. So who is it?

It's not Kirk, Spock or McCoy, since they're all "in disguise" (in the sickbay beds). Is this just some kind of production mistake?

 

[Kor]

This person? No idea. The shot is quick and dark, so I think we're supposed to assume it's Valeris going in. When you freeze frame the hair is different, but when watching normally it may not be so easy to notice.

Kor

 

[DonIago]

Yeah, it's supposed to be a suspenseful shot where we know someone's going in but we don't know who it is, and then when the light is turned on, *gasp!* it's Valeris.

I wasn't much of a fan of this aspect of the plot, as we knew they weren't going to make one of the regulars into the murderer, so, really, whom else could it have been?

 

[Dukhat]

Yeah, it's supposed to be a suspenseful shot where we know someone's going in but we don't know who it is, and then when the light is turned on, *gasp!* it's Valeris.

Interesting. That person clearly isn't Kim Catrall, and might not even be female. And why would the outside hallway leading into sickbay be just as dark, unless it's a separate room between the hallway and sickbay, which I don't think was the case?

I wasn't much of a fan of this aspect of the plot, as we knew they weren't going to make one of the regulars into the murderer, so, really, whom else could it have been?

It would have worked so much better had it been Robin Curtis's Saavik.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

This person?

Yeah, that's the one.

Valeris should have bumped into them when she walked through the door.

 

[DonIago]

Interesting. That person clearly isn't Kim Catrall, and might not even be female. And why would the outside hallway leading into sickbay be just as dark, unless it's a separate room between the hallway and sickbay, which I don't think was the case?

When you're seeing the movie for the first time you probably don't register that the shadow doesn't really correspond to the person it's supposed to be. I'd assume it was a second unit shot.

As for the hallway being dark? Dramatic license. Heck, why is the inside of sickbay dark? When have we ever seen that before? And why is there nobody around?

It would have worked so much better had it been Robin Curtis's Saavik.

I always preferred Kirstie Alley's Saavik, but agreed otherwise. Introducing a new character just to make them the bad guy was never a choice that was going to lead to much of a surprise. Saavik being back out of the blue would have been weird and unusual as well, but at least we'd have some investment in the character. Did anyone really care whether or not Valeris betrayed Our Heroes?

 

[Dukhat]

I always preferred Kirstie Alley's Saavik, but agreed otherwise. Introducing a new character just to make them the bad guy was never a choice that was going to lead to much of a surprise. Saavik being back out of the blue would have been weird and unusual as well, but at least we'd have some investment in the character. Did anyone really care whether or not Valeris betrayed Our Heroes?

From what I understand, Alley wasn't available and Meyer didn't want Curtis, and he also didn't want to recast Saavik for the third time. So the surprise factor was already screwed from the get-go.

 

[Vger23]

This whole scene makes absolutely no sense.

 

[DonIago]

I think the idea is supposed to be that they announce that Burke and Samno are still alive hoping to out the murderer (which they do). If Burke and Samno really had been alive, they could have confessed Valeris' involvement (or maybe she feared they would). It's a little weird that Valeris wouldn't have made absolutely certain they were dead beforehand, but maybe she thought they could have been revived by one of McCoy's usual medical miracles.

Alternately, Valeris knew the announcement was a lie but figured the jig was up and it was time to go on the offensive, but in the moment she found she couldn't bring herself to kill Spock.

I dunno, it's certainly not the strongest moment in the franchise.

The film adaptation of Goblet of Fire had the same problem, where they eliminated so many 'surplus' roles that they gutted the mystery.

 

[Ssosmcin]

This movie would have been great if it were just a straightforward "Jack Ryan" type conspiracy thriller without the Scooby Doo mystery, which was never much of one. I would have found it more interesting for the audience to know Valeris was in on it and we got to watch how she played Kirk and Spock like drums. As it stands, it's just an okay film with a metric ton of holes and weird bits of business.

 

[Therin of Andor]

From what I understand, Alley wasn't available and Meyer didn't want Curtis, and he also didn't want to recast Saavik for the third time. So the surprise factor was already screwed from the get-go.

I accidentally spoilerized myself! Early reports suggested that Saavik was back - and when I finally found a cobbled-together early draft script, it was indeed Saavik's dialogue. Very minimal changes when Kim Cattrall became Valeris. The shooting script published by Premiere lists the character as "VAL'ERIS". I didn't see the apostrophe used anywhere else.

I assumed that the then-current issue of "Cinefantastique" promoting the movie probably had spoilers, so I showed great restraint and did not read the article, because I had been invited to a small preview screening at Sydney's Paramount theatrette. So I chose to read only the captions under the photos - and that is where they mentioned "the traitor, Valeris"! Grrrrrr. I'm not very good at whodunnits, so I am not sure what I would have made of Valeris, unaided by the spoiler.

So, although I already knew what to expect, I did feel that the shock value of Saavik making such "logical" decisions, after her known history with Spock and the Enterprise crew, would have been enormous! Frustrating, but enormous.

 

[Peach Wookiee]

This movie would have been great if it were just a straightforward "Jack Ryan" type conspiracy thriller without the Scooby Doo mystery, which was never much of one. I would have found it more interesting for the audience to know Valeris was in on it and we got to watch how she played Kirk and Spock like drums. As it stands, it's just an okay film with a metric ton of holes and weird bits of business.

As a Scooby Doo fan, I have to chuckle at this. So... Colonel West was an evil real estate developer?

 

[David cgc]

When you're seeing the movie for the first time you probably don't register that the shadow doesn't really correspond to the person it's supposed to be. I'd assume it was a second unit shot.

That, or a pick-up. It's possible they just filmed the PoV shot and decided they needed an additional establishing moment of the doors opening in editing (which, until this thread, I had no memory of).

I think the idea is supposed to be that they announce that Burke and Samno are still alive hoping to out the murderer (which they do). If Burke and Samno really had been alive, they could have confessed Valeris' involvement (or maybe she feared they would). It's a little weird that Valeris wouldn't have made absolutely certain they were dead beforehand, but maybe she thought they could have been revived by one of McCoy's usual medical miracles.

I imagine the question Kirk asked to which Spock replied, "It's possible," was "Is there a chance somebody could have survived a phaser shot like that?"

 

[JonnyQuest037]

I imagine the question Kirk asked to which Spock replied, "It's possible," was "Is there a chance somebody could have survived a phaser shot like that?"

Surely in that scene Kirk is telling Spock his suspicions of Valeris being the traitor aboard the Enterprise.

 

[Kor]

Surely in that scene Kirk is telling Spock his suspicions of Valeris being the traitor aboard the Enterprise.

That's what I always thought.

I was wondering if the script might reveal anything about their conversation. The only one I seem to be able to find online is the fifth draft that has Saavik. It just says Kirk and Spock "confer in an undertone." And Spock's audible line is, "I knew it."

Kor

 

[Ssosmcin]

It just says Kirk and Spock "confer in an undertone." And Spock's audible line is, "I knew it."

Kor

The next draft no doubt saying "I should have known!" or all of them together shouting "Lt. Valeris?!"

 

[Indysolo]

Kirk is whispering his idea to pose as Burke and Samno in sickbay to lure in the killer, not yet knowing who it is.

 

[STEPhon IT]

This whole scene makes absolutely no sense.

The elements of the great Nicholas Meyer priming the pump. I'm guessing at this point of the movie Meyer believes the audiences are still scratching their heads who's the conspirator was? Even though the conspirator was seen by the door of Kirk's cabin after he mentioned some racist comments on his Captain's log, and the same person who expresses some fear of no neutral zone with Spock, THAT same person who shoots a phaser at a pot to educate the CHIEF OF SECURITY why a villain couldn't vaporize the evidence (OMG!); and as if the audience had missed a point where THAT person ordered the assassins to get to work who happened later on to be shot dead at close range right before the conspirator was exposed.

Don't say too much facts about this movie because VI is this forums' TITANIC and it's director was ever closer to John Ford and Steven Spielberg.

 

[Bry_Sinclair]

Looks like Captain bars, so Scotty?

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

Looks like Captain bars, so Scotty?

Also Valeris has the red/orange turtleneck, and whoever that is has a white or possibly gold turtleneck.