Why was Gillian so mean to Bob?

[Gary Seven]

I think the main reason for the wacky scene at the cetacean institute is that it is a badly written scene. It is there just to fill out her "character" a little bit... and to make up a bogus incident to make us think that the whales are in danger... as if these were the last two whales on earth and that they were marked for death... a very lazy conceit. The "Bob" character has about as much weight drama-wise as "Madeline" in the Plexiglass factory. Just a bit player who is there so that the world seems more real. That's it. It's part of flimsy storytelling... and it's noticeable because apparently the only people working at the Cetacean institute are Gillian, Bob, and the guy who is hosing down the place. (who apparently is doing this all the time, since he is in the background of seemingly all the shots there.) As you can tell, I'm not a big fan of "The Voyage Home"...

 

[Trekker4747]

Yeah, I love the urgency of getting THESE whales before the whalers get them. Very impressive whalers, too. They managed to track down these two whales within hours of them being released. (The whales also seemed to get pretty far out within the hours too... But I'm not sure how much time passed between when they were let go and when Kirk and Co. found them.)

 

[David cgc]

Gary Seven said:
as if these were the last two whales on earth and that they were marked for death... a very lazy conceit.

It's more a matter of practicality. As Kirk says, he could go to the open sea to find some whales, but he's got a breeding pair that's willing to help right there, conveniently tagged for radio tracking. In that situation, would you want to give them up and fly up and down the damned planet looking for a male and female of one particularly rare species of whale?

 

[ClayinCA]

Gary Seven said:The "Bob" character has about as much weight drama-wise as "Madeline" in the Plexiglass factory.

Hm. Now you comt to mention it, I'm surprised there's no fanfic out there about Bob and Madeline. I tell ya, those two crazy kids are meant for each other...

 

[Python Trek]

ancient said:
It was before Bob began using Enzyte and started 'living large'

Oh, great! Now I'm going to be whistling the theme to that damn commercial for the rest of the day...thanks alot!

 

[Steven Of Nine]

Trekker4747 said:
She must've had one HELL of a contract with the Ceteacean Institute so she could get away with smacking and screaming at her boss.

You're apparently unfamiliar with the concept of Tenure and Grant Funding.

 

[Peach Wookiee]

ancient said:
It was before Bob began using Enzyte and started 'living large'

Enzyte will not stop the mom from 7th Heaven from slapping you silly...

 

[cardinal biggles]

Trekker4747 said:
(The whales also seemed to get pretty far out within the hours too... But I'm not sure how much time passed between when they were let go and when Kirk and Co. found them.)

Gillian did mention in the restaurant that the whales would be flown up to Alaska in a specially equipped 747, so it's not like they just swam out of the Bay really fast.

 

[Python Trek]

Peach Wookiee said:

ancient said:
It was before Bob began using Enzyte and started 'living large'

Enzyte will not stop the mom from 7th Heaven from slapping you silly...

If I had a nickel for every time I've said that to someone....!

 

[Nerys Myk]

I think she was upset that he took her bra.

 

[TGTheodore]

ssosmcin said:
She was on the rag.

Okay, who has the stopwatch? What was the time on this?

--Ted

 

[Kolrad]

David cgc said:
It's more a matter of practicality. As Kirk says, he could go to the open sea to find some whales, but he's got a breeding pair that's willing to help right there, conveniently tagged for radio tracking. In that situation, would you want to give them up and fly up and down the damned planet looking for a male and female of one particularly rare species of whale?

On top of that, he'd have to send Spock out to swim in the ocean every time in order to get the whales' permission.

 

[jayrath]

She was angry that she would later be teamed with Capt. Will Decker from TMP in a lame TV drama.

 

[Peach Wookiee]

^I thought she was angry because Bob dissed her for liking Decker...

 

[Azrael]

I've been waiting for a "Bob" action figure for years...

 

[Aldo]

Azrael said:
I've been waiting for a "Bob" action figure for years...

If Lucas was in charge of Trek merchandising, we would have saw a Bob action figure along with several variants.

 

[Python Trek]

Aldo said:

Azrael said:
I've been waiting for a "Bob" action figure for years...

If Lucas was in charge of Trek merchandising, we would have saw a Bob action figure along with several variants.

A Bob action figure---you pull a string on his back and he says, "Whales are not sentient, kiddo! Now go put on a bra, f'chrissakes!".

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

He kept crucial information from her out of "concern for her feelings" - he was a patronizing, manipulative, disrespectful schmuck.

 

[Trekker4747]

If Lucas was in charge of Trek merchandising, we would have saw a Bob action figure along with several variants.

If Trek had a similar fanbase to Star Wars Bob would have his own little fan-following. People would be obsessed with his character despite relatively little screen time. His fanbase would be so large it'd prompt the movie-makers to put his origins in a prequel movie.

 

[Python Trek]

Trekker4747 said:

If Lucas was in charge of Trek merchandising, we would have saw a Bob action figure along with several variants.

If Trek had a similar fanbase to Star Wars Bob would have his own little fan-following. People would be obsessed with his character despite relatively little screen time. His fanbase would be so large it'd prompt the movie-makers to put his origins in a prequel movie.

Bob would have spawned a series of novels; he'd have 4 pages in a DK visual guide; he'd have a background that includes his parents' names, extensive details about his schooling, his food preferences, etc. And Dark Horse would give him his own 24-issue maxi-series with gatefold holographic covers.............