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I'm rewatching Star Trek TOS again (as people have probably noticed), and I was rewatching "The Immunity Syndrome" last night. And something struck me about the conversation between Spock and McCoy before Spock heads out in the shuttle.
For clarity's sake, Kirk has just chosen Spock to go on a probable suicide mission over McCoy (on the grounds that Spock has the better chance of surviving if survival is possible), and McCoy isn't handling this too well:
Spock: "We're wasting time. The shuttlecraft is ready."
McCoy: "You're determined not to let me share in this, aren't you?"
Spock: "This is not a competition, Doctor. Whether you understand it or not, grant me my own kind of dignity."
McCoy: "Vulcan dignity? How can I grant you what I don't understand!"
Spock: "Then employ one of your own superstitions - Wish me luck."
McCoy falls silent and then, after Spock has already walked away and can't hear him...
McCoy: "... Good luck, Spock."
It's a hell of a scene all on its own, and one of my favourite scenes with these two, but for some reason it reminded me of something this time. There's a scene in the fifth movie, with Spock's brother Sybok. When Sybok wants to remove their pain, he tells McCoy that his pain is the greatest, and then creates a phantom scene of the source of McCoy's oldest pain - the moment when he felt compelled to euthanise his dying father, only weeks before a cure turned out to be found. This bit:
Sybok: "You're a doctor."
McCoy: "I'm his son."
Sybok: "Why did you do it?"
McCoy: "To preserve his dignity."
McCoy's Pain, Sybok & McCoy, Star Trek V: The Final Frontier. (Link goes to youtube)
To preserve his dignity. McCoy's lifelong pain is that he once granted dignity in death to someone he loved, and only later discovered that the death might have been prevented had he waited that little longer.
Spock: "This is not a competition, Doctor. Whether or not you understand it, grant me my own kind of dignity."
Jesus, Spock. And Spock had no way of knowing, none of them did since McCoy's been carrying that particular secret with full intent on taking it to his grave, but Spock walked off to die in McCoy's place having asked McCoy to grant him dignity.
No wonder McCoy froze the hell up at the time, and was particularly emphatic about rescuing Spock later, even if it's mostly a humorous scene:
Spock: "Captain, I recommend you abandon the attempt. Do not risk the ship further on my behalf."
McCoy: "Shut up, Spock, we're rescuing you!"
Spock: "... Why thank you, Captain McCoy."
Wow. I love them. This episode is one of my favourite episodes for the two of them, between the "Wish me luck" scene, and the rescue scene, and the earlier scene where they debate 'a million is a statistic' from human vs vulcan viewpoints. It's always been one of my favourite episodes. But holy shit. I didn't notice that little tidbit the first time around, because I don't usually think of the series in the context of the movies. It only snagged me just now, when Spock asked for dignity and it caught off the echo of that other scene in my head.
... No-one had more talent for accidentally stomping on each other's deepest soul wounds than these two. By all the gods and little fishes. It's sort of amazing how much they managed to care for each other despite it.
*shakes head* Anyway. They're my favourite, but I think I need to watch a sillier/more cheerful episode now. 'I, Mudd', maybe? Something, anyway. There's not really a shortage. Heh.
Spock: "We're wasting time. The shuttlecraft is ready."
McCoy: "You're determined not to let me share in this, aren't you?"
Spock: "This is not a competition, Doctor. Whether you understand it or not, grant me my own kind of dignity."
McCoy: "Vulcan dignity? How can I grant you what I don't understand!"
Spock: "Then employ one of your own superstitions - Wish me luck."
McCoy falls silent and then, after Spock has already walked away and can't hear him...
McCoy: "... Good luck, Spock."
It's a hell of a scene all on its own, and one of my favourite scenes with these two, but for some reason it reminded me of something this time. There's a scene in the fifth movie, with Spock's brother Sybok. When Sybok wants to remove their pain, he tells McCoy that his pain is the greatest, and then creates a phantom scene of the source of McCoy's oldest pain - the moment when he felt compelled to euthanise his dying father, only weeks before a cure turned out to be found. This bit:
Sybok: "You're a doctor."
McCoy: "I'm his son."
Sybok: "Why did you do it?"
McCoy: "To preserve his dignity."
McCoy's Pain, Sybok & McCoy, Star Trek V: The Final Frontier. (Link goes to youtube)
To preserve his dignity. McCoy's lifelong pain is that he once granted dignity in death to someone he loved, and only later discovered that the death might have been prevented had he waited that little longer.
Spock: "This is not a competition, Doctor. Whether or not you understand it, grant me my own kind of dignity."
Jesus, Spock. And Spock had no way of knowing, none of them did since McCoy's been carrying that particular secret with full intent on taking it to his grave, but Spock walked off to die in McCoy's place having asked McCoy to grant him dignity.
No wonder McCoy froze the hell up at the time, and was particularly emphatic about rescuing Spock later, even if it's mostly a humorous scene:
Spock: "Captain, I recommend you abandon the attempt. Do not risk the ship further on my behalf."
McCoy: "Shut up, Spock, we're rescuing you!"
Spock: "... Why thank you, Captain McCoy."
Wow. I love them. This episode is one of my favourite episodes for the two of them, between the "Wish me luck" scene, and the rescue scene, and the earlier scene where they debate 'a million is a statistic' from human vs vulcan viewpoints. It's always been one of my favourite episodes. But holy shit. I didn't notice that little tidbit the first time around, because I don't usually think of the series in the context of the movies. It only snagged me just now, when Spock asked for dignity and it caught off the echo of that other scene in my head.
... No-one had more talent for accidentally stomping on each other's deepest soul wounds than these two. By all the gods and little fishes. It's sort of amazing how much they managed to care for each other despite it.
*shakes head* Anyway. They're my favourite, but I think I need to watch a sillier/more cheerful episode now. 'I, Mudd', maybe? Something, anyway. There's not really a shortage. Heh.
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