Imagined Scene Cut from Star Trek V: The Final Frontier

Imagined Scene Cut from Star Trek V: The Final Frontier

-Bruce Kanin; May 10, 2012

The movie Star Trek V: The Final Frontier was story about the Enterprise on a quest to seek … God. The starship and its crew have been hijacked by Sybok, half-brother of the ship’s First Officer, Mr. Spock. Sybok has the apparent ability to meld with people in such a way that he brings their most excruciating, deep-buried memories to the surface in order to help them to make peace with these thoughts. A side effect of this meld causes those experiencing it to become, in effect, a follower of Sybok.

As a result, Sybok, needing a starship to reach the center of the universe from which “God” appears to call him, captures the Enterprise and, using his abilities, influences the crew to set course per his instructions.

However, Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock and Dr. McCoy find ways to evade Sybok, his minions who have come on-board, and even brainwashed crew members. But ultimately the Captain, First Officer and Doctor are cornered, thus allowing Sybok to meld with them and to unearth their deepest pain such that they can be converted to his cause.

For McCoy, Sybok touches the doctor’s grief that is borne from his decision to euthanize his elderly father not long before a cure for his dad’s terminal ailment has been found.

For Spock, it is the rejection experienced way back when he was born and scorned as a “half-breed” by his own father – half Vulcan, half Human.

But as shown in the movie, Kirk manages to avoid the meld with Sybok, saying that he needs his pain, because it makes him what he is. That comment evokes the early first season episode of Star Trek, “The Enemy Within”, in which a transporter accident splits Kirk into his “good” and “evil” halves. In that episode it is Kirk, Spock and McCoy who observe that the good and evil halves of a person are both needed to complete someone’s persona – and enable them to survive.

So in Star Trek V: The Voyage Home, we don’t get to see Kirk feel his pain nor do we know just what that might be, assuming he even has some kind of deep, dark angst. However, if we think back to the original series, there are a few episodes that end with Kirk having faced some kind of personal pain. One is the third-season story, “The Paradise Syndrome”, in which an amnesiac Kirk marries a native woman on a distant planet, only to watch her die once his memory returns.

Another, it could be argued, is “Turnabout Intruder”, the final episode of the series, in which Kirk deals with a woman he once loved, but who now scorns him and has effectively gone mad. His angst is that he was never able to help her. The episode does not end all that happily for the woman, or for Kirk.

To me, though, those two episodes pale in comparison with what is arguably the best episode of the series and perhaps the franchise. It is one that is universally acclaimed and as well won the Sci-Fi world’s Hugo Award.

This episode is, of course, “The City on the Edge of Forever”. For the few people who’ve never seen it, the story involves a deranged Doctor McCoy using a time portal to change history such that the Earth isn’t the same. His actions indirectly result in the Federation, including the Enterprise, no longer existing – at least as far as Kirk and co. knew them. A landing party, consisting of Kirk, Spock and others, become stranded on a strange planet containing the time portal.

In an attempt to resolve the situation, Kirk and Spock use the portal to go back in time in order to somehow find and stop McCoy before he can alter history. While doing so, Kirk meets a social worker in 1930s New York City named Edith Keeler, who turns out to be the focal point of their time trip: McCoy had gone back and prevented her from dying – that resulted in a cascade of changes affecting the future. But Kirk and Spock learn that Keeler must die, just as she did before McCoy used the time portal, in order to set things straight.

There’s only one problem: Kirk, originally not knowing that Edith Keeler was the focal point who needs to die, has fallen head over heels in love with her.

And so, at the episode’s climax, when Kirk and Spock have caught up with a now-recovered McCoy, the Captain must choose between letting McCoy save Edith Keeler’s life – thereby resulting in a chain reaction of events triggered by Edith later in her life that doom Earth to a future in which Nazi Germany conquers the Earth and ultimately no United Federation of Planets exists – or - letting her die in traffic as she crosses the street, as she was supposed to - thus preserving the future known by the Enterprise trio.

It is a riveting and emotional scene. As Kirk and Spock are unexpectedly reunited with McCoy, Keeler sees them and crosses the busy street. Kirk’s instinct is to run out and save her from being killed, but Spock, knowing the consequences, yells, “No, Jim!”

McCoy then attempts to run out to Edith, and Kirk stops him. After they hear Edith’s screams, knowing what has happened, McCoy angrily says to Kirk, “You deliberately stopped me, Jim. I could have saved her. Do you know what you just did?”

As Kirk pulls away from his friend in grief, Spock says, “He knows, Doctor. He knows.”

And soon we see the Enterprise trio back in their “present”, with all things “restored”. Kirk gives the command, “Let’s get the hell out of here”, meaning to beam back up to the Enterprise, and the episode ends.

We clearly see Kirk’s anguish because he had the woman he loved die. It’s hard to imagine any viewer not feeling the power of this scene and the devastating impact on Kirk. Only a handful of the Star Trek franchise TV episodes can make that claim (TNG’s “The Inner Light” and DS9’s “Children of Time” are other examples).

As such, not long after seeing Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, I wondered if, instead of Kirk opting out of the Sybok mind meld, things could have gone differently…

On the Enterprise, Sybok has hijacked the ship and its crew, except for Kirk, Spock and McCoy. But finally, he corrals them and has just melded with McCoy and then Spock. Now it’s Kirk’s turn…

Despite Kirk’s protests, Sybok managed to place his hand on the Captain’s forehead. Jim Kirk continued to resist, but the Vulcan was overpowering. Soon ancient thoughts flooded through Kirk’s mind – memories he tried to suppress for a long time – very deep memories.

…The bridge of the Enterprise and Spock reporting of ripples in time.

…A hypo pumped into McCoy, enraging him and resulting in him beaming down to a strange planet below -  the one generating the ripples in time.

…Kirk, along with Spock, Scott, Uhura and two security men, beam down to search for McCoy and discover a bizarre object they learn is the Guardian of Forever – a time portal.

…A still-crazed McCoy leaping through the portal, causing the Enterprise to disappear from orbit and, as they learn from the Guardian, history changing drastically.

…Kirk and Spock leaping through the Guardian’s portal, as well, in an attempt to restore things to normal by preventing McCoy from changing history.

…And then in 1930s New York, the pair meeting Edith Keeler, with Kirk falling in love – and learning from Spock that she is tragically the “focal point” who must die.

…Finally, outside Edith Keeler’s mission for homeless people, Kirk allowing her to die in order to save the universe.

Kirk remembered all this now – the sound of Edith’s voice, her scent, her touch, her grand ideas well before her time, and her beauty. He wondered how things might have been. But then he recalled the deeply excruciating decision he had to make.

The universe saved in exchange for a woman’s life – not just any woman – but the woman he fell in love with.

Via Sybok’s meld, the Captain stood there in limbo, not in the past, anymore. He stood in darkness. But then a light shone on his face, and in the distance he heard a voice.

“Jim.”

Kirk said nothing. He wanted to hear the voice speak once again.

“Jim, why did you let me die?”

Kirk recognized the voice but didn’t dare respond, because it was too unbelievable.

“Jim. Or should I call you … Captain, like Spock would?”

Kirk whispered, “Edith?”

A shadow moved and then, “Your friend Doctor McCoy. You, he and Spock. All men out of place. And time. Why were you there?”

The captain swallowed. “We… Spock and I. Had to make things … right.”

The shadow moved forward so that Kirk could see its face. It was as young and sweet as he had last seen it. The voice laughed. “Make things right?”

“Yes.”

“By allowing me to die?”

“It was the only way.” Kirk choked back the next words. “I’m sorry.”

“Sorry.”

And then Spock, out of nowhere, appeared. “Miss Keeler.”

“Mister Spock.”

“Jim Kirk has never made a greater sacrifice. Perhaps no one has had to quite like he did, for Jim had to give up the woman he loved to save the millions – or billions who would have died - had he not done that.”

Now Spock was standing next to Kirk, and Edith Keeler moved closer to them. She was partly in light, partly in dark. She said, “I don’t understand.”

And now McCoy appeared. “Edith. Jim Kirk stopped me from saving you. And for a moment, I didn’t understand, either. For that moment, I hated him for what he did.”

Edith said, “But you three are friends. Good friends. I could see that back then, and I see that now. You… love each other, like brothers.”

Kirk smiled, “Yes, that’s true. We are like brothers.”

And then, in the wink of an eye, Kirk, Spock and McCoy were back on the Enterprise, standing before Sybok. Kirk turned to Spock’s half brother and said, “Sybok, what just happened?”

Sybok put a hand on Kirk’s shoulder. “You faced a demon.”

Kirk said, “Certainly not Edith. Edith Keeler?”

McCoy interceded. “No, Jim. I don’t think Sybok means that.”

Sybok nodded. “You went back to a terrible choice you had to make. A decision that was like no other you or most other people have not had to make. And you faced it.”

Kirk looked beyond Sybok, thinking out loud. “I’ve always wondered what would have happened if…” He then looked at McCoy, “I’d have let you save her, Bones.”

Spock then joined in, “But you know Jim, you know what would have happened. And you know you made the correct decision.”

Kirk wondered, “The right decision for everyone … except Edith.”

McCoy said, putting a hand on Kirk’s shoulder. “Maybe not, Jim. Given what you and Spock learned would have happened, who knows if you spared her a terrible future, too.”

Spock replied, “We’ll never know, Doctor.”

Kirk said, “Gentlemen, there’s no sense discussing this further. I will say that” he spun around to face Sybok “I do feel a sense of … peace … facing this after so much time has passed.” He offered a curt smile. “Thank you, Sybok.”

Sybok smiled and nodded, but said nothing.

Kirk continued, “Now. About my ship…”

Star Trek V: The Final Frontier came after a crackerjack trilogy of Star Trek movies, i.e., The Wrath of Khan; The Search for Spock; and The Voyage Home. To be honest, they were a difficult act to follow, so to speak, so it’s no doubt that The Final Frontier was a letdown and didn’t fare as well as its predecessors at the box office.

However, The Final Frontier, as good as portions of it were, would have at best made a decent TV series episode. It was not not up to par as a movie – certainly not like its three immediate predecessors. That was perhaps due to budget cuts, a bit too much comedy and, in the end, a fairly ordinary threat or “enemy”.

Having said that, the opinion here is that adding a scene for Kirk in which he “encounters” Edith Keeler would have raised it a notch. Granted, it would have just been a five- or ten-minute scene, but it might have packed a punch. Certainly long-time fans might have had a greater appreciation for the movie with that scene in it.

Whether they would have gotten Joan Collins to reprise her role as Edith Keeler is another story…

-Bruce