Tear Jerker / Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home

Poor Gillian...

• Kirk reminding Spock that "you used to call me Jim" edges into sad territory. Yes, using a nickname rather than his rank would serve a practical purpose as camouflage, but Kirk's expression and tone suggest there's more to it than that; Spock calling him by name symbolized the depth of their friendship, and he wants that back.
  • The novel clarified that beyond remembering his death and the objective memory of Kirk being his friend, Spock doesn’t have the emotions attached to them yet (until Kirk has his “don’t you have any feelings” outburst, and then he’s upset), and the Vulcans have been teaching him sole logic against his mother’s wishes.
• Gillian showing a video of whalers killing and tearing apart whales.
  Spock: To hunt a race to extinction is not logical.
  Gillian: Whoever said the human race was logical?
• A very upset Uhura reporting to Kirk that she located Chekov and that he's critically injured and near dead in a hospital. She even starts to blame herself for him getting captured before Kirk shuts that line of thinking down.
• The book packs a surprise punch, as when Kirk wants to time travel to save earth, McCoy reminds him of sometimes they had to make hard choices, and what would the Guardian say. Kirk snaps, yelling that he had to watch Edith Keeler die, “someone else I loved die◊”.
  • Kirk and Gillian talk more about the later century, and this◊ exchange happens.
  Kirk: My mother’s a xenobiologist, and so was my brother.
  Gillian: Was?
  Kirk: He… died.
  Gillian: Then there’s no immortality in your universe, either.
  Kirk [sad smile]: No, not for human beings anyway.
  • The dream sequence◊ turns a lot more Nightmare Fuel than in the film, making mention of Gary Mitchell’s death, as well as Kirk’s brother and sister in law and their grieving son, giving more credence to why Kirk, for a while at least, wanted to escape with the Nexus.
  • Throughout the book, Kirk is trying to contact Carol, not because he wants to be with her, but he wants to grieve with her for the loss of their son. She never returns his messages as, not only does she want to grieve in her own way, but she blames Kirk for David's death and thinks he is trying to use the situation to get into her pants.

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