15 More Things You Didn’t Know About Star Trek III: The Search For Spock (1984)
12. Visions Of Spock
Harve Bennett’s first crack at a story for Star Trek III was a Sept. 16, 1982 treatment titled Return to Genesis. It’s radically different from the film we got, notably in its handling of the revivified titular Vulcan. In it, Spock first appeared as an apparition, seen by Saavik, then Bones, then Kirk.
Bones is alone now. He does try to pull himself together, He splashes water on his face, looks up into the mirror. There he sees Spock. Whirling with a cry, he faces an empty room. He looks back into the mirror only to see his own anguished face.
Later, on Earth, Kirk sees Spock while meeting with the Starfleet Commander, who sees nothing, and relieves Kirk of command. Kirk ends up under house arrest at his apartment, fearing he may be going insane. When Sulu visits to spring Kirk, he says:
SULU: I have seen him, too. We have all seen him.
Ultimately it’s a loose end. No explanation is ever given for the visions, and it makes zero sense given that Bones is the only one who got mind melded. In fact, that mind meld is basically brushed off.