The 14 Dumbest Things In Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
9. Officer Thinking; Start Your Drinking
KIRK: Would you and your party care to dine this evening aboard the Enterprise with my officers as guests of the United Federation of Planets?
After Klingon Chancellor Gorkon accepts, Lt. Valeris offers...
VALERIS: Captain, there is a supply of Romulan ale aboard. It might make the evening pass more ...smoothly?
KIRK: Officer thinking, Lieutenant.
Yeah... about that...
How can Kirk possibly believe Romulan ale will make the evening go more "smoothly"?
Intoxication tends to lower inhibitions and loosen tongues. Or does Kirk think getting hammered will make him personally feel better and damn the consequences?
It’s not clear as played in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, but Romulan ale is supposed to be an “instant drunk,” which explains Kirk’s odd change of expression on first sip (and here you thought he was reacting to the taste).
Instant drunk or not, in a precarious political situation over a formal dinner with an enemy of 70-years standing, how could anyone possibly see loosened inhibitions as a good idea?
It doesn’t help that the scene as edited is…badly.