10 PERFECT Scenes In Hated Star Trek Episodes

Star Trek V: The Final Frontier gets a rough ride from critics. Some parts of the film may deserve some of the furore, yet this scene is not one of them. When Sybok, Spock, Kirk, and McCoy meet on the observation deck, there follows a scene with such pathos, such power, that few moments in Trek history hit as hard, nor cut as deep.

Sharing their pain with Sybok could have been written as a campy, new-age psychological nonsensical moment - though this is by no means a statement against speaking one's trauma aloud. Sybok, modelled as he was after the evangelists that prey on the vulnerable, could have made these moments about him. Instead, Spock and McCoy - especially McCoy - are granted glimpses into what truly pains them, but it truly serves their characters well. 

Spock sees his own birth, absorbing the knowledge that from his earliest moments, his father judged him less than a Vulcan. As one would expect, outwardly, Spock shows no real reaction to this. Contrasted against this is the masterful performance by DeForest Kelley. 

There truly is no age at which losing one's parent doesn't hurt, and McCoy was not only David's son but also a medical practitioner unable to save him. Rather than leaving him to suffer, McCoy switched off the life support machine - mere days before a cure was found for his father's illness. It's a devastating moment in the film and in the character's history. 

Kirk tells Sybok that he needs his pain. We tell the screen to please, please take away McCoy's.