Choices are the worst. We're so indecisive we can't even decide which Doctor Who is our favorite…and the only consequence there is losing up votes on Reddit threads.
But in The Search for Spock, Admiral Kirk has to make choices far more difficult than naming his favorite Doctor—also, you just know Kirk is a David Tennant man.
Not only are the consequences of Kirk's choices more severe than losing Reddit cred, but it's entirely possible that no choice is the correct one. Kirk loses his ship and his son to pursue Spock, and he leads his crew to throw away their hard-earned careers in Starfleet. Yet not acting would have ended with a madman, erm, mad-Klingon capturing Genesis, not to mention McCoy's retirement in future-Arkham Asylum.
And Kirk's not alone here. Many of the characters must face difficult choices with potentially destructive outcomes. Yet good or bad, right or wrong, choices must be made.
Questions about Choices
- Is there any character that doesn't have to make a choice? If so, who is it and how does this character help you understand this theme? If not, what do you think the film is trying to say by not having such a character?
- Both Kruge and David make choices in their own self-interest. What are they? How do David and Kruge differ in their reflections on these choices and how does that shape your understanding of this theme?
- By the end of the film, do you think Kirk made the right choice to steal the Enterprise and risk everything to save Spock? Why or why not?
Chew on This
While Kirk has to make difficult choices, many of the outcomes were inevitable. Whether Kirk went to Genesis or not, the Enterprise was going to be decommissioned and David would have died. The only outcome in the air was really Spock's fate.
The connective theme of the Star Trek trilogy (Wrath of Khan, The Search for Spock, and The Voyage Home) is choice. The choices made in one film reverberate into the other, forcing the characters to deal with their consequences.