Character Analysis
As usual, Leonard "Bones" McCoy serves an important role as one of Kirk's most trusted advisors. That role is especially important this time around because Kirk's other advisor—that wonderful weirdo known as Spock—is in a truly woeful state.
Doctor Strange
One of the things glossed over in The Voyage Home is McCoy's bizarre experience in the previous Star Trek film. After Spock's death in Star Trek II, McCoy was possessed by Spock's spirit. For real. Everything is back to normal now, thankfully, but it's still useful to know what went down when analyzing McCoy's character. Like, maybe that experience explains why he's so interested in hearing about Spock's experiences beyond the grave? Check out this early conversation:
MCCOY: Come on, Spock, it's me, McCoy. You really have gone where no man has gone before. Can't you tell me what it felt like?
Of course, Spock doesn't give an answer—he hardly understands the question. As McCoy himself would say, that guy is one pointy-eared freak.
McCoy the Roastmaster
When he's not doing his usual back and forth with Spock, McCoy is roasting the 20th century in all its primitive glory. In particular, he's aghast by the state of our medical system:
DOCTOR: All he talked about was image therapy, or otherwise he'd cut it out.
MCCOY: Unbelievable.
DOCTOR: You have a different view, Doctor?
MCCOY: It sounds like the goddamn Spanish Inquisition.
Leave it to McCoy to insult us while still making us laugh. Although he might not exactly have a complex character arc in The Voyage Home, McCoy provides endless entertainment with his no-nonsense disposition and sardonic sense of humor.