One thing Star Trek can do and do well is create unlikely yet natural feeling friendships. For example the relationship between McCoy and Spock. These are two very different characters that are reluctant friends but still friends and very close.
McCoy was a passionate individual. He felt everything deeply and was not afraid to let the world know his moral position on something. And he could at times be astounded that the world didn’t see things as clearly as he did. He was the emotional aspect of Kirk given life much as Spock was the intellectual aspect of Kirk.
Spock was a person very much in control of himself. Vulcans did not lack emotion but rather kept their emotions tightly controlled. Spock had a few moments where he let them show but as a rule kept them under wraps.
McCoy and Spock are two characters who never would have been friends in reality if it wasn’t for Captain Kirk. They were far too different. Not that Star Trek characters can’t overcome their differences to be friends but in the case of McCoy and Spock there would’ve been no opportunity for a foundational meeting upon which to base their friendship if it hadn’t been for Captain Kirk. What in the entire series was shown that Spock and McCoy had in common? Kirk. That’s it.
Kirk and McCoy had the most similar backgrounds. They were more of the common folk as one might say with Spock being from a more elite background. His father was an ambassador and his Vulcan family was just generally important. The common denominator in the relationship was Kirk but they all formed a tight bond where they would go to great lengths and sacrifice for one another.
I somewhat agree with McCoy’s assessment of why Spock placed his spirit in the doctor’s body. It was revenge for all those arguments that Spock lost but it was also because he trusted McCoy enough to keep it safe and do whatever what needed to be done with it. I don’t think he would have given it to Scotty or Sulu or Uhura or some random crewman. In the context of the Star Trek universe what Spock did was not something he would do with just about anyone. He may have liked Scotty, but he did not have a close relationship that he had with McCoy.
Spock and McCoy may not have been brothers in the way Kirk and Spock were, but they were very close. They looked out for one another and they were willing to take chances for one another that perhaps if they had not had a close bond would not have been would not have occurred.
Star Trek is a universe replete with lessons for the viewer. What’s the lesson here? That you can be friends with people who are not just like you. Don’t exist within a bubble. Step outside your bubble. Do so and you will find something special and strong. Bridge those divides.
Warren Watched A Movie 