Oh, joy. 🙄

[Captrek]

In TVH, when Kirk assigns McCoy, Scott and Sulu to get a whale tank, McCoy rolls his eyes and say, “Oh, joy.”

I know he’s a complainer, but what’s his complaint here? It’s a mission not a vacation, is it supposed to be fun? Getting a whale tank is not a particularly unpleasant task even it’s not something he’d do for recreation.

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

It's not his area of expertise - he doesn't have the slightest idea how he's going to be of any use. Maybe he would have preferred to go with Kirk and Spock.

 

[fireproof78]

In TVH, when Kirk assigns McCoy, Scott and Sulu to get a whale tank, McCoy rolls his eyes and say, “Oh, joy.”

I know he’s a complainer, but what’s his complaint here? It’s a mission not a vacation, is it supposed to be fun? Getting a whale tank is not a particularly unpleasant task even it’s not something he’d do for recreation.

He feels like he is being given an impossible assignment.

 

[Finn]

He's a complainer.

 

[somebuddyX]

He's a doctor, not a ...guy who builds whale tanks.

 

[Peach Wookiee]

It's not his area of expertise - he doesn't have the slightest idea how he's going to be of any use. Maybe he would have preferred to go with Kirk and Spock.

“Dammit, Spock, get out of that tank!!”

 

[CoveTom]

Just look at TOS. Was he ever given an assignment that he didn't complain about? It's part of his charm.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

McCoy hadn't been happy since before he'd learned that they had to take the Klingon ship back to Earth. He was frustrated by being unable to bridge the communication gap between himself and Spock, he thought the time travel idea itself was crazy, and he reacted badly upon learning that they were going to attempt time travel in the Klingon "rust bucket." Taking on an active role in the mission of delivering whales to the future, of going off the deep end as he had described the time travel idea, wasn't going to make him feel any better, whatever his assignment.

 

[JamesRye]

When my boss gives me a large and difficult job to do, I know that I might have the same reaction.

 

[Vger23]

I'm sure that, as a medical professional, he's probably not particularly thrilled with having to build a whale tank. He's also probably trying to be light and sarcastic, as he usually is.

 

[Jeyl]

I was more bothered by how McCoy behaves when they're trying to rescue Chekov from the hospital. Why is he bad talking the staff and equipment? This isn't the 23rd Century and the doctors can only work with what they know.

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

He's used to encountering people who are backwards because they choose to be, perhaps. Time travel while clear-headed isn't a frequent experience for McCoy. Perhaps it's also because Spock has called his medical care "beads and rattles" and Kirk calls him "Bones" as in sawbones. It's like, "now this is primitive, not what I do."

Or perhaps it's more borne of his frustration over Chekov having to be cared for in this manner than a disrespect for old methods - his horror on Pavel's behalf bleeds over onto his observations of 20th century medicine in general. He's so beset by his inability to take away everyone's pain, illness and treatment-induced, that when he sees an opportunity to help that probably won't wreck history (the kidney lady) he takes it.

 

[Mojochi]

If I'd spent years getting my PhD in medicine only to get stuck wandering around solving tech issues with Scotty, I'd be wondering WTF my life had come to also. Thank God for that hospital trip, or his whole life would be pointless here

 

[CoveTom]

If we went back to a time when they were trying to cure someone via leeches and we were standing there watching knowing that the patient was likely to die and that a simple antibiotic pill could save their life, how would we feel about it? Would we be respectful of the medicine of the time, or would we be disgusted with the situation? I tend to think the latter.

 

[fireproof78]

I was more bothered by how McCoy behaves when they're trying to rescue Chekov from the hospital. Why is he bad talking the staff and equipment? This isn't the 23rd Century and the doctors can only work with what they know.

Probably because he is deeply concerned for Chekov's wellbeing in the moment and doesn't want him to be subjected to more primitive procedures. McCoy is already out of his element and now he has to handle less than adequate equipment, plus recently being separated from another consciousness.

Dude's allowed to be cranky with what he considered inadequate care.

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

Whatever mess the "primitive" surgeons make of poor Pavel's head, he's going to have to fix later. Better to intervene before they can do anything and save both men a lot of trouble.

 

[Richard S. Ta]

I was more bothered by how McCoy behaves when they're trying to rescue Chekov from the hospital. Why is he bad talking the staff and equipment? This isn't the 23rd Century and the doctors can only work with what they know.

I imagine a 2020 doctor would have much the same reaction if they were to somehow travel back to 1720.

 

[Captrek]

He's used to encountering people who are backwards because they choose to be, perhaps. Time travel while clear-headed isn't a frequent experience for McCoy. Perhaps it's also because Spock has called his medical care "beads and rattles" and Kirk calls him "Bones" as in sawbones. It's like, "now this is primitive, not what I do."

Or perhaps it's more borne of his frustration over Chekov having to be cared for in this manner than a disrespect for old methods - his horror on Pavel's behalf bleeds over onto his observations of 20th century medicine in general. He's so beset by his inability to take away everyone's pain, illness and treatment-induced, that when he sees an opportunity to help that probably won't wreck history (the kidney lady) he takes it.

Something like that would affect history, but no more than giving somebody the secret of transparent aluminum.