Character Analysis
Poor Dr. Leonard McCoy. In The Search for Spock, he's a comedic double act without a partner. He has so much emotion, and so many arguments to give.
But when it's time for the "Most illogical" punchline, he hears only crickets. (Those judgmental crickets.)
That's because the act's straight man, one Spock by name, is missing. And this throws McCoy's world into disarray, not least of which because his buddy's soul has claimed squatter's rights in his brain space.
In My Head
When we catch up with McCoy, he's sitting in Spock's room with the lights off like an emo art school kid. Kirk confronts him, and McCoy starts acting weird:
MCCOY: Then perhaps it's not too late. Climb the steps, Jim. Climb the steps of Mount Seleya.
KIRK: Mount Seleya? Bones, Mount Seleya is on Vulcan. We're home, on Earth.
MCCOY: Remember.
These are our first clues that Spock implanted himself in McCoy's brain at the end of The Wrath of Khan, since, obviously, Vulcan ain't McCoy's home. But it is also the first clue that Spock's absence has created a break in the usual Kirk-McCoy-Spock dynamic.
Dorothy Atkins summarizes this dynamic, by being typically awesome:
In their interaction and interdependence, it is possible to consider them as one entity, as the unified aspects of the self or the soul. Kirk, the decision maker, represents will and intuition; Spock, supplier of logic and information, represents reason; and McCoy, provider of healing and compassion, represents emotion. (Source).
Without the logic piece of their trifecta, Kirk and McCoy are lost as to what to do with themselves. Kirk, as the decision maker, lacks the information to take proper action until Sarek, the surrogate of logic, arrives on the scene. And McCoy, usually the provider of healing, is instead the one in need of healing.
The moral of this story? We all need a little Spock in our lives.
Atkins also labels McCoy as the representation of emotion and compassion, but lacking his logical counterweight, he becomes a fountain of overwrought emotion. Check out this scene:
MCCOY: I'll discuss what I like, and who in the hell are you?
GENTLEMAN: Could I offer you a ride home, Dr. McCoy?
MCCOY: Where's the logic in offering me a ride home, you idiot? If I wanted a ride home, would I be trying to charter a space flight?
Notice that while McCoy speaks of logic, as though he's Spock…he, um, he isn't actually using it. He's in pure emotional purge mode, yelling about his illegal dealings to a security officer of the Federation. Not the best way to do under the table dealings, buddy. Just saying.
Until Spock can be reintroduced into the fold, McCoy is going to be missing more than a debate opponent or someone he can try to insult with references to his green blood—he's missing a part of himself.
A Tale of Two Besties
But McCoy's emotional state serves a greater purpose in The Search for Spock. After traveling to Genesis and retrieving Spock's body, McCoy takes the Vulcan to the sick bay in the Klingon Bird-of-Prey.
There, he has a heart-to-heart with his long lost pal:
MCCOY: Spock, for God sakes, talk to me. You stuck this damn thing in my head, remember? Remember? Now tell me what to do with it. Help me. [McCoy looks concerned.] I'm gonna tell you something that I never thought I'd ever hear myself say. But it seems I've missed you, and I don't know if I could stand to lose you again.
Our theory is that Spock gave McCoy his katra because it was necessary to give it him, even over Kirk. (And let's not forget that he had a perfectly good, unconscious Scotty mere feet away in The Wrath of Khan.) But Spock knew that McCoy would ensure Spock's katra would be kept safe. That's because, McCoy would be devastated at the loss of his friend…because he's the "emotional one."
After all, the mission to Genesis isn't logical. It's an emotional mission, the type of mission McCoy—not Spock—would approve of. When Kirk, the decision maker, gives his reason for undergoing such a dangerous task, he tells Spock, "
KIRK: Because the needs of the one outweigh the needs of the many.
That's not only the exact opposite of Spock's final words…it's also the exact opposite of logic. It's more of a McCoy move.
In a twist, logic is saved by emotion. And in the end, McCoy gets his straight man back, giving us plenty more jokes in the sequels to come.
McCoy's Timeline