Character Analysis
We can't tell you how many times we've fantasized about the cast of Star Trek showing up at our workplace and sweeping us off on some intergalactic adventure hundreds of years in the future.
Well, that's exactly what happens to Gillian Taylor in The Voyage Home.
The Landlubber Who Lubs Whales
We're not even mad, though—Gillian deserves the adventure in which she finds herself. She is a boss. For starters, she's a whale expert, which is an inherently awesome career. She doesn't just have scientific knowledge, though; she also has a deep emotional connection with the animals in her care.
That's why she's so broken up that George and Gracie are being released into the wild. On a selfish level, she wants them around because she loves hanging out with them. But she also has practical concerns:
GILLIAN: Let's just say that no humpback born in captivity has ever survived. The problem is that they won't be that much safer at sea because of all the hunting this time of year. So, you see, that, as they say, is that.
It's a classic catch-22: the whales are too wild to survive in domestication, but they're too domesticated to survive in the wild. Gillian worries about them as if they were her own children or something.
It's no wonder, then, that Gillian decides to travel to the future with the crew of Enterprise because basically, she can't imagine life without her whales. More than that, however, she knows that no one can take care of them quite like she does.
Of course, there's also the fact that she gets to live in the future. Can't beat that. In our book, it's a fitting reward for Gillian's contribution to the saving of Earth.
You're a lucky girl, Gillian.