The Women Of Star Trek: Dr. Elizabeth Dehner

by Laura Goodwin

Dr. Elizabeth Dehner is on the bridge, standing with the other department heads, when the Enterprise makes her historic foray to and beyond the rim of the galaxy, in Where No Man Has Gone Before. Dehner is a psychiatrist, and obviously, she is the head of her department, but that's not all. Dehner, like Gary Mitchell, is changed in an astounding way by the weird effects du jour, and she, like Mitchell, becomes a "God". It takes her a little longer than Mitchell, but in the end her Godlike power was as good as his, as we see in a dramatic, fatal showdown.

Kirk is confronted by the transformed Dr. Dehner while hunting for Mitchell. Dehner tried several times during that conversation to warn Kirk away, but Kirk refused to listen to her. If he had followed her advice it might have been wiser.

God Dehner battled with God Mitchell, and managed to drain his power, at the cost of her own power and life. She heroically and gallantly sacrificed her life to save Captain Kirk from certain doom. Did she do it because she was Kirk's girlfriend? No. Dehner in fact only had eyes for Mitchell. Think about that: She fought with the man she loved to the death, for duty's sake.

Kirk and Dehner never show the slightest sexual interest in each other. She didn't do it because she was Kirk's girlfriend, nor did she want to be his girlfriend. She did it because she is a class-A heroine for all time - an intelligent, talented, powerful, courageous, loyal, and morally upright lady - who, for a short time, became a God.

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All site contents Copyright L. Goodwin 1990 - 2003

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