Heh, oops. Alien Appendix 7 - some of my internal narrative leaked out.
There, now it reads better.
Opinion:
Speaking of disconnected bits from out of nowhere... I know you're looking at cutting the celibacy oath, et. al. Please cut it. The pitiful remnants of the Deltan backstory are only a morbid reminder of a series that I would've vastly preferred to the movies. And they serve to confuse the majority of Trek watchers. Often, on newsgroups and forums, I've seen involved fans who saw those remnants as odd story flaws. (Because they hadn't got the books off of eBay, or cared what was on the commentary track).
I may have tried to deal with ditching the backstory in my editing. I know I wanted to...
Meandering Question:
But I'm curious - did earlier script versions have any exposition or scenes about the Deltan pheromone backstory? Any mention of filmed scenes Weiss decided to drop? Was it a Phase II concept that would've been explained over the course of the series? I'm baffled why there was any reference left in at all. We know that it plays into Decker's joy at getting the dangerous Probe-Ilia assignment, but... most people don't.
Meandering Suggestion:
On the related subject of Sulu going slapstick apeshit over Ilia, and Decker ignoring that all-too-familiar behavior. I'd like to see a little of his "Yowsa!" reaction, from the deleted scenes disc, without any of the over-the-top parts, of course.
Sulu doesn't get to do much in TMP. "He... doesn't know." is his only good line.
And, by golly, It's always been fun to watch Sulu express his distinct appreciation for the ladies. He lost all his TOS girlfriend scenes to Chekov, while Takei was stuck on that John Wayne movie. All Sulu had left were the Mirror-Sulu scenes with Our-Uhura, a cabaret girl in Shore Leave, a few moments where he got to be attracted to some of the ladies in the series, and two(?) in the movies (the Ilia scene, and the bit at the end of ST5 where he and Checkov were following the Klingon gal).
Yeah, I know what you're all unanimously thinking. But Takei's life isn't the Sulu character's. Sulu is straight. Hell, there isn't even any indication Sulu might possibly be bi. (Except maybe what might be read into the helicoptor pilot scene in ST4, or Sulu in a bathrobe on a hike with Chekov in ST5, or the big, graceful movements - with the jacket-as-a-cape bit in the ST3 prison break, or... :-). (Yes, I hate Roman numerals).
Edit: Was going to add another opinion, but that's enough for one post.