Ok, so we had a poll about which main character Captain would you like to serve under, so how about which 'bad' Captain you would want to serve under. Since the crew who served under a couple of these 'leaders' faced a gruesome death, let's assume that you were on leave when the ships were destroyed, thus sparing your life. Aside from how these characters were depicted in canon, these may be completely competent leaders, but let's assume for the sake of arguement that they were exactly how they were depicted on screen, and that you MUST choose one.
John Harriman was written badly, but I don't think he was necessarily a bad captain. He was ill prepared for the mission (everything was arriving Tuesday). I did like how in some of the books they presented him as a better captain, but just got off to a really, really bad start.
If you include the books, Harriman without a doubt. Even without the books, I think I'd still pick him
I'll break the mold and go with Esteban. He strikes me as a bit of a clueless Henry Blake type leader and you could probably get away with a bunch of stuff with him. Also, if you can figure out how to get to the secondary hull, you could probably throw some awesome parties down there and he'd never be the wiser.
I picked Harriman based on what I know about him from the books and because he was understandably flustered during Generations. Esteban and Styles seem like unimaginative sticks in the mud, so there is no way I would go for them. Ransom behaved in what I would consider an unethical manner, so he's out, too. Decker was probably awesome before he became obsessed with the Doomsday Machine, so he is my second choice. When did Kim captain anything besides the Nightingale?
Harriman. I think if you gave him all the equipment his ship was supposed to have, and kick the media and the superstar captains off his bridge, then he might not be too bad.
I agree he was in a bad bad position and tried his best. Plus Harrimen KNEW when to ask for help when he had run out of options. He turned right to the experienced commander and asked for his advice. That is good command material right there. I actually thought that was our first glimpse of his command style right there, his pride came after his need to solve the problem and save lives. I like how he is written in the books as well. I would serve under him.
I said Harriman, as long as it started on Wednesday. He wasn't really a bad captain. He just had a handicap and it was like a Saturday or something.
You know come to think about it, Commodore Wesley would've been nice to have on that list too. He struck me as a commander that knew his stuff, even to the point of taking a ship of 19 crew commanded by an old friend out, when the M-5 tore into his battle group. I would serve with him too. Vons
I'd choose him as well for exactly these reasons. Plus, he was probably on his first mission as a Captain in Generations.