Did they ever explain how Geordi...

Discussion in 'Star Trek: The Next Generation' started by LoneDragon, Mar 22, 2013.

  1. LoneDragon

    LoneDragon Lieutenant Red Shirt

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    suddenly went from Comm Officer to engineer?
    It must be really easy to become an engineer in the future...
     
  2. Bender1001

    Bender1001 Ensign Newbie

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    Maybe cause he had the visor they were like "ah you'll be good at detecting warp core breaches and stuff what with your enhanced vision..." hence the promotion?
     
  3. SchwEnt

    SchwEnt Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    The same way Sulu went from Physicist to Helmsman and Chekov went from Navigator to Security Chief.
     
  4. Captain McBain

    Captain McBain Captain Captain

    The captain can promote whoever he wishes at any time.
     
  5. SonicRanger

    SonicRanger Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Yes, it was explained...

    Answer: it had a nice ring to it.
     
  6. USS Kongo

    USS Kongo Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    Personally, I was very happy Geordi got the promotion to Engineer. It gave the character much more to do.

    Sean
     
  7. indolover

    indolover Fleet Captain

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    Officers most likely hold multiple competences. Whilst Geordi could pilot, maybe his core skills were technical-based, and Picard realised this.
     
  8. Mojochi

    Mojochi Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    I'm sure that's the case. He 1st met Geordi as a pilot, & when he commented on the shuttle's engine efficiency, Geordi spent the night improving it. I'm pretty sure Geordi was being groomed for the job from day one, & Picard convinced him to follow that career track, after Geordi had been aboard a while in the command division

    It would have been cool to see that conversation. Worf's promotion was clear cut, after Tasha died, but Geordi's was left open ended
     
  9. C.E. Evans

    C.E. Evans Admiral Admiral

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    I remember in "The Last Outpost" when communications between the bridge and engineering were out, Picard sent LaForge down to engineering for a report. Riker later joined him there, and LaForge seemed right at home talking about the engines, even giving orders to an engineer, IMO.
     
  10. Captain Nebula

    Captain Nebula Commander Red Shirt

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    It's Conn Officer, not Comm. Conn is the Helm controls. I think he was Ops anyway. An Engineer being an Ops officer would be normal, I'd think, as Engineering is part of Ops.
     
  11. Nerys Myk

    Nerys Myk A Spock and a smile Premium Member

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    I've always assumed that Geordi graduated the academy as an engineer, but early in his career was convinced to switch to the command tract. Which was where he was when Picard met him. He probably was torn between going back to egineering or taking a the pilots position on the fleets flagship when Picard offered him a slot on the E. Picard no doubt knew of Geordi's engineering background and used him in that capacity when needed. When the CEO position opened up Geordi and Picard probably jumped at the chance to place LaForge there.
     
  12. LobsterAfternoon

    LobsterAfternoon Commander Red Shirt

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    Plus in a progressive future like Trek, everyone seems to be awesome at everything. Look at Dax, Spock and Data. They have expertise in a wide range of sciences (chemistry/physics/biology/computer/math).
     
  13. Nerys Myk

    Nerys Myk A Spock and a smile Premium Member

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    They are some what exceptional though. Data's an android, Spock's a hybrid and Dax has multiple lives to pull from.
     
  14. Trekker4747

    Trekker4747 Boldly going... Premium Member

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    In "The Next Phase" it's suggested Geordi's engineering expertise is what interested Picard in him in the first place so Geordi is likely brought onto the ship with the intention of him being Chief Engineer someday. Since Geordi was then only a Lieutenant J.G. he had to wait for a promotion to get the position and he hadn't put enough time in at the lower rank. Meanwhile the Enterprise served as a "training ship" for other engineers to be assigned to future Galaxy-Class ships or ships with the new systems the Enterprise had. (Hence the rotating series of engineers we see in the first season.) Geordi would spend a year as the chief helmsman at Lieutenant J.G. while ALSO learning about the ship's new systems behind the scenes, meanwhile the ship would train aspiring engineers going to future assignments. After a year Geordi would be open for the promotion to full Lieutenant, get it, and then be given the Chief Engineer role on a "fast-track" to Lieutenant Commander. (Which he would get by the third season.)
     
  15. jimbotron

    jimbotron Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    It was pretty short-sighted of Gene to not have a cast member be chief engineer from the beginning. Did he seriously think it was a good idea to make it a revolving door?
     
  16. KNH

    KNH Commander Red Shirt

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    That was the intent, actually. To give the ship scope and grandeur, the ideas was to have... four, I think. But eventually, it turned out to be a great vessel for Geordi.
     
  17. Jaro Stun

    Jaro Stun Captain Captain

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    heh nahh..
    they just have better future google :cool:
     
  18. C.E. Evans

    C.E. Evans Admiral Admiral

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    IMO, he wanted TNG to be different from TOS. Data was really the immediate go-to guy for questions and reports about the engines, so the need for a permanent character to be the actual chief engineer wasn't all that great in the beginning (heck, TNG wouldn't even have had an engineering set at all if Roddenberry hadn't quickly wrote in a scene there in the pilot--the show wouldn't have had the money to build the set later in the first season).

    "In-universe"--and in hindsight--it could be a case that during the first year of the Enterprise's operation, several chief engineers trained on the vessel and familiarized themselves with her then many new systems before going on to other ships.
     
  19. MikeS

    MikeS Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    This is how I interpret it too.

    There are probably more threads on this subject than there were first season engineers!
     
  20. jimbotron

    jimbotron Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    And why was it many of the chief engineers were so unlikable?

    OK, Singh was fairly likable, but then they immediately killed him. Usually whenever you see a character who is totally nice, you know they're gonna GET IT.

    Lynch (sorry, Leland T. Lynch) and Logan were insufferable. I guess the only way early TNG could have conflict between the crew would be to have nobodies come in and cause the conflict (see also Kosinski). MacDougal wasn't much of a character either. She spent most of the time being annoyed.

    I guess Argyle came off the best, since he got to be in it twice, but then the actor cheated to try and get the role full-time. :lol: