Which Captain would you want to serve under?

[Duncan MacLeod]

Hartzilla2007 wrote:

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Besides Redshirts mostly die from doing stupid stuff, so I like my chances there.

He has a very valid point here.


I prefer captains that are competent and stable. That lets Archer and Janeway out.

I also prefer captains not to be punks. That kicks Mr. Pine's NuKirk out the airlock.

I find that a captain with a stick up his ass is far too ridged in his thinking. I'm afraid that sees Picard off the ship.

Which leaves me with Kirk and Sisko, either of whom would be fine. But since I'm not really interested getting mixed up in the Dominion War, and don't plan to do anything that's blatantly stupid, I'll go with Kirk.

[Hartzilla2007]

Spook/Hoorah! Admirer wrote:

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I can't say that I ever saw a TOS episode that looked fun or like the crew was having fun, but then I haven't seen them all... Sisko never left a crew member behind. Proof? By the end of the series, his crew was safe and sound. The only one that died was Jadzia, and that was on the station by the hands of a possessed Gul Dukat, not because she was kidnapped and Sisko failed to launch a rescue attempt or because of poor security (DS9 had the best security chief in Odo out of them all). The Sisko wouldn't do that.

But Ezri and Worf still needed Damar to save them from execution and I seem to recall Sisko being willing to let the Prophets and Pah wraiths use Kira and his son's bodies to have their final battle when one of them probably would have been killed by it, not to mention he almost died becuase he wanted to hang on to his Prophet vision powers.

[Finn]

Captain Picard

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Duncan MacLeod wrote:

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I find that a captain with a stick up his ass is far too ridged in his thinking. I'm afraid that sees Picard off the ship.

I don't agree. It's a captain's job to be rigid - to give orders, to enforce Federation policy. It is NOT the captain's job to be a friend or "pal" to his or her crew. If a captain chooses to do so anyway, that's fine, but it shouldn't get in the way of their essential mission.

[Spock/Uhura Fan]

Hartzilla2007 wrote:

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But Ezri and Worf still needed Damar to save them from execution and I seem to recall Sisko being willing to let the Prophets and Pah wraiths use Kira and his son's bodies to have their final battle when one of them probably would have been killed by it, not to mention he almost died becuase he wanted to hang on to his Prophet vision powers.

Aren't you forgetting that Worf was missing in combat, and presumed dead. A rescue attempt was launched, and they found no sign of him. That has nothing to do with any kind of incompetence on Sisko's part. They were at war. Was Sisko supposed to be responsible for everything, everywhere, and at all times??? That's a pretty high standard you are setting, and I doubt any captain could meet it, including Kirk, who didn't have such a diverse load of responsibilities on him during a war. If I remember things correctly, Worf had lost Jadzia, and he was going on suicide missions, seemingly because a part of him longed to see her in Stoval Cor (sp?). You really can't fault Sisko for that. He can't control people's choices; he's not a tyrant. They only called off the search after three days because they were in a war and Dominion ships were approaching. Reminds me of that saying, "The needs of the many..."

Ezri also chose her fate, or rather, she was responsible for it, because she went to search for Worf on her own when the search was called off because of the continuing war. Sisko didn't put her in that situation, and he wouldn't have, so you can't really blame him for her imprisonment.

Damar had turned into a disgruntled drunk who finally did the right thing after the Cardassian/Dominion alliance was no longer a benefit to Cardassia. You're right that he helped them, but are you saying that no other captain and/or their crew ever got out of a tricky situation because they had a little help from their "friends?"

And the Paw Wraiths were the counterparts to the celestial beings/powerful aliens in the wormhole. Since when did Sisko have any kind of control over them? Kira was willing (according to Odo) to be a part of the Reckoning (she was allowed to make her own choices, plus she wasn't a member of Starfleet), but neither Sisko nor Jake volunteered Jake. There was no way that Sisko could have known that they would take over his son, and no way he could stop them after they did. He even begged them to leave Jake and take him instead when he saw that they took over his son. The Prophets didn't ask him if he wanted The Reckoning to happen, they told him that it would. So, he did what he could; he evacuated the area, not knowing what would happen so that no one would be hurt by the fight between the Prophets and the Paw Wraiths. Again, this is not something he could stop or influence.

On the "prophet vision powers" thing, you'll have to be more specific. It's been a while since I've watched the series, but I can tell you that Sisko dealt with a tremendous amount of stuff going on, had a lot on his plate, and he managed to do a great job, imo. What would you have had him do differently?

[R. Star]

Bry_Sinclair wrote:

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It has to be Sisko. Picard is a close second mind you.

Yeah, the TNG command crew is very cliquish and hostile to outsiders. Sisko's literally a guy you could be working with.

[spot_loves_data]

Janeway for me. She might not give you a promotion over the course of 7 years, but the survival rate of the crew was pretty good considering the circumstances.

[Shanndee]

Spook/Hurrah! Admirer said:

"Sisko is the natural "get it done" guy. He's the one you want if you've got a lot of things happening all at once, and they are happening fast, and you need results. He had a space station to rebuild and then run, a people to be an Emissary to, wormhole aliens to deal with, The Dominion war and all that that entailed, plus a son to raise on top of it. He's more or less like, "I've got a schedule to keep, so this is what I/we can do for you, now what can you do for me/us?" Sisko is ideal for when the $%#! is hitting the fan."

I agree wholeheartedly. Picard would be be my second choice...and I'm not sure I would nave a third choice. I wasn't really feeling any of the other Captains...I often found their actions annoying rather than inspiring.

[Mr. Laser Beam]

My absolute preferred choice of Captain to serve with, would be Jellico. Without question.

Sure, he's a hardass. And not the most likable guy. But like I said, it's not his job to be your friend. I trust Jellico more than any other to carry out his mission efficiently, and not to throw away the lives of his crew needlessly.

[Miss Lemon]

I'd choose to serve under Archer, based on his affiliative leadership style.

I don't work well under authoritative leaders, which - to me - include Kirk, Janeway and Picard. I've never seen Sisko as a real leader; to me it seemed that he never wanted the job, even after 7 years.

My second choice would be Kirk, because he's a very inspiring, enthusiastic person.

[macloudt]

Zombie Redshirt wrote:

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Yeah, the TNG command crew is very cliquish and hostile to outsiders. Sisko's literally a guy you could be working with.

Agreed. Picard doesn't strike me as approachable to anyone who isn't' in the command inner circle. He's also too by-the-book for my liking. Sisko may be a more flawed captain, but he's more open and accessible to all his crew, not just the top few.

[kythe]

I chose Picard because he was my first impulse, but Sisko is a close second.

Picard had a ship of about 1000 people including children and other civilians, yet he managed to have adventures while providing a safe environment for his people simultaneously. He may not have been the most "friendly" or "approachable", but he had a very large crew and he did his job well.

Sisko had a lot on his plate with the Dominion war at his doorstep and all that went with it, yet he rose to the challenge and proved himself worthy of the task. I respect him enough to want to work under him.

[Spock/Uhura Fan]

macghoul wrote:

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Agreed. Picard doesn't strike me as approachable to anyone who isn't' in the command inner circle. He's also too by-the-book for my liking. Sisko may be a more flawed captain, but he's more open and accessible to all his crew, not just the top few.

I'd say Sisko is the most realistic captain instead of flawed. Kirk believed that he could manipulate reality and Picard (as much as I love him) sometimes took too much of an idealistic approach, but you can't manipulate everything and by-the-book idealism doesn't always work. They could afford that, though, because they were on ships that could get the hell out of there. So, when things got tough, going to high-warp was usually an option. Not so for Sisko.

It's a lot harder to maintain the high level of security that Sisko and crew were able to maintain on a non-moving space station that also doubled as a incoming/outgoing port. He didn't have the luxury of jumping to warp when things got tough; he had to hold ground which is a lot harder to do while keeping everyone, young and old, safe. It takes a certain level of realism and humility to do that while commerce is still booming, military factions are coming in and out, children are running around, and a war is going on. Someone else would have gotten the place blown up.

[Nightdiamond]

The biggest problem with the idea of serving under Kirk's command was the crew looked too dated to relate to. The 60's haircuts and hairstyles, the phrases they used.

Picard and crew came off as snobby to outsiders and lower ranked crew members.

The thing with Picard was, his command was relatively safe. Hell, they were exploring archaeological ruins during the Dominion war.

If you want a somewhat quiet career, I'd choose Picard.

Sisko--DS9 was more fun and exciting, but his situation was too damned dangerous. Maquis, terrorists groups, Klingons, Dominion. Some of those Pre-Dominion war episodes were downright nerve tingling.

If you want adventure and are a thrill junky, I'd choose Sisko.

Janeway was an nice compromise between the two, but... there was something about Voyager's crew that didn't click with me.

If you want to waste seven years of your life and get lost in the crowd with no promotion, I'd go with Janeway.

Ultimately I'd go with Picard. Cool uniforms, chances of promotion, holodecks, replicators and probably the most safe situation.

[sonak]

Mr. Laser Beam wrote:

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My absolute preferred choice of Captain to serve with, would be Jellico. Without question.

Sure, he's a hardass. And not the most likable guy. But like I said, it's not his job to be your friend. I trust Jellico more than any other to carry out his mission efficiently, and not to throw away the lives of his crew needlessly.

you want a captain who doesn't care about crew morale and doesn't listen to his subordinates' views very much? OOOkay.

I guess when you're complaining that you're working twenty hour days for weeks at a time and he says "don't cry to me, get it done," you'll be satisfied that he's carrying out his mission efficiently.