In First contact it takes his FRICKIN Security code. I Mean seriously, they treat him like "Welcome back mr Worf" not like "Oh we'll accept you aboard as a guest, we can drink and remember old times"
If it's a recognized Starfleet security password verified with his biometric and personnel data, then what's the problem? People temporarily transfer between ships all the time for various reasons, do you want them to be stuck not being able to use key systems in case of an emergency? If anything, I'd say the bigger bummer is poor Daniels getting bumped from his spot the moment Worf walks onto the bridge. He probably worked his ass off for that position, and then he gets benched without a word and later sent off on a suicide mission against the Borg by Picard. He must feel like he got rejected the night of the prom.
Yeah, for ages I didn't even realise that the Ent-E even has an on-screen security chief (Lt. Daniels pops up in Insurrection as well, but he seems to have been well and truly replaced by Worf as full-time security chief again by the time Nemesis rolls around).
And the sad thing is, this doesn't represent an improvement for the Enterprise. In both ST:FC and ST:INS, Worf does okay, despite his guest status. Yet in ST:NEM, where he once again seems to hold a permanent post, Worf seems awfully lax or inefficient in his duties: first being scared of B-4, then failing to hit the local barn doors with his fancy vehicle defense cannon, and finally leaving all the important shipboard fighting to Riker and Picard. One would really expect more of a main credits hero... I mean, it can be good drama to have a main hero outdo an extra in a job that really is the extra's. But Worf fails to actually upstage Daniels in terms of professional performance, and then simply fails when there's no Daniels to compare against. Timo Saloniemi
Was Daniels meant to be Chief of Security during First Contact? I always had the opinion he was a security officer who simply reported to the Bridge to relay information on the Borg take over and by the time of Insurrection was either the senior officer or simply the duty officer at the time. I do remember in the books he had left the Enterprise by the time of Nemesis, which is a shame.
Daniels wasn't the guy Worf replaced when first coming aboard, FWIW. Daniels was nowhere to be seen during the space battle against the Borg Cube - instead, we saw this lean black guy in yellow: http://movies.trekcore.com/gallery/albums/firstcontacthd/firstcontacthd0150.jpg http://movies.trekcore.com/gallery/albums/firstcontacthd/firstcontacthd0309.jpg I couldn't spot him at Memory Alpha, so I have no idea who the actor is or whether the role was credited. On the other freestanding console we had this woman in red: http://movies.trekcore.com/gallery/albums/firstcontacthd/firstcontacthd0156.jpg Perhaps the ship had separate Security and Tactical positions for a change, and Worf in red in practice took over from the woman, even if the man in yellow is not seen again, either? Timo Saloniemi
Maybe it's just my mind playing tricks but doesn't that guy appear borgified in the film at some (later) point?
According to Memory Alpha the background character in question was called ' Armstrong' and appeared in TNG as well as surviving First Contact. The last time hes spotted onscreen is on the Bridge before Picard and Worf almost kill each other.
he was on the enterprise-d and enterprise-e but is still only an ensign?! i wonder if in ten years or so they'll have an armstrong who we're all convinced is Q
Armstrong pissed off Picard when he tried to sleep with Dr Crusher. Picard has never forgotten, there will be no promotions for the poor ensign as long as he is on the Enteprise.
Perhaps Armstrong was Tactical Officer and Daniels was Security Chief, or something along those lines. There is precedent for a non-crewmember to authorize the destruct sequence - Chekov was recognized as "Acting Science Officer" in The Search for Spock, even though his last official posting was First Officer of the Reliant.
Worf was downgraded in ability and usefulness in the movies becausethey needed a reason for picard to go and do the action movie thing.
First Contact was far and away the best of TNG's films for me because it did so much well. I attribute that to the great writing and directing more than anything. Frakes is dedicated to the franchise and he did a fantastic job with a great story that had very few flaws. That said, IMO Worf and Data were mishandled in all of the movies. They were the two characters with the deepest screen established histories but far too often, they were used unsuccessfully as comic relief. What a waste.