Discovery's Captain

[Bry_Sinclair]

Since it's been said the new lead for DIS will be a female Lieutenant Commander (who we can safely assume will be human), who do you think we'll see as the ship's Captain?

I'm hoping/praying for an alien CO, preferably an Andorian--those antennae we got a sneaky photo of have got my hopes up.

 

[danellis]

Do we know there will be a ship's captain?

I'd interpreted the reveal that the star would be a Lieutenant Commander as being more to do with her rank than her posting (in the way Sisko was a Commander in charge of DS9).

dJE

 

[Shalashaska]

We already know the rest of the cast will feature an openly gay actor as one of the male leads (which Fuller confirmed), a female admiral, a male Klingon captain, a male admiral, a male adviser and a British male doctor.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/star-trek-discovery-woman-captain-916866

 

[Tosk]

Time for a Vulcan captain. Haven't had one for a while.

 

[Ensign_Redshirt]

We already know the rest of the cast will feature an openly gay actor as one of the male leads (which Fuller confirmed), a female admiral, a male Klingon captain, a male admiral, a male adviser and a British male doctor.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/star-trek-discovery-woman-captain-916866

So, there could be a gay captain.

 

[Bry_Sinclair]

Do we know there will be a ship's captain?

I'd interpreted the reveal that the star would be a Lieutenant Commander as being more to do with her rank than her posting (in the way Sisko was a Commander in charge of DS9).

dJE

The way I interpreted what was said is that the lead won't be the one commanding the ship, to give a new dynamic to the relationships she will have with the rest of the crew, rather than being the one in charge.

 

[LtChange]

Many online sources have reported that Discovery will have a captain, and the main character isn't the captain but a lt commander giving a fresh view of the events taking place during DIS. So we can safely assume that there will be a captain and our main character will not command the ship.

 

[Shalashaska]

So, there could be a gay captain.

Could be right. I think that character will be the captain of the Discovery.

The male Klingon captain being part of the main cast could be proof that the first season will be focused on the Klingon War, fits with the "new crews" tagline as well as Meyer's claim of Star Trek VI acting as a sort of touchstone for DSC.

I've been told that Fuller said that will not be the story of the first season, but I cannot find any proof of that anywhere. All I know is it won't be the Romulan War.

 

[Bad Thoughts]

While I'm 90% sure that the lead character is not the commanding officer, I suspect that Fuller is being cagey in some manner. Either our lieutenant commander leads her own section, or she has more independence to act than do most Trek characters. Making her a lieutenant commander puts her among the likes of Scotty, Kira, Tuvok, and Hayes. They aren't the ones acting as the consciences of the captain, feeding him information, being ordered around, etc. They have their own leverage and come up with solutions on their own. If more like Kira, she could act with some disregard to the chain of command or be essential turned loose, depending on the mission.

Perhaps an equally interesting question might be how the CO fits into the plot. Are we going to see the lead interacting more with the people under her command or with her superior officers?

 

[OpenMaw]

I've been told that Fuller said that will not be the story of the first season, but I cannot find any proof of that anywhere. All I know is it won't be the Romulan War.

All Fuller really said on that point up to now is when asked if it had anything to do with Axanar, he said no. That doesn't mean it won't involved conflict with the Klingons.

I'm not convinced it'll be a "war" as such, but something akin to TNG's "The Chase." Discovery's crew and a rival Klingon crew competing for some kind of knowledge or other macguffin. Our lead character will have some knowledge about this whatever it is, and that will be why she's there. That's my guess at this point.

 

[Shalashaska]

All Fuller really said on that point up to now is when asked if it had anything to do with Axanar, he said no. That doesn't mean it won't involved conflict with the Klingons.

I'm not convinced it'll be a "war" as such, but something akin to TNG's "The Chase." Discovery's crew and a rival Klingon crew competing for some kind of knowledge or other macguffin. Our lead character will have some knowledge about this whatever it is, and that will be why she's there. That's my guess at this point.

I see.

That's as good a guess as any

 

[UssGlenn]

Remember how President Bartlett wasn't supposed to be a main character on the West Wing? That's what this situation reminds me of. If the Captain turns out to be an interesting character they will have a hell of a time keeping the focus on a lower ranking officer.

 

[jamestyler]

I'm not convinced it'll be a "war" as such, but something akin to TNG's "The Chase." Discovery's crew and a rival Klingon crew competing for some kind of knowledge or other macguffin. Our lead character will have some knowledge about this whatever it is, and that will be why she's there. That's my guess at this point.

I've been wondering if it's something similar. There's all the war talk, but if it's a war.... why put emphasis on the name 'Discovery'? And the concept art that was leaked ages ago seemed more.... historical, like they were searching for something ancient.

Remember how President Bartlett wasn't supposed to be a main character on the West Wing? That's what this situation reminds me of. If the Captain turns out to be an interesting character they will have a hell of a time keeping the focus on a lower ranking officer.

Really? It's been a while since I watched West Wing, but with the stories deviating into family and such, I assumed he was always supposed to be the focus until the final season when we shifted to the next candidate.

Though that puts a different spin on my impression of the first episode. I always just assumed it was focusing on the whole cast and building up his entrance, a big build up, rather than a focus elsewhere.

As for Discovery....

With the way the info's been presented so far, I think its a very safe bet that we'll have a captain on the sidelines. More in line with Adama in BSG when someone else would take focus (which was a lot - Adama barely did anything in BSG!) popping up to dress someone down, "What was the moral of todays story, commander?" type stuff.

It Lt Commander Lead was supposed to be in command - she'd still be referred to as captain. So thats not a big thnig. And this means that we can maybe see a captain die for once, or be replaced. Opens up a lot of possivilities old Trek didn't have.

 

[Bry_Sinclair]

Either our lieutenant commander leads her own section, or she has more independence to act than do most Trek characters. Making her a lieutenant commander puts her among the likes of Scotty, Kira, Tuvok, and Hayes. They aren't the ones acting as the consciences of the captain, feeding him information, being ordered around, etc. They have their own leverage and come up with solutions on their own. If more like Kira, she could act with some disregard to the chain of command or be essential turned loose, depending on the mission.

If they manage to catch even a small sliver of Kira's essence in the lead, then I will love her--though it'll take a lot of damn good work to outshine the Major.

I'm kinda wondering if she'll come in as the First or Second Officer, or maybe a mission specialist who's short-term posting onboard is extended for some reason--which would give her objectives of her own to carry out in addition to whatever duties she has on the Discovery.

 

[NaughtyTrekkie]

Time for a Vulcan captain. Haven't had one for a while.

and for a good reason

 

[BillJ]

I'm hoping/praying for an alien CO...

I'm sure God is delighted that the prayer line is clogged with such important items.

 

[Bry_Sinclair]

I'm sure God is delighted that the prayer line is clogged with such important items.

I've thrown it open to any and all deities, benevolent or otherwise--though not sure what that'll get me seeing as how I believe in none of them.

 

[KennyB]

I've never really thought that any of the shows were really told directly from the point of view of the captain exclusively. I mean the were some episodes like "In The Pale Moonlight"........but there were some other shows that followed other crew-members as well. I always saw Trek as more of an ensemble kind of story telling. If this focuses on the Lt. Commander's point of view it will definitely be a different vibe. I'm optimistic, and the writing team is impressive, so bring it on!

 

[NaughtyTrekkie]

What would you think of a BSG like reboot for ST? I mean, no aliens

 

[Thefallguy]

I don't care which race or sexual orientation the captain might be, but as Tony Todd said earlier this year, that he is 'on a very short list' for the new Trek, I hope, he gets to portray the new captain. But with his Klingon experience as Worf brother, he could also be the klingon captain spoken of in some sources or being not in it at all.