Picard's use of the Enterprise as his own taxi

[Nathan]

Just got done watching Bloodlines -- haven't seen it in years -- the one where Picard is duped that he has son --Jason Vigo.

My beef with the episode (and I've seen it in other cases), where Picard says along the lines of , "Set course for the planet because my potential son may be in danger".....and then "Set course for the planet where I think Bok is hiding out at!"

Guess if the same plot was with LaForge having a potential son or even some crewperson with the same issue, I doubt Picard would (or should), drop whatever is happening and help out the crewman.

Yep, yep, its just a show, and I know we (or I) has to overlook it as we have to get the plot moving along -- to include Picard himself -- only armed with a phaser -- to beam on the Bok's ship. Yep, it creates good drama for Picard to announce he saving the boy even though he knows it isn't his son.

Just thinking if I was Picard's boss at Starfleet Command, I'd be thinking, "WTF, you going on some chase and wanting to put your affairs in order before the needs of the crew". I'm sure the ship is on some kind of schedule...is it delayed because some shitbird (and I mean Jason Vigo and he really was just a turd -- yeah yeah, he had a rough upbringing, but he was arrested a bunch of times for petty stuff -- hence my definition of a shitbird) life was in danger. I suppose they could have sent a shuttlecraft to the planet...but then the episode wouldn't have been as good.

Your thoughts?

 

[JirinPanthosa]

They tended to use the Enterprise to pick up and drop off most of the senior staff on all their vacations. This falls under 'Dramatic license', not abuse of power.

 

[OldManDoom]

Anyone that has ever had access to a company vehicle is guilty of this sort of behavior.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Kirk did it too. Altered his course so Spock could get married. He did the same to "help" the Karidian Players to their next gig.

 

[Nathan]

There is one thing to take the company ride back to your place to give your kids a lift to school because they missed the bus, but its antoher to take the company wheels across country/outside your juridiscation to make sure your long lost son is doing OK.

And yep, Kirk did it too. Just saying I hate that plot device to use the car/boat/plane/starship that is owned by the govt for personal bizness.....and yeah, I'm repeating myself, its OK if you going across town with it for personal bizness, not to the other end of the state.....just don't like that plot device.

 

[Kevin Wolff]

They all did it. Who could blame them. 15 hours by shuttle in that El Baz 2-seater? Screw that. I remember being relieved when they got a runabout in s7, as if the level of comfort these characters experienced somehow affected me directly.

 

[Tosk]

Except in cases where there is a pressing need to be elsewhere I don't see the problem.

 

[Takeru]

They all did it. Who could blame them. 15 hours by shuttle in that El Baz 2-seater? Screw that.

When they took those long trips in shuttles I always asked myself where the toilet is ...
The show designed and used the shuttles like space cars but when you take a cross country trip in a car you can stop anywhere and poop under a tree if it becomes necessary, in a shuttle you could be stuck for days or longer without reaching a planet or an outpost.

When Scotty got the shuttle and took off I thought my reaction would have been "No, thanks. I'll stay in my quarters with the nice bed and bathroom, I can spend time in ten forward and talk to people, you can keep the dinky shuttle. Call me when you reach a starbase"

 

[at Quark's]

I wonder.... suppose the commanding officer of a major mavy vessel has to be in the gulf of Yemen by a certain date, but he has some personal business to attend to in another friendly and allied state (so visiting their territory in itself isn't a problem), and there's enough time to still reach his destination on time even when he makes that detour. Would the navy have a problem with that? I never was in the navy, but I'd say: yes.

This is the closest real-world analogy I can think of on short notice.

LATER ADDITION: I have wondered more than once if the 'Captain's Yacht' was intended by Starfleet to be at his disposal for this kind of personal mission. Does anyone know anything about the capabilities of that craft ? (e.g. is it capable of long-distance independent travel?)

 

[Kevin Wolff]

UFO dealt with this directly. Straker covertly used Shado resources to fly in meds to save his kid and an alien attack occurred forcing them to reroute.
So there's a downside to using the company car.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

I don't think this is a good example either. Long lost son or not he was a Federation citizen abducted and threatened. No different than responding to a distress call.

 

[Finn]

I'd have given Picard an pass as someone was in danger because of him and involved someone not part of the Federation. Part of Starfleet's job is to protect the Federation and its citizens.

 

[M-Red]

Captain's prerogative

 

[Paradise City]

Well,I suppose Picard has a similar autonomy to an early sea faring captain. They'd have a degree of discretion within certain mission boundaries and would be out of easy communication. Kirk even more so.

Today's navy ships are under tight discipline and are rigorously monitored in an increasingly smaller world with the kind of weapons that could destroy the world.

 

[OpenMaw]

Kirk did it too. Altered his course so Spock could get married. He did the same to "help" the Karidian Players to their next gig.

I don't think that situation is the same at all. Spock is considered one of the best First Officers in the fleet, and his reputation, and most important, health, was at risk.

 

[TheGoodStuff]

Except in cases where there is a pressing need to be elsewhere I don't see the problem.

I don't think this is a good example either. Long lost son or not he was a Federation citizen abducted and threatened. No different than responding to a distress call.

Both of these sum up my feelings on the matter.

I think OP is massively missing the point. Picard isn't using the Enterrpise to pick up some wine he fancies from a nearby planet, he isn't taking a pit-stop somewhere to play archaeologist...he is attempting to rescue a young man whose life is in danger because of him [indirectly].

Whether or not the boy is or isn't Picard's son is irrelevant. His life is in danger and, also, a rengade Ferengi with a D'kora class starship is roaming about in Federation space. It's a far, far bigger issue than a little personal errand. Can you imagine the reaction if Picard did nothing?

*incoming hail*

Bok: "mwuahaha, Picard you have a son and I'm going to kill him. Mwuahahaha!"
Picard: "Uhh...k?"

*two weeks later, another incoming hail*

Random Admiral: "Picard, we have just had 3 starships in a skirmish with a Ferengi D'kora, in Federation space, which has killed a Federation citizen. The captain says he informed you of this. Why did you do nothing?"

Picard: "Oh I wanted to keep our schedule to deliver those Vulcan Raspberries to Randomness IV by friday"

 

[Nerys Myk]

I don't think that situation is the same at all. Spock is considered one of the best First Officers in the fleet, and his reputation, and most important, health, was at risk.

Kirk was ordered not to. He was in fact disobeying orders.

KOMACK [on monitor]: Captain, you're making a most unusual request.
KIRK: I'm aware of that, sir, but it's of the utmost importance. You must give me permission to divert to Vulcan.
KOMACK [on monitor]: But you refuse to explain why it is so important.
KIRK: I can't, sir, but believe me, I wouldn't make such a request
KOMACK [on monitor]: Altair Six is no ordinary matter. That area is just putting itself together after a long interplanetary conflict. This inauguration will stabilise the entire Altair system. Our appearance there is a demonstration of friendship and strength which will cause ripples clear to the Klingon Empire.
KIRK: Sir, the delay would be, at most, a day. I can hardly believe that
KOMACK [on monitor]: You will proceed to Altair Six as ordered. You have your orders. Starfleet out.
MCCOY: Well, that's that.
KIRK: No, it's not. I know the Altair situation. We would be one of three starships. Very impressive, very diplomatic, but it's simply not that vital.
MCCOY: You can't go off to Vulcan against Starfleet orders. You'll be busted
KIRK: I can't let Spock die, can I, Bones? And he will if we go to Altair. I owe him my life a dozen times over. Isn't that worth a career? He's my friend. Bridge. Navigation.

T'Pau smoothed it over after the fact.

UHURA: Response to T'Pau's request for diversion of Enterprise to planet Vulcan
Hereby approved. Any reasonable delay granted. Komack, Admiral, Starfleet Command.
KIRK: Well, a little late, but I'm glad they're seeing it our way. How about that T'Pau? They couldn't turn her down. Mister Chekov, lay in a course for Altair Six. Leave orbit when ready. Kirk out.

 

[somebuddyX]

When they took those long trips in shuttles I always asked myself where the toilet is ...

I still think that with new episodes of The Flash and Supergirl with their respective supervillain prisons.
I kind of want to see a TNG version of the regular Navy now, with the George H.W. Bush, like the captain's psychiatrist is hanging out in the CDC and then her mother shows up to flirt with the crew. Or they're rerouted to pick up Israeli/Palestine diplomats and then one cooks the other. Or they thaw out people who've been frozen in an iceberg since 1646.

 

[Timo]

One might want to consider that there are no expenses involved in making a detour in a starship. That is, the fuel consumed appears not to be a concern to our heroes, and would disappear in the "noise" of standard random fluctuations in fuel use anyway. And a detour at warp six can always be made good by subsequent applying of warp eight, etc.

OTOH, two episodes made mention of Picard's high warp hijinks being hard on the hardware, and there is a warp 9+ sortie involved in this episode, too - supposedly Picard would have to make careful formal excuses for such abuse of warp engines (especially post "Force of Nature").

But yes, rescuing Jason from the assumed calamity sounds like good enough a reason for sailing back and forth. Picard put equal resources to rescuing Data in "The Most Toys", and he was just a machine, presumed dead and all! Idling a starship between missions sounds like unwise practice, and our heroes always leap at the chance to do something meaningful when between assigned missions; law enforcement or random rescue ops are as good alternatives as any.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Kevman7987]

I kind of want to see a TNG version of the regular Navy now, with the George H.W. Bush, like the captain's psychiatrist is hanging out in the CDC and then her mother shows up to flirt with the crew. Or they're rerouted to pick up Israeli/Palestine diplomats and then one cooks the other. Or they thaw out people who've been frozen in an iceberg since 1646.

/\This made me chortle. Though you forgot an episode where some giant underwater creature thinks of the ship as it's mother and tries to feed off of the nuclear radiation it's powered by. And yes, I'm imagining baby Godzilla.

But would people care about watching the committee meetings if they're not in space?