Rand's Rank

[Pauln6]

In the absense of Kirk and Spock, Scotty would have been in charge.
Didn't stop her from taking them home.

Scotty was in charge of the landing party but he wasn't leading that particular security team at the time. Ergo the most senior officer that was leading them was in charge of that team. It's not that controversial. It's just the chain of command.

From memory, wasn't Scotty leading a different team?

 

[Commishsleer]

Many characters on TOS were portrayed as younger than the actors. Assuming TOS occurred exactly 300 years in the future (please, no rebuttals on this assumption, there are many other threads on that topic):

• Walter Koenig was 30 when he filmed Who Mourns For Adonais?, while his character Chekov was 22 years old, so, the difference was about 8 years younger.
• Deforest Kelly was born in 1920 while his character Doctor McCoy was established to be born in 2227 in TNG, so, the age difference was about 7 years younger.
• William Shatner was 36 when he filmed The Deadly Years, while his character Kirk was 34 years old, so, the difference was about 2 years younger.
• Jimmy Doohan was born in 1920 while his character Scotty was established to be born in 2222 in TNG: Relics, so, the difference was about 2 years younger.
• Grace Lee Whitney was 36 during the first half of TOS:S1. If her character Rand was 24, then she would be about 12 years younger. 12 years younger may be a bit of a stretch even for a science fiction show.

• By the way, Mark Leonard was 42.945 when he filmed the reception scene in Journey to Babel, while his character Sarek was 102.437, so the difference was precisely 59.492 years older!

I thought Koenig was believable as younger than his actual age. I thought he was believable as a 22 year-old but Whitney wasn't. Perhaps Koenig was a better actor or more probably Whitney was given contradictory dialog. You know worldly-wise in Man Trap but poor innocent in Enemy Within.
If she were consistently portrayed as a girl in her early 20s I might have believed it but probably not.Whitney acted as if she were older. A very attractive woman in her 30s.

 

[Henoch]

When I watched TOS, Rand was so much older to me; then again, my mother was a year and a half younger than her.

 

[Poltargyst]

Many characters on TOS were portrayed as younger than the actors. Assuming TOS occurred exactly 300 years in the future (please, no rebuttals on this assumption, there are many other threads on that topic):

• Walter Koenig was 30 when he filmed Who Mourns For Adonais?, while his character Chekov was 22 years old, so, the difference was about 8 years younger.
• Deforest Kelly was born in 1920 while his character Doctor McCoy was established to be born in 2227 in TNG, so, the age difference was about 7 years younger.
• William Shatner was 36 when he filmed The Deadly Years, while his character Kirk was 34 years old, so, the difference was about 2 years younger.
• Jimmy Doohan was born in 1920 while his character Scotty was established to be born in 2222 in TNG: Relics, so, the difference was about 2 years younger.
• Grace Lee Whitney was 36 during the first half of TOS:S1. If her character Rand was 24, then she would be about 12 years younger. 12 years younger may be a bit of a stretch even for a science fiction show.

• By the way, Mark Leonard was 42.945 when he filmed the reception scene in Journey to Babel, while his character Sarek was 102.437, so the difference was precisely 59.492 years older!

And Leonard Nimoy was 36, so Mark played father to a guy 6 years younger than himself.

 

[Sgt_G]

Just means Vulcan males mature faster than human males.

 

[johnnybear]

It was obvious that Rand was not a young woman as it were but being late twenties or early to mid thirties does not make her old either! Her attraction to Kirk was not a schoolgirl crush but a mature woman with a mature man!
JB

 

[dupersuper]

Is is just me, or was Harlan Ellison being ridiculous in his attempt to shoehorn Rand (his friend Grace) into the role of an action hero? Much like the minidress, Rand's basket weave seems tailor-made to impede action, and cast her as more sedate and even decorative.

When a Red Alert sounds, you can't leap out of bed from a sound sleep, spend 45 minutes primping, and then dash to your battle station. The hair alone makes it impossible for Rand to be an action-oriented character.

It's the 23rd century: she may have a do-dad she can just point at her head...

 

[Pauln6]

It's the 23rd century: she may have a do-dad she can just point at her head...

Lol. Which movie had Spray Mane in a can?

 

[ZapBrannigan]

It's the 23rd century: she may have a do-dad she can just point at her head...

That's true. If you've got the technology, you'd be crazy NOT to have a giant hair basket on your head.

 

[ChallengerHK]

That's true. If you've got the technology, you'd be crazy NOT have a giant hair basket on your head.

It concealed a personal shield generator. The ultimate in fashion AND self defense.

 

[Pauln6]

It concealed a personal shield generator. The ultimate in fashion AND self defense.

Betty Cooper has her Bobby pins. Rand has her Phaser, her communicator, a spare pair of stockings, and a ham sandwich stashed in there.

And possibly Keenser.

 

[JonnyQuest037]

What I object to is that TOS made Yeoman a nearly all-female profession. That was dumb, and I think it misled millions of people about what that job title means.

...It means that you heat up coffee with a phaser during a crisis, snuggle up with the Captain when the ship is seconds away from destruction, and ask the Captain to look at your legs, right?

She does joke in "Flashback" that it took her two years to make Ensign, so the second Rand could've gotten there earlier.

Three, according to the transcript:

TUVOK: It's not for me. It's for the Captain. I've observed that Captain Sulu drinks a cup of tea each morning. I thought he might enjoy a Vulcan blend.
RAND: Oh, I see. Trying to make Lieutenant in your first month? I wish I'd have thought of that when I was your age. Took me three years just to make Ensign.
TUVOK: I assure you, I have no ulterior motive.
RAND: Whatever you say, Ensign. See you on the bridge.

(Interestingly, Memory Alpha says that this time period was "seven months" in the first draft script.)

It seems likely to me that Rand was a non-com during TOS, and and became an Ensign sometime after she left the Enterprise (but I suppose that TMP having her as a Chief Petty Officer messes that up. Argh. Maybe if you discount the unnamed redhead Commander "Woman in Cafeteria" GLW played in STIII as being a different character, Rand's overall rank progression can still make sense.)

I think Ensign Tuvok was so intimidated/impressed by Rand, that he subconsciously inflated her rank in his dream. Dreams are so unreliable.

Tuvok's memory/dream got a LOT of stuff wrong about the TUC era. He says that Praxis exploded three days before Kirk and McCoy were sent to Rura Penthe, when it was actually two months, and he has Valtine dying of the memory virus when he's clearly shown as alive and well at the end of TUC. Rand jumping three grades in rank (!) is just more evidence that Tuvok's memory virus did a lot more damage than he ever realized.