Uniform Code Not So Uniform

[Orphalesion]

The whole thing with Ro just seemed silly because there was already Worf with his giant baldric on board as well as Troi who pranced around in (what I assume is) the 24th century version of "business causal"
If I remember that scene correctly they even sat her between Worf and Troi in the meeting room, as if to rub it in.

 

[fireproof78]

Starfleet treats people who betray Starfleet very poorly.

 

[kkt]

It would have been a gracious gesture for Admiral Kennelly to give Picard a heads up about who he was sending in advance, so he could spend 5 minutes reading Wikipedia about Bajoran naming customs and earings.

 

[fireproof78]

It would have been a gracious gesture for Admiral Kennelly to give Picard a heads up about who he was sending in advance, so he could spend 5 minutes reading Wikipedia about Bajoran naming customs and earings.

Kennelly doesn't appear to be the gracious type.

 

[Vger23]

That wasn't Riker speaking there. But in regards to Riker, I guess it would depend on how much latitude Picard gave him. Ideally, the XO deals with ship and crew matters, allowing the Captain to focus squarely on the ship's mission and related issues. If Picard trusted Riker enough to give him a free hand (if not a blank check) in handling the crew, then Riker's attitude towards Ro could really just be a case of Riker not being quite the perfect, non-judgmental, always fair 24th-Century Human.

It’s one of the reasons Riker is my favorite TNG character. He’s a regular, flawed, typical human being amongst a bunch of utopian Roddenberry stereotypes.

 

[fireproof78]

It’s one of the reasons Riker is my favorite TNG character. He’s a regular, flawed, typical human being amongst a bunch of utopian Roddenberry stereotypes.

That's...

…something I never thought of before. He started out as insufferable like the rest so I gave up but I could see the appeal now.

 

[Nyotarules]

On a semi-related note, the episode shows the Federation in general to be really ignorant of Bajoran ways, to the point it's said many Bajorans actually allow people to refer to them by their last names as though that were their family names as a means to fitting in better. Which never made sense to me. There are cultures on Earth which place the family name first, among them the Chinese, one of Earth's largest cultures. Yet Bajorans place their family names first and that's suddenly some weird alien thing which many of them abandon to fit in with the Federation?

TNG writers really didn't think through their definition of "alien" at times.

I think the Trek writers subconsciously present the future of humanity as 'everyone becomes culturally American'...which is an insult to non Americans

 

[Vger23]

That's...

…something I never thought of before. He started out as insufferable like the rest so I gave up but I could see the appeal now.

Yeah, I always liked him because he is a little more human than the rest. He can be a dink sometimes. He’s insecure and uncertain about his career. He can be petty and even insubordinate.

But he’s also a badass and a big hero. But, he’s one of the most relatable characters in the entire franchise.

I think he’s damn entertaining.

 

[tesral]

I'll take "Writer of the week" for five hundred Alex.

The show has been consistently inconstant about a great many things. Sometimes it is much better to chalk it up to writers on series TV that to try for an in universe solution. That Way Lies Madness!

 

[Tenacity]

In practical terms, Ro's earring is a potential hazard

Less so than this species natural ears.

 

[Orphalesion]

In practical terms, Ro's earring is a potential hazard,

So are Troi's high heels and gigantic, free flowing hairdo...

 

[dupersuper]

Riker was just being a jerk to Ro because he didn't like her history. Ro gets to wear the earring later.

Yeah; that's just Riker trying to get her in line right away. He had the same issue hiding his disdain for Tam Elbron; another person who had reportedly screwed up and got Starfleet officers killed.

 

[Orphalesion]

Let's face it Riker can be a bit of an a-hole.

 

[Lady Mondegreen]

Yeah, I think Riker was just being kind of a jerk. I don't even necessarily think we were supposed to think his snapping at Ro was justified -- particularly since she ended up receiving dispensation to wear it later on.

 

[fireproof78]

Let's face it Riker can be a bit of an a-hole.

Just a bit, like Troi likes chocolate just a bit.

 

[Frightscape One]

Yeah; that's just Riker trying to get her in line right away. He had the same issue hiding his disdain for Tam Elbron; another person who had reportedly screwed up and got Starfleet officers killed.

Two of Riker's friends from the Academy were among those killed in the Ghorusda disaster, so that has an extra layer of disdain.

But it is a good point about Tam and Ro. But I think it goes deeper than that. He probably feels he got off too lucky about the incident on the Pegasus, and also feels he indirectly got the crew killed. He hates that, and will be particularly harsh on others who did something similar, like Tam Elbrun and Ro Laren.

Sort of like how he saw parts of Tom Riker he didn't like, and was not that friendly with him. He is very harsh on mirror images of things about himself he doesn't like.

 

[Takeru]

On Voyager when Gerron was told to remove the earring he simply should have said no, he wasn't starfleet and there was no reason why any uniform code should apply to him.

 

[Timo]

Well, his replicator rations basically depended on him doing what his boss told him. Uniform code, marching against the Borg armed with a hand phaser, marching into Transporter Room 2 armed with a micro-resonator... Saying no wouldn't be an option.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Orphalesion]

I think Tuvok was extra strict on them because they were, basically, going through basic training in order to be integrated into the Voyager crew, afterwards, once they had earned their field comissions they probably their earring and hairband privileges back.

Too bad we never saw that Bajoran kid again, he would have been more interesting than the Kimmster, and with him they would have had a lot more leeway to portray him as naive newcomer and not getting promoted.

Then again inanimate carbon rods would have been more interesting than Harry...

 

[The Gatekeeper]

I think Tuvok was extra strict on them because they were, basically, going through basic training in order to be integrated into the Voyager crew, afterwards, once they had earned their field comissions they probably their earring and hairband privileges back.

The episode was also trying to make a point that Tuvok was an unreasonably strict disciplinarian, as indicated in the scene where he's discussing his problems with training these officers with Neelix.