Even though I enjoy that episode, that line of hers was flat-out stupid (designed to make her antagonistic...via 20th century technology, no less) and I can't believe Starfleet hadn't encountered "artificial" life before that point.
I mean, we know they had, given the synthetic life from TOS. Thing is, Data was the first android who joined Starfleet - Starfleet, in all its bureaucracy, decided that if Data wanted to work for them, sure, go ahead. But, once he started NOT wanting to jump at their command... Well, he's not alive, does he really have rights, isn't it more like requisitioning a piece of equipment than a transfer? That's what's going on there - "dance to their tune, they'll let you be, but change the dance or the song, and they'll take away any claim you have to the rights and privileges of those around you."
[Insert real world commentary here.]
Honestly, my thing about Jellico DOES come down to the fact that... Yeah, sure, he's on the Enterprise for a particular mission, because of his experience with the Cardassians. I get the reality of him not having the time to warm up to everyone. But he seems very determined to play his cards very close to the vest when it comes to the crew around him, who are supposed to support him and offer their perspectives as well. Indeed, when he ends up relieving Riker from duty... Riker's doing his job as first officer. Maybe a little loudly, sure, but the first officer IS supposed to be pointing out to a captain when they believe they are making a mistake. And when Riker does this, Jellico relieves him. That's... not a good command style in my book.
I mean, sure, it's the culmination of a lot of little things between them and all, but... Lemme just go over this here. He says he wants the four shift schedule, Riker consults with the department heads, they say it'll cause disruptions and Riker says to them, in effect, "let's hold off until I can speak with the captain about this." Like, this is happening in back to back scenes, so we're clearly expected to believe that there's only a short time between them, the implication is that Riker did not have the time to speak to Jellico between him saying "I want a four shift rotation" and the command transfer ceremony, which Riker says to Jellico "I was going to speak with you after the ceremony about this." And, rather than accept that there would be disruptions, or listen to the problem his plans are going to cause, he shuts things down. And the audience sees a noticeable shift in Jellico's attitude towards Riker at that point, as if Riker taking into account the things that the department heads of the ship are telling him and trying to keep things running smoothly, rather than just jumping and following orders without question, is in his eyes a slight on Riker's character.
Then there's La Forge pointing out to Riker that at the same time that Jellico has ordered the entire engineering crew to run ragged into a two day schedule, he's ALSO had several of them transfer to security - so he's pushing the crew to their limits BEFORE a potential combat situation, AND having them cross-train in the same time? That seems to be asking for exhaustion to hit the crew before things become a crisis, rather than after.
It may not be Riker's finest moment, but it's also indicating that, when it comes a ship where these officers and crew live - not just serve and do their duties, but live and build a community, it's not really Jellico being a good fit for that ship and that crew.
I think that Jellico's command style might work best on a border patrol ship, something smaller, probably with fewer amenities and less likely to be called in to a non-military situation. Y'know, he'd probably settle in great on a Defiant class ship once those got into heavy service. But for the Enterprise? For a ship whose mission statement centers on being a jack-of-all-trades ship, with a large enough crew that the captain NEEDS to delegate to their first officer and the departments heads and listen to them? He was never a fit for the ship. Even before you get to the captain clash, where he outright disregards trying to offer the crew the trust that they know how to do their job - when Deanna brings up the crew's difficulty, he leads with the understandable point of "we don't have time for a honeymoon period," but then just says "you make sure that the crew adjusts to the new routine." Putting all the onus of "adjusting" onto the crew who have worked on and lived on the ship for the last five and a half years, not the new captain who's been dropped into their lap.
If the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one, shouldn't the captain be expected to give a little in adjusting to a new ship, a new crew, a new situation, rather than making the entire crew just outright change their entire approach to the jobs they've been doing for years? Not necessarily that he's wrong ENTIRELY, but why can't he take any effort to meet anyone in the middle here?
