Eddington's vitriolic assessment of The Federation
- Thread starter Ragitsu
- Start date
I dunno, I don't think Eddington's rants made DS9 any more entertaining.
How many times did she go "full Ahab"?
At least twice: "Equinox" and "Year of Hell". Possibly "Scientific Method" as well. This isn't to claim that she didn't have plenty of reason to have gone over the edge (as with Ahab himself), but Picard had plenty of reason to go Ahab in FC as well and we freely acknowledge he was wrong in that instance.
Heck, I'd say every captain had their moments.
Heck, I'd say every captain had their moments.
Here are examples...
"EQUINOX, PART II" - her going after Ransom. The way she did it was definitely Ahab-like... she nearly murdered Noah Lessing and she relieved Chakotay for disagreeing with her (and threatened to do the same to Tuvok).
"SCIENTIFIC METHOD" - when she piloted Voyager through those binary stars. Though I tend to give her a pass on that due to the aliens experimenting on her and messing with her brain.
"YEAR OF HELL" - going through Krenim space and going after Annorax, even after they got temporal shielding. She threatened to shut off The Doctor because he was trying to get her to rest for a bit after her injuries.
"SCORPION" - her obsession to get the crew home made her come up with the idea of making a deal with the Borg. The Borg! A race that assimilated billions and killed even more, just to get home a little faster. That myopic view is definitely an Ahab quality.
"THE SWARM" - violating a sovereign power's space to take a shortcut home. Considering how that was very much against Starfleet regulations (Tuvok pointed this out), and how she had always been saying they will adhere to those rules (we have seen her negotiate passage before and after that episode), it can lead to the conclusion of her obsession to get the ship to the Alpha Quadrant. In this case, it's definitely more an issue of inconsistent writing of the character, which is not helpful. (Mulgrew did an excellent with Janeway. A lesser actress wouldn't have been able to make her as good as she did considering the inconsistencies.)
And as I've stated multiple times in the past, the obsessive quality was present in Sisko, my favorite captain. We see it in episodes like "EXPLORERS" and, more negatively, in "FOR THE UNIFORM".
Kirk had an episode titled "OBSESSION", and he had done that a few times, too. Archer in season 3 of ENT. Picard in FIRST CONTACT.
It's not necessarily a dig at any of the characters. It's a character flaw, and that makes them human and more relatable.
Which brings up an interesting question. Can the EMH relieve a captain who the EMH believes is no longer fit to command? And if not, is there anyone on the ship who can relieve a captain who is acting irrationally?
Under normal circumstances, I doubt that an EMH is yet legally considered to be a person and thus doubt that an EMH is legally considered competent to make a command judgment like that.
Aboard Voyager? I think the crew would probably accept that their Doc is a person and a command officer, and therefore competent to make a command judgment like that. But they would probably be operating outside of Federation law by doing so.
Janeway had repeatedly stated The Doctor IS the Chief Medical Officer of Voyager, which means she granted him that power over the captain regarding medical matters. That includes the ability to relieve her due to medical reasons... in this case, injuries and mental state.
Since Chakotay was captured during that time, Tuvok would be the acting captain when she was relieved, since he was acting XO at that time. And Tuvok would also be able to relieve her on the grounds of her behavior.
Since Chakotay was captured during that time, Tuvok would be the acting captain when she was relieved, since he was acting XO at that time. And Tuvok would also be able to relieve her on the grounds of her behavior.
Generations Picard is very much like his TNG version. (Contemplative, easily knocked down by an old man) ...IMO, it was First Contact that turned him into Jean-Luc McClane-lite.I maintain that cinematic Jean-Luc Picard is functionally different from televised Jean-Luc Picard.
Maybe I'm being generous, but I might posit that PIcard is different from then on because of the events of Generations.
Or maybe it was the Enterprise-E was a different kind of ship that made him a bit different.
Or maybe film studios pander to the LCD a bit more than their television counterparts.
There was "Starship Mine", but it is something of an aberration in The Next Generation.
There was "Starship Mine", but it is something of an aberration in The Next Generation.
I go back and forth with this, since we had the whole Vash saga, and the "Chain of Command" action hero Picard a little. Yes, the movies doubled down on it but there was definitely bits and pieces of action Picard shining through.
ETA: clarified.
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I think it Picard in the films makes sense. At the end of "All Good Things," he's already starting to let himself be more emotionally available and expressive than he did during the series proper. He's not really all that "swashbuckling" in GEN or FC, but by the time of INS he's been working with his command crew now for eleven years, and it's been five years since "All Good Things." At some point, it makes sense that he's changed and is not as aloof and emotionally unavailable as he was before, and it makes sense that as a result of his experiences in "Tapestry" and "All Good Things" he's started to re-embrace some of the sense of self-assertiveness, some of the impulse to be the guy on the ground that he had let go of as he'd gotten older. The only time Picard's behavior strikes me as truly out-of-character is in NEM when he's driving the Argo with no regard for the indigenous people or the Prime Directive. (But of course NEM is just full of problems...)
I feel like he explains in 'tapestry' kind of. He was embarrassed by the way he used to be so he has toned himself down by the time he gets to the enterprise. He picked Riker as his second in command because he wanted someone to check him if it became necessary. He was afraid of doing anything to show personality or emotion because he might take it too far (didn't want to engage with kids, didn't want to be seen with Vash or head of stellar mechanics, aloofness, detached academic musings) but every now and then his adventure side would flare up. As he got older, he stopped feeling ashamed of his youth and chilled out a lot and his personality came through more.