Someone would have to pass several laws first.
Seems like a lot of paperwork.
Seems like a lot of paperwork.
What is your personal head canon?
- Thread starter AmandaSmith
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New personal head canon: The reason Data goes unpromoted for his entire service aboard the Enterprise is because they WERE going to rightfully promote him, after he saved the entire UFP by hacking the Borg in BoBW, BUT perhaps only weeks or even days later, before it went through, he himself got overridden by his maker, & unintentionally showed just how devastatingly adept he is at hijacking a top of the line Starfleet vessel, in his current rank & position... So, they got cold feet, & wouldn't let Picard or anyone move him up to full commander... ever.
The only downside to this head canon is that it really makes Troi look like a petty A-hole for rubbing it in that she got promoted over him... which imho she already kind of looked like anyhow. lol
Plus, it also kind of clears up why Riker stays behind as #1, without another word about it. He wanted to, even though they'd been riding him about moving up, but even after the devastating loss of ships & crew, they backed off, once they realized Riker was all they had on the D, standing between a sketchy Ex-Borg captain, & sketchy superbot 2nd officer.
The only downside to this head canon is that it really makes Troi look like a petty A-hole for rubbing it in that she got promoted over him... which imho she already kind of looked like anyhow. lol
Plus, it also kind of clears up why Riker stays behind as #1, without another word about it. He wanted to, even though they'd been riding him about moving up, but even after the devastating loss of ships & crew, they backed off, once they realized Riker was all they had on the D, standing between a sketchy Ex-Borg captain, & sketchy superbot 2nd officer.
Sadly, that actually makes sense.
It would explain why Jellico couldn't give him field promotion to Commander in "Chain of Command", despite making him acting first officer.
But one does wonder how Starfleet approved giving him command of the Sutherland in "Redemption Part II"...
It was Picard's fleet, which might have given him some latitude. Data's still holding his same rank. He's just assuming command, which has been a duty of his already. Good counterpoint though. I hadn't thought of that.
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Well, delivering counters to people who justify not promoting certain characters... it's kind of my thing.
Reset assured, I'm not justifying it. I'm just attempting to reconcile why such a miscarriage of justice happened. I still think, whatever the concern, Data should've been promoted to full commander after BOBW, even knowing what happened in Brothers that immediately followed... and I still think that if they see fit to keep Picard in command, then Riker ought to be considering accepting his own captaincy, & making way for Data to move into the #1 spot. Right is right, but that circumstance is exactly what I feel like they might've wanted to avoid, in the aftermathWell, delivering counters to people who justify not promoting certain characters... it's kind of my thing.
All of them have been powerlessly vulnerable to nefarious influence at one time or another. If there isn't reason to altogether revoke commission over it, then they've no right to withhold dues either. It's just that there's no other way to reasonably explain away (in universe) why Data never gets promoted... & this bit of mental finagling kind of makes some sad sense, logically.
Like you said, maybe Riker simply wanted to stay and serve on the Enterprise-D, I have mentioned that before but I like your theory that he stayed (or maybe was asked to stay) as the first officer to make sure Picard was fit to command after his experience with the Borg.
Also, that superbot 2nd officer was linked to the hive mind while saving Earth so that's even more reason. =)
Also, there's the possibility that Riker still had some hopes things might work out with Deanna, more likely that would happen if he stayed on the same ship she was on.
This is especially true given the story arc BoBW. The one real deficiency of the two-parter was that if you follow Riker's journey over the course of the show, the resolution that made sense was for Riker to take his own command at the end.
Consider:
- At the beginning, Riker is offered a command. He doesn't take it.
- Shelby needles him. And Picard just outright kicks him in the rear end.
- Riker's reconsideration is cut short by Picard's abduction.
- Riker has to step up and be the captain Enterprise needs. On the way, he has to learn some stuff from Troi (his place is on the bridge) and Guinan (that's your chair now).
- In the end, Riker claims victory, not by doing what Picard would do... but rather what he wouldn't. As Guinan said, the only way to save him was to beat him.
- At the end, a strong, capable, and confident starship captain has emerged... and it means nothing.
BoBW is a very good episode. But I have reconsidered my prior position that it was the best ever.
I came across this article that asked: Who was in command of the Enterprise the longest? It was super-wordy and kept repeating itself. It landed on Picard but kept going on and on about how it might've been Kirk.
Which Captain Commanded Star Trek’s Enterprise The Longest? (msn.com)
This is head-canon, but here's my take:
Kirk: 2265-2270, 2272-2282, 2284-2285, 2286-2293 = 23 out of 28 years
Picard: 2364-2371, 2372-2381 = 16 out of 17 years
Pike: 2250-2264 = 14 years total (minus a stint on the Discovery for a few months)
Archer: 2151-2161 = 10 years total
April: 2245-2250 = 5 years total
2265-2270 covers TOS/TAS for Kirk. I'm assuming that there was a second five-year mission and Kirk did indeed keep the Enterprise like he intended after TMP. I don't think he left until the whole Antonia thing which created a two-year gap. When Kirk returns to Starfleet, he makes sure the Enterprise is at the Academy, where he can stay near it. He has his own quarters in TWOK, still, so I assume he was never far away from the Enterprise. In GEN, a reporter said, "This is the first Enterprise in 30 years without James T. Kirk in command!" So, I'm guessing that Kirk always found a way to be tied to the Enterprise somehow. Spock didn't really want to be Captain, and the Enterprise was "out of sight, out of mind" in the public eye while Decker was in command during the refit. Thus preserving the perception that the Enterprise was Kirk's for almost 30 years.
Which Captain Commanded Star Trek’s Enterprise The Longest? (msn.com)
This is head-canon, but here's my take:
Kirk: 2265-2270, 2272-2282, 2284-2285, 2286-2293 = 23 out of 28 years
Picard: 2364-2371, 2372-2381 = 16 out of 17 years
Pike: 2250-2264 = 14 years total (minus a stint on the Discovery for a few months)
Archer: 2151-2161 = 10 years total
April: 2245-2250 = 5 years total
2265-2270 covers TOS/TAS for Kirk. I'm assuming that there was a second five-year mission and Kirk did indeed keep the Enterprise like he intended after TMP. I don't think he left until the whole Antonia thing which created a two-year gap. When Kirk returns to Starfleet, he makes sure the Enterprise is at the Academy, where he can stay near it. He has his own quarters in TWOK, still, so I assume he was never far away from the Enterprise. In GEN, a reporter said, "This is the first Enterprise in 30 years without James T. Kirk in command!" So, I'm guessing that Kirk always found a way to be tied to the Enterprise somehow. Spock didn't really want to be Captain, and the Enterprise was "out of sight, out of mind" in the public eye while Decker was in command during the refit. Thus preserving the perception that the Enterprise was Kirk's for almost 30 years.
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^All of this.
I'm mostly reconsidering my opinion of Starfleet's perspective on this. At the beginning of BoBW they are virtually warning him that it's bad form to still be there. An admiral is urging action, underlings are expressing discontent, & his captain is laying it out fully. Time to go... & then the events of Wolf 359, which in all senses would mean even MORE reason for a guy who was now the hero of the fleet to take a ship, considering how many were lost & likely how many captains of them had died.But it's never mentioned again, but not only that, the real savior of the fleet doesn't even get recognition, perhaps because a promotion would now elevate him to a role they could be uncomfortable letting him hold, after he's been so scarily able to overtake vessels on his own. Besides, they know the guy. He has no ego to bruise, nor any feelings about being passed over, so they can figure their little scheme to keep him from advancement will go unnoticed
The only question is do the other senior officers know Data is being passed over? That Riker staying LETS them more easily pass over Data, that command has agreed to leave Riker alone about staying there, mainly to be a babysitter to officers they are hesitant about now? If they all just go on like normal, they're kind of dumb about office politics imho. If they DO know something like that motive is in play, then they're kind of complicit or in agreement with it. That's the only downside to my new head canon lol
Data.... What if there's still some prejudice about artificial lifeforms in Starfleet and humans in general, even in 24th century?
Perhaps some high level Admiral, one or more, doesn't want Data to climb too high in the command chain?
We saw some nasty attitude towards Data being a captain in STNG and 'Redemption, part 2'.
Commander Hobson might not be the only one with some doubts about androids.
I think what we repeatedly see in TNG is that there is, indeed, systemic prejudice about artificial lifeforms within Starfleet and within Federation society generally.
Right off the bat, Starfleet tries to deny that Data is a sentient lifeform with inalienable rights under the Federation Constitution in S2 "The Measure of a Man," and even the ruling protecting Data from being forcibly dismantled hinges upon a technicality rather than broadly finding that he is a Federation citizen with equal rights and liberties under the Constitution.
In S3, Starfleet attempts to forcibly abduct Lal from Data's custody, in violation of his rights as a parent. The issue is only forestalled by Lal's death.
In S4, as you say, we see Starfleet officers who engage in acts of bigotry and insubordination against Data when he is placed in a command situation.
Later on, VOY and PIC both support continue to depict the Federation as having systemic inequality for artificial lifeforms. We learn that sentient Emergency Medical Hologram models are being held as slave labor in VOY "Author, Author." And PIC S1 establishes that synthetic lifeforms were outright banned between 2384 and 2399 as a result of the Mars Attack, with the ban being repealed once the truth about the Zhat Vash's role in the attack is uncovere.
Add to this the presence of bigotry against former Borg drones, which itself almost certainly ties into prejudice against artificial lifeforms given the Borg's synthetic elements?
Yeah, I'd say the Federation has major problems with systemic bigotry and oppression against the genetically augmented and against artificial lifeforms. It's not a perfect society.
True. Honestly, given that Data had created a truly functional artificial lifeform (no one else aside from Soong had managed it), the logical thing for Starfleet to do was bring both him and Lal back to Earth, and have him spearhead the program to expand on his work. And that probably would have come with a promotion to commander. He was overdue, after all.
Agreed -- with Data's consent, of course!
Faith of the Heart is the nation anthem for the Federation (that generic music from "Take Me Out to the Holosuite" doesn't count).
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The important difference that Command might be (Wrongfully) hung up on is that even though Data is currently at operations, he is already holding a command level post as the D's 2nd officer. Any promotion is going to place him at a very sizeable advantage to hold top command posts.
Take Sisko for example, who was a mere commander when he took over DS9 & subsequently the Defiant. Commanders routinely hold top posts commanding ships & stations etc... & Data would then potentially become one of those. Whereas Troi & Crusher holding a commander rank in the science track is much less of an authoritative position over Starfleet matériel.
While I admit there's instances of prejudice towards him, that might point to a larger cultural leaning about artificial lifeforms, they already have Data in there, & have allowed him to advance almost to the very top of command, as it relates to postings. It's rather telling that this is where he is stalled, that this step is the one we aren't going to see for him.
It's him potentially being the sole leader somewhere that they are holding him from, not just the pip... & it's all because of what his potentially devastating skill levels are. I don't even buy the Hobson argument that they consider him unfeeling about the lives he'd hold command over. It's maybe some of that, but I'm betting deep down, where no one is going to go on record saying it, it's mostly that they fear him.
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