Cadet to Captain...NOT!!!

[aelius]

I have seen many people comment on how stupid it is that Kirk goes from cadet to Captain of the Enterprise in one fell swoop. I agree. In fact it is so stupid I am sure it does not happen.
If you watch the scene where McCoy says "We have no captain and no first officer to replace him." you will notice that McCoy has Lt. Cmdr.'s stripes on his sleeves. Since McCoy and Kirk are cadets at the academy together (from the scene in the shuttle where they are both in the red cadet uniforms) it would seem that if enough time has gone by for McCoy to be a Lt. Cmdr., that Kirk has probably attained at least that rank.
I do not know why Kirk is in his black shirt, but I would say it probably is not because he is a cadet.
I could be wrong, but I don't think so.
I haven't seen anyone else comment on this so I was wondering what you all think?

 

[Samuel T. Cogley]

If you watch the scene where McCoy says "We have no captain and no first officer to replace him."

I heard a rumor that this whole scene happens in slow-motion. (Like the wormhole scene in TMP.) It actually takes six years (from Kirk's perspective) from when he's standing in front of the Captain's chair to when he fully sits down. By the time his ass hits the vinyl padding on the chair, he's a full Captain.

Also, he's wearing the helmet from Spock's brain the whole time. To impart the knowledge. And such.

 

[urbandk]

If you watch the scene where McCoy says "We have no captain and no first officer to replace him."

I heard a rumor that this whole scene happens in slow-motion. (Like the wormhole scene in TMP.) It actually takes six years (from Kirk's perspective) from when he's standing in front of the Captain's chair to when he fully sits down. By the time his ass hits the vinyl padding on the chair, he's a full Captain.

Also, he's wearing the helmet from Spock's brain the whole time. To impart the knowledge. And such.

yeah that's why he loses all his hair and starts wearing a toupee

 

[crohnie]

If you watch the scene where McCoy says "We have no captain and no first officer to replace him."

I heard a rumor that this whole scene happens in slow-motion. (Like the wormhole scene in TMP.) It actually takes six years (from Kirk's perspective) from when he's standing in front of the Captain's chair to when he fully sits down. By the time his ass hits the vinyl padding on the chair, he's a full Captain.

Also, he's wearing the helmet from Spock's brain the whole time. To impart the knowledge. And such.

yeah that's why he loses all his hair and starts wearing a toupee

This is a good point though. I can't think of any other reason other than a cut to a few years later but that doesn't make sense the way this movie has been marketed.
However I'm content to just wait the five weeks and see.

 

[aelius]

The way the movie has been marketed is a few commercials that have clips from all through the movie scattered through them. We have no way to know the sequence.

 

[Amaris]

The way the movie has been marketed is a few commercials that have clips from all through the movie scattered through them. We have no way to know the sequence.

Exactly. We like to think in linear terms moving forward. Trailers have a tendency to show us piece of the beginning and the end and a few establishing shots all mixed together. For all we know, the cadet scene happens at the end! Not likely, but possible.


J.

 

[ROBE]

Or it could be they are all "acting officers". Kirk takes command of the Enterprise so he is Acting Captain, McCoy is Acting Chief Medical Officer and Scotty is Acting Chief Engineer which means both must be Acting Lt Commanders.

 

[pookha]

I have seen many people comment on how stupid it is that Kirk goes from cadet to Captain of the Enterprise in one fell swoop. I agree. In fact it is so stupid I am sure it does not happen.
If you watch the scene where McCoy says "We have no captain and no first officer to replace him." you will notice that McCoy has Lt. Cmdr.'s stripes on his sleeves. Since McCoy and Kirk are cadets at the academy together (from the scene in the shuttle where they are both in the red cadet uniforms) it would seem that if enough time has gone by for McCoy to be a Lt. Cmdr., that Kirk has probably attained at least that rank.
I do not know why Kirk is in his black shirt, but I would say it probably is not because he is a cadet.
I could be wrong, but I don't think so.
I haven't seen anyone else comment on this so I was wondering what you all think?

i think i made the same observation earlier but the issue comes up in so many different threads it is easy to miss.

as to why the black.. the easiest for me is that it is just the black undershirt we often saw the characters wear back in tos uder the tunics.

for some reason kirk dosnt have his rank shirt on during the scenes we have seen.

i also dont think he goes right up to captain yet.

i maybe wrong but i have the feeling the scene were he takes over is after the cage in the trek time line but still a couple years away from where no man has gone before.

kirk very well could have graduated the academy out into space and has come back to be an instructor is another potential plot thing.

so yeah he could be either a lt commander or even lt (we see enterprise left in command of various lt's a lot over time)
if he is a senior ranking lt it helps explain why no one else is putting up a fuss when he does assume command.

really more and more i want this film to get the heck out so we can debate really what is on screen and not endless speculation based on some glimpses of scenes possibly out of context without knowing how they fit time wise.

darn it i want a time machine now..

 

[Pindar]

If you watch the scene where McCoy says "We have no captain and no first officer to replace him."

I heard a rumor that this whole scene happens in slow-motion. (Like the wormhole scene in TMP.) It actually takes six years (from Kirk's perspective) from when he's standing in front of the Captain's chair to when he fully sits down. By the time his ass hits the vinyl padding on the chair, he's a full Captain.

Also, he's wearing the helmet from Spock's brain the whole time. To impart the knowledge. And such.

It took a minute but I have figured out just full of pure awesome your avatar is.

 

[EJA]

It would make more sense if he was a Lt. commander. Hell, maybe after the movie's finished he gets transferred to the Republic and the Farragut and comes back to take proper command of Enterprise later? Well, that's how I'd have it.

 

[El Chupacabra]

I seem to recall an interview some time ago, either with Bob Orci, or JJ himself, in which it was confirmed that the black shirt was a tyoe of cadet uniform.

Sorry folks. It looks like its gonna be silly.....

 

[Pindar]

I seem to recall an interview some time ago, either with Bob Orci, or JJ himself, in which it was confirmed that the black shirt was a tyoe of cadet uniform.

Sorry folks. It looks like its gonna be silly.....

They all wear that black shirt under their coloured shirt.

Pike is wearing one under his gold shirt.

 

[Jefferies]

I seem to recall an interview some time ago, either with Bob Orci, or JJ himself, in which it was confirmed that the black shirt was a tyoe of cadet uniform.

Sorry folks. It looks like its gonna be silly.....

I think you are neglecting the distinct possibility that Kirk might be at the academy for post-graduate training; maybe he is attending command school? You see, McCoy is at the Academy, coming from a civilian background in which he has already worked as a doctor. So he is there, not as a little green-behind-the-ears cadet, but as someone who is probably doing a conversion course or special entry programme for qualified professionals. As result, when he gets his commission he will start of as Lt. or Lt. Cmd. and not as an ensign. Therefore, if Kirk is also a post-graduate at this stage he might be finishing with a similar rank to McCoy. This would also explain why they are friends, as postgrads probably hang out more with each other than with immature undergrads (at least that is my experience from today ). So even though he is wearing a cadet uniform, this might only denote that he is in training and without a commission, but not necesserily at the bottom of Starfleet's hierarchy. Also take into account Pine's age, he is already 28, which puts him in a good position to play a postgrad rather than an undergrad.

 

[SeamusShameless]

Maybe Kirk is a command trainee like Saavik was in TWOK. He's passed the Kobiashi Maru, got a commendation for original thinking, but he hasn't been allowed to graduate due to the scandal.

 

[ROBE]

George Armstrong Custer (December 5, 1839 – June 25, 1876) promotion from First Lieutenant to Brigadier General of United States Volunteers at the age of 23.
During times of emergency folks people can get temporary promoted like the above. Starfleet has just been attacked the Enterprise may have been launched early mostly with evacuated Cadets and only a few seasoned officers who are probably killed.

 

[El Chupacabra]

I seem to recall an interview some time ago, either with Bob Orci, or JJ himself, in which it was confirmed that the black shirt was a tyoe of cadet uniform.

Sorry folks. It looks like its gonna be silly.....

They all wear that black shirt under their coloured shirt.

Pike is wearing one under his gold shirt.

So that means what they said in the interview was BS?

 

[Jefferies]

I seem to recall an interview some time ago, either with Bob Orci, or JJ himself, in which it was confirmed that the black shirt was a tyoe of cadet uniform.

Sorry folks. It looks like its gonna be silly.....

They all wear that black shirt under their coloured shirt.

Pike is wearing one under his gold shirt.

So that means what they said in the interview was BS?

Or that your memory of the event is faulty!

 

[EJA]

Maybe it's because he took the Kobayashi Maru test, and therefore knows something about commanding a starship?

 

[backstept]

y'know . . . I really don't care how he gets there
I just want Cap'm Kirk

 

[Cky]

I'm going to take a guess that he is an "Observer" or something like that, which would explain the black shirt, but he does have an official rank.