Why was Picard given the Enterprise?

[RAMA]

Greetings. I'm a DS9/Enterprise fan, watching Next Gen straight through for the first time (although I've seen many epidodes). I've always though Picard was a pretty seasoned officer.

But, watching through the first season, I got to wondering. Why did Starfleet feel Picard was suited to captain the Federation flagship? This fellow (as far as Starfleet knew), lost his previous vessel, the Stargazer, and shown himself to be quite susceptible to mind control and manipulation.

Is this the guy best suited for command? Like I said, I know he grows into the Jean-Luc of later seasons, but what qualifications did Command see in him? I will say I think it's amusing seeing him fumbling around with his crew like trying to secretly get Beverly transferred off the ship

I'm wondering if somebody pulled some strings ala John Harriman or if maybe Picard had some dirt on people to get this command.

This is like saying Kirk was highly susceptible to mind/psychic control in all the episodes he was forced to do things..(WNMHGB, Errand of Mercy, Squire of Gothos, Who Mourns for Adonais, Plato's Stepchildren, et al). They were both controlled in either case!

What I gather from certain episodes is Picard is highly experienced and respected by other high ranking officers in Starfleet. This is possibly for his determination and ethics and unsurpassed ability in negotiations for a non-civilian ambassador. Another reason is that Starfleet may consider all captains who have commanded starships before above first officers, and Picard may have had the most years of experiences as one under his belt.

RAMA

 

[Gil T.Azell]

A little 1948 invention called the Polaroid , he had incriminating pictures of the Star-fleet higharchy (sp)

 

[lurok]

He was more formal and stuffy compared to Picard, again so what?

I actually found him less so. Calling those under his command by first name early on and sharing pictures his children had drawn with Troi and decorating his ready Room with them. The audience just knew Picard better.

What the senior staff should have done is to have met with Jellico and lay down some mutual expectations. If anything, Jellico should have done this at the outset, if he had a failing as the new CO.

I'm not sure that I even find this a failing. They were headed for a potential war zone with very little time to prepare, not going to investigate the intelligent fungi of 'Beta Whothehellcares'.

Just watched this two-parter (among best TNG seen) and loved Jellico's no-nonsense attitude. Certainly gave that bunch of wussy touchy-feelies a kick up the ass But clearly wasn't going to be liked which is probably why Picard (for all his stiffness) was given the Enterprise.

 

[RAMA]

He was more formal and stuffy compared to Picard, again so what?

I actually found him less so. Calling those under his command by first name early on and sharing pictures his children had drawn with Troi and decorating his ready Room with them. The audience just knew Picard better.

What the senior staff should have done is to have met with Jellico and lay down some mutual expectations. If anything, Jellico should have done this at the outset, if he had a failing as the new CO.

I'm not sure that I even find this a failing. They were headed for a potential war zone with very little time to prepare, not going to investigate the intelligent fungi of 'Beta Whothehellcares'.

Just watched this two-parter (among best TNG seen) and loved Jellico's no-nonsense attitude. Certainly gave that bunch of wussy touchy-feelies a kick up the ass But clearly wasn't going to be liked which is probably why Picard (for all his stiffness) was given the Enterprise.

Yes STNG, a 24th century show is still being shown to a 20th century audience so it isn't surprising how many people still supported Jellicoe's backwards, throwback attitude.

RAMA

 

[indolover]

So there wouldn't be bad bosses in the 24th century? Humans wouldn't have different personalities? Crews didn't wouldn't need to have better people management/handling skills?

 

[BillJ]

Yes STNG, a 24th century show is still being shown to a 20th century audience so it isn't surprising how many people still supported Jellicoe's backwards, throwback attitude.

RAMA

You're right. Showing a man coming on board, concerned with having his ship as ready as possible for a possible conflict and possibly saving lives is definitely a backwards attitude.

 

[RAMA]

Yes STNG, a 24th century show is still being shown to a 20th century audience so it isn't surprising how many people still supported Jellicoe's backwards, throwback attitude.

RAMA

You're right. Showing a man coming on board, concerned with having his ship as ready as possible for a possible conflict and possibly saving lives is definitely a backwards attitude.

Yes, and of course, The Enterprise was never fit for duty against the Borg, Cardassians, Klingons/Romulans before.. With Picard, it was a well oiled machine, with Jellico, it worked despite the backlash of the crew. He was lucky there was no combat.

RAMA

 

[BillJ]

Yes STNG, a 24th century show is still being shown to a 20th century audience so it isn't surprising how many people still supported Jellicoe's backwards, throwback attitude.

RAMA

You're right. Showing a man coming on board, concerned with having his ship as ready as possible for a possible conflict and possibly saving lives is definitely a backwards attitude.

Yes, and of course, The Enterprise was never fit for duty against the Borg, Cardassians, Klingons/Romulans before.. With Picard, it was a well oiled machine, with Jellico, it worked despite the backlash of the crew. He was lucky there was no combat.

RAMA

I don't know... ask those 18 people at system J-25. Oh wait.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Jellico was clearly a mental case. He was stuck commanding an old ship because Starfleet knew he was one bad night away from a Ben Maxwell incident.

Yep, pretty much.

Will Riker, commanding a single vessel, saved Earth from the first Borg invasion. Neither Jellico nor anyone who had served under him or with him had a comparable service record. These are inarguable facts (except that, you know, it's a fucking tv show). Jellico's treatment of Riker from the get-go was necessarily born of insecurity and manifested itself in futile dick-waving.

 

[indolover]

Jellico was clearly a mental case. He was stuck commanding an old ship because Starfleet knew he was one bad night away from a Ben Maxwell incident.

Yep, pretty much.

Will Riker, commanding a single vessel, saved Earth from the first Borg invasion. Neither Jellico nor anyone who had served under him or with him had a comparable service record. These are inarguable facts (except that, you know, it's a fucking tv show). Jellico's treatment of Riker from the get-go was necessarily born of insecurity and manifested itself in futile dick-waving.

Do we know that for certain? Jellico was said to have signed the armistice between the UFP and the Cardassians. For all we know, he was a major player on the front lines the Cardassian wars. As he was perhaps as old as Picard, we never knew how long he had been a Captain.

I just think that the common attitude towards Jellico is unfounded. His command style was simply different, that's all IMO. I would prefer to serve under Picard, largely because I like Picard's personality better than Jellico's. But if I were in the Enterprise senior staff, I would at least acknowledge that of all the many Captains in Starfleet, each is unique in his/her style of command and personality.

 

[Tomalak]

Douglas McArthur signed an armistice too, it didn't mean he wasn't later a loose cannon who wasn't trusted by his superiors.

Jellico was given that assignment for one reason - he was known to the Cardassians as a bastard of a negotiator, and could put up a lot of bluster while Picard and co destroyed the biological weapon. There's no reason to think he was seen as anything like the calibre of captain Picard was, and his style hardly impressed any of the crew. Troi could tell he was all front. Jellico himself was surprised to get the Enterprise, and went back to the creaking old Cairo after his sojourn was done.

There's nothing in the episode to suggest he was one of the most respected captains in the fleet, or a "frontrunner" for the flagship, indeed none of the crew seemed to know anything about him.

 

[RAMA]

You're right. Showing a man coming on board, concerned with having his ship as ready as possible for a possible conflict and possibly saving lives is definitely a backwards attitude.

Yes, and of course, The Enterprise was never fit for duty against the Borg, Cardassians, Klingons/Romulans before.. With Picard, it was a well oiled machine, with Jellico, it worked despite the backlash of the crew. He was lucky there was no combat.

RAMA

I don't know... ask those 18 people at system J-25. Oh wait.

Yeah, out of context, this sounds bad..but remember Q transported the Enterprise to meet the Borg many years before they were ready...The big E inflicted a lot of damage on the powerful Borg. If there wasn't such a need for intelligence gathering, the ship should have left the area instead of sending aboard a boarding party at that point.

Pray tell what the only ship to stand up and survive multiple Borg attacks was? Oh yeah, the Enterprise...

RAMA

 

[C.E. Evans]

There's no reason to think he was seen as anything like the calibre of captain Picard was,

No reason to think otherwise either. There are likely plenty of very good and capable captains in the fleet every bit as good as Picard, but not all of them can command a ship named Enterprise.

and his style hardly impressed any of the crew.

Which would irrelevant, but typical of a crew used to doing things a certain way for a long time and not liking sudden changes a new CO brings.

Troi could tell he was all front. Jellico himself was surprised to get the Enterprise, and went back to the creaking old Cairo after his sojourn was done.

I'm sensing anti-Jellico bias.

There's nothing in the episode to suggest he was one of the most respected captains in the fleet, or a "frontrunner" for the flagship,

Once again, nothing to suggest otherwise either. But then, all that matters is how well the Admiralty knows Jellico though. Who's the say that he wasn't on their short list of candidates to command the Enterprise? Who's the say that Picard was a frontrunner, really? He may have landed the job because someone else said "no thanks, I'm happy where I am," for all we know.

indeed none of the crew seemed to know anything about him.

May have been the same case when Picard first took command. The crew may not have known much about him when the Enterprise launched...

 

[Tomalak]

I'm sensing anti-Jellico bias.

I'll admit the rest is entirely speculative, but that bit is irrefutable!

 

[C.E. Evans]

^^^

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Do we know that for certain? Jellico was said to have signed the armistice between the UFP and the Cardassians.

Uh...

Borg.

Wolf 359.

Earth.

Riker and the Enterprise.

Victory!

I mean - screw the Cardassians and that little armistice; you're nickel-and-diming me here.

As far as bias is concerned - Cox's great acting to the contrary, Jellico is a minor character in a couple of TNG episodes, written as a foil for the regulars. The only reason the character has a following at all is because he was full of macho bluster, and some folks wanted more good old-timey dick waving in TNG.

 

[indolover]

Do we know that for certain? Jellico was said to have signed the armistice between the UFP and the Cardassians.

Uh...

Borg.

Wolf 359.

Earth.

Riker and the Enterprise.

Victory!

I mean - screw the Cardassians and that little armistice; you're nickel-and-diming me here.

As far as bias is concerned - Cox's great acting to the contrary, Jellico is a minor character in a couple of TNG episodes, written as a foil for the regulars. The only reason the character has a following at all is because he was full of macho bluster, and some folks wanted more good old-timey dick waving in TNG.

Riker did nothing at Wolf 359, and the Enterprise was lukcy to defeat the Borg. Riker himself was going to ram the Enterprise into the Cube after having exhausted all options before Data managed to connect to the Collective. I saw nothing wrong in Jellico. Riker and co. were too whiny IMO.

 

[Tomalak]

As far as bias is concerned - Cox's great acting to the contrary, Jellico is a minor character in a couple of TNG episodes, written as a foil for the regulars. The only reason the character has a following at all is because he was full of macho bluster, and some folks wanted more good old-timey dick waving in TNG.

Totally. It's the fanfic/fanwank mentality that every character we see in Star Trek is somehow notable or significant, so Jellico becomes one of the most respected captains in the fleet, a frontrunner for the original Enterprise command, and I believe an admiral in some of the books.

People like him because they don't really like TNG. They think Picard's a wimp, the crew are mollycoddled, and a military ship such as the Enterprise could do with some more discipline. In terms of the episode he's a good character, but Riker's right - he's not a particularly good captain.

 

[C.E. Evans]

As far as bias is concerned - Cox's great acting to the contrary, Jellico is a minor character in a couple of TNG episodes, written as a foil for the regulars. The only reason the character has a following at all is because he was full of macho bluster, and some folks wanted more good old-timey dick waving in TNG.

Totally. It's the fanfic/fanwank mentality that every character we see in Star Trek is somehow notable or significant, so Jellico becomes one of the most respected captains in the fleet, a frontrunner for the original Enterprise command, and I believe an admiral in some of the books.

People like him because they don't really like TNG. They think Picard's a wimp, the crew are mollycoddled, and a military ship such as the Enterprise could do with some more discipline. In terms of the episode he's a good character, but Riker's right - he's not a particularly good captain.

There's that fan-driven anti-Jellico bias again, I guess. Objectively, though, the only thing we can say about Jellico is that he had a different and less casual command style than Picard. Anything else is simply personal feelings.

Given that the majority of non-regular Trek captains are depicted as either unfortunate victims or flipped out crazy, seeing a captain that actually has balls and isn't exploring his own navel or foaming at mouth is a refreshing change of pace, IMO--but it might not sit well with all fans of the main captains.

People hate Jellico because he gave them Enterprise crew new orders and he had the audacity not to want to discuss them in committee--big ole' meanie...

 

[BillJ]

The only reason the character has a following at all is because he was full of macho bluster, and some folks wanted more good old-timey dick waving in TNG.

Have to tell you I loved the 'old-timey dick waving'.

People like him because they don't really like TNG.

*cough*Bullshit*cough*

I have loved The Next Generation since it premiered on October 2, 1987 here on WXIX-TV. People seem to forget that Picard wasn't exactly a ray of sunshine when he first took command of the Enterprise and was under pressure...

PICARD: Acknowledged. Commander Riker will conduct a manual docking. Picard out.
RIKER: Sir?
PICARD: You've reported in, haven't you? You are qualified?
RIKER: Yes, sir.
PICARD: Then I mean now, Commander.

Picard didn't seem to interested in discussing the reintegration of the saucer with the stardrive section. The only difference between Picard and Jellico was the fact that the audience already knew Picard by the time of Chain of Command.