Using a science station is not the function of the chief science officer any more than using the transporter is the job of the chief engineer.
Chapel & Rand
- Thread starter Khan 2.0
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Using a science station is not the function of the chief science officer any more than using the transporter is the job of the chief engineer.
It's Spock's station on the bridge. He's the CSO. He only steps away when off duty, away from the ship or taking command.
It's preposterous for him to run engineering. They have engineers to do that. It's not just his age that makes it ludicrous. He is not even in the engineering department. It's as ridiculous as sending him down to run Sick Bay. Years of training and experience are required to run a nuclear reactor on a ship today. All the more so for a 23rd century engineering section.
I don't disagree that they should have had a deputy science officer at the station not least because while Chekov was doing that, the navigation console was unmanned. However, in terms of silliness, the two aspects are quite far apart for the reasons cited by myself and others, and needlessly so. Chekov could have been assigned to shadow the new chief engineer with minimal alterations to the dialogue.
An unnecessary over complication.
He's not in the Science Department either,but no one minds if he steps in for Spock. LaForge was a Jr Lieutenant pilot when he became CEO of the D. He was in Command not Engineering. Worf was also in Command before becoming Chief of Security. Also as a Jr Lieutenant. Did either one have the experience to head departments they weren't in? Especially on the flagship of the fleet? Seems Starfleet puts people where they want,possibly at the Captain's discretion.
The writers' backroom idea back in the original series was that Chekov was a bit of a hot-shot, so Kirk, Spock and Scotty were basically fighting over him; Kirk thought he had the makings of the best captain of the next generation given the right training, Spock the same for science officer, Scotty ditto for engineering.
It doesn't quite come through onscreen, but there's a bit of it there, particularly in season three when they were trying to turn the character into a 'fourth lead', so they wanted excuses to put him into any scene they could
It doesn't quite come through onscreen, but there's a bit of it there, particularly in season three when they were trying to turn the character into a 'fourth lead', so they wanted excuses to put him into any scene they could
Better still, don't send Chekov down there at all. It's beyond silly. Would they send him down to perform surgery? It's ridiculous. Just have another engineer. It's not that hard.
I do mind if he steps in for Spock actually. That's also silly. As are the other examples. No one is saying this is the first time something ridiculous has happened in Star Trek history.
^ Starfleet seems to be big on cross-training, though. We've seen Chekov take the science station, Uhura take navigation, Spock take the helm, etc. They may not be as proficient in those positions as the people for whom they are their primary positions, but Starfleet obviously feels that it is important that pretty much any bridge officer can take over any station in an emergency and at least be competent there.
That being said... yeah, Ensign Chekov being assigned as *Chief* Engineer was kinda dumb. But this assignment was given to him by someone who was given starship command right out of the Academy, so...
That being said... yeah, Ensign Chekov being assigned as *Chief* Engineer was kinda dumb. But this assignment was given to him by someone who was given starship command right out of the Academy, so...
At one point Data reeled off LaForge's education, and it was in engineering and warp theory.
Before or after he got the CEO job? It's a TV show, all sorts of education can be added to support a retcon
Which is my point. It's a film/TV show not a documentary, so things aren't going to follow real world patterns or examples. The needs of the story or production will trump the real world. Sometimes it might get "silly" or "ridiculous". I just roll with it.
I actually did engineering subjects at University but since I didn't go into that profession I don't think I would be made chief engineer on the best ship in the fleet. And from Day One Geordi was able to fix any problem under the sun talking the technobabble talk with no insecurities like he'd been doing it for 10 years.
At least Chekov made mistakes and wasn't perfect at his new job from the beginning.
The problem started with TNG just putting Geordi and Wesley into senior positions with no experience and having them perfect from Day One. In VOY when they trained people up to assist the doc they learnt pretty fast but weren't considered experts.
One possible reason for Chekov to be placed as CEO would be if all of Scott's officers also resigned in protest. That would leave only the Non-commissioned officers and the enlisted men. So Kirk assigns a ensign to be the officer of that department. The Non-coms should be able to handle anything down there short of actual sabotage. I guess the only officer he had to spare was Chekov.
^ Good thing they didn't have a union. There'd be grievances all over the place. 
Just wanted to say I really like this as an explanation.
I'll probably borrow that for my "brain canon" next time I watch the movie. It fits what we see very well. 
We know Keenser resigned as well, so it's possible.
Just wanted to say I really like this as an explanation.
We know Keenser resigned as well, so it's possible.
Just wanted to say I really like this as an explanation.
Possible but not probable. Engineering is most likely the biggest department with sub-divisions like the science department that has several officers on duty at any one time on every rotation. If all your senior officers (i.e Lt and above) had stepped down the department that would have to be over a dozen crewmen easily and your ship would struggle to function IMO. The JJprise is bigger and has more crew than the TOS version as well. TNG seemed to have several deputy chief engineers at any one time and TOS had at least one that I recall, although we have to assume that Keenser is Scotty's deputy I suppose, otherwise the the deputy would have just stepped in.
It's not uncommon to see yellow shirts on rotation in engineering or red shirts doing a rotation on the bridge. The issue here is that Chekov is just too green for a posting as the chief engineer to be credible, especially when you consider the nature of the mission they were undertaking.
I could actually see them appointing an experienced CPO as temporary chief ahead of an ensign with one year under his belt.
Mind you, it was equally silly them allegedly appointing Chapel as CMO in TMP before McCoy came on board. In terms of modern-day qualifications, she could only have been a junior doctor at best by that point who would normally work under supervision. Plus Uhura was retrained from an airhead to an officer is a few weeks as well.
There's nothing to indicate that 100% of the officers walked out, but that all the warrant officers, CPO's, PO's and others remained. Hard to judge from uniforms since there are others walking around in Engineering with the same one Chekov is wearing. Are they other ensigns, or are they saying that warrants and CPO's wear the same rank-less ensign shirt than ensigns do?
