Can We Ever Top the First Three Show Captains?

[VulcanMindBlown]

I think that Trek has lost all of the good ideas. I'm not bashing Trek or its writers, its just all of the personality possibilities seem to have been used.

Think about it, Captain Kirk, the brash cowboy who rebels against authority while getting things done by outsmarting his enemies. Then, Captain Picard, the smart, elderly man who can out talk his enemies through diplomacy. Finally, Captain Sisko, an African American, single father, who has also been scarred by the Borg Invasion along with the taking of his wife. Shades of grey morality abounds with him.

Captain Janeway, sort of a copy of Kirk, but plays the woman card to have people remember her.

Captain Archer is also similar to Kirk. He basically plays the card that he was the first captain. However, the writing for him becomes better as Season 3 and 4 go on.

Does anyone agree or disagree...???? No flame wars or trolling please...

 

[TheGoodStuff]

I think that Trek has lost all of the good ideas. I'm not bashing Trek or its writers, its just all of the personality possibilities seem to have been used.

Think about it, Captain Kirk, the brash cowboy who rebels against authority while getting things done by outsmarting his enemies. Then, Captain Picard, the smart, elderly man who can out talk his enemies through diplomacy. Finally, Captain Sisko, an African American, single father, who has also been scarred by the Borg Invasion along with the taking of his wife. Shades of grey morality abounds with him.

Captain Janeway, sort of a copy of Kirk, but plays the woman card to have people remember her.

Captain Archer is also similar to Kirk. He basically plays the card that he was the first captain. However, the writing for him becomes better as Season 3 and 4 go on.

Does anyone agree or disagree...???? No flame wars or trolling please...

I can assure you there are vastly more characters that can be created than "brash cowboy/wise old man/African American single father". I'm baffled you think Sisko/Picard/Kirk are somehow the only potential personalities that exist.

Also Janeway 'playing the woman card' is...certainly something I don't agree with. A very sexist comment that seems so...vague. She is a great character in her own right, why some fans are so focused on her gender is bizarre.

And Archer doesn't 'play a card' either...he IS the 'first' captain. He is unsure, making it up as he goes along. In numerous episodes he looks downright uncomfortable with certain situations. He is a strong leader but inexperienced in diplomacy. Archer is entirely different from the other captains.

 

[1001001]

Captain Janeway, sort of a copy of Kirk, but plays the woman card to have people remember her.

What exactly does that mean?

 

[The Old Mixer]

Archer plays the Whiner Card. Not sure what kind of a strategy that's supposed to be, but there it is.

 

[Tenacity]

Picard played the "european" card.

 

[locutus101]

Archer plays the Whiner Card. Not sure what kind of a strategy that's supposed to be, but there it is.

I thought he played the gazelle card...

 

[The Old Mixer]

That was just one example of playing the Whiner Card, which was...pretty much whenever he opened his mouth.

 

[locutus101]

That was just one example of playing the Whiner Card, which was...pretty much whenever he opened his mouth.

Yes, he did and he made some really bad decisions. Like how was it any of his damn business if the Vulcans were observing the Andorians?

 

[Annorax849]

I would put Sisko more on par with the latter two rather than the first two. Kirk and Picard were pretty much the two best characters in Trek.

 

[locutus101]

I would put Sisko more on par with the latter two rather than the first two. Kirk and Picard were pretty much the two best characters in Trek.

Characters? Yes Actors? Stewart yes, Shatner, no.

 

[Push The Button]

Archer was the captain that had to figure it all out for himself, so I tend to cut him a lot of slack. Making him unpolished and a little dopey at times was a good choice.

 

[fenwyk79]

The first three captains? If we're talking chronologically wouldn't that be Jonathan Archer, Robert April, and Christopher Pike? I did always want to see what it was like to see Captain April (I think there's a TAS episode with him in it actually) and what he was like.

Captain Archer is probably my least favorite captain just because of some of his actions that seem stupid to me even without the Prime Directive existing as of yet. "Hey, let's bring Porthos down to this alien planet with aliens whose culture we don't understand, what could possibly go wrong there?"

With Captain Janeway it depends on the writers and unfortunately this made her seem bipolar. Murdering two people to get back her beloved tactical officer because Kes thought he was "creepy"? No problem! But, hey, let's reward her for this by making her an admiral while we have Jean Luc out on patrol in the neutral zone. At other times she was the best out of all the captains for protecting her crew. I guess it just depends on how much coffee she had that day.

I liked Captain Sisko although I'd have to question becoming a religious prophet as you'd think that would break quite a few Starfleet protocols. And if I was wearing a red shirt I'd be putting in for a transfer from Captain Kirk's crew in a heartbeat.

For me, I have always preferred Captain Picard. As he always seemed the most rational and least likely to get me killed as well as the least likely to become a cult leader or bipolar insane person and he didn't think taking a dog with him to a first contact was a great idea.

 

[BJ Wagner]

People often blast Shatner for his acting, and although I'd agree with those criticisms for most roles, not for Kirk. Never for Kirk. Shatner's acting style is Kirk. That's how that character talks and carries himself. It's one of the most recognizable performances in history.

As for topping Kirk, Picard or Sisko... I don't know if it can be done, but let's hope it happens one day.

Kirk will always be my favourite, but Sisko had a lot of meaty stuff to deal with. From single father to religious figure. Widower to new husband. War strategist to subterfuge. The guy had a journey. Kirk and Picard ended their run in about the same place as they started it.

 

[Arpy]

Archer was the captain that had to figure it all out for himself, so I tend to cut him a lot of slack. Making him unpolished and a little dopey at times was a good choice.

This is folly. Archer was a schmuck because he was badly written. I wouldn't be that naive a starship captain, let alone an honest to goodness one. Don't forget that this fiction, and people act however they're written, not as they really would. No self-respecting scientist on the planet would act like the ones in Prometheus did, yet there they are touching alien contagions left and right. It's like when Tony Shaloub's character in Galaxy Quest opens the shuttle doors and takes a whiff of the air on an alien planet to see if it's safe. Oh, okay. On 99.975% alien planets, he either burned, froze, suffocated, was poisoned, eaten, or infected to death.

 

[Paul Weaver]

I thought it was generally agreed Robau was the best captain.

 

[Bry_Sinclair]

That's why we need more aliens! Alien characters with very non-human perspectives and backgrounds.

Kira, Odo, Quark, Garak, etc, all very memorable and powerful characters in their own right because they weren't part of the homo sapien club.

 

[The Old Mixer]

As for topping Kirk, Picard or Sisko... I don't know if it can be done

Sure it can be, we've already seen it on other shows...e.g., Edward James Olmos on Battlestar Galactica.

 

[BJ Wagner]

Sure it can be, we've already seen it on other shows...e.g., Edward James Olmos on Battlestar Galactica.

Beyond Trek, oh yeah. Adama is one of the all-time greats. Talk about a character with some depth.

 

[Tenacity]

Archer was a schmuck because he was badly written

Archer was a schmuck because he was created as "golly gee, I'm the first captain to see this stuff," this was deliberate and intended. The character got his job not through merit or experience in commanding other ships, but because his father was famous and his buddy was a admiral.

This was the Archer who was persented to us, it's not like TPTB intended Archer to be completely different and the writers screw up that plan.

 

[Six of Twelve]

I had to laugh when the OP referred to Picard as "elderly". Patrick Stewart was only 47 when TNG began, so hardly elderly. He was BALD, not old. And considering the increased life expectancy for his time, the "elderly" label becomes even more ridiculous.