Chapel Character Teaser

What exactly is your canon source for the date that Pike's command of the 1701 ended?

And all that's known about Christine Chapel's previous 'posting' from TOS S1 - "What Are Little Girls Made Of" is:
http://www.chakoteya.net/StarTrek/10.htm

Hell, in TNG Beverly Crusher was promoted to the head of Starfleet Medical after one year on the 1701-D. One year later, she relinquished that post, and re-signed as the CMO aboard the 1701-D.

So yeah, sorry - nothing so far really contradicts any canon sources WRT Christine Chapel and what her posting was in 2259 (7 years before she returned to the 1701).

Hell, it appears from the character Trailer she's DOING bio-research on security chief La'an. Which only re-enforces they are aware of her 'future history'.

 

In that case, I must have forgotten when it was established that Chapel had never served before on the ship.

Can you direct me to the episode that says that and the line in it? Was it in "What Are Little Girls Made of?" or some other episode?

 

All the line says is that she "gave up a career in bioresearch to serve aboard a starship."

 

And then Roger Korby.

 

Thanks. It's a throwaway line. I'm not bothered, even if it is a retcon.

 

Hey, he's gotta be 25% different!

 

It's also not clear as to the actual order of events.

 

That's right. For all we know, she gave up a career in bio-research to serve under M'Benga and Pike.

 

Looks like I have the wrong Pike, it was Kelvin Pike that had the Enterprise until 2262.

https://www.startrek.com/database_article/pike-kelvin

Having said that I we can assume that he gave up command in 2265, since according to the episode Q2 Kirk's original 5 year mission ended in 2270.

Sure, one could infer that her work in bio-research was in Starfleet when she was engaged to Korby, or you could infer that she wasn't in Starfleet at that time. Guess we'll see if they mention it at all in SNG.

I have high hopes for this show and so far it seems like it could be a hit, but I'm not feeling the need to introduce all these existing characters. Give me more new ones or bring back some of the ones referenced in The Cage. Let's see Yeoman Colt, Lt. Tyler, Dr. Boyce.

 

New characters would have been better.

The hurdles that SNW is trying to surmount are growing larger.

 

You are connecting things together that are never stated to be connected.

• She joined the crew of the Enterprise in 2266.

Never stated anywhere

• She was engaged to Korby when he disappeared 5 years prior,

True

• at that time she still had a career in bio-research and was not in Starfleet

That isn't stated anywhere either. We don't know when she made the switch.

• She joined Starfleet after Korby disappeared in 2261.

They never say if she joined Starfleet before or after Kirby's disappearance

Chapels implied backstory doesn't make much sense. Why doesn't she go with Roger on the expedition? Why wasn't she on one of the previous expeditions to find him? Why would she think joining Starfleet would lead to her being assigned to a ship that would be assigned to investigate at all? Was it a request granted when she signed up? Seems unlikely.

My version:
Chapel falls in love with her much older professor. He is flattered by the attention and reciprocates.

Chapel, however, has decided she wants to be a nurse in Starfleet (boldly go!), at least for a while, before going off and being a bio researcher with Korby.

Korby pressures her to get engaged before she ships out, since he's never going to land a knockout like Chapel again if they break up. However, they will also agree to be non-exclusive in that time, no sense in them being celibate for years. (So she can have a crush on Spock with a clear conscience).

Then a a few years into her time in Starfleet he disappears. At which point, "The guy I'm marrying when I get back" becomes "Darling Roger, who I can't live without". Then it's just pure luck the Enterprise goes to investigate a third(!) time.

 

That makes far more sense than the premise that Chapel gives up bio-research and enlists in Starfleet to find her lost beau. And it fits pretty neatly with that line in "... Little Girls...".

 

The thing is with a huge amount of what fans take as fact is in fact speculation and extrapolation of brief nuggets that people have tried to put together. But a huge amount of it isn't factual. For example look at the dates used at Memory alpha and by extension the Chronology. These are guesstimates and many are based on the concept that each season is a year in TOS, when in fact its never, ever, ever been stated. And in fact tv at that time generally didn't do such things to allow for a long running show. Generally you didn't see things treated more accurately until much later tv productions and even then its still very much not a set in stone thing.

Even things with very specific dates like how long Spock served with Pike going down the 11 years, four months and five days sources have taken that to mean Spock served a consistent 11 years, 4 months and 5 days with Pike. And that all that time was with Pike as a Captain. And that it was one long continuous time and on one ship. And none of that is ever, ever stated, Even the short Trek with Spock boarding the Enterprise never states if he served with Pike previously on another ship (you can certainly argued its implied, but that doesn't mean the same thing as stated fact).

 

Well since this is ( I thank) the only time we have got specific trailers for individual characters of the primary cast for a show, its hard to reasonably compare to previous Trek's on the promotional side of the issue.

But on the character side, sorry but its common place. Look at what was probably (at the starting Gate) the least promising place to get assigned (outside of Lower Decks) and that's DS9. We have Kira who is arrogant and feels she's superior and more knowledgable then those in Starfleet and her own temporary government. We have Bashir who out rights states he could have any posting he wanted, and where he placed in his graduating class. And of course over the run of the show two years, we se show Odo feels his superior at his job then Starfleet is (from early first season), to Dax having expertise in many various fields (Which do makes sense for her character). O'Brien is a rare example in Trek of showing a character being completely overwhelmed by his immediate job.

Enterprise, its stated Hoshi is the best in her field (and she acknowledges this), Phlox is the best person for interspecies medical care that Starfleet had access to, Mayweather is more experienced than most Starfleet Captains. And T'Pol feels none of the humans are up to the level she is. All from the first episode.

Voyager Tom Paris outright states he's the best pilot Janeway could have, and Nellix states his knowledge makes him invaluable to the crew (both from pilot). Next episode we have Torres stating her's is the superior engineering skills and stating the experienced Starfleet engineer is an idiot. Chakotay agrees that Torres is the best for the job. The Doctor early in his appearances states his superior medical knowledge. 7 in her first episode as a crew person states her superior knowledge and ability.

TNG. Wesley is stated as gifted from the get go. And then by Where No One Has Gone Before the Trailer just reinforces how special he is. Data from the get states his superior knowledge.

Picard which has a rag tag group, has Jurati who is an expert in her field (though its a neglected field), and features Picard who at this time is regarded as one of Starfleet finest historical Captains, and we have 7 who is stilll 7. We also have Elinor who excels at his own skill set.

Discovery we have out of the gate Michael and Staments.

In TOS we had Spock, earlier we had Spock and Number One.

And in almost every case we know either from the get go, or short in their character run how above average for Starfleet they are. Having some people who excels in their fields is common for Star Trek. The only issue is that this is the first time its presented in individual trailers for several of them, versus us seeing it the first episode or first handful of episodes.

But using the US military and things like NASA (especially the early days) there were a lot of cocky people who were very much convinced on their ability to do the jobs at hand.

 

I wish I could hit the "like" button more than once!

 

She is now.

 

Actually you were right, the article says that Prime Pike commanded the Enterprise from 2251-2262 and Kelvin Pike took command in 2258.

 

I am not as up on canon and the exact dates. I am just going to enjoy the show. I am excited it is going to be episodic. Also, this 46 year old has a crush on the character and actress.

 

We actually don't know how long Pike served as Captain of the Enterprise, only that he and Spock served together for 11 years, 4 months, 5 days (and that figure might have to be taken with a grain of salt, if time spent apart in Starbase psychiatric wards and detached service elsewhere needs to be taken into account). I believe that a bio display on Pike in DISCOVERY had him taking command in 2250.

The handover from Pike to Kirk could theoretically range anywhere between 2261 to 2265. There is nothing canonically onscreen keeping Pike from serving a full fifteen years as Enterprise captain, as far as I remember. All that is required is that the 11 years Spock served with Pike began shortly before "The Cage" in 2254 (calculated from a conjectural 2267 date for "The Menagerie").

Mike Okuda's dates for this period are largely conjectural, as are further dates derived from his conjectures. Those conjectural dates can be freely adjusted (and have been, on occasion) to take into account new onscreen information.