Gary Mitchell as First Officer

[HarryM]

To me it seems that Mitchell is being more vocal and assertive is simply the script trying to make the Mitchell role more fleshed out and interesting since he's such a main focus and the tragic character. In a subtle way/indirect way it could be taken as a hint of what's going to happen as his behavior is a bit casual/indifferent to the normal command structure.

 

[Ssosmcin]

And one again, Harvey tells the true story:

Here's what a 5-2-66 memo from Roddenberry says about Spock:

The whole thing seems pretty cut and dry to me. Spock is the ship's science officer, the ship's science officer is second-in-command, therefore Spock is second-in-command.

Case closed in my book.

I always took it that in WNMHGB Mitchell was XO and Spock was Second Officer--who was then promoted to fill Mitchell's vacant post. That's how it always felt to me.

I got this feeling too.

So did I. I always thought Mitchell was XO.

But why? I'm not being argumentative, I really want to know what was it in the episode that made folks think he was the first officer. If you don't mind elaborating....

 

[J.T.B.]

The whole thing seems pretty cut and dry to me. Spock is the ship's science officer, the ship's science officer is second-in-command, therefore Spock is second-in-command.

Indeed. It's interesting that Science Officer was considered important enough to be ex officio second-in-command. That feels more like something from a literary SF influence, Asimov or Van Vogt maybe, though I can't recall anything directly specific. Different from the more military model of Forbidden Planet, anyway.

 

[Shawnster]

I got this feeling too.

So did I. I always thought Mitchell was XO.

But why? I'm not being argumentative, I really want to know what was it in the episode that made folks think he was the first officer. If you don't mind elaborating....

I don't know. I was watching Star Trek when I was 3. Some of the misconceptions we form that early stick with us. I don't know if there was anything in the episode itself, or if it was the novel or comics that helped influence my perception (now I want to see what Memory Beta says about it).

Now, I do wonder if The Menagerie/The Cage had an influence. Spock was definitely not Number 1 under Pike.

Maybe it was the friendship angle. Later episodes developed the friendship between Kirk and Spock. WNMHGB established that Kirk and Mitchell were close friends and that Kirk wanted Mitchell on the Enterprise with him. I know I didn't see Trek in any kind of order when I was growing up, so I wonder if I subconsciously connected the friendship angle with the first officer position.

 

[ROBE]

Didn't the delta badges in the second pilot indicate rank before they became command, sciences and services? Kirk had command badge and two stripes making him captain, Spock command badge and one stripe making him XO, then senior officers had "science" badges and stripe, junior officers "engineering" badge and stripe and crew "engineering" badge with no stripe.

 

[J.T.B.]

Didn't the delta badges in the second pilot indicate rank before they became command, sciences and services? Kirk had command badge and two stripes making him captain, Spock command badge and one stripe making him XO, then senior officers had "science" badges and stripe, junior officers "engineering" badge and stripe and crew "engineering" badge with no stripe.

That doesn't fit what was shown. It's hard to come up with a "system" that does fit.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I always thought that in WNMHGB, there wasn't a separate stripe system for every rank - just two stripes for the captain, and one stripe for every other officer rank. I think "The Cage" had an even simpler system - all officers (regardless of rank) got one stripe.

In both cases - and, AFAIK, in the series itself - enlisted personnel got no stripes or insignia of any kind.

 

[ROBE]

Well that proves that theory wrong. Yes in the Cage all officers had just one stripe and crewmen had none, however Chiefs had rectangle cuts in their stripes.
Until TWOK Trek always had a rubbish rank and rate insignia.

 

[J.T.B.]

In both cases - and, AFAIK, in the series itself - enlisted personnel got no stripes or insignia of any kind.

Also ensigns; apparently ensign and enlisted grades were indistinguishable by uniform in TOS.

Well that proves that theory wrong. Yes in the Cage all officers had just one stripe and crewmen had none, however Chiefs had rectangle cuts in their stripes.

There was definitely a different stripe, and it's been attributed to "CPO" Garrison. Where the CPO thing came from I've never been able to find out; it's been around for a long time but doesn't come from anything in the episode.

Until TWOK Trek always had a rubbish rank and rate insignia.

TMP was pretty good, too. Apparently LTJG was merged into lieutenant at the time, so ensign had a single broken stripe. There were insignia for enlisted personnel, but evidently there were also uniforms (off duty?) that could be worn with no rank insignia (Chief Di Falco).

 

[ROBE]

The whole ensign not wearing rank insignia in TOS has caused confusion as many people think ensigns are enlisted. Interesting point in STID "enlisted" ranks seemed to have no insignia on their badges.

 

[EnsignHarper]

Here's what a 5-2-66 memo from Roddenberry says about Spock:

Mister Spock is the ship’s Science Officer, in charge of all scientific departments and personnel aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise. As such, he is the ship’s Number Two ranking officer.

An even earlier document -- the first draft of the writer-director information guide, dated 3-15-66 -- is even clearer:

Mister Spock. This is the ship's Science Officer, the number two command position aboard the starship U.S.S. Enterprise.

And here's what the 7-8-65 draft of "Where No Man Has Gone Before" says when it introduces Spock:

Ship's Captain JAMES KIRK sits across the table from Science Officer MISTER SPOCK, a three-dimensional chess game between them.

The whole thing seems pretty cut and dry to me. Spock is the ship's science officer, the ship's science officer is second-in-command, therefore Spock is second-in-command.

However, in Roddenberry's ST:TMP novelization, when Xon is killed in the transporter, and Kirk makes Decker Science Officer as well as 1st Officer, he comes right out and says that this is VERY unusual.

 

[Harvey]

Roddenberry's thinking certainly changed on a lot of things related to Trek in the '70s.

 

[C.E. Evans]

I think it was a case that Star Trek was always a work in progress to Roddenberry and that certain things could change along the way (such as the first officer being a part-time job).