Grading MATT DECKER...

[RobertScorpio]

Sure, we see the guy at his lowest of lows, so maybe this isn't a fair question; but oh well. Like that hasn't stopped me before!!!

Based on what you saw of Matt Decker what kind of captain do you think he was and how would you have rated him...

Rob

 

[Gary7]

He was already quite disturbed when we are introduced to him. He had made a fatal mistake and lost his crew. But we don't know how long he was Commodore aboard the Constellation or other ships, and his track record. Maybe he was caught on a bad day, or some character flaws finally caught up to him. So, there's not enough information... unfortunately.

 

[Vance]

Kirk seemed to genuinely respect him before the Doomsday Machine hit. It's hard to think that Decker would be anything less than a stellar commander before that point. (And, indeed, his 'crime' the pushed him over the edge seemed like the better gamble, and it's hard to fault him for that.)

 

[WendellM]

I voted B for the very reason listed: he seemed a bit too sure of himself and narrow-minded. Kirk seems to have a bit of self-doubt which makes him question himself and listen to advice (e.g., "The Naked Time," "The Ultimate Computer," "The Immunity Sydrome").

My impression is that Picard goes too far in that direction, with his frequent calls for conferences and sometimes being too open to too many alternatives. From what little we learned of Decker's normal approach before he lost his ship and his extreme approach afterward, he was the opposite: too sure of himself and hesitant to even consider other views. That's fine if you're right, but if you're wrong it can be disastrous (which is what happened).

So, that's why I rate Decker (and Picard) as B and Kirk as A. Kirk seems the best-balanced of the three: just enough self-doubt and uncertainty to listen to advice, not so much that he wasn't good at making decisions quickly, and with a willingness to change his mind if a better approach were demonstrated.

 

[Garibaldi O'brien]

I gave him a C, but that's really because of the stupid, stupid choice of letting his crew beam down. When I was younger, it was just tragic and he might have gotten a B+. But as I post this, I think of the inquest if he'd survived.

Commodore Stocker: So you had to beam them down? You had established the Planet Killer was a Planet Killer at this point?

Commodore Mendez: Matt, when you attacked while it was consuming the 4th planet of L-374, did the Planet Killer veer off after your first attack, when you tried to run, after you were hopelessly outclassed?

Garth of Izar: Your crew made a noble sacrifice commander! I'd of probably ridden my ship and crew straight down it's gaping maw, then I'd beamed myself and my most noble minions down at the last moment!!!

We'd go down to the third planet while my crew detonated the warp core inside the gaping design flaw, maw, but I'm just on my meds and blogging from the Colony guys!!!!!

 

[The Boy Who Cried Worf]

I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. I don't think his post-Constellation destruction actions were any worse than Kirk's in Obsession. It must be the equivalent of a parent losing a child for a captain to lose all the people who are under his command. He wouldn't be a commodore in Star Fleet if he wasn't good. He mostly suffers from the running TV convention that everyone must be shown to be less effective than Our Heroes.

 

[RobertScorpio]

I went with a B...

Rob

 

[Garibaldi O'brien]

Fair nuff, but Kirk didn't keep attacking the Vampire Space Cloud after the phasers had no effect. He didn't just try another run at it, using basically the same tactics, and it was hardly as intimidating as the Doomsday Machine, imo. It killed, what? A dozen people maximum, and I doubt it could have destroyed the Enterprise at all. Far too fluffy and sparkly.

Vampire Space Cloud < Doomsday Machine
Decker <Picard <Sisko < Kirk

That is the D position. But I gave him a C, since I think he was already near breakdown when then happened. Stress is the Killer.

 

[Bacl]

I liked the character, and found what was scripted for him very believable and pitiable. He tried to save the day by evacuating his crew and sacrificing himself and the ship. Unfortunately, he ends up sending his entire crew to their deaths, and as a result loses his grip on reality, and his mind. In the end, he attempts to redeem himself.

Good stuff!

But I never liked the actor. I know this is a common criticism for a lot of TOS, but the actor was too over the top. I would have liked a quieter madness.

I also think this was a missed opportunity for some creativity in the show's format. The teaser/opening should have been Decker in command just before they encounter the space cloud thing. You see him normal, and doing routine captain work, a joke with an officer, etc. Then, red alert! The credits roll, and when next we see Decker, everyone is dead.

 

[pookha]

Kirk seemed to genuinely respect him before the Doomsday Machine hit. It's hard to think that Decker would be anything less than a stellar commander before that point. (And, indeed, his 'crime' the pushed him over the edge seemed like the better gamble, and it's hard to fault him for that.)

that is what i picked up on .
the amount of respect that kirk had for decker and that jim seemed to be shaken to see him in the shape he was in.

we dont know how long decker was sitting there but it may have been days.

so not only is there the emotional and mental distress but also the physical ones of sitting there in shock without food ect.


really i could see decker as being one of kirks commanding officers along the way.
that then and later after kirks promotion they become close friends.
something that spock was aware that decker was more then just another captain to kirk but also a friend.

 

[Red Ranger]

I think Baci has a good idea, that it would have been interesting to show Decker just before confronting the planet killer in the teaser. But probably having a bunch of other non-speaking actors, and at least another speaking role, was beyond the budget. I did like it when teasers started off in a different location with different people, like the beginning of The Devil In the Dark and Return of the Archons.

I voted C, myself. They show several crew members, most notably Sulu, following Decker's orders but not liking it. As Decker argues with Spock, a man they know and respect, Palmer and the other two crew members next to her have looks on their faces like, "Oh this isn't right."

So I think Decker was probably a good commander faced with the horror and guilt that his orders caused the death of his crew, and he just wanted to make it right by destroying the planet-killer. He had become both Captain Ahab and Captain Queeg as a result, and the object of his obsession was the doomsday machine.

I think something similar could have happened to Kirk had he been in command of the Constellation.

Another thing I wanted to bring up. In one of Peter David's novels, Picard is discussing the erratic behavior of his new, troubled first officer, Stone, with the man himself, and they're debating the merits of taking risks. Stone points out that while the Picard Maneuver was a success, had it failed, it might have been called Picard's Bliunder or Picard's Folly. So Decker's decision to beam down his people to the planet the machine later destroys became his own Decker's Folly, perhaps even studied at Starfleet Academy.

Red Ranger

 

[Timo]

Well, certainly it would be a bit unusual for Kirk to constantly and consistently address a superior officer he only knew by reputation as "Matt"...

Yeah, I'm ready to give Decker the benefit of doubt regarding his insane decision to beam the crew down to a doomed planet. That is, it could have been part of a cunning plan.

Decker knew coming in that there was a phenomenon there that killed all the planets in a given star system. He didn't know it was a deliberate, beastly machine or entity until he got into L-374, but he did know how that system was going to end up. He went in, found the DDM, and for some reason engaged in a battle with it. Perhaps because the DDM attacked first, swatting away an annoying interruption, or perhaps because Decker fired the first shot, realizing the threat the DDM posed to the Federation. The battle crippled the ship and proved the nigh-invulnerability of the DDM. What happened next?

We hear the crazed Decker say that the crew beamed down, and that they then desperately wanted to beam back up but Decker couldn't do that. That leaves many interpretations, some pretty sinister, but the fact remains that there were no corpses aboard the ship - so the crew probably went willingly, agreeing with Decker's plan. So what could that plan have been? A crew wouldn't abandon a doomed ship for the non-safety of a doomed planet - they'd rather die at their appointed duty stations, or evacuate in lifepods if that were a possibility. But a crew could abandon a doomed ship even at the risk/cost of their own lives if this action directly helped destroy the enemy.

Why not jump straight to the end here? The DDM was dealt with. Decker showed Kirk how. So perhaps Decker knew all along. All it took was a suicidal flight of a starship into the maw. A simple and elegant plan: evacuate the crew, personally set course for the DDM, blow up the beast, and hope that the now-unthreatened crew on the now-unthreatened planet will manage to contact Starfleet once the jamming field of the DDM goes down.

A good plan - but it requires a functioning starship. And just one additional blast from the DDM, just one circuit breaker popping in a Jeffries tube Decker couldn't reach in time, and the plan would utterly fail, letting the DDM proceed with eating up the remaining planets.

Why didn't Decker tell of his plan to Spock or Kirk? Well, when would he have done that? After Decker got out of his shock, Kirk was already incommunicado, Decker had a functional rather than a crippled starship available to him, and a repeat of the once-failed plan probably seemed like the least attractive way to proceed...

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Praetor]

I voted 'B' if only because I do agree that he seemed a bit narrow-minded. Very Jellico-like, and perhaps not as good of an unconventional thinker as Kirk to be as good as Kirk. Just because he was a Commodore doesn't mean much to me. A certain Commodore and ex-Fleet Captain we encountered weren't exactly sterling examples. But one must also carefully consider the fact that Decker had pretty much had a complete nervous breakdown by the time we met him after he lost his crew.

I still maintain his original 'plan' (whatever it was) that resulted in his crew's death was a bad one - or at least one with holes.

It's a given that Decker didn't realize that what destroyed the systems was going to be a doomsday machine. It's possible with that exception that the situation the Constellation went through was similar to what we saw in the episode with the Enterprise trying to fight the PK. I'd also argue that the Planet Killer would not have attacked the Constellation first. Presumably the Planet Killer ignored the Constellation until they closed in and attacked, and was ineffective at damaging the PK, sustaining heavy damage herself. Decker's conclusion for how to deal with it was then the same as Kirk's - only without the presence of a second, wrecked starship to sacrifice itself.

So Decker beams his crew down to a planet which he presumes will be spared if he destroys the Planet Killer, or at the very least he rationalizes this might give them a better chance than dying with him on the ship if he goes down fighting rather than completing the plan. Decker must have been relatively sure that he could sacrifice himself and the Constellation and succeed, yet was unable to do so, rendering his ship disabled. The Planet Killer turns away from the disabled Constellation and destroys the planet, and Decker can only hear their distress calls as the planet and his crew dies.

This to me signals the possibility that Decker was not as capable as Kirk. I have to believe Kirk would have been more successful in this same scenario.

But, here are so many unanswered questions.

Did Decker fail because the Constellation was too heavily damaged? If just some of Decker's crew had volunteered to stay aboard to help make repairs, as Scotty did, and perhaps wait minutes to an hour to get the ship running better, would Decker have been able to complete the sacrificial plan?

Why not detonate the warp drive, ensuring a bigger bada-boom and perhaps more guaranteed annihilation of the PK? Was the Constellation's warp drive already so badly damaged that this was impossible, and that escape was no option?

If the warp drive was already devastated in the initial attack, there are several other possibilities. We know that subspace radio was being jammed by the interference so there was no ability to call for reinforcement. If both of these are the case, why not leave the crew aboard the Constellation, since life support was still working, and the PK is unlikely to try to attack it, just wait a bit for interference to clear, and call in reinforcements? The Enterprise was able to receive the Constellation's distress call, albeit garbled.

Were those uninhabited planets worth 430 lives?

Was it perhaps then the distraction of the Enterprise in the end that allowed the self-destruct plan to work at all?

And I agree with Timo's reason why Decker didn't reiterate his plan, if Kirk's was in fact just a retread of Decker's.

 

[pookha]

we see a little of who decker was in his log reports.
it also helps to remember that whle there was still life support in some parts of the ship the filtration systems no longer worked.

scotty described the warp drive as a pile of junk.
it maybe that decker had intended to indeed ram the dm with constellation and maybe even hoped to cause an antimatter explosion.

but another attack kills the impulse engines while he founds out the anti matter was deactivated.

oh and it may have attacked constellation just because they ran scans on it.
it started chasing enterprise even before she fired on it.

SPOCK: It looks very much like Commodore Decker's planet killer. And it is pursuing us. (The viewscreen now shows it head-on. A round opening with a small sun partway down the gullet.)
SPOCK: We are more manoeuvrable, but it is gaining on us. Sensors indicate some kind of total conversion drive

and this

I would say none, Captain. The energy generated by our power nacelles seems to attracts it. I doubt we could manoeuvre close enough without drawing a direct attack upon ourselves

 

[Outpost4]

Matt Decker is probably my least favorite major Star Trek character. I've never cared for his decisions nor William Windom's portrayal. To me, the Matt Decker character ruins The Doomsday Machine. I know this is a lot of folks favorite Star Trek episode. To me, it's just a middling one, and all because of Matt Decker.

 

[Shaw]

I think it is interesting that most people's assumptions about Decker's choice is based on the belief that they (Decker and his crew) knew that once the Constellation was disabled the Planet Killer would ignore the ship (basically, not finish the job of destroying it).

If the wrong choice was abandoning ship, then were the crew of the Enterprise ever in any real danger? The Constellation survived it's encounter with the Planet Killer (though disabled), shouldn't the same be true of the Enterprise under the same scenario? As long as the Enterprise crew wasn't on a planet, were they really in any danger (as a whole)?

The Planet Killer attacked the Enterprise without warning, but ignored the Constellation once it was no longer a threat... maybe the best course of action (for the crew of the Enterprise) was to get the Enterprise damaged enough to no longer be a threat.

But if you believe that the Enterprise crew was in real danger from the Planet Killer, then the same would have been true for the crew of the Constellation while it was still being attacked (and the attack continued while the crew was abandoning ship).

If there had been a planet within transporter range (and the transporters were functioning), would it have been better for the crew of the Enterprise to stay on board while the Enterprise was being pulled inside the Planet Killer? Or should they have taken their chances on the planet?

Recall that the Planet Killer was leaving L-374 without having destroyed the inner two planets of that system... so there was the possibility that it might not have destroyed the third planet too when the Constellation was under attack. The Constellation seem likely to be destroyed, and maybe the Planet Killer wouldn't have gone after the third planet (the same way it didn't go after the first and second planets of that system).

But anyone saying that the Constellation was the safest place for the crew of the Constellation must also believe that as long as the crew of the Enterprise didn't leave the Enterprise that they were also safe.

Frankly, I don't believe that the crew (of either ship) where the most important factor for Decker... the people who were in the Rigel system were his primary concern.

 

[Praetor]

I think it is interesting that most people's assumptions about Decker's choice is based on the belief that they (Decker and his crew) knew that once the Constellation was disabled the Planet Killer would ignore the ship (basically, not finish the job of destroying it).

If the wrong choice was abandoning ship, then were the crew of the Enterprise ever in any real danger? The Constellation survived it's encounter with the Planet Killer (though disabled), shouldn't the same be true of the Enterprise under the same scenario? As long as the Enterprise crew wasn't on a planet, were they really in any danger (as a whole)?

The Planet Killer attacked the Enterprise without warning, but ignored the Constellation once it was no longer a threat... maybe the best course of action (for the crew of the Enterprise) was to get the Enterprise damaged enough to no longer be a threat.

But if you believe that the Enterprise crew was in real danger from the Planet Killer, then the same would have been true for the crew of the Constellation while it was still being attacked (and the attack continued while the crew was abandoning ship).

But the Enterprise apparently came under attack only because it generated sufficient power levels at sufficient range of the Planet Killer to be perceived as a threat, or at least that was Spock's speculation. I think, with regard to the Constellation it all boils down to how heavily she was damaged, and how quickly, as well as the amount of informaton that Decker's science officer Masaba was able to derive. It could be he or she wasn't quite so clever as our Mister Spock.

If there had been a planet within transporter range (and the transporters were functioning), would it have been better for the crew of the Enterprise to stay on board while the Enterprise was being pulled inside the Planet Killer? Or should they have taken their chances on the planet?

But you seem to assume that it was possible for the Enterprise crew to beam off of the ship to the planet between the time that the ship starts being drawn into the Planet Killer, and that there was minimal likelihood that the ship would be able to break away (which is indeed possible given the fact that Kirk's fire from the Constellation appeared to be what distracted it.) I recall the entire Enterprise crew save Kirk beaming down to the planet in 'This Side of Paradise' but I don't recall a specific timeframe given. I'd be inclined to think it would take at least an hour, depending on how many transporters you suppose the ship to have.

I digress. My point is that it is my conclusion that Decker must have been planning a self-destruct plan against the Planet Killer, similar to the one that finally defeated it, for his beaming his crew down to the planet to make sense. If he was going down fighting, wouldn't it decrease his fighting effectiveness to order them to beam down to a planet that would likely be 'eaten' anyway, thus killing them all anyway?

I have to admit that the fact that Decker doesn't mention any 'plan' other than attacking the Planet Killer with both ships until he does his shuttle suicide and Kirk and Spock notice the apparent damage, rather undermines my benefit of the doubt for Decker having a plan at all. This could be the mistake in judgment that led to his apparent nervous breakdown.

It could, of course, have been just that: a mistake. A rather serious one, but a mistake nonetheless. We humans are rather prone to them.

Such a mistake could have been atypical of Decker's 'normal' command style and attributable to the pressure of the situation, and he therefore might otherwise be an effective commander. Hell, he might have even been a reasonably 'effective' commander regardless, even if he was a bit less clever than Kirk. Perhaps he managed to avoid the rather 'unusual' circumstances one James T. Kirk tended to find himself in?

Recall that the Planet Killer was leaving L-374 without having destroyed the inner two planets of that system... so there was the possibility that it might not have destroyed the third planet too when the Constellation was under attack. The Constellation seem likely to be destroyed, and maybe the Planet Killer wouldn't have gone after the third planet (the same way it didn't go after the first and second planets of that system).

But anyone saying that the Constellation was the safest place for the crew of the Constellation must also believe that as long as the crew of the Enterprise didn't leave the Enterprise that they were also safe.

I don't know - for me personally I would feel safer aboard a starship if the thing attacking me's M.O. appears to be destroying planets, even if the Planet Killer hadn't munched down those other two planets yet. (I would also rather die in the line of duty at my station than await death on a doomed planet.) Again, this all depends on exactly what Decker an his crew knew at the time vis a vis what Kirk and crew knew as depicted in the episode.

I don't think that either crew was entirely safe aboard their ships, just more safe than they would be on an ignored or disabled ship than a planet likely to be a filet mignon.

Frankly, I don't believe that the crew (of either ship) where the most important factor for Decker... the people who were in the Rigel system were his primary concern.

I would tend to agree. I just don't think his plan was well thought out and that it was only through the coincidental intervention of the Enterprise that his original plan (if it was his) was successful at all. That's why I don't give him the highest rating.

 

[Gary7]

There were some gaping holes in this episode, some as wide as the maw of that DDM.

First, the DDM was designed as a planet destroyer, digesting the leftover planet rubble as its fuel. A starship is a significantly small item in comparison to a planet. For the device to navigate and "swallow" a starship would probably be more effort than it is worth. Second, the DDM is designed to defend itself. If a starship attacks, it will attack back until it no longer measures any power levels posing a threat. As such, the best course of action would have been for Decker to power down the Constellation and wait for sufficient distance from the DDM to then power up and get out of there. Clearly one starship on its own was no match for it. The hull was pure deutronium (sp?). Logically the only way to do anything to the DDM is by sending a bomb down its intake port, whether its a thermonuclear warhead or a matter-antimatter device. And naturally, this was achieved in the episode by blowing up the Constellation once inside the DDM.

It was totally senseless for Decker to beam his crew down to a nearby planet. The DDM was in the business of chopping up all planets within range, so surely being on any planet in that area is a death sentence. Matt stayed behind to "go down with the ship", not to try anything else against the DDM... remember when Kirk was the last member aboard the Enterprise in "This Side of Paradise"? He distinctly stated that one person can't run the ship. Decker couldn't have done anything... certainly not without any help. If he was destined to die, he should have recruited a volunteer and then the two of them could have maneuvered the ship into the DDM and perform a self-destruct. Why just die without making a last ditch effort to destroy the thing?

I do wonder if the whole idea of having Decker's entire crew die was really just an easy way of reducing the cost of shooting the episode (less background actors to manage). If I were to rewrite the episode, I'd have it where most of the crew perished due to environmental failures aboard the ship... and we'd see some of them revived by McCoy, in addition to Decker's rescue. Then Decker wouldn't have been made to look like such a fool for sending his entire crew to a senseless death. He still could have a screw loose and do what he did aboard the Enterprise, thinking a fresh bank of phasers might do the trick... even though Spock reminded him that the hull couldn't be pierced by them. It is interesting that there was no mention of trying photon torpedoes. Weren't they already put to use in earlier episodes?

 

[RobertScorpio]

There were some gaping holes in this episode, some as wide as the maw of that DDM.

First, the DDM was designed as a planet destroyer, digesting the leftover planet rubble as its fuel. A starship is a significantly small item in comparison to a planet. For the device to navigate and "swallow" a starship would probably be more effort than it is worth. Second, the DDM is designed to defend itself. If a starship attacks, it will attack back until it no longer measures any power levels posing a threat. As such, the best course of action would have been for Decker to power down the Constellation and wait for sufficient distance from the DDM to then power up and get out of there. Clearly one starship on its own was no match for it. The hull was pure deutronium (sp?). Logically the only way to do anything to the DDM is by sending a bomb down its intake port, whether its a thermonuclear warhead or a matter-antimatter device. And naturally, this was achieved in the episode by blowing up the Constellation once inside the DDM.

It was totally senseless for Decker to beam his crew down to a nearby planet. The DDM was in the business of chopping up all planets within range, so surely being on any planet in that area is a death sentence. Matt stayed behind to "go down with the ship", not to try anything else against the DDM... remember when Kirk was the last member aboard the Enterprise in "This Side of Paradise"? He distinctly stated that one person can't run the ship. Decker couldn't have done anything... certainly not without any help. If he was destined to die, he should have recruited a volunteer and then the two of them could have maneuvered the ship into the DDM and perform a self-destruct. Why just die without making a last ditch effort to destroy the thing?

I do wonder if the whole idea of having Decker's entire crew die was really just an easy way of reducing the cost of shooting the episode (less background actors to manage). If I were to rewrite the episode, I'd have it where most of the crew perished due to environmental failures aboard the ship... and we'd see some of them revived by McCoy, in addition to Decker's rescue.

Yeah...I see your point..cost cutting budgets had a great deal with many of our starship captains (Tracey as well) being nut-jobs...

Rob

 

[Basil]

I'm not sure any of the choices accurately reflect my assessment of Decker, but I would say "B" if given no other options.

Decker is a superb commanding officer, as his rank and command of a starship suggest, but he's also more deeply flawed than Kirk. His error in judgment, like Finney's, costs him, only it costs him more than just his career. After trying to do what he thought was the right thing in the face of adversity the likes of which a starship captain presumably had never encountered, he had to live with the fact that he sent his crew to their ends. He stays behind out of guilt and tradition -- captain goes down with the ship -- but also presumably to transport everyone else. But his subsequent efforts to commandeer the Enterprise for what amounts to a suicide mission show he's emotionally unbalanced.

Early in the series, Commodore Stone makes the point that very few men have the mettle to command a starship. We follow the exploits of Kirk because he's the best of all of them -- not perfect, at least not in the earliest episodes, but the right combination of strengths and weaknesses. If not, we'd be watching a show about another starship captain on another starship; it's also easy to Monday morning quarterback his choices, but put yourself in his place, facing the unknown and with the weight of every decision being the potential for life and death. It would be easy to see that the odds were greater that a starship captain would make a tragic mistake or go "bad" than succeed, given enough time.

I think Windom's portrayal is dead on target. Sympathetic but with just enough hubris and bark to make him three dimensional, and definitely a lot more interesting than the blank-faced people that sleep-walked through so much modern Trek.