If Geordi had remained helmsman
- Thread starter suarezguy
- Start date
I make fun of Kim more for being a perpetual ensign than for his station. As such, how I'd feel about Geordi remaining helmsman would depend on whether he remained perpetually not-promoted as well...but he didn't start out as an ensign either.
I do think at some point the show would have needed, if not a chief engineer, at least a primary engineering person. It feels like an oversight that they didn't have one, especially given the S1 revolving door that ensued.
I do think at some point the show would have needed, if not a chief engineer, at least a primary engineering person. It feels like an oversight that they didn't have one, especially given the S1 revolving door that ensued.
The vast majority of characters in Star Trek keep the same job throughout their series, that's not what people make fun of when it comes to Harry, it's his lack of promotions which even the show acknowledges in its later seasons.
If Geordie had remained helmsman he wouldn't have gotten less development or leadership, he was in command of the ship during The Arsenal of Freedom and as a permanent fixture on the bridge probably would have gotten more opportunities to do that and character development really doesn't depend on a character's position.
I agree with this. Season 1 made it clear that Geordi was on the command track, hoping to become a captain someday. So they certainly would've given him the chance to show leadership and develop as a character.
I've long felt that both Geordi and Worf would've been better served if they'd been given the opposite jobs in season 2. Worf as security chief got too stereotyped as nothing more than the grr-honor-kill Klingon warrior, not being given a chance to grow beyond that until he moved to DS9. Making him chief engineer instead would've gone against the Klingon stereotypes and allowed him to be defined by more than that.
And making Geordi security chief would've been a much better use of his VISOR, a literal superpower that he could've used to detect clues, identify when suspects were lying (as established in "Pen Pals" and subsequently ignored), and so on; plus it would've allowed for an approach to security work that was more about peacekeeping and detective work than combat. Trek is too quick to reduce security work to nothing more than shooting and getting shot, but the job of a starship's security department should be to prevent violence from happening in the first place. I think it would've been pretty cool to put LeVar Burton in a role where he'd confront violent bad guys and calmly, compassionately convince them to stand down and find another way. Sort of like Enrico Colantoni in Flashpoint.
Geordi and Harry have some interesting parallels... they were male characters of minority races who were somewhat neglected by the writers. They were unlucky in love, but had wonderful same-sex friendships. And they were both brutally assassinated by the writers (Harry being a tantrum-throwing child in "Resolutions" and a trainwreck of a captain in "Nightingale", and Geordi being a frickin' pervert in "Galaxy's Child").
However, the "back burnered character" status worked better for Geordi because he was on a more static and episodic show, his character traits didn't include being immature and naive (traits that don't make sense with an officer with seven years' seniority), and his rank leveled up properly (there was a character on TNG who was shafted promotion wise, but it wasn't him).
There are several theories for why Harry Kim was stuck at ensign for so long. They include:
1. The writers/producers wanted to keep the "Harry the clueless newbie" vibe for as long as possible, suggesting that they truly thought we were that stupid.
2. The writers/producers really believed that "someone had to be the ensign", suggesting that they were completely ignorant of their own fandom (because every ensign before then was promoted in some fashion).
3. The writers/producers were trying to target Garrett Wang, suggesting that they were carrying out a grudge in a fashion that was both puerile and stupid.
Regardless of which is true, they certainly highlighted their own incompetence.
However, the "back burnered character" status worked better for Geordi because he was on a more static and episodic show, his character traits didn't include being immature and naive (traits that don't make sense with an officer with seven years' seniority), and his rank leveled up properly (there was a character on TNG who was shafted promotion wise, but it wasn't him).
There are several theories for why Harry Kim was stuck at ensign for so long. They include:
1. The writers/producers wanted to keep the "Harry the clueless newbie" vibe for as long as possible, suggesting that they truly thought we were that stupid.
2. The writers/producers really believed that "someone had to be the ensign", suggesting that they were completely ignorant of their own fandom (because every ensign before then was promoted in some fashion).
3. The writers/producers were trying to target Garrett Wang, suggesting that they were carrying out a grudge in a fashion that was both puerile and stupid.
Regardless of which is true, they certainly highlighted their own incompetence.
It would've been more often than that. As I said, in season 1, Geordi was specifically intended to be on the command track, which is why he was in red. Moving him to engineering took him out of the command track, so he ended up in charge less frequently than he probably would have otherwise.
True, but that didn't stop him from getting his own command in "Timeless". And he probably got it in the altered timeline where Voyager got home, there's no reason why Voyager's survival would change his career path.
Yeah, in a guest spot on a different show years later. The topic is how he was written in TNG and how he might have been written differently within that series if he hadn't been transferred to engineering.
That's the thing. It was a cast of character oddities, the enigmatic android, the warrior Klingon, the wonder kid, the exotic quasi-telepath. With the captain & 1st officer hogging a bunch of space too, & the show wanting a doctor to feature, whoever that was going to be, it doesn't leave much room for anybody else, & I figure that's why Crosby felt the need to ditch.
Without moving into the chief engineer spot (& being Data's buddy) Geordi wasn't bound to get a lot of interesting stuff. A VISOR is not a character. Hell, even being the chief engineer, he didn't get a lot of interesting stuff. A breakout character he was never going to be. At least with how it ended up, he was integral. Staying at helm wouldn't have worked all that well imho
Well, I mean, one is a stereotype and the other is - barring 24th century medical intervention - completely understandable.
ColeMercury came up with the idea of moving Data to Engineering in Season 2 and transferring Geordi to Ops. I thought that idea was rather neat and different.
Freeing Geordi up to Engineering or anywhere else gave Wesley a spot on the bridge too, which is why he got moved out.
If TNG had kept helm and nav instead of just having conn, they could have had Geordi and Wesley as both. Data could be science officer somewhere else, maybe up the back.
I like the idea of Geordi staying in red and having a career somewhat like Rikers, although not moving up the ladder so quick. Although if he'd stayed in red he probably wouldn't have got promoted twice in two years and been a Lt. Cmdr, so there's that. Maybe he could have been a nightshift manager.
Freeing Geordi up to Engineering or anywhere else gave Wesley a spot on the bridge too, which is why he got moved out.
If TNG had kept helm and nav instead of just having conn, they could have had Geordi and Wesley as both. Data could be science officer somewhere else, maybe up the back.
I like the idea of Geordi staying in red and having a career somewhat like Rikers, although not moving up the ladder so quick. Although if he'd stayed in red he probably wouldn't have got promoted twice in two years and been a Lt. Cmdr, so there's that. Maybe he could have been a nightshift manager.
Geordi was a hella lot more suave, funny, and charming in the first season. When he became chief engineer, the character became more uptight and rigid.
I'd have preferred Geordi stayed on the bridge.
I'd have preferred Geordi stayed on the bridge.
The episode where he is in charge of the bridge is also perhaps the best episode of Season 1. And one of the few to utilize all of the characters effectively.
Well, you had his relationship with Data, his interest in pursuing command, and the stuff with his VISOR and the pain it caused him (which was rarely brought up). And in "The Naked Now," they had him reveal feelings for Tasha Yar, so that could've been something to do with him if they hadn't decided to drop it.
In the original series bible, one of Geordi's intended roles was to be the liaison with the ship's children. I don't know if Burton had been cast yet when that was written, but maybe they were thinking of his Reading Rainbow gig. Hard to say whether that would've been interesting or cheesy if they'd developed it.
and Mayweather was a Space Boomer with a lot of deep space experience.
In addition to being helm? Seems like such a liaison would be a full time job, not a side gig.
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