I don't think they will since Picard is still quite "young" if we look at the average life expectancy in his era. I don't think Pocket will need to deal with this. Picard as Captain is about one person's personal career choice.
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I don't think they will since Picard is still quite "young" if we look at the average life expectancy in his era. I don't think Pocket will need to deal with this. Picard as Captain is about one person's personal career choice.
Not about age if you read my entire post. For me, it makes little to no sense for a military officer who is needed elsewhere in a major way to continue to do his own thing.
We're also talking about a future and the Fed is a quasi-military type org. I also said in a previous post this would be a bigger issue if ALL Captains stayed put. If one does, I don't see it as an issue plus he can still get the odd special assignment, etc. Why force him to be promoted when, in the end, he may choose to leave SF and follow his archeology passion or something else? He's valuable in SF in whatever role IMHO. And, it makes sense.
As new starships are built and command grade officers are needed to fill those positions... do we allow Worf and Laforge to continue to squat on their current positions? How do younger officers get their chance if older officers are only moved on when it suits their interest?
"Ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country" - John F. Kennedy
Or this exchange from The Best of Both Worlds I:
Why force him, because he is in a military service. Even if he was in a civilian exploration service (no armament), he would still be told to move on so that the younger generation could have a chance and he could be in a position to spread his knowledge and experience. You can't really do that only being starship. In that position, you only do that to a select few, and when your service needs as much seasoned officers because of recent wars and invasions, it makes no sense to keep one of your most seasoned captains to stay off in the grid.
Besides, Calhoun only has been a captain since 2373, minus three years for time traveling. In fact he is a relatively new captain in comparison to Picard.
How does Ben Sisko move up if the XO of the Okinawa decides to never move on... or how does a Jim Kirk get a crack at the Enterprise if Chris Pike decides to squat on the command for forty years?
I know it's funny when mentioned in the context of Star Trek... but part of it is just about whether it's believable or not. I think many take the exchange between Kirk and Picard from Generations way too seriously. They are two completely different people with different motivations. Where Kirk could only find contentment on the bridge of a starship, Picard is a much broader character and would do well in a multitude of surroundings.
There are other shipe to Captain. It is believable still if we're only talking a handful of officers not ALL starfleet officers squatting. That's all I'm saying about context.
I see no problem with Worf in command, and his command style would be interesting to see. He's not a "fire first, don't ask question" Klingon. He's been a diplomat for 4 years in between two stints as a Starfleet officer and has experience of not only serving on the Enterprise as it ricocheted around the Federation, but he was also on the front lines of a major war.
Picard has been a captain in two wildly different time periods and is (more than) an amateur archaeologist, as well as an accomplished diplomat with dozens of successful first contacts under his belt. He has been the commanding officer of the Federation flagship for a combined total of 19 years. That gives one a lot of leeway which he might lose should he decide on a different career path. While he maintains command of the Enterprise, he really CAN make a difference, especially now.
I see no reason to upset the status quo because all the players are actually where they can do the most good. Geordi is not only one hell of an engineer, but he is also an expert in spatial anomalies and how to get out of them. Geordi is the one who gets the Enterprise out of trouble in some cases and just you try to pry him away from those engines. Like Scotty once said, "I may be a Captain by rank, but I never wanted to be anything but an engineer." Scotty's brief interaction with Geordi changed him.
Picard has been a captain in two wildly different time periods and is (more than) an amateur archaeologist, as well as an accomplished diplomat with dozens of successful first contacts under his belt. He has been the commanding officer of the Federation flagship for a combined total of 19 years. That gives one a lot of leeway which he might lose should he decide on a different career path. While he maintains command of the Enterprise, he really CAN make a difference, especially now.
I see no reason to upset the status quo because all the players are actually where they can do the most good. Geordi is not only one hell of an engineer, but he is also an expert in spatial anomalies and how to get out of them. Geordi is the one who gets the Enterprise out of trouble in some cases and just you try to pry him away from those engines. Like Scotty once said, "I may be a Captain by rank, but I never wanted to be anything but an engineer." Scotty's brief interaction with Geordi changed him.
I don't think Picard is stagnant because of his marriage and his new child. This is a major step, major growth for his character, who started out on TNG not liking, or being comfortable around children. Plus, the writers have finally resolved a lot of the things left unsaid or undone between Crusher and Picard. The writers also find new challenges for Picard. He is generally at the center of almost every TNG adventure. None of those things can be said for Geordi in comparison.
A few years back I actually advocated elevating Picard to an ambassador, though I think KRAD made a good point at that time about Picard being a recognizable face that helps sell the books. Personally I wouldn't mind them moving on to Captain Worf, who would also be a pretty recognizable face that could sell books too, though I don't know if he has Picard's juice. I hope they get to the point where they do move Picard off the Enterprise. Working as an ambassador and/or archaelogist would be cool and it would afford him opportunities to still get involved in the action from time to time.
Fine. Good. It's at least something. La Forge has been essentially ignored for a very long time now, stuck in a holding pattern while every other character's had something major happen.
Picard and Crusher - married and have a kid.
Riker and Troi - married, got another ship and series, have a kid.
Worf - married, wife was killed, became a diplomat, un-became a diplomat, first officer of Enterprise, budding romance
Data - died (hey, it's something).
Ro - survived the Dominion purge, officer in the Bajoran militia, security chief of Deep Space Nine, romance with Quark, reinstated in Starfleet, Captain of Deep Space Nine.
To say nothing of the new secondary characters.
And La Forge gets... pretty much nothing. The only series regular that's been more ignored is Wesley, and he's at least a Traveller. Maybe Travis Mayweather too, but I don't follow the Ent-lit. One of the most exciting things about seeing Captain La Forge of the Challenger was "Hey look! They did something with La Forge!" I haven't finished Paths of Disharmony yet, so maybe something comes of the romance hints, but I'll almost guarantee that's all he gets.
I think there's a fair case to be made that Picard should've been retired after Destiny and serve a similar role to Admiral Akaar. However, the material with Rene and being married to Beverly is very nice.
On this i agree , having him as a admiral or ambassdor , whould actually alway him more freedom to more around the federation not less. akarr certianly seems to get around in fac to much the C and C would be the most locked down person , becasue starleet could not risk him beeing so exposed, like i said more civilian thinking. thats why he has other admirals to be his arms and legs to go were he cant.but every time i see him he,s popping up somewhere, its not belivebale from people who have been apart of any real milarty or para miliarty org.. you dont see the cheif of police at every crime seen , unless its very high profile.
Similarly, not every teacher desires to be a school principal. Unless you crave administration work and public relations, the higher up you go the less time you spend doing what you were good at.
^Exactly. The 24th century is supposed to be a more enlightened time, so I'd like to think they've outgrown the Peter Principle.
my dad was in the British Army 10 years and only got promoted once. he spent most of his time as a radio operator.
Indeed. Speaking as an engineer and a research scientist, I have no desire to be the head of the lab or the division, it mean you get to do absolutely no research and spend all your time in meetings.
It's funny to me that there seems to be some stiff resistance to the idea of a Captain LaForge. As one poster pointed out, he was potentially on the command track in the prime universe at one point, and was a captain in a parallel timeline, so I don't see why Captain LaForge is such an inconceivable notion. If I recall, LeVar Burton directed that VOY episode and he didn't seem to see it beyond the pale for there to be a Captain LaForge.
Of course its a parallel universe, but since Christopher had mentioned "All Good Things" and Countdown, I think its as legitimate a future, or point of discussion, as those are. Plus, AGT never precluded Geordi not being a captain before he became a novelist.
As I've said multiple times in this thread though, the main issue is LaForge's lack of character development which it seems not too many of the people resistant to the idea of him becoming captain seem to want to address.
Of course its a parallel universe, but since Christopher had mentioned "All Good Things" and Countdown, I think its as legitimate a future, or point of discussion, as those are. Plus, AGT never precluded Geordi not being a captain before he became a novelist.
As I've said multiple times in this thread though, the main issue is LaForge's lack of character development which it seems not too many of the people resistant to the idea of him becoming captain seem to want to address.
My resistance is not to that in particular, but to the notion that an officer who hasn't become a captain is "stagnant." And just to repeating something that's been done multiple times before. We've had plenty of Trek regulars become starship captains already. It's got nothing to do with Geordi himself, as far as I'm concerned -- just with the excessive preoccupation with captains in general.
.. it has nothing to do with becoming a capt per, say, but the need to evlove , and the need to make room , so that others can have thier chance,just as someone had to move for picard to advance. someone ither died,or reired and a slot became open, this is how a real chain of command works, they look at the number of people they will need for a job, and pic from candiates, if no one went anywhere , you become stagmnent by deflault.
For me I just never bought how people can seemingly switch between tracks. Otherwise, why bother even having the different tracks to begin with?
Also, I've never seen how Geordi being a great chief engineer or Vale being a good security chief means they'd be great captains or first officers.
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