"Kirk, You Do This, You'll Never Sit in the Captain's Chair Again."

[Captain Clark Terrell]

Spoken by Captain Styles just before the Enterprise goes to warp. But why? Styles clearly had no love for Kirk or what he was doing, repeatedly touting his ship as being superior to the Enterprise ("Looking forward to breaking some of Enterprise's speed records tomorrow."; "If he tries to get away with warp drive, he's really in for a shock."). And it seems unlikely Styles himself had the authority to take away Kirk's commission.

No doubt his testimony about the Excelsior's sabotage and Kirk's refusal to stand down helped the Federation Council compile their list of charges against Kirk and his friends, but that's most likely where Styles involvement in the situation would have ended. After all, he had his own problems to worry about (Excelsior repairs and embarrassment over being outmaneuvered by Kirk and Scotty). So why say anything? Or was the line merely a plot device to underscore the finality of what Kirk was about to do? In other words, drive home the point that if Kirk wants to save Spock, he's throwing away his career in the process.

--Sran

 

[SeerSGB]

Re: "Kirk, You Do This, You'll Never Sit in the Captain's Chair Again.

Plot device. Styles was driving home that what Kirk and Co. were doing would probably be the end of their Starfleet careers. He was trying to reason with Kirk.

And he was right. Had the Whalesong Probe not shown up, it's a safe bet Kirk would have been shuffled out into retirement (if not jail) and the rest of the bridge crew shuffle into menial jobs to run out the clock.

 

[Melakon]

Re: "Kirk, You Do This, You'll Never Sit in the Captain's Chair Again.

Styles is one of those types of people who is frequently referred to by an unflattering and perhaps vulgar term. He's obviously not a believer in Wil Wheaton's motto, "Don't be a dick."

 

[jpv2000]

Re: "Kirk, You Do This, You'll Never Sit in the Captain's Chair Again.

The always awesome Kirk made a liar out of Styles no matter how you cut it.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Re: "Kirk, You Do This, You'll Never Sit in the Captain's Chair Again.

How is this different than see a cop yelling "If you do this, Rocco you'll never see the outside of a prison again!!!" The cop has no idea what Rocco sentence might actually be, but he can speculate and use that to try and stop Rocco. Same for Styles and Kirk.

 

[Captain Clark Terrell]

Re: "Kirk, You Do This, You'll Never Sit in the Captain's Chair Again.

How is this different than see a cop yelling "If you do this, Rocco you'll never see the outside of a prison again!!!" The cop has no idea what Rocco sentence might actually be, but he can speculate and use that to try and stop Rocco. Same for Styles and Kirk.

Where I draw a distinction is that Styles is seen gloating at other times in the film, which leaves me with the impression that he sees himself as superior to Kirk and the Enterprise crew. Not that there aren't snooty police officers, but I'd imagine most patrol officers don't inject a personal element into a situation. They're doing their jobs, but nothing more than that.

--Sran

 

[Opus]

Re: "Kirk, You Do This, You'll Never Sit in the Captain's Chair Again.

Love that line. Styles says it as Kirk takes his seat in the captain's chair and orders warp speed.

Don't read so much into it. It's just a writing device.

Classic!

 

[Nerys Myk]

Re: "Kirk, You Do This, You'll Never Sit in the Captain's Chair Again.

How is this different than see a cop yelling "If you do this, Rocco you'll never see the outside of a prison again!!!" The cop has no idea what Rocco sentence might actually be, but he can speculate and use that to try and stop Rocco. Same for Styles and Kirk.

Where I draw a distinction is that Styles is seen gloating at other times in the film, which leaves me with the impression that he sees himself as superior to Kirk and the Enterprise crew. Not that there aren't snooty police officers, but I'd imagine most patrol officers don't inject a personal element into a situation. They're doing their jobs, but nothing more than that.

--Sran

I don't see that line as an example of Styles feeling superior, just a prediction of a likely outcome. It wasn't personal

 

[Dream]

Re: "Kirk, You Do This, You'll Never Sit in the Captain's Chair Again.

In the first six Trek movies, all Starfleet captains are shown as incompetent losers to better show how awesome Kirk was. Picard was the first Starfleet captain to be shown in a positive light after Kirk in a movie.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Re: "Kirk, You Do This, You'll Never Sit in the Captain's Chair Again.

In the first six Trek movies, all Starfleet captains are shown as incompetent losers to better show how awesome Kirk was. Picard was the first Starfleet captain to be shown in a positive light after Kirk in a movie.

Sulu did alright in TUC,

 

[Captain Clark Terrell]

Re: "Kirk, You Do This, You'll Never Sit in the Captain's Chair Again.

Sulu did alright in TUC,

As did Decker in TMP. If anything, it was Kirk who looked incompetent by nearly crippling the ship.

--Sran

 

[Locutus of Bored]

Re: "Kirk, You Do This, You'll Never Sit in the Captain's Chair Again.

Styles was an arrogant fop, but I see no reason to believe that he'd want an esteemed fellow captain like Kirk to ruin his career. I took it as a genuine attempt to defuse the situation before Kirk crossed the point of no return where he'd have no way to salvage his career.

From an out-of-universe standpoint, it served to punctuate Kirk's crowning moment of awesome a second later when he ordered warp speed without hesitation, and to clearly mark what was at stake and how far Kirk was willing to go for his friend.

 

[jpv2000]

Re: "Kirk, You Do This, You'll Never Sit in the Captain's Chair Again.

In the first six Trek movies, all Starfleet captains are shown as incompetent losers to better show how awesome Kirk was. Picard was the first Starfleet captain to be shown in a positive light after Kirk in a movie.

Sulu did alright in TUC,

He did indeed.

 

[Gojira]

Re: "Kirk, You Do This, You'll Never Sit in the Captain's Chair Again.

I think styles was giving Kirk an appropriate warning. You don't steal a starship without suffering some consequences. As said above, Kirk was lucky that he saved the world after stealing the starship or else he would have been severely reprimanded.

Although Styles was arrogant I don't beleive he was being that way in that moment.

 

[Tribble puncher]

Re: "Kirk, You Do This, You'll Never Sit in the Captain's Chair Again.

In the first six Trek movies, all Starfleet captains are shown as incompetent losers to better show how awesome Kirk was. Picard was the first Starfleet captain to be shown in a positive light after Kirk in a movie.

Ya know?...I wonder what ever happened to the Black Female Captain (was she named?) of the Saratoga at the Beginning of STIV. I don't really see how she could have reacted differently to what happened to her ship.

 

[DonIago]

Re: "Kirk, You Do This, You'll Never Sit in the Captain's Chair Again.

Agreed with most of the posters here. Styles' warning may have reflected some personal animosity/arrogance, but to my mind it's on par with:

"If you go out in that rain, you'll get wet!"

 

[Captain Clark Terrell]

Re: "Kirk, You Do This, You'll Never Sit in the Captain's Chair Again.

Ya know?...I wonder what ever happened to the Black Female Captain (was she named?) of the Saratoga at the Beginning of STIV. I don't really see how she could have reacted differently to what happened to her ship.

In the novels, she's promoted to Fleet Admiral by the time of GEN and speaks at Kirk's memorial service. Though we never saw her on screen before TVH, she served on the Enterprise with Kirk and credited him with encouraging her to explore her potential as a leader.

 

[RandyS]

Re: "Kirk, You Do This, You'll Never Sit in the Captain's Chair Again.

In the first six Trek movies, all Starfleet captains are shown as incompetent losers to better show how awesome Kirk was. Picard was the first Starfleet captain to be shown in a positive light after Kirk in a movie.

You could make the argument that those were all plot devices too.

 

[austen_pierce]

Re: "Kirk, You Do This, You'll Never Sit in the Captain's Chair Again.

It's the verbal equivalent of a shot across the bow. Listening to Styles' tone when he makes he statement / warning, he's sincere, just short of pleading with Kirk not to proceed. The man may have been smug and fit to serve only in "the hind end of space" but at that moment, he was being genuine.

 

[jpv2000]

Re: "Kirk, You Do This, You'll Never Sit in the Captain's Chair Again.

Ya know?...I wonder what ever happened to the Black Female Captain (was she named?) of the Saratoga at the Beginning of STIV. I don't really see how she could have reacted differently to what happened to her ship.

In the novels, she's promoted to Fleet Admiral by the time of GEN and speaks at Kirk's memorial service. Though we never saw her on screen before TVH, she served on the Enterprise with Kirk and credited him with encouraging her to explore her potential as a leader.

Very cool. Was this in the novel for Generations or another novel?