Picard's Crew
- Thread starter Mojochi
- Start date
... perhaps they were all cases handpicked by the captain feeling they deserved a second , or a fair chance 
Riker for his outspokenness hindering his career (we know some captains considered him a questionable XO choice), Data for his difficulties with human emotions and informal behaviour, Deanna for being 'only' an empath born on a planet filled with full telepaths, Geordi for being blind, Beverley for having lost her husband who was serving under Picard's command and to whom he felt indebted, Worf for being an angry Klingon wrestling with his heritage, Yar for her history on a rape-gang filled planet, etc....
Riker for his outspokenness hindering his career (we know some captains considered him a questionable XO choice), Data for his difficulties with human emotions and informal behaviour, Deanna for being 'only' an empath born on a planet filled with full telepaths, Geordi for being blind, Beverley for having lost her husband who was serving under Picard's command and to whom he felt indebted, Worf for being an angry Klingon wrestling with his heritage, Yar for her history on a rape-gang filled planet, etc....
^ If you look closely, you can see me, in this thread, trying to arrive at the same conclusion, but in a number of cases, a lot of head canon gymnastics are required to get me there. lol
I'd like nothing more than to be able to consider this flagship crew a merry band of misfits (except Worf. He's not a merry man)
And while there's LOTS of examples of Picard recruiting indigents, it's just a hard sell to say that of some of them, especially when the going claim is that you have to be exceptional to even be on that ship.
Picard & Geordi & Riker all seemingly tick that box without question. Even Geordi's disability isn't of any consequence in a 24th century context. Riker might have a thing or two during recruitment that paints him as willful, but mostly his record is stellar enough to even merit his own command
A lot of them come off as unusual & a few of them are oddballs that could struggle to assimilate (not that kind) & Picard does seem to favor those types, but it's hard to makes a case that it's all of them, despite my best efforts
I'd like nothing more than to be able to consider this flagship crew a merry band of misfits (except Worf. He's not a merry man)
And while there's LOTS of examples of Picard recruiting indigents, it's just a hard sell to say that of some of them, especially when the going claim is that you have to be exceptional to even be on that ship.
Picard & Geordi & Riker all seemingly tick that box without question. Even Geordi's disability isn't of any consequence in a 24th century context. Riker might have a thing or two during recruitment that paints him as willful, but mostly his record is stellar enough to even merit his own command
A lot of them come off as unusual & a few of them are oddballs that could struggle to assimilate (not that kind) & Picard does seem to favor those types, but it's hard to makes a case that it's all of them, despite my best efforts
Absolutely, which was why Lt. Barkley had a chance. Despite apprehension from the senior staff, Picard saw something in him and gave him that opportunity or at least approved it.
Picard definitely knew how to select people for roles and support their development, serving under TNG Picard would have been a gratifying experience. The minor characters on TNG were always favorites for me, Barclay, O'Brien, Ro, Guinan, were all well presented characters that added depth and humanity to the sometimes sterile decks of the Enterprise.
According to Memory Alpha:
Picard had commanded the Stargazer for 22 years.
Riker turned down a command to take the role of first officer.
Data had almost 20 years experience in Starfleet.
Even Geordi and Tasha had around 7 years it seems.
By comparison Kirk had reached captain in less than 10 years.
Picard had commanded the Stargazer for 22 years.
Riker turned down a command to take the role of first officer.
Data had almost 20 years experience in Starfleet.
Even Geordi and Tasha had around 7 years it seems.
By comparison Kirk had reached captain in less than 10 years.
^yeah, well, but Kirk was a genius of course.
Also, his time period seemed a good deal more volatile than early TNG, where it seems the AQ at large has been relatively quiet for a few decades, save for some minor conflicts (such as the Cardassian border war). So perhaps the need for captains was much higher in Kirk's era than in early TNG, allowing for faster promotion tracks.
Also, his time period seemed a good deal more volatile than early TNG, where it seems the AQ at large has been relatively quiet for a few decades, save for some minor conflicts (such as the Cardassian border war). So perhaps the need for captains was much higher in Kirk's era than in early TNG, allowing for faster promotion tracks.
It's so weird to me that Riker & Geordi are the same academy class, & in year one Geordi is still a LT junior grade & Riker has already turned down his own ship. Tasha is 2 years younger & a full LT & department head. Geordi's lagging for some reason imho. I guess that red uniform really was the wrong fit after all
Holy crap, I just realized Worf is the youngest senior staffer lol
On her Maiden Voyage
Picard: CPT, with 37 years in service
Riker: CMDR with 7 years in service
Crusher: CMDR with 14 years in service
Data: LTCD with 19 years in service
Troi: LTCD with 5 years service
Tasha: LT with probably 4 years in service
Geordi: LTJG with 7 years in service
Worf: LTJG with maybe 1 or 2 years in service
I like to think of a lot of them as misfits, but that by no means should suggest they aren't, for the most part, experienced, highly qualified, & deserving of their posts.
I think the point is that Riker made promotion unusually quickly. In the episode where they find his transporter double, he mentioned his ambition to be captain at 35, suggesting that was unusual. (As it probably should be.)
Looking at @Mojochi's list, the only things that really stand out to me are
1. Troi already being lieutenant commander. I don't have an explanation for this.
2. Geordi still at lieutenant JG after 7 years. Although we do learn through the show that he has no command ambition and may just not be the type for it? As in, he's more of an engineering than captain material.
Or maybe Geordi doesn't care about command until later in his life / career.
Remember in the alternate future timeline, Geordi was Captain of the USS Challenger, a "Galaxy-Class" StarShip.
Somebody here once said that Deanna's rank might have been rewarded automatically due to her position as "ship's counsellor" of the Enterprise, just in order to give her (and ship's counsellors like her) a position in the rank structure.
(Still you'd think the bridge officer test would have been mandatory for anybody who has a place on the bridge, but it apparently wasn't necessary in Troi's case)
In hindsight it might have been better to refer to her as "Dr.Troi" and put her into the medical rank system, since her field was part of healthcare.
He actually was in the command track in the 1st season. He even got to command once. I like to think that's what might've held him up, compared to Riker. Maybe he just didn't stand out in that track as we'd see him do in engineering.
They certainly made a point of saying that he was a real exception. A lot of unusual circumstances & some legitimate heroism that got him moved up inordinately quickly, but Geordi is older than all the others except the top 3 officers, & still lower in rank than Troi & even Tasha, at first.
While I agree that Troi's rank probably has some caveats due to her medical role & post, or experience/expertise, Tasha is just moving along faster than Geordi too. Not until Geordi switched tracks to engineering would he join her at LT & being head of a department. 7 years just seems like a longer time than usual to be below LT.
Data apparently spent only 3 years as ensign himself, before skipping over LTJG to become a LT, & Worf made LT. in around the same amount of time.
Maybe he saw what it was like in command and said to himself, "Nah, this command path isn't for me at this point in my life. Maybe later, when I'm older. Engineering is WAY more interesting / fun right now". And off he went, to become "Chief Engineer" of the Federation Flagship.
I like to think he saw what was happening on Picard's engineering team, with all the multiple chiefs & replacements, & right around the time the whole senior staff was being shook up, with Worf having to replace Tasha, & Pulaski having to replace Crusher, he realized that if he wanted to start moving up in rank himself, after 7 years with only one promotion, his best avenue was to use his technical skills to his advantage, & just move in on that department.
Picard might've even encouraged him to make that transfer. He's certainly a person who will prod or challenge his team to consider their best options. He's the one mainly driving Wesley, & Ro Laren, & pushes Riker about being a captain. I imagine other chiefs like Logan & Lynch hadn't impressed Picard. Logan seemingly had some attitude problems, & Lynch seemed to perturb Picard even before he knew of the issues holding up the warp drive in Skin of Evil. It's obvious LaForge had been impressing Picard much more while on his bridge crew, than any of them had in their respective posts. It's a fix that almost makes itself.
Picard might've even encouraged him to make that transfer. He's certainly a person who will prod or challenge his team to consider their best options. He's the one mainly driving Wesley, & Ro Laren, & pushes Riker about being a captain. I imagine other chiefs like Logan & Lynch hadn't impressed Picard. Logan seemingly had some attitude problems, & Lynch seemed to perturb Picard even before he knew of the issues holding up the warp drive in Skin of Evil. It's obvious LaForge had been impressing Picard much more while on his bridge crew, than any of them had in their respective posts. It's a fix that almost makes itself.
I'm quite surprised at Geordi myself, I always thought he was quite a bit younger than Riker. LeVar Burton, and the whole character just seemed a lot younger than Riker and Frakes. I thought he was Tasha's age or younger,a young adult, so to me the rank always fit. Though part of that might also be that most of the time he seems to be referred to Geordi rather than LaForge most of the time, both in- and out of universe, while Riker tends to be called Riker.
But if he's really the same age as Riker and older than Tasha, it seems a bit more odd.
But if he's really the same age as Riker and older than Tasha, it seems a bit more odd.
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