Revolving door...?

[BillJ]

Growth and change are not good things.They lead to pain and misery and are best avoided.

 

[Ometiklan]

Unlike the Simpsons, this show won't go on forever. Mariner is already a screw-up, and she seems already pretty adept at dragging Boimler down with her. Rutherford, while incredibly well-liked by all his superiors, seems to have no ambition whatsoever and will likely turn down any promotion if it takes him away from Jefferies tube duty. The way things are shaping up, Tendi might even turn down a promotion and/or transfer if it takes her away from Rutherford (also, she's becoming BFFs with Mariner, likely not a good combination there).

Seven years as an Ensign is long, but not unheard of. Disregarding the Harry Kim joke, we see several aged Ensigns throughout TNG.

Seems like some heavy conclusions to make about Rutherford and Tendi based on the one half of one episode we have seen them together in. Why wouldn't Rutherford take promotions that allow him to work with ever more important and powerful bits of engineering? Seems like he would be up for it. Just because he loves the Jefferies Tubes and working in them, doesn't mean he wouldn't be equally fascinated working with other ship's systems. And Tendi may like Rutherford, but she did say that she hasn't made many friends yet and that her real goal was to have someone to hang out with and do/share science with. That is a long way from concluding she doesn't want to ever be parted from Rutherford. She makes more friends in the science division, she finds new people to hang out with, and takes her promotions as they come. Seems eminently reasonable to me.