So what's wrong with "Admiral Janeway" anyway?

[Timo]

Are there one-pip Admirals in TNG? Well, there was a one-pipper in "Conspiracy"... But since his fellow none-pipper was also an Admiral, we're probably supposed to think that the no-pip uniform of the first season would be the equivalent of the (unseen) one-pipper in the later seasons, while the one-pipper would equal the later two-pipper.

If we accept this, then there were several "one-pip" Admirals in TNG. Quinn from "Coming of Age" and "Conspiracy" and Jameson from "Too Short a Season" would be the major roles.

Picard's crew stops being ambitious by the time of the movies, if not earlier, yes. They also seem to relax the dress code in ST:GEN already. Perhaps the E-D had become a less than lucrative assignment by then? Perhaps the Federation had a new flagship (which the Duras sisters would not yet know about, being somewhat out of the loop), giving Picard an excuse for Casual Fridays, and young Starfleet officers a disincentive to compete with our heroes for E-D positions.

The heroes already had several strikes going against them regarding promotions. Picard was traitor to all mankind, Riker had a black mark from the Pegasus thing plus multiple promotion refusals under his belt, Worf was a murderer and a political liability, Data was an unpredictable risk factor, Crusher had only been tolerated as head of Starfleet Medical for one lousy year, and LaForge had probably used up his brownie points in the skyrocketing from junior Lieutenant to Lieutenant Commander for the time being.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[flandry84]

Perhaps promotion is no longer an option for Picard.I hate to drag it up but many in the fleet simply may not trust him.We the fans know the truth of Picard's assimilation but try to imagine it as a real-world event in starfleet history.Sisko's initial reaction would be most typical,despite us wishing it otherwise.

 

[Peach Wookiee]

^Interesting point, flandry84. How many reactions are like Benjamin Sisko, pre-Prophets encounter? Admiral Necheyev certainly reacted, well, not well...

 

[Praetor]

I'd say Picard's assimilation is as plausible an excuse as any why he hadn't been offered promotion (ultimately negating Kirk's advice I suppose.) Nechayev rebuked him in 'Descent' for not using Hugh, and the Enterprise was ordered to keep out of the battle in First Contact because he might be a liability.

What's interesting to me is that Janeway was also briefly assimilated during the 'Unimatrix One' cliffhanger. Granted, she was given a neural suppressant or whatever deus ex machina de jour it was, to supposedly keep her from succumbing to the influence of the hive mind. Yet, Tuvok did. Picard was clearly fighting it the whole time too, as explained in his conversation with the Borg Queen in First Contact, but didn't have the benefit of the neural suppressant. And I think the EMH's lines in 'Unimatrix Zero' pretty clearly indicate that there is still some Borg tech left in Janeway just as Picard. So is there much difference between the two's experiences?

I'd say that (1)Starfleet had equal confidence in both officers ability to be an Admiral (let's say medium) and (2)Picard lacked ambition to be promoted, and Janeway didn't; after 7 years on her own, she wanted (or at least thought she wanted) a desk job. If Kathy's an incompetent dictatorial flag officer giving orders to more experienced field officers, at least she's carrying on a proud Starfleet tradition. (Commodore Stocker of TOS' 'The Deadly Years' comes to mind, among others...)All in all, it was a nice 'where are they now?' moment for Voyager fans that doesn't particularly hurt Picard's character any more than the other movies have, if you ask me.

 

[Kolrad]

Those are interesting points, everybody. A bit depressing if that's the TNG crew's reality, but it does fit-- the way the TNG movie series turned out was a bit depressing overall, aside from First Contact.

 

[Plum]

Praetor said:
If Kathy's an incompetent dictatorial flag officer giving orders to more experienced field officers, at least she's carrying on a proud Starfleet tradition.

and the human retcon adventure ... continues...


Nice work!