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Star Trek V - Chekov at the conn

Captain59

Fleet Captain
Fleet Captain
Near the end of the movie when Sybok had control of the ship, why was Chekov in the captain chair? What it because he was the last Kirk gave the conn to?
 
At that point in time, Chekov was second officer. So when Kirk and Spock weren't on the bridge, Chekov was in charge.
 
Interesting. So he leap-frogged over Uhura and Sulu from when he was an ensign? When/how was that established?
 
Interesting. So he leap-frogged over Uhura and Sulu from when he was an ensign? When/how was that established?

It's been theorized that Sulu was already on track to take command of the Excelsior, but his promotion and command orders weren't processed yet (perhaps held till after his leave) and he tagged along as helmsmen because the enterprise hadn't been issued one yet. Uhura was watch officer on the enterprise when the recall order was issued so she was most likely third officer in command, behind Chekov.
 
Yeah, it's funny. Final Frontier is supposed to take place like two weeks after the end of The Voyage Home, so all in all, it takes place only a few months after The Wrath of Khan.

Which means Chekov had been First Officer of the Reliant, Sulu about to be Captain of the Excelsior. As far as I remember, Sulu was only aboard the Enterprise in TWOK because he did Kirk a favor.
 
Well, Sulu's upcoming captaincy isn't canon, but even if it was, the whole 'stealing the Enterprise' shenanigan may have held back promotions, even if charges were dropped.
 
To be sure, a few other details in the above remain unestablished on screen, too. We don't really know how much time passes between the movies, or within the movies. ST4 alone might span several years, as our heroes wait for Starfleet to decide whether they get a garbage scow or a transwarp cruiser.

Chekov being in command is a pretty clear-cut thing, though. Kirk placed him in command, when going down to the planet with Spock, Sulu and Uhura. Only Kirk would have the power to relieve him of command, at his return, but Kirk doesn't have the chance or the will to exercise that power because Sybok has thrown him in the brig.

Just because Sulu joins Sybok's ranks doesn't mean that he'd forget everything about his Starfleet training and start thinking that he has the power to push Chekov aside. And why would he want to do that, be he in Sybok's cohorts or Kirk's? Chekov does the job just fine. Or whatever remains of the job once Sybok becomes the supreme commander of the universe.

Timo Saloniemi
 
ST4 alone might span several years, as our heroes wait for Starfleet to decide whether they get a garbage scow or a transwarp cruiser.

Highly unlikely. But they spent a month or two on Vulcan, repairing the Bird of Prey.
 
It's ages since I've seen it, but doesn't Kirk say something like "this is the third month of our Vulcan exile"?
 
He means at the end, between the trial scene and the crew arriving at the new Enterprise. There could've been hours between the scenes, or years. It's completely open.
 
He means at the end, between the trial scene and the crew arriving at the new Enterprise. There could've been hours between the scenes, or years. It's completely open.

Kirk is still in his admirals uniform, just the rank insignia pin was changed. This implies that it was right after the finishing of the trial.

So, TWOK starts, TSFS follows that with a few weeks span of time. TVH follows TSFS with a gap of three months, TFF follows TVH by a couple of weeks.
 
So, TWOK starts, TSFS follows that with a few weeks span of time. TVH follows TSFS with a gap of three months, TFF follows TVH by a couple of weeks.
Which means Scotty gains roughly four hundred pounds in only a few months.

Maybe he was inspired by the whales. :lol:

As far as Sulu in V, maybe his promotion was in the pipeline, but because he was on leave with Chekov and available, Starfleet ordered him to temporarily take the duty of helmsmen, due to the emergency. Because of the unique situation, Chekov would still remain Second in Command and technically the superior officer aboard Enterprise.
 
Sulu does say at the end of IV. "I'm plumping for Excelsior", or words to that effect. All the above makes sense to me, he was on one last holiday with his mate Chekov, and got dragged into one last mission as helmsman of the Enterprise.
 
Sulu does say at the end of IV. "I'm plumping for Excelsior", or words to that effect. All the above makes sense to me, he was on one last holiday with his mate Chekov, and got dragged into one last mission as helmsman of the Enterprise.

Yeah, but Scotty and the rest react to this as if there is a chance they could get Excelsior. "A ship is a ship".
 
It's been theorized that Sulu was already on track to take command of the Excelsior, but his promotion and command orders weren't processed yet (perhaps held till after his leave) and he tagged along as helmsmen because the enterprise hadn't been issued one yet. Uhura was watch officer on the enterprise when the recall order was issued so she was most likely third officer in command, behind Chekov.
I can see the explanation about Sulu being valid. However, I'm not sure I accept that Chekov is higher in the command structure than Uhura. After all, Uhura is older than Chekov and has been in Starfleet longer, and had served as a senior officer on the Enterprise longer. I think perhaps it is more likely that, as others have said, it was because Uhura went to the planet with Kirk that Chekov got put in command, and then he stayed there until relieved by Kirk.

The command structure in the movies is always a bit iffy anyway. Is Scotty still next in command after Kirk and Spock, as he seemed pretty clearly to be during TOS? Or has that changed? If so, that would put either Sulu, Uhura or Checkov behind not only Kirk and Spock, but Scotty. And then we must assume that Chekov got picked because he happened to be on the bridge at the time and Scotty was busy trying to piece the ship together.

Actually, come to think of it, I'm pretty sure Scotty is still the third in command after Kirk and Spock, and was the one in command while they were on shore leave. Because near the beginning of the film, when Uhura comes to get Kirk, Spock and McCoy at Yosemite, she says "Mr. Scott apologizes for having to send the shuttlecraft." That would seem to imply he was in command and gave the order for Uhura to go get them.
 
I could see Kirk passing the conn to Chekov over Scotty so that the latter would have more time to work on the ship.
 
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