Yet how many times was the chief engineer in a different location than the engines or the power plant?Having your doctor hang out on the bridge was something TOS and TNG both did, so I figure why not DS9 too? Robbie just doesn't get it because his show had a doctor that almost never did.
It doesn't usually concern me so much on the Defiant because it's not a ship on regular missions.
It's used as a specific mission ship, so it's unlikely that Bashir has much to do on it unless someone is injured in battle. And I can happily believe there being some regular stuff assigned to Engineering in normal circumstances as O'Brien is too busy with the station so he just manages them from the bridge.
They're not like Crusher and La Forge who are managing it on the go and dealing with bigger long term projects, they just need to make sure it's prepped for short term missions and handle emergencies. In the meantime they might as well be there giving Sisko their perspectives.
Now that doesn't work so well here because the Defiant is their regular assignment but overall I do see the Defiant working under different rules
It's used as a specific mission ship, so it's unlikely that Bashir has much to do on it unless someone is injured in battle. And I can happily believe there being some regular stuff assigned to Engineering in normal circumstances as O'Brien is too busy with the station so he just manages them from the bridge.
They're not like Crusher and La Forge who are managing it on the go and dealing with bigger long term projects, they just need to make sure it's prepped for short term missions and handle emergencies. In the meantime they might as well be there giving Sisko their perspectives.
Now that doesn't work so well here because the Defiant is their regular assignment but overall I do see the Defiant working under different rules
They are sure hung up about how awful it is the Starfleet comm badge being used as a representation of Starfleet ships on displays aren’t they? They complained a couple of episodes ago, when it was the actual comm badge being used, and again this week, when it was just the delta (not the comm badge) being used on a Cardassian display to represent the Feds. “Why not use the Federation logo” asks Garrett. Someone tell him what the Starfleet logo is…
I can’t say I ever had a problem with using the comm badge as representation of the fleet.
I can’t say I ever had a problem with using the comm badge as representation of the fleet.
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Engineers have had bridge stations going all the way back to TOS. That's not new or "illogical" that they are on the bridge at any point.
And I even kinda liked their half-hearted explanation for why Bashir is there. If the bridge crew gets hurt, he's on hand to help.
If Bashir is in sickbay, whoever's hurt will have to make a trip to find him which they may not be capable of if they're badly injured. On the bridge, he's closest to the most important people to help should they need it.
Robbie is indeed annoyed because his character's solely defined trait/skill was piloting only to learn that basically anyone can pilot a ship, it's not a specialized skill.
It doesn't mean that Paris can't be the best pilot. Just because anyone can drive a car, it doesn't mean anyone can drive in the Indy 500.
DS9 was one of those shows where they tended to ignore the slotted role of a character and be more flexible with what characters can do besides their jobs. Dax is a science officer? Whatever, she can fly ships too! Voyager, on the other hand, tended to be more limited on that regard because the writers seemed to just always box in the characters in their roles. I think the one exception is Paris, where by S4 they actually remembered his brief stint as a nurse and started using him as that again after Kes left.
She could also play tongo with the most devious of Ferengi, battle and drink with the toughest Klingons, repair equipment like she was a trained Engineer, be a party animal par excellence, give far better counsel than a Betazoid counselor, command the Defiant in battle, calm down and seduce Worf, and still have her scientific analysis ready for Sisko in the morning! If she wasn't Superwoman then nobody is!
Someone should tell these guys this perfect example of a character capable of more than one position.
And that for a person of only about 340 years oldShe could also play tongo with the most devious of Ferengi, battle and drink with the toughest Klingons, repair equipment like she was a trained Engineer, be a party animal par excellence, give far better counsel than a Betazoid counselor, command the Defiant in battle, calm down and seduce Worf, and still have her scientific analysis ready for Sisko in the morning! If she wasn't Superwoman then nobody is!
Voyager is a show where they should have cross trained everyone to do everything. You've got 70-some years to kill. Might as well. Who wants to do the same job for 70 years?
Previous Trek at least showed officers were capable of other tasks when the situation called for it. The very first shot of the bridge on TOS airing on TV featured Uhura at the navigation helm, before anyone would realize that’s not her normal gig.
especially since, in theory, the crew was finite and anyone important could have died at anytime without a replacement handy.
But other than Tom being a part-time nurse, no one bothered to ever branch out.
Reason #1452 why Voyager's depiction of truly being "lost in space" wasn't remotely realistic.
I always thought too that it would get old trying to keep the same rank hierarchy for 70 years. Really? I'm going to be an Ensign for 70 years? **cough**Kim**cough** I'm going to have to obey the same people for 70 years? I don't think so!
I think eventually the rank structure would have had to break down into more or less a community of equals agreeing to do things for the good of the community. After everyone has been on the ship long enough, no one would really have any more experience than anyone else.
For that matter they should just plan on it being a generational ship and start having babies, training the new kids as they grow.
"
Commander Adama: "They'd better start having babies."
Colonel Tigh: "Is that an order?"
Commander Adama: "It may be before too long."
"
I think eventually the rank structure would have had to break down into more or less a community of equals agreeing to do things for the good of the community. After everyone has been on the ship long enough, no one would really have any more experience than anyone else.
For that matter they should just plan on it being a generational ship and start having babies, training the new kids as they grow.
"
Commander Adama: "They'd better start having babies."
Colonel Tigh: "Is that an order?"
Commander Adama: "It may be before too long."
"
And upset the status quo? “Alliances” told us right then and there that was never gonna happen.
