What is your opinion of Capt. Jellico?

[SeerSGB]

Probably not enough time. Not to mention dicking around with 2 ships, or more, command staff to get things in order; not a good idea when you're thinking you're heading into a war zone. Besides, why change? Far as he knew there was no reason to change up thing, at least immeaditely. It wasn't till he got onboard and the senior-staff (Data excluded) started behaving like spoiled children that he had a problem. Had he stayed on a CO or the 1701-D, he might have ported over his staff.

 

[nx1701g]

It's too bad that royalties/cox's schedule prevented his return in Tapestry as was planned.

 

[JB2005]

Was that planned? Because it would have made more sense than "Thomas Halloway" or whoever...

 

[nx1701g]

Was that planned? Because it would have made more sense than "Thomas Halloway" or whoever...

Yes they had planned on Edward Jellico having been the Captain of the Enterprise in Tapestry, but that combination of factors prevented it so Halloway was created.

 

[Mysterion]

I think I could have grown to like him. He sure made me dislike Riker and LaForge--for the duration of the episode, at least.

Imagine if Picard was killed by the Cardassians, and Jellico stayed captain for the rest of the show? It would have created tons of conflict, especially for Riker and LaForge.

There should have been at least two or three episodes where we got two parallel storylines:

1) Picard going through therapy/whatever trying to get his head back together after his experiences.

2) Jellico still in command of the Enterprise and the crew gradually adjusting to the situation.

Which would bring us to:

3) Picard gets sprung from the mental ward. Jellico leaves, the crew having learned that just because he's done things different than Picard would have, he ain't necessarily a bad guy.

 

[I am not Spock]

Yeah, Picard should have gone into counselling after Chain of Command for several weeks, and we should have got a Jellico arc. That would have been fun. Jellico ought to have brought aboard some of his own staff in the meantime.

Also, in Parallels, it would have been neat to see Jellico in one of the universes, commanding the Enterprise.

 

[BolianAuthor]

I loved Jellico. He was a top-notch Captain, and an excellent commanding officer. He brought much-needed formality to the ship, and got things working on a more realistic level.

I always thought that the Enterprise crew behaved like a bunch of whiny little children regarding him, which really put me off, because it was SO unprofessional. For the entire time Jellico is on board, I found myself disliking the Enterprise crew more and more, and that's the first and only time I've ever disliked any of the Trek characters.

Bottom line, he was now their Captain. He gives the orders, and they shut the frak up, and carry them out. Unless he does something to place the ship or crew in direct danger, he's not doing anything wrong.

 

[cooleddie74]

When I met Cox a few days back more people asked him about TOTAL RECALL and DELIVERANCE than anything else, but I was one of about three or four souls who recognized him as an Enterprise captain from TREK and he chuckled happily when I mentioned it. He told another guy: "Hey, someone had to show up and straighten that ship out!"

 

[TheQman]

Howdy!

What is your opinion of Captain Edward Jellico? was he such a bad guy?

I don't blame him for not liking Riker. He wants four shifts not three. It is his ship. Jellico had a very direct way fo command and he was never crass, disrespectful or above it all. Jellico acted like a military commander going into a hostile situation and everyone is whining and complaining.

Was he so wrong in asking Troi not to wear the catsuit? Wear a uniform lady!

He had a young son he loved very much and had his cartoonish drawings in the ready room.

I don't like fish. Get rid of the fish. He didn't kill the fish. picard would of kicked his ass if he did.

He knew how to talk to those punk ass Cardassians.

He's the Captain, "Captain on the Bridge" is what is to be said. This is standard protocol.

The man just had his own way of doing things. Opinions?

I agree completely with your post.

At first glance, he is brash, but he is really just following protocol and it is not what we are used to.

I personally would want to see him back again.

 

[Lor'Vela]

Straight-forward thinking military man. Confident in his own abilities, and has a no-nonsense approach. He's not the most personable CO you could ever meet, but he is the sort of person you would want on your side and not against.

Although I'm not entirely sure a Captain should be micro-managing so many things as he did, but I guess he's the sort of Captain who likes to know exactly how things stand.

 

[Trekker4747]

I've said it before and I'll say it again, Jelico was not a good captain for Starfleet.

Now, I grant that the crew could've been a bit more professional but Jelico wasn't making things easy for them,

Keep in mind Starfleet is only military in ranks, cursosry traditions and in organization. But aside from all of that it's a peaceful civilianized organization of exploration. The crew of the Enterprise-D was on a 20-year mission of exploration which is why the Galaxy class was so cozy, warm, and felt like a floating city more than it did a military ship. It was meant to be these people's home for 20 years of exploring.

Jelico wasn't a good fit for the kind of mission the crew was on, he got on there and boot-stomped around mixing things up trying to make an exploration ship a military ship of conquest. Which, granted, the situation mostly called for. But he didn't allow for any kind of "honeymoon period" to ease the transition. You don't just stomp onto a place where people have been working and living for six years and expect them to accept and adapt to an overnight change in duty schedules, or expect your engineering crews to work around-the-clock shifts to make drastic changes.

Now, all of this could be done, this crew -being the best of the fleet- would be capable of it. But Jelico didn't give the crew a reason to want to do it. Jelico wanted to command through fear and dominance, not by inspiration and respect.

The crew respected Picard and when he asked them to do something and "make it so" they did it. They wanted to make Picard look good and they wanted to look good to him. They wanted him to respect them as much as they did him. That's the way to lead.

Jelico stomps onto the ship, instnatly demands changes, and doesn't gain any respect to make the crew work for him. Growling out an order and saying "get it done" isn't an effective way to lead. You're not giving the crew any reason to work for you and to go above-and-beyond because they have no respect for you. They're just going to do as much as they can to not hear from you. Jelico's "command style" was more fit for more hardened military typed uses to such a rough way of leading. "You'll do what I say because I said it, no other reason." That's not the way to lead well, and certainly not the way to lead the relaxed exploration tone of the Enterprise.

Now, again, I stress that the crew didn't handle things in the best of ways since as senior military officers they should've been able to, but Jelico wasn't giving them a lot to work with.

 

[cooleddie74]

Glad someone bumped this thread. I rewatched "Chain of Command" a couple of weeks back and it reminded me how much I like Ronny Cox as a character actor in sci-fi and fantasy genre shows and movies. Getting to meet and talk to him less than four months back only increased my like for the man and appreciation for his talents. I sorta wish Captain Jellico had come back for episodes of DS9 set during the Dominion War to show how his command style did or didn't change in times of conflict and crisis on that kind of scale.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Actually, Jellico was *perfectly* suited for the mission they were on. For one simple reason: He had experience with the Cardassians. He knew how they thought, how they fought, how they acted. He knew how to deal with them on their level. He even negotiated the original peace treaty. So it's no surprise that Starfleet brought him in.

 

[buckeyenation]

I don't know how many remember a series call Apple's Way, call it mid 70's that Mr. Cox starred in. In it, he played the nicest, sweetest, perfect American father anybody could want.Years later, i see him in Robocop and then Total Recall as the most ruthless person one could ever imagine. To Mr. Cox's credit, he played both types with absolute conviction and believability.His portryal as Jellico is so good, you have to like him.

 

[indolover]

There was ZILCH wrong with Jellico, and to me this is why:

- It was a crisis situation. The CO of Starfleet's most powerful vessel had been kidnapped by another race (who while not enemies at that time, certainly were a species that Starfleet had an eye on), and another Federation/Cardassian War could readily have arisen. Jellico had no time to make friends, or not be "rude" or abrasive. Tough decisions had to be made, irrespective as to whether the crew liked it or not.

- The crew of Starfleet's flagship should know better! Riker,Troi, Geordi, etc. were moaning like babies, when they were senior officers on the most noted/powerful of (most likely) the thousands of Starfleet vessels in existence! They should have had the knowledge/experience to adapt and adjust to new command styles, especially given that Starfleet is a pseudo-military organisation. You follow orders, period. Your CO is not there to be your chum or pal.

All of the five captains in the series have held similar command styles. They enjoy to be friendly and non-abrasive with their crews, give recognition when due, be supportive and motivating, be hard on them when justified, and even hang out and socialise with them. The fact remains that command/management styles are as unique as commanders. Some are supportive COs, whilst others are not. In the real life workplace, one gets good bosses and one gets jerks as bosses. one is grateful for a good boss, and if one has a jerk boss, you just suck it up and take it.

 

[CaptainStoner]

Jellico was a good character to bring in, but they should have called him something else. "Jellico" sounds like something kids order in 10-forward. Or something Bajoran orphans were forced to eat in labor camps.
Maybe not Stoner, somehow I don't think he was the type, but Stone, something like that.

 

[Lor'Vela]

^ I thought it was an apt name myself. It may have been inspired by Admiral Jellicoe, a controversial British RN officer who commanded the fleet at the Battle of Jutland in WW1 which led to heavy casualties and loss of ships for the RN.

 

[AJBryant]

Keep in mind Starfleet is only military in ranks, cursosry traditions and in organization.

Right. That's why Starfleet was uninvolved in the Dominion War. And that's why Starfleet didn't fight the Borg.

Oh, wait. They did that.


Just out of curiosity, have you ever been in the military?

I have long maintained that by and large people who have been in the military, or who have a good understanding of it, like Jellico, while those who don't like Jellico have no military experience or don't understand what the military really is.

 

[Pseudo]

I thought that Jellico was a fine commanding officer. While Star Fleet is not a wholly military organisation, it certainly has military duties such as peacekeeping etc. I'm sure Star Fleet Captains have many different styles of command for very different roles. Jellico is obviously more suited to the role of a peacekeeper and Picard is more suited to the role of an explorer. That doesn't mean that one is necessarily better than the other, it just means that Star Fleet has a wide-ranging function and different people will be suited to different jobs.

Personally I think that the crew of the Enterprise behaved unprofessionally and Jellico was aware of the potential consequences of negotiations with the Cardassians failing and trying to ensure that they were successful while also ensuring that they were well prepared if they didn't.

As to his micro-managing. I'm sure that was merely because he was dealing with an unfamiliar ship and crew. His micro-managing may in part have been a simple curiosity about his ship and his crew and with time he would have been more trusting.

 

[Ensign_Redshirt]

"I had to demote Will Riker because he disobeyed an order. Now it's time to carry out that order."


Story-wise, it was a fine idea to introduce an "opposite of Picard" kind of captain and let him clash with his crew.

And I think Jellico and his crew eventually would have started to get along with each other had he stayed on board longer. I even assume that he would have reinstated Riker.