Why Didn't Harry Get Promoted?

[Shamrock Holmes]

I don't think it made any less sense than Picard though, and arguably more sense than Crusher as she'd pretty much have to have been prompted to at least Captain at Starfleet Medical.

Honestly, maybe it's my bias as a Brit where promotions in rank are specifically tied to promotions in role but characters like Scotty and Worf getting promoted two grades while in the same job bug me more than characters like Kim and Data not being promoted while in the same job.

OTOH, while Deanna's promotion was badly handled I have less of an issue with that because it at least some logic to it, and I kinda give LaForge's second promotion a pass because previous ChEngs had always been LT-CMDRs or better and he's leading a pretty big department.

 

[Oddish]

Data's rank made sense for his position... for a few years.

Not for 15 years, though.

Agreed. If Troi could be a commander, Data should have been. Especially since he had more command ability in one cheek of his android bottom than she had in her whole body.

 

[Takeru]

Operations was just weird anyway.

It feels like operations was operating the sensors and telling the bridge crew what's going on. Data being an android with extensive knowledge pretty much doubled as the science officer (because that's what he was supposed to be until they didn't like him in blue) but Harry couldn't do that because Janeway had a science background so the producers threw communications at him to make him more than laneway's science assistant.

 

[Shamrock Holmes]

Agreed. If Troi could be a commander, Data should have been.

Why?

Troi was promoted because she took on extra responsibilities, Data had exactly the same permanent role for all his appearances as a Lieutenant Commander, even in Chain of Command, Part II where he was Acting First Officer (however, he should have been promoted to Commander if he'd been appointed long-term).

 

[The Wormhole]

How none of the TNG cast got promotions or transfers off the Enterprise E during the Dominion War makes no sense. A period of two years when Starfleet is in desperate need of experienced personnel in command positions and some of the Fleet's very best officers are allowed to continue languishing in the same positions they've held for a decade or so by that point? Yeah, no.

 

[Oddish]

Troi was promoted because she took on extra responsibilities, Data had exactly the same permanent role for all his appearances as a Lieutenant Commander, even in Chain of Command, Part II where he was Acting First Officer (however, he should have been promoted to Commander if he'd been appointed long-term).

It would have been the perfect time to do it, since Jellico was already doing shake-ups that were actually the actor's requests. Marina Sirtis thought Troi should be wearing a uniform, and Patrick Stewart thought it was odd that an enlightened people would keep a living thing, even a fish, prisoner. Data could have worn three pips when he put on red, and Picard would just make a brief remark that Starfleet had confirmed his rank change.

 

[Quinton]

I know it’s been said to death, but imo, if you’re the “Senior Ensign who shows up as senior staff”, you’re kinda already way beyond any other ensign on a Starfleet vessel, y’know?

Trouble is, as with many things on Voyager, the writing sorta bounces to and fro in terms of whether that insinuation is actually… intentional.

 

[Oddish]

If Voyager's writers had any understanding of character growth, Harry's journey would look like:

S1: Harry is a new recruit out of Starfleet Academy. He serves in operations, under Operations chief Pete Durst. We chiefly see him through his friendship with Tom. We see a glimpse of his smarts, but he still needs a mentor and he knows it.

S2: Durst is lost in the "Faces" episode, which happens a bit later. Harry is informed that he is acting chief of operations. And as the season goes, he is seen to be very smart... but in way over his head.

S3: Harry has begun to find his footing, becoming more adept, a better leader, and more confident. He receives promotion to lieutenant late in the year.

S4-7: Harry's journey of growing into his position is complete, but other character arcs lie ahead...

 

[Guy Gardener]

If Voyager's writers had any understanding of character growth, Harry's journey would look like:

S1: Harry is a new recruit out of Starfleet Academy. He serves in operations, under Operations chief Pete Durst. We chiefly see him through his friendship with Tom. We see a glimpse of his smarts, but he still needs a mentor and he knows it.

S2: Durst is lost in the "Faces" episode, which happens a bit later. Harry is informed that he is acting chief of operations. And as the season goes, he is seen to be very smart... but in way over his head.

S3: Harry has begun to find his footing, becoming more adept, a better leader, and more confident. He receives promotion to lieutenant late in the year.

S4-7: Harry's journey of growing into his position is complete, but other character arcs lie ahead...

S6: Harry is posted as B'Elanna's XO on the USS Equinox, which was not scuttled by the reset button.

S7: Captain Harry and Doctor Lynnis have their first son Andrew aboard HIS ship The Equinox, and pull into parking orbit around Earth.

 

[Danja]

Meet Admiral Harry Kim (courtesy of Starfleet Academy).

Thirty years of "Eternal Ensign" jokes have now officially been retired.

 

[DonIago]

Meet Admiral Harry Kim (courtesy of Starfleet Academy).

Thirty years of "Eternal Ensign" jokes have now officially been retired.

Nah. Some jokes never die.

 

[Farscape One]

Nah. Some jokes never die.

I see what you did there.

Pun: very much approved.

 

[Oddish]

Nah. Some jokes never die.

And some do. And I'm dancing on this one's grave.

 

[Danja]

And some do. And I'm dancing on this one's grave.

Mind if I join you?

 

[Guy Gardener]

800 years?

Took his fucking time.

 

[Shamrock Holmes]

S6: Harry is posted as B'Elanna's XO on the USS Equinox, which was not scuttled by the reset button.

Even if I thought that a better developed Harry would be fit for XO by S6, B'Elanna is the probably the least likely Starfleet main character on the show apart from the EMH to get the command seat.

There's a thread in the Fan Fiction board that runs with a variation on that scenario where Chakotay becomes Equinox CO (which makes sense) with Joe Carey as both XO and ChEng, with Tuvok taking over as XO on Voyager, which makes a lot more sense to me, though Tom or Ayala as Equinox XO rather than the dual-hatted Carey would also work.

 

[Oddish]

Mind if I join you?

The more, the merrier!

 

[Guy Gardener]

Even if I thought that a better developed Harry would be fit for XO by S6, B'Elanna is the probably the least likely Starfleet main character on the show apart from the EMH to get the command seat.

There's a thread in the Fan Fiction board that runs with a variation on that scenario where Chakotay becomes Equinox CO (which makes sense) with Joe Carey as both XO and ChEng, with Tuvok taking over as XO on Voyager, which makes a lot more sense to me, though Tom or Ayala as Equinox XO rather than the dual-hatted Carey would also work.

Politically a Maquis has to be either Captain or XO, for 4 very clear reasons.

1. Revolution. If the Maquis begin to feel like slaves or second class citizens, they will violently express their lack of interest in being treated like holograms, by the very killable Starfleet pantywaists, and space every smug shit on board still insisting on being called "Sir".

2. Industrial action. The Maquis do not have to go on a killing spree, they just need to go on strike, and then the ship grinds to a halt, where upon they can bargain for a louder voice at the table, or palpable concessions.

3. Emigration. If they are unhappy, they can just leave. Hey, look! A planet. Hey, arn't we just a bunch of farmers who went to war with an evil alien empire because they wouldn't let us farm in peace? Shit bro, we can farm any where , even here in the DQ, we don't actually have to back to Federation Space... And then there are not enough people to run the ship, and then Voyager grinds to a halt or blows up.

4. Individualized concerns. Sure, they are group, but if the Marquis are unhappy, they don't have to move as one, there could be 15 non localized radical responses from 15 creative murderers, from being used like a slave without adequate representation, because some of these terrorists were never farmers, they were just psychos who heard that they could join a club with free guns and a lot of bombs, that enjoyed mass murdering Cardassians for sometimes no reason whatsoever.