Why Didn't Harry Get Promoted?

[Akiraprise]

Beverly was an Admiral in a blue uniform too. It is rare to see one not wearing red on screen though for whatever reason. It makes sense for the commander of a specialty division like Starfleet Medical or the Corp of Engineers to wear the appropriate division colors.

 

[Paul Weaver]

Captain Scott went wear gold in the 23rd century but he was still captain.

We saw Geordi as a good commodore too

 

[Kor]

There was also Commodore Oh in Picard.
And as an equivalent, Commodore Stone In TOS "Court Martial" was in red, the operations division color, instead of command gold of the time.

Kor

 

[Paul Weaver]

And as an equivalent, Commodore Stone In TOS "Court Martial" was in red, the operations division color, instead of command gold of the time.

Or as they say...

In the old days, operations officers wore red, command officers wore gold...

 

[Kor]

And there was also redshirt Commodore Stocker in TOS "The Deadly Years," essentially a "desk jockey" staff officer with a flag rank to take command of what was probably a supply base.

Kor

 

[Minty]

My head cannon would be that every time he got an appraisal meeting he'd smash a vase or farted a rotten one before Chakotay came in or deleted the doctor. Something we didn't see in ep but was constantly annoying the higher ups.

 

[Oddish]

If Harry was incompetent at his job, that would have been a reasonable explanation for his long ensignhood. However, there was no evidence given that he was bad at his job, and it was freely stated by both Janeway and Chakotay that he was one of Voyager's best people.

 

[Guy Gardener]

If Harry was incompetent at his job, that would have been a reasonable explanation for his long ensignhood. However, there was no evidence given that he was bad at his job, and it was freely stated by both Janeway and Chakotay that he was one of Voyager's best people.

Here are three reasons why Kim can never be allowed to raise to the rank of Captain aboard any ship that can time travel.

The Next Emanation, he scientifically proved the absence of god and debunked the afterlife to an alien and therefore maybe eventually an entire world, which seemed prewarp, despite that he had no problem with talking to the local government about Starships and alien worlds.

Deadlock: He's not Harry Kim. What ever fake matter his features are made up out of, could be explosively unstable or this fake Harry who never went to the academy, is secretly evil and biding his time, waiting to strike like a scorpion.

Timeless/Endgame. Harry thinks that he is a god. He's willing to roll back time 15 years, murdering all life in the universe, and unmaking two good histories where a thriving Federation defeats the Borg, because his guilt over killing all his friends is too much to bare, or his mother-figure finally bribes him with a wisp of approval for disobeying the law and not stunning Admiral Janeway to death like Starfleet Command told him to. I think it's insane that his crew didn't mutiny in Endgame, and stop the crazy old lady from blowing up time.

 

[Ragitsu]

Harry's real crime: ribbing Tuvok in front of the bridge crew.

 

[Guy Gardener]

Harry's real crime: ribbing Tuvok in front of the bridge crew.

Badgering that poor Vulcan in his pajamas in Resolutions, trying to force Tom's demotion from first officer and "probably" Lieutenant Commander, because he's jealous that everyone else moved up two places in Voyager's totem, and he didn't.

 

[Ragitsu]

Badgering that poor Vulcan in his pajamas in Resolutions

I forgot about that poor attempt at persuasion; Kes accomplished more in one attempt than Harry did in two.

 

[Oddish]

Ok, but here's the problem...
Harry advocated to Tuvok that he should disobey Janeway's orders.
Tuvok actually disobeyed said orders.

If Harry's actions rate punishment, shouldn't Tuvok have suffered worse?

 

[Ragitsu]

This is why you will never get promoted.

 

[Oddish]

Because I'm too logical?

 

[fireproof78]

Time in grade alone is sufficient.

They had casualties, blended crew and attrition. You don't stay an ensign unless you have serious disciplinary issues. Even Mariner got to J.G.

 

[Oddish]

And it's a reasonable assumption that Harry's career was set back... five years after Voyager's return, according to the PRO screenshot, he was still a ○○ lieutenant. Though presumably, in his later career, he was able to beat the stigma and rise through the ranks.

 

[Ragitsu]

Someone said it would have been hilarious if - during her Nemesis conversation with Picard - she had said (slight paraphrasing here) "I'll get Ensign Kim to take care of it."

 

[Oddish]

Maybe. But there was no logical reason for Harry to still be an ensign upon Voyager's return. The only reason they didn't just reveal that he was a higher rank was certain people took a sadistic pleasure in him being an ensign forever. So, Berman and later Kurtzman pulled a Shrödinger's Cat on us: by never revealing his fate, they made him an ensign canonically for 32 years, but without having to explain it.

 

[Paul Weaver]

But there was no logical reason for Harry to still be an ensign upon Voyager's return. The only reason they didn't just reveal that he was a higher rank was certain people took a sadistic pleasure in him being an ensign forever.

Yes Harry should have been lt jg at least by season 7

But he wasn’t.

Making Harry working with Locarno, having left starfleet after Janeway's bullying wasnt dealt with, would have been an option.

 

[Oddish]

They could have come up with any number of explanations. Make him bad at his job. Make him do something bad. Or, just kill him off. But, since they chose to have him be a good officer, he should have been treated as one.

Kicking a puppy around the room for peeing on the rug is cruel, but at least you sort of understand why it happened. Kicking the same puppy for being the best-behaved dog in the house is both cruel and incomprehensible.