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Why Didn't Harry Get Promoted?

Whatchu talkin bout, Willis? That's a whole different universe!!
It really was. Tom suffered an agonizing loss, and had to work his way through it and learn to love again. Chakotay faced a dreadful loss as well, and in the throes of his grief he had to face the burden if command, with the stalwart Tuvok at his side. Neelix found himself pursuing new horizons as well. Harry not only received acknowledgement, and a well deserved promotion, but he found love in the most unexpected of places. Kes experienced the journey that is life itself, in all its joyful and sometimes tragic glory. And Voyager showed that it could be a series where characters grew and changed and embraced new challenges...

Then, "Before and After" ended. :(
 
explore the consequences of different choices or events, without a full commitment. The hazard is that sometimes, an alternate universe provides a more compelling reality than the prime universe, as seen with VOY's "Before and After". Yes, it had issues... but the characters actually showed growth.
This. Alternative timelines are great opportunities for exploring different aspects of a universe.
 
Disagree. Obviously. Death always serves a story.
Always? Not when it's about a badly written scenario and a waste of a good character.

Disagree and I say this with Spock as my favorite Trek character. But he is not irreplaceable.
He is!
Otherwise we wouldn't have seen him in SNW

How tragic for you. The depth there equals TOS at times, as Kirk grows, fails and learns. Emblematic of humanity, and TOS reflecting both virtue and vice within the same person.
The only positive thing with those nuTrek movies was that I got the idea of a new character, Thomas J. Kirk, the grandson of James T. Kirk. The actor who played what was supposed to be Kirk in the NuTrek movies looked like a buddy I had in school whose name was Thomas. :)

Kirk and Gowron, agreed. Kirk's appearance was meant to serve as the "passing of the torch", and they felt they had to eliminate him to complete it... but it had to really be done right.
It was just stupid to bring him back that way. TNG already had that torch from the start when the ship was named Enterprise.
Or pulled back into the Nexus again via some technobabble MacGuffin or other. That way, you're not killing him off, and he can even be brought back later.
That could have been a better option.
I didn't read the book, and there are probably lots of TrekLit books that screw with characters. But I was pissed about Gowron as well. It took a lot of thought to assassinate three characters in one shot (even "Nightingale" only managed two). But "Tacking into the Wind" succeeded.
- Gowron was portrayed as a character willing to risk the Empire for politics... and to stymie Martok's imperial ambitions, only Martok wanted to stay far away from politics.
- Worf quite simply made a mess, and demanded that Martok clean it up for him.
- And Martok was passive enough to go along with all this. He should have shoved that coat back on Worf's shoulders with a "Screw you, pe'taQ! Deal with this yourself!"
You're absolutely right here about Gowron. A great character who should have remained Klingon Chancellor.
And you can only get away with that with characters your audience isn't invested in. For me, the worst example was having Weyoun suffer perma-death in DS9. One of Trek's best characters slaughtered in cold blood, and it feels like a footnote.
I have to agree with that, even if I did sympathize with Garak's action as such.
But obviously it was possible to bring back Weyoun or at least a new clone of Weyoun in some recent books and that would solve that problem.

Otherwise I agree, Weyoun was or is a great character.

Here I have to bring up Kes too who was humiliated and destroyed in the most possible ways for no reason at all. Why bring back a character who they had done everything to make people forget only to destroy her in the worst possible ways.

And be happy that you never have read the book in which Garak was destroyed and killed off. It was horrible.

When I criticized that book and the author's actions at the TrekLit page, I was criticized for basing my statement on a memory Beta review. So when i found the book in a shop for bargain books and used books, I bought it.

It was more horrible than I could ever have imagined.

First I was going to burn it. But since it is against my principles to burn books, something I consider a horrible act, I just went back to the shop and put it back on the shelf. Since I had paid a rather small sum for the alrwady used book, I saw no reason to be greedy.

Some nonths later when i visited the shop again, it was gone. I feel sorry for the one who bought it.
I agree it would have been difficult. Spock was the only alien character in the ensemble. And you need an alien character to provide that essential outsider perspective.
Fortunately they didn't. They realized their mistake and persuaded Nimoy to come back.
Well, we ARE dealing with a writing crew who couldn't even count to 38, or figure out that an ensign is supposed to make lieutenant.
You are absoulutely right about that.
I doubt the Trek movies would have even happened.
Most likely they wouldn't have happened without Spock.

Full disagree. Alternate timelines allow the audience to explore the consequences of different choices or events, without a full commitment. The hazard is that sometimes, an alternate universe provides a more compelling reality than the prime universe, as seen with VOY's "Before and After". Yes, it had issues... but the characters actually showed growth.
I can see your point here. Stories with alternate timelines can be interesting if they are well -written.
The biggest problem is that the NuTrek producers overdid it. I mean, what was it? Thre movies taking place in an alternate timeline!

They weren't good either and I didn't like the actors.
 
Whatchu talkin bout, Willis? That's a whole different universe!!

It was many different timelines.

Every time Kes arrived in the past, she created a divergence.

Kes never visited a point in her own history, where they were already expecting her, until after she bounced off her own conception and started moving forward in time.
 
^ Entirely correct. But for the most part, they were subdivisions of a single alternate history, one where the year of hell took place, Janeway was dead, Chakotay was captain, Kes married Tom and grew old on Voyager, Neelix was security, et cetera. A timeline that, for all its warts (coughLinnis/Harrycough), featured characters who loved and lost and embraced new challenges. Not one that was so change-resistant, they couldn't even scare up a hollow pip for Harry.
 
Plot twist Harry's promotions in Before and After took place in 2378 and 2379 so he still spent 7 years as an ensign in that timeline too. Tom had been promoted to full lieutenant then lieutenant commander, busted down to ensign and worked his way back up to lieutenant commander in that time.
 
Always? Not when it's about a badly written scenario and a waste of a good character.
Yes, always.
He is!
Otherwise we wouldn't have seen him in SNW
Um, what? Spock in SNW has nothing to do with being replaceable. He served with Pike.
only positive thing with those nuTrek movies was that I got the idea of a new character, Thomas J. Kirk, the grandson of James T. Kirk. The actor who played what was supposed to be Kirk in the NuTrek movies looked like a buddy I had in school whose name was Thomas. :)
A positive is a positive i suppose.
 
Yes, always.
So you mean that they could have killed off the whole TNG team or only Picard and Riker and the series would still have been popular and good to watch?
I don't think so.

Um, what? Spock in SNW has nothing to do with being replaceable. He served with Pike.
If Spock never had returned after TWOK, the rest of the TOS movies had never been made and if SNW had been made, I doubt that Spock would have been in it.

A positive is a positive i suppose.
Always look on the briiiiiiiiight side of life! :techman:
 
So you mean that they could have killed off the whole TNG team or only Picard and Riker and the series would still have been popular and good to watch?
I don't think so.
You keep throwing up popular as though that makes a good story.

Popularity =/= good story.

If Spock never had returned after TWOK, the rest of the TOS movies had never been made and if SNW had been made, I doubt that Spock would have been in it.
Well, that's an odd thing to say. At the time the third film was made it was not assumed Nimoy was coming back or that Spock was coming back. There was no expectation of Spock's return and if he did it might not be the earlier Spock. It can absolutely be done.

This is a rather black and white view of this character.

Always look on the briiiiiiiiight side of life! :techman:
Why I enjoy TOS and the Kelvin films-optimism in the face enduring hardship.
 
^ Probably. The positive and negative aspects of AU's or killing off characters is certainly a worthwhile discussion.

Plot twist Harry's promotions in Before and After took place in 2378 and 2379 so he still spent 7 years as an ensign in that timeline too. Tom had been promoted to full lieutenant then lieutenant commander, busted down to ensign and worked his way back up to lieutenant commander in that time.
Nah. When the year of hell ended, the conmand structure was sagging due to all the fatalities. To shore it up, Chakotay promoted Tuvok to commander and first officer, Tom to lieutenant, and Harry to JG. With security disproportionately depleted, he allowed Neelix to sign on as a security crewman.
 
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Nah. When the year of hell ended, the conmand structure was sagging due to all the fatalities. To shore it up, Chakotay promoted Tuvok to commander and first officer, Tom to lieutenant, and Harry to JG. With security disproportionately depleted, he allowed Neelix to sign on as a security crewman.
Yet he never let Tuvok wear red...clearly a conspiracy against him for being a spy.
 
Yet he never let Tuvok wear red...clearly a conspiracy against him for being a spy.
Maybe Tuvok was erythrophobic. That is to say, he had an irrational fear of the color red. That's also why he didn't put on a red uniform in "Resolutions", despite his status as acting captain. Chakotay was just accommodating his colleague's idiosyncrasies.
 
You keep throwing up popular as though that makes a good story.

Popularity =/= good story.


Well, that's an odd thing to say. At the time the third film was made it was not assumed Nimoy was coming back or that Spock was coming back. There was no expectation of Spock's return and if he did it might not be the earlier Spock. It can absolutely be done.

This is a rather black and white view of this character.


Why I enjoy TOS and the Kelvin films-optimism in the face enduring hardship.
Honestly, I think that we have come as far as we can come in this debate since we seem to disagree on almost everything.

But I just can't stand meaningless destruction of favorite characters. it has been too much of that and it has damaged my interest for Star Trek, even for the books.
You guys should probably do this discussion privately. Pretty astray of the topic here.
I guess that it would be a good idea.

^ Probably. The positive and negative aspects of AU's or killing off characters is certainly a worthwhile discussion.
it actually is due to the fact that too many good characters have been destroyed for no reason at all. Just meaningless wasting of potential.

Nah. When the year of hell ended, the conmand structure was sagging due to all the fatalities. To shore it up, Chakotay promoted Tuvok to commander and first officer, Tom to lieutenant, and Harry to JG. With security disproportionately depleted, he allowed Neelix to sign on as a security crewman.
Fortunately, Year Of Hell was just an illusion or whatever one can call it.
I remember watching it back in the days and I didn't like it.

Some years ago, I bought a copy of season 4 mostly because I would like to re-watch Nemesis but also as a possibility to give this season a new chance after all those years.

While skipping The Gift, I got so far as to The Raven when I just lost interest and stopped. Something was missing in this season.

Two years later I got the idea to start watching again and found out that all of the discs except the first one had been ruined by disc rot or what it's called.

Last year, I found a copy of season 4 in a bargain shop. I bought it for a decent sum- and found out that it was unplayable on my DVD-player due to region problems.

Maybe watching anything beyond season 3 isn't just meant to be. :shrug:
 
Fortunately, Year Of Hell was just an illusion or whatever one can call it.
I remember watching it back in the days and I didn't like it.
In the prime timeline, the year of hell was deleted by the Big Red Reset Button. Yes, it worked veey well there, but they used it way too much, in situations where it didn't work. Even at the end of the series. That's why the "Harry the eternal ensign" trope still exists: if the Endgame timeline had been canon, it was debunked.

In the B&A timeline, the year of hell actually happened. Janeway was one of the many casualties. Hence, Captain Chakotay, Lieutenant Kim, and Security Officer Neelix.

Two years later I got the idea to start watching again and found out that all of the discs except the first one had been ruined by disc rot or what it's called.

Last year, I found a copy of season 4 in a bargain shop. I bought it for a decent sum- and found out that it was unplayable on my DVD-player due to region problems.

Maybe watching anything beyond season 3 isn't just meant to be. :shrug:
I hope that you can see "Year of Hell". IMHO, it was Voyager's best episode.
 
In the prime timeline, the year of hell was deleted by the Big Red Reset Button. Yes, it worked veey well there, but they used it way too much, in situations where it didn't work. Even at the end of the series. That's why the "Harry the eternal ensign" trope still exists: if the Endgame timeline had been canon, it was debunked.

In the B&A timeline, the year of hell actually happened. Janeway was one of the many casualties. Hence, Captain Chakotay, Lieutenant Kim, and Security Officer Neelix.


I hope that you can see "Year of Hell". IMHO, it was Voyager's best episode.

"immortal" Anorax was aboard that ship for two hundred years, where he changed the timeline hundreds if not thousands of times between Scientific Method and Year of Hell. Although everything we saw from Day one is from out of the new time line created after the resolution of Year of Hell.
 
In the prime timeline, the year of hell was deleted by the Big Red Reset Button. Yes, it worked veey well there, but they used it way too much, in situations where it didn't work. Even at the end of the series. That's why the "Harry the eternal ensign" trope still exists: if the Endgame timeline had been canon, it was debunked.

In the B&A timeline, the year of hell actually happened. Janeway was one of the many casualties. Hence, Captain Chakotay, Lieutenant Kim, and Security Officer Neelix.


I hope that you can see "Year of Hell". IMHO, it was Voyager's best episode.
When it comes to the B&A timeline, I'm happy that nothing of it happened inh the real timeline.
The events in it were horrible. What was exciting and interesting in it was the flashbacks to Kes's life before Voyager but that's all.

And i'm not gonna go into the relationship between Linnis and Harry here.

Honestly, i did watch Year Of Hell many years ago. I didn't like it then and I don't think that my opinion would change if I watch it now.
 
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