Why does Harry Kim never get promoted?

[at Quark's]

If they'd made Harry useless or incompetent... that would have been awesome in it's own way! We NEVER see a Starfleet officer who's just bad at his job, who never should have applied to the academy. If Harry had been a 7-year ensign because he deserved to be, that actually could have made him one of Voyager's most interesting characters, instead of one of its most forgettable.

Well, at least we have Crewman Tal Celes, who may not have been an officer but still went through the academy (some shorter curriculum perhaps?), who seemed to only barely manage her job, and even then only with a lot of help from her more capable friends.

Then, there's Barclay who has issues that significantly hinder him in being a 'properly functioning' Starfleet officer, even though they're not competency issues in his case.

 

[jackoverfull]

And there is boimler...But, like Barclay, he has issues but is in fact quite competent.

 

[DonIago]

Barclay was the first who came to mind when this subject arose,though I agree he was competent. He was just neurodivergent, or came off that way.

The problem with making Kim incompetent is that it would beg the question of why he's apparently continuing to be senior staff/a bridge offer, especially as an ensign. Like if Kim can do that job and he's a screw-up and a relative amateur, then how hard can it be?

 

[Oddish]

Barclay was a superb diagnostic engineer. He just had multiple issues: high functioning autism, social anxiety, and transporter phobia to name a few.

 

[Oddish]

It occurs to me that the topic title here could be WHEN was Harry Kim promoted? Presented as a multiple choice question...

A. Early in the first season.
B. He never was at any time.
C. Uhhh... define "promoted".
D. All of the above.

The answer, as it almost always is when you're offered the option (unless you have a really crafty test writer), is D. Harry is 21 years old and about that many minutes out of the academy (that's a junior officer by age, seniority, and rank alike) and Janeway invites him to her senior officer "grown-up table". So while I obviously agree that at some point, that lonely little gold pip on his collar should have gotten a friend or two, can we unquestionably say that he wasn't (in a sense) promoted?

 

[antinoos]

 

[DonIago]

^Terrible.

 

[Oddish]

Type "Harry Kim meme" into a search engine. You get gobs of them, mostly about his non-promotion.

 

[jackoverfull]

It occurs to me that the topic title here could be WHEN was Harry Kim promoted? Presented as a multiple choice question...

A. Early in the first season.
B. He never was at any time.
C. Uhhh... define "promoted".
D. All of the above.

The answer, as it almost always is when you're offered the option (unless you have a really crafty test writer), is D. Harry is 21 years old and about that many minutes out of the academy (that's a junior officer by age, seniority, and rank alike) and Janeway invites him to her senior officer "grown-up table". So while I obviously agree that at some point, that lonely little gold pip on his collar should have gotten a friend or two, can we unquestionably say that he wasn't (in a sense) promoted?

problem is that he is chief of department (same role Data was on the Enterprise!) from the start. It would have made much more sense if he had been reassigned to this high-profile position after his boss died in Caretaker.

 

[at Quark's]

problem is that he is chief of department (same role Data was on the Enterprise!) from the start. It would have made much more sense if he had been reassigned to this high-profile position after his boss died in Caretaker.

That probably would have been (marginally) better. Even so, I'd wonder whether there really weren't any more senior officers on board who could have taken on the job of chief of department (even if it was only a small department).

 

[Oddish]

My scenario was that Harry was assigned as Voyager's second ranking ops officer. His superior, who was supposed to show him the ropes, was going to meet up with them after their milk run into the Badlands. So suddenly, Harry's what they've got, and he has to step up. Yes, the superior could have died instead, but Chakotay, B'Elanna, Tom, and the EMH all got their jobs that way. And this is just more ironic.

I sometimes wonder how the conversation around the planning table went, when they planned the character...

DEV 1: "So, who's going to have Data's job?"

DEV 2: "Ensign Harry Kim."

DEV 1: "Don't you mean Lieutenant Harry Kim?"

DEV 2: "No, Ensign. He's right out of the academy."

DEV 1: "What's a kid right out of the academy doing running a department on a starship? Shouldn't a brand new ensign have... I don't know, an ensign's job?"

DEV 2: "What do you mean?"

DEV 1: "Like on 'Lower Decks', an episode that aired just a few months ago. Taking orders, staying behind the scenes, and not knowing dick about anything."

DEV 2: "Oh, no. He's one of Janeway's senior officers."

DEV 1: "But he's NOT a senior officer. He's a newly minted ensign who was daydreaming in an exobiology classroom in San Francisco just a few days ago. That's about as junior as it gets."

DEV 2: "Yeah, so?"

DEV 1: "So... that makes no sense whatsoever."

DEV 2: "Yeah, well, those viewers are idiots. They won't know that."

DEV 1: "Why not just make him a lieutenant? That will work better, I think."

DEV 2: "Because someone's gotta be the ensign."

DEV 1: "Why?"

DEV 2: "They just do."

DEV 1: "Deep Space 9 never had an ensign."

DEV 2: "Doesn't matter. Someone's gotta be the ensign."

DEV 1: "All right, whatever... at least the character has room to develop... spread his wings... gain new experiences and learn new things. Grow from a wet behind the ears academy grad to a seasoned and competent officer. And of course, get a field promotion or two."

DEV 2: "Well, actually..."

 

[jackoverfull]

My scenario was that Harry was assigned as Voyager's second ranking ops officer. His superior, who was supposed to show him the ropes, was going to meet up with them after their milk run into the Badlands. So suddenly, Harry's what they've got, and he has to step up. Yes, the superior could have died instead, but Chakotay, B'Elanna, Tom, and the EMH all got their jobs that way. And this is just more ironic

As headcanons go this is not bad at all!

 

[Coops]

Thinking about it, I doubt there was much promotion for anybody on Voyager. Janeway was confident they'd get back but if it had taken a few decades and folk kept getting promoted she would've ended up with a ship full of commanders, I guess.

 

[DonIago]

I still don't think that justifies not promoting an ensign who's been at that rank for seven years but is considered part of the senior staff.

I would have liked to see a crew evaluation where Kim asked Janeway or Chakotay why he wasn't being promoted and what he could do to perform better.

 

[Oddish]

That actually would have been smarter for Kim than to steal Tom's moment by saying there wasn't a box on his chair. Instead, quietly go to Tuvok or Chakotay and ask them (just between them) why Janeway promoted Tom and not him. It's a reasonable concern, after all. If it's a failing of his, they could explain it.

Of course, the writers didn't have Harry do this because there was no rational explanation. It was bad enough that they highlighted their own incompetence as a plot device, both in "Unimatrix Zero" and "Nightingale".

 

[fireproof78]

Thinking about it, I doubt there was much promotion for anybody on Voyager. Janeway was confident they'd get back but if it had taken a few decades and folk kept getting promoted she would've ended up with a ship full of commanders, I guess.

Then that's what they deal with; field commissions are a thing. But, freezing promotions, except when they don't, doesn't make sense. Especially for 7 years at the most junior grade of officer. That makes no sense.

 

[Oddish]

The "ship full of commanders" argument is one I've heard before, and it's easily countered: that would take scores, maybe hundreds of promotions. Janeway gave... two, and overlooked an officer who was more deserving of lieutenant pips than Tom Paris was.

If she had given zero promotions, that might have made sense. But if she gave two, she could have easily done three.

 

[DonIago]

I wonder who exactly was in Harry's department, and how they felt about reporting to an ensign who didn't get promoted for seven years. Maybe they were all generi-crewmen...

 

[Oddish]

I wonder who exactly was in Harry's department, and how they felt about reporting to an ensign who didn't get promoted for seven years. Maybe they were all generi-crewmen...

They'd have to be. Given Harry's rank and seniority, only crewmen and possibly Maquis commissioned as ensigns would be lower than him.

 

[DonIago]

Well, if Harry's senior staff, then presumably other ensigns in his department would be considered to have lower seniority by dint of him being the head of the department.

Reminds me of when I try to run meetings involving people with much more experience than I have, though.