Why does Harry Kim never get promoted?

[Farscape One]

Geordi also went from Lt. to Lt. Cmdr. and did not change jobs in between season 2 and 3.

Worf was sort of an fill in officer on the bridge before Yar was killed. But he did become Lt. Cmdr. while still being Security Chief.

Troi DID become a full Commander.

Dax was Lt. and became Lt. Cmdr. as science officer.

Bashir did get a promotion between season 3 and 4, Lt. j.g. to Lt.

Sisko was still station commander when he became Captain.

Kira became a Colonel between season 6 and 7, though she was acting station commander in those 3 months.

Tuvok... I don't remember there being a separation of the two roles for him, but either way, he was still doing the same job.

Not sure about Tom, but everything points to him still being lead helmsman. Ro was the helmsmam of the Enterprise-D and was an Ensign. Dialogue at the beginning of "Conundrum" seems to indicate she was a lead.

 

[Oddish]

Here is an interesting 3-way comparison, between Harry and two officers noted for rapid advancement...

1. Will Riker
Normal time (USN) to go from Academy graduation to Commander (O-5): 15 years.
Time required by Riker: 7 years.
Comparison: 2.14x faster.
If we had gone by Jonathan Frakes's actual age instead of what "The Pegasus" retconned in, this would be a much more reasonable 12 years, or 1.25x faster.

2. Nog
Normal time to go from start of schooling (Naval Academy) to Lieutenant JG rank: 6 years.
Time required by Nog: 4 years.
Comparison: 1.5x faster.

3. Harry Kim (Non Sequitur timeline)
Normal time required to go from Ensign to Lieutenant JG: 2 years
Time required by Harry (assuming his associate was telling the truth): 8 months
Comparison: 3x faster.

Harry was a talented enough officer to rocket up faster than Riker or Nog, if he had gotten the chance... too bad Janeway didn't give it to him.

 

[Farscape One]

With Nog, he went from Ensign to Lt. jg in 2 years. He was made an Ensign while still a cadet... the War, plus his service since the beginning of the war, earned him that spot.

 

[Oddish]

My point. Going from first year cadet to LTJG is normally a 6-year journey. Nog did it in 4. And he's the one they compare to Harry as having advanced rapidly while Harry was standing still (i.e. "he's going to have to call the kid who was waiting tables 'sir'").

 

[Farscape One]

I agree Harry should have been promoted after 2 years. 3 at the most.

 

[Oddish]

The stupidest thing is that there was no reason for it. Just pick a third season episode that needs 30 seconds of filler, and have it begin:

JANEWAY (voice): "Captain's log, stardate 5-0-[whatever]. Voyager is passing through a largely uninhabited and unclaimed patch of space, allowing the crew to catch up on some routine work. For me, it's allowed me to complete some long delayed personnel reviews, and to proceed with one of the more pleasurable parts of my duty."

Cut to the briefing room. Most of the senior officers are seated around the table. Harry Kim and Captain Janeway are standing near the head.

JANEWAY: "Harry [whatever his middle name is] Kim... in recognition of your outstanding service, I grant you field promotion to the rank of lieutenant, with all privileges and responsibilities thereof." (pins black pip on Harry's collar) "Congratulations, Mr. Kim."
HARRY: "Thank you, Captain."
Applause from the others. A grinning Harry proceeds to his seat, next to Paris, who pats him on the shoulder.
TOM: "Way to go, Harry."
CHAKOTAY: "Nice work, Harry."
B'ELANNA: "Congratulations, lieutenant. "

Janeway then proceeds with the morning briefing, like normal. And that's it. If I could write the scene, why was it so hard for PROFESSIONAL WRITERS?!

 

[jackoverfull]

Heck, even that scene could have been omitted, if they really felt they needed the time somewhere else (obviously not the case, judging by the number of hopelessly pandering episodes they did), just have Kim have a pip more one day, for example at the start of season 5, and call it a day.

 

[jackoverfull]

But maybe the Voyager remaster of 2040 will go all George Lucas and digitally add a pip to harry’s neck from a certain point on! And maybe fix tuvok too...

 

[plynch]

Yup, nicely done. Even two lines of dialog as Harry prepares to beam out or fly a shuttle or something. Janeway say, "Well, Lt. Kim, let's see if you live up to that new rank pip you were awarded yesterday. Harry, beaming, "Yes, Ma'am!"

And away we go.

I think it's the IRL explanation that Garrett was (allegedly) not cool professionally.

 

[Oddish]

Heck, even that scene could have been omitted, if they really felt they needed the time somewhere else (obviously not the case, judging by the number of hopelessly pandering episodes they did), just have Kim have a pip more one day, for example at the start of season 5, and call it a day.

That would have been the perfect time, since two months had passed in universe. They could have even slipped it into the context of the episode's plot: "Last time any of us saw the captain was at Harry's promotion party, and she slipped out early."

When professional writers make a stupid and obvious mistake like that and keep making it for 4-5 years, and get away with it, something is quite wrong!

 

[plynch]

or afoot

 

[amp]

I think it's the IRL explanation that Garrett was (allegedly) not cool professionally.

I've heard this explanation before and I know that Garrett Wang believes that Kim wasn't promoted because Berman didn't like him, but I find it hard to swallow. It's one thing if the producers reduced his screen time or wrote him off the show. But how does not promoting Harry Kim affect Wang in any way? Wang may have cared but most actors wouldn't give a damn. On TNG Data remained at the same rank while other crew members were promoted, yet would anyone argue that was a swipe at Brent Spiner?

I think the more realistic explanation is simply that Berman never really cared about character growth. He wanted Kim to always be the wide-eyed ingénue who desperately wants to get home to his mommy and daddy back on Earth. Keeping Kim as an ensign facilitated those stories. Wang once said that when he asked Berman why he wasn't promoted, Berman replied "Someone's got to be the ensign." Wang took Berman to be joking, but I think he was dead serious.

Even after Kim had been on Voyager for years he was still being played as a brand new Academy graduate. In season 5, we see Kim commanding the night shift and he's clearly nervous about it. He asks for status updates every 20 minutes and then second guesses whether to wake Chakotay when something happens. And then in season 7, Kim gets his first real command and discovers that he's still wet behind the ears after he messes it up. Kim really shouldn't be a greenhorn this late in the show's run, but if the writers wanted to keep focusing on his inexperience they couldn't also promote him.

 

[Oddish]

And that's just @*#!&-ing stupid. If the people who wrote Voyager were truly that dumb, then it's not a surprise that episodes like "Threshold" existed... it's a surprise that they weren't ALL that bad!

 

[F. King Daniel]

Ensign Tilly 1
Ensign Kim 0

 

[Crusher Disciple]

Maybe Janeway decided he never did anything to deserve getting promoted.

 

[Guy Gardener]

He shattered the Prime Directive and Temporal Directive, by getting Voyager on the 9 o'clock eyewitness news.

That's impressive.

 

[Oddish]

Maybe Janeway decided he never did anything to deserve getting promoted.

Easily debunked. Consider the following, from "Twisted". Emphasis mine.

JANEWAY: "Harry?"
KIM: "Yes, ma'am."
JANEWAY: "I just want you to know you've been one of the bright spots of this whole mission. You've exceeded any expectations I might have had of you."
KIM: "Thank you, Captain. I appreciate that."

 

[F. King Daniel]

Easily debunked. Consider the following, from "Twisted". Emphasis mine.

JANEWAY: "Harry?"
KIM: "Yes, ma'am."
JANEWAY: "I just want you to know you've been one of the bright spots of this whole mission. You've exceeded any expectations I might have had of you."
KIM: "Thank you, Captain. I appreciate that."

Maybe her expectations were of an immediate washout, and just by not quitting he exceeded her expectations

 

[Crusher Disciple]

Well...that's all I got.

 

[amp]

Easily debunked. Consider the following, from "Twisted". Emphasis mine.

JANEWAY: "Harry?"
KIM: "Yes, ma'am."
JANEWAY: "I just want you to know you've been one of the bright spots of this whole mission. You've exceeded any expectations I might have had of you."
KIM: "Thank you, Captain. I appreciate that."

Of course that was an early season 2 episode. The counter-argument would be that at some time after Janeway said that, something happened that soured her on Kim.

Now I don't really believe that, but to play Devil's Advocate it's kind of interesting to guess what incident would cause Janeway to turn on Kim. Was it when he hooked up with Darren Tal against Janeway's orders in "The Disease"? Or maybe it was when he fired on an alien ship without authorization in "Favorite Son".