Why was anyone not promoted in finals

[Timo]

There were only 4 squares for 4 ranks. With no half squares or anything like that.

But that would be identical to the TNG scheme, only with squares instead of circles. Use black squares mixed with the silver ones, and you get the exact TNG rank scheme.

Just because TPTB didn't bother to create those black pips means little. They didn't bother to create the Lt.Cmdr pin for ST2, either - but that doesn't mean Starfleet discontinued the rank.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Squiggy]

Nebusj said:

Ezri said:
It would be hard to be on the same ship with the rank of Captain.

Why? That's kind of like saying it'd be awfully hard if anyone else on the ship had the first name Jonathan.

No. Command isn't conferred on the person who has been Jonathan the longest.

 

[Red Ranger]

USS Excelsior said:
Another thing about Enterprise time period is that there are far less ranks.

Ensign,

one rank of Lieutenant,

then Lieutenant Commander,

and then Captain after that.

It's true they didn't show the "half-ranks," like lieutenant, junior grade. But as I recall they never showed lieutenant commander, either. Trip sported three full bars, not two silver and one black, as would be the case since the square pip scheme was similar to ST's 24th century ranks. Also, Trip, and later T'Pol, when she received a Starfleet commission, were always referred to as "commander." So the only ranks we saw on board were: ensign, lieutenant, commander, and captain. Not so sure of the flag officer ranks. -- RR

 

[Timo]

We got Vice Admiral and Commodore explicitly (the old and young Admiral Forrest, respectively). Other cuff markings were not explained to us, although there were variants to what Forrest was seen wearing.

The cuff markings roughly match what we see in TOS, although it seems that one of the gaps between stripes is filled with division color in all the variants.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[USS Excelsior]

And it would also seem that aside from the Captain, Trip, T'Pol, and Malcolm...

Everyone else was either Ensign or less. Meaning that only 4 of the senior officers had one rank each above Ensign, and they are the only ones who get to have a higher rank.

Which would explain why there were no promotions, because of a lack of onscreen indication that there were any inbetween ranks.

 

[JoeZhang]

Maybe hoshi was just crap at her job and that's why she remained on the bottom of the ladder?

 

[Nebusj]

Squiggyfm said:

Nebusj said:

Ezri said:
It would be hard to be on the same ship with the rank of Captain.

Why? That's kind of like saying it'd be awfully hard if anyone else on the ship had the first name Jonathan.

No. Command isn't conferred on the person who has been Jonathan the longest.

That's correct. It's conferred on the person who has the position of commander of the ship. The connection to rank is not a rigid one.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I prefer the explanation from The Good That Men Do, personally.

 

[Timo]

Everyone else was either Ensign or less. Meaning that only 4 of the senior officers had one rank each above Ensign, and they are the only ones who get to have a higher rank.

This is a pleasing setup, because high rank there nicely indicates a position of high authority. The UE Starfleet might want to keep things that way, as opposed to the UFP Starfleet which dishes out promotions like medals and commendations, without regard to the command structure.

The UE Starfleet might also give promotions as commendations - but would then juggle the promoted people around, so that any single ship would still only have a couple of high-ranking officers aboard. If Archer's crew for some reason stuck together for years and years at an end, with Starfleet's blessing, Starfleet would probably hesitate to promote them and mess up the command structure.

OTOH, for all we know, these heroic officers all retired from active duty after Season Four, and only came back together for the "TATV" mission.

Although admittedly Hoshi is explicitly said to have stayed aboard for ten years. And she's the one most prominently lacking a promotion...

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Delta1]

Maybe Hoshi resigned her commission after the fourth season because she wasn't getting promoted and took a higher-paying position as a civilian technician aboard Enterprise. She could hold the same job, just without the legal authority inherent to rank. She's a computer geek/terp, there's no need for her to be an officer. Then when that career stalls, she puts the uniform back on in another bid to shake things up.

Or maybe the holodeck was programmed wrong. That seems more likely.

 

[mattwitz]

I thought I remembered a mention that Hoshi had been promoted to Lieutenant Commander. Maybe I was imagining it? Even if she wasn't, she probably wasn't too upset, as Starfleet would doubtless put her in charge of it's communications department; it was mentioned that she developed the Linguacode translation matrix that starfleet was still using in the 24th century.

 

[Delta1]

I don't actually remember what Holoshi's rank was; I was just working on the OP's premise that no one had been promoted.

 

[Blueicus]

Hoshi still has her ensign pips in TATV.

 

[Squiggy]

Timo said:
Indeed, we only get the 2161 timestamp from Archer's claim that he met T'Pol ten years prior.

No. We also get that Archer has been commanding Enterprise for 10 years, and I think Reed mentions that he couldn't imagine the past 10 years without Trip.

 

[Timo]

Actually, Archer doesn't say that he commanded the Enterprise specifically, only that he (first?) took command (of a starship?) a decade prior. In contrast, in the teaser, Mayweather specifically says Sato has been aboard NX-01 for ten years.

And yes, there's also a bit about Reed and Trip going back ten years, although they could of course have befriended before the NX-01 tour of duty. The same with Archer knowing T'Pol for ten years.

So, to nitpick the nitpicks, the ENT part of the episode is well established to take place in 2161, by Mayweather's bit about Sato. And if that is ignored, then it's still no earlier than 2157, because Shran has been mistaken for dead for the past three years. If that is ignored, then all bets are off.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Squiggy]

In Broken Bow, Reed talks as though he just met Trip.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Why would anyone need to be promoted during "Terra Prime"?

 

[KayArr]

Nerys Myk said:
Why would anyone need to be promoted during "Terra Prime"?

Hee hee--Exactly!!!!!!

But as for that "choose you own adventure" "holo-novel" piece of crap TNG episode that got grafted on to the end of season 4...well, the answer's pretty simple isn't it? The writers were idiots. Of all the incredibly, simple, basic things they should have tried to get right...

 

[EnsignRicky]

I think TOS was starting to get a little rediculous in the oposite way. By the end, you had a whole bridge full of Admirals Captains and Commanders.

 

[SFRabid]

Maybe they all declined promotions in protest of the writing of the final episode.