Why was Harry Kim NEVER promoted?

[My2tailwaggers]

I won't go into whatever tensions they may have been between Wang and those in charge of the show since I don't know anything about it and nothing has been confirmed.

But if we look at the character, I guess that the writers got stuck in to that "young, unexperienced Ensign Kim" scenario and didn't care about changing that.

In seasons 4-7, most of their efforts was to come up with stories about Janeway, Seven and The Doctor while the other characters were shoved in the background so they simply didn't care about Kim. I guess they simply forgot to promote him or simply didn't care.

Compare that to the Voyager books where Kim is actually doing something! He's a lot more active and important in the books, even if he gets injured and ends up in sickbay too many times.

I guess that Harry very quickly became the "whipping boy" stereotype on the show, the young, unexperienced kid who ended up in a lot of trouble and who the viewers should feel some pity for. I've seen that in other series as well, most notably in a Wild West series where the younger brother of the family hardly could fetch a bucket of water before getting into some trouble.

Which is a bit sad because Kim did have some potential. I can understand if Wang wasn't too happy about those in charge and the way they neglected his character.

It also seems that the shows that had to do with Harry, had him falling in love with an alien or hologram.. or else playing second fiddle to Tom.

 

[Spock-2012]

I know. It's sad like that, isnt it?

Although, sometimes you see him come off as 'toughening up' and all. During some episodes he acts semi-brave during certain situations. He really SHOULD have gotten a premotion.