Why was Wesley staioned at the Conn
- Thread starter apollo1984
- Start date
I almost always bring this up, but it was a mistake to make Wesley so young in the first place. Much better stories could have been built around him, Beverly and Picard if he had been the top of his class newly graduated Ensign ready to make his mark on Starfleet and planing to become the youngest Captain in Starfleet history. He graduates top of his class in Engineering and is a top ranked pilot. He get assigned to the Federation flagship only to find his mother is the CMO and his superior officer.
Stories about he and Beverly adjusting to their new relationship, about him resolving his feelings towards Picard (which were just touched on in one episode), and about him learning that the Academy is nothing like life on a starship could have been great character pieces. He could still have the wonder at actually being in space that Roddenberry wanted Wesley to express, and a mother and son learning how to adjust to their new relationship as mother and son - he will always be her little boy - and as fellow officers would be a natural tension that not even Rodenberry could deny isn't going to go away unless humans can shut off their emotions.
IMO a lot of missed opportunities if he were a little older and him saving the ship would not be such a big deal, nor would his position at conn be in question by anyone.
Stories about he and Beverly adjusting to their new relationship, about him resolving his feelings towards Picard (which were just touched on in one episode), and about him learning that the Academy is nothing like life on a starship could have been great character pieces. He could still have the wonder at actually being in space that Roddenberry wanted Wesley to express, and a mother and son learning how to adjust to their new relationship as mother and son - he will always be her little boy - and as fellow officers would be a natural tension that not even Rodenberry could deny isn't going to go away unless humans can shut off their emotions.
IMO a lot of missed opportunities if he were a little older and him saving the ship would not be such a big deal, nor would his position at conn be in question by anyone.
Starborn Dragon
Captain
I quoted who I was replying to.
Don't be coy. You quoted two people. Sybok Was Wrong, which is an appropriate username for the post, and me. Is it like Spock who can express multiple attitudes simultaneously?
If the reply was to me, you disagree but then go on to express my same sentiments. It's very odd.
Wesley scored high on his standardized tests so he immediately had to be given the best position over the people who didn't score high on standardized tests but worked a lot harder.
Just like Mordock. He scored even higher on the standardized test with even less work, so he had to be given the best position over even Wesley.
In 2378, Mordock was probably a Captain. He probably got all the promotions just because he managed to intuit a clever solution once in a while. He was even better than Wesley at finding some brilliant solution to save the ship at the last minute, but he didn't work very hard. Per Starfleet policy, he was continuously promoted.
Just like Mordock. He scored even higher on the standardized test with even less work, so he had to be given the best position over even Wesley.
In 2378, Mordock was probably a Captain. He probably got all the promotions just because he managed to intuit a clever solution once in a while. He was even better than Wesley at finding some brilliant solution to save the ship at the last minute, but he didn't work very hard. Per Starfleet policy, he was continuously promoted.
Starborn Dragon
Captain
I wasn't trying to be coy, unfortunately my quote fu isn't very good so I got your post in with the poster JWPlatt
It was his I was referring to, not yours.
By the way, nobody's complaining about that Russian whiz kid.
In universe he's there because two people he knows are getting married.
There's not as much to complain about in either version of Chekov, TOS and nu: in both cases, he was an Academy graduate, (initially) with the rank of Ensign assigned to the Enterprise.
I think that what people forget is that in TNG, Conn was NOT a particularly important position. Early TNG tried to seriously de-emphasize starship operations. The idea was that it was so easy a child could do it and could do it from a PADD if needed. For the most part the computer flew the ship. You just had someone at the console pushing the "go" and "stop" buttons. Thus that station was never that important. Note that after Wesley leaves no one has the position consistently.
The officer whom Wesley displaced at the Conn station was Lt., J.G. Cooper. Cooper considered Wesley to be his mortal enemy for several years....
[yt]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUWXjs2jPQI[/yt]
[yt]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUWXjs2jPQI[/yt]
Great minds think alike! I had the same idea.
Since Wesley was in officer-in-training, it makes sense for him to spend time as the Conn officer, especially if he was in the command track. As the conning officer, he'd learn the most about how to maneuver and "drive" a starship. What most folks don't get about naval captains is that one of their primary job is to drive the ship.
Picard was a competent pilot as was Riker. The former especially was shown having a great deal of skill at the conn ("Booby Trap", "1101101"). If Wesley was on the Golden Path to Captain, he'd certainly have to learn how to drive the ship.
Picard was a competent pilot as was Riker. The former especially was shown having a great deal of skill at the conn ("Booby Trap", "1101101"). If Wesley was on the Golden Path to Captain, he'd certainly have to learn how to drive the ship.
"Take her out, Mr. Saavik" translates to asking others to press a button.
No Star Trek episode or movie, including "Booby Trap," has convinced me that it requires any skill other than to press a button to initiate simple automation. Despite what the "Booby Trap" script says as fact, I don't believe the computer would not have a gravitational field topological mapping of the space ready at all times to analyse and execute a slingshot effect. Nothing would convince me that this is not already required for navigation on any spacecraft - warp capable or not - because the topology of spacetime is a critical component of spaceflight at any speed. I chalk it up to a human scriptwriter grandstanding the human component as a fantasy for Captain Dunsail.
But battle scenes are different because they require the helmsman to translate orders into action on the fly. So that does imply skill. But when the order consists of "Evasive Pattern Delta!" - not so much skill for the helmsman - it's a preprogrammed sequence. The skill in that situation is the Captain's analysis of a situation and the order given.
No Star Trek episode or movie, including "Booby Trap," has convinced me that it requires any skill other than to press a button to initiate simple automation. Despite what the "Booby Trap" script says as fact, I don't believe the computer would not have a gravitational field topological mapping of the space ready at all times to analyse and execute a slingshot effect. Nothing would convince me that this is not already required for navigation on any spacecraft - warp capable or not - because the topology of spacetime is a critical component of spaceflight at any speed. I chalk it up to a human scriptwriter grandstanding the human component as a fantasy for Captain Dunsail.
But battle scenes are different because they require the helmsman to translate orders into action on the fly. So that does imply skill. But when the order consists of "Evasive Pattern Delta!" - not so much skill for the helmsman - it's a preprogrammed sequence. The skill in that situation is the Captain's analysis of a situation and the order given.
The computer may have that information, the human factor is having the skill to know when to push the button and for how long. And which button for that matter.
And airplane can have all the terrain, thermals, and wind currents mapped out on a flight. And the autopilot can do it. But I wouldn't want to trust the computer in the Grand Canyon on a hot day when there is the potental of nuclear fallout reaching my plane in minutes and I can't fly over the top of the canyon walls until point X due to some sort of AA guns or missiles. But that just might be from growing up in the 80s, when computers were still not to be trusted with out lives.
And airplane can have all the terrain, thermals, and wind currents mapped out on a flight. And the autopilot can do it. But I wouldn't want to trust the computer in the Grand Canyon on a hot day when there is the potental of nuclear fallout reaching my plane in minutes and I can't fly over the top of the canyon walls until point X due to some sort of AA guns or missiles. But that just might be from growing up in the 80s, when computers were still not to be trusted with out lives.
The con is a natural place for a junior officer to learn about how the ship is run, and how to steer. They can learn a lot if they keep their eyes open, and the rest of the bridge crew is there to keep an eye on them. The 1700s-1800s navies on which Starfleet is loosely based had midshipmen as young as 13 as officer of the watch.
Not like that. Yes, average lifespans were quite a bit shorter than they are now, but the age distribution was nothing like it is now. Most of the shortness of life then was because of much higher infant mortality, and death in childbirth for women. A boy who lived to 12 would have a pretty good chance of living to 60+. Naval officers were unusual, most other professions didn't start recruiting before age 17 at least, or even older for things like law or the priesthood.
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