posted
Hello everyone, I'm Kazeite and I'm new here. I'm from Poland, a small country between Germany and Russia, and English is not my native language, so please excuse my grammar errors.
I was reading this board for the long time and I finally decided to join.
So, for my first post I wanted to start discussion about some forgotten and not-discussed mysteries like the length of the Defiant or even the number of torpedo launchers on the Akira ), but decided to settle on something simple:
Jean-Luc Picard duty record.
I must confess that I don't like Picard very much. In fact I like Janeway better. (And just to show you my tastes in trek, let me add that I think that ST5 was better movie than ST8 )
So, I was thinking about Picard and how did he managed to become captain of the Enterprise. Let me tell you, it doesn't make sense to me why he was chosen to have this job.
Why? Let me explain.
First of all, what do we know about Picard for sure?
He graduated in 2327.
I think that one of the books suggests that he was posted to USS Antares, but that's not important.
In 2329 he's already a lieutenant on Stargazer, and in 2333 he assumes command of Stargazer. That�s only SIX years after his graduation!
I think that's strange. Either Picard became good friends with someone that could pull strings (so to speak), or it was no big deal to give old, outdated ship such as Stargazer to such inexperienced officer.
And now we enter 20 years long Stargazer era. Pretty uneventful, it would appear. We know for sure that Picard had some dealings with Cardassians ("The Wounded") and with theta-band carrier waves ("Chain of Command"), he had couple of affairs, he managed to get Jack Crusher killed, and then he ran into Ferengi in 2355.
And then there's 9 years of absolute silence after that. It would appear that Picard didn't receive another ship, so what was he doing?
And suddenly he becomes captain of the flagship of the Federation. The Enterprise.
And that's even stranger, don't you think? I wouldn't consider Picard to be perfect candidate for that position... in fact I wouldn't consider him at all... I don't believe that man who was commanding obsolete cruiser for the past twenty years would be a good choice for this position.
Another thing that seems peculiar is that every other admiral seems to be on the first name basis with Picard. So, is it possible that some friend of his pulled the right strings again?
What do you think about it?
[ February 16, 2003, 06:38 PM: Message edited by: Charles Capps ]
-------------------- "Do I remember about my amnesia?"
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posted
We don't know that he didn't command another ship between the Stargazer and the Enterprise. Perhaps it was a big ship that would make him more suitable for command of the flagship. And he was a CO very early, so perhaps that counts, as he must have been pretty near the top of the seniority list.
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I too have wondered the same things about Picard, but never really gave it much thought. A few possibilities spring to mind;
1) He did have a ship between Stargazer and Enterprise. I believe that there was some reference to him commanding a ship between the two when he saw Natash Yar in a minefield rescuing someone.
2) He's got 20+ years experience of combat, command, exploration and diplomacy - all needed for the flagship.
3) He assisted in the shakedown cruises of new ships for 9 years.
Take your pick, but all are (I hope) valid.
-AK
-------------------- If you cant convince them, confuse them.
Registered: Apr 2001
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posted
Don't forget that he visited Chalna (sp?) once on the Stargazer ca. 2354-55. :-p
Yeah, it does seem strange that he would jump to such a grandiose position such as the flagship, but then again, look who they hired to captain the double predecessor (1701-B)!!
It also seems odd that he was able to acquire such a prominent first officer on his ship as well, not to mention the 'droid ALL AFTER receiving a court martial some 8-9 years prior.
quote:Originally posted by Futurama Guy: It also seems odd that he was able to acquire such a prominent first officer on his ship as well, not to mention the 'droid ALL AFTER receiving a court martial some 8-9 years prior.
I suspect its automatic to get a court-martial after losing your ship in peacetime. And he didn't get found guilty, did he?
I also suspect that if you are the captain of the flagship you can pretty much pick and choose any crew member you want.
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So, akb1979, you're sure about that extra ship? I'm gonna check some chronologies to spot that puppy
And your 'shakedown' theory seems plausible to me. I wonder if... no, wrong year. I was wondering if it's possible that he met young Ben Sisko before 2368. (totally unrelated, I know )
-------------------- "Do I remember about my amnesia?"
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posted
You won't find anything official about Picard's second command. It's never been acknowledged. However, in his conversation with Ishara Yar in "Legacy", he says "Her ship had responded to the distress call, as had mine..." (referring to Tasha's ship).
If we assume he hadn't been demoted after the loss of the Stargazer, he was in fact in command of another ship since he hadn't been aboard the Enterprise before Yar.
Either that or their were extenuating circumstances in which he was aboard the ship and involved in the command structure but not technically in command.
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posted
"I'm from Poland, a small country between Germany and Russia"
Don't worry, most people here can find it on a map.
As for the gap in the good Frenchmen's history: who knows how many diplomatic relations or first contacts he established/made while commanding the 'Gazer? Twenty years is plenty of time to zip around the quadrant and, well, do the stuff that captains do.
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted
I was always under the impression that Picard's renown and high status were due to his diplomatic record, not necessarily his military/command record.
Registered: Mar 1999
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quote:You won't find anything official about Picard's second command. It's never been acknowledged. However, in his conversation with Ishara Yar in "Legacy", he says "Her ship had responded to the distress call, as had mine..." (referring to Tasha's ship).
This "as had mine" line was supposed to be in reference to the Enterprise-D, since this took place before the "new" backstory of Yar established in All Good Things. It was only after AGT premiered that Mike Okuda acknowledged this oversight. However, it is only fan speculation that this now means that Picard had another command between the Stargazer and the Enterprise. I personally take this line to mean that it was a ship that Picard was just a passenger on, and not in command of. The line "her ship" doesn't mean that it was a ship that Yar was the captain of, does it?
-------------------- "A film made in 2008 isn't going to look like a TV series from 1966 if it wants to make any money. As long as the characters act the same way, and the spirit of the story remains the same then it's "real" Star Trek. Everything else is window dressing." -StCoop
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quote: Don't forget that he visited Chalna (sp?) once on the Stargazer ca. 2354-55. :-p
Which is exactly what got Jack Crusher killed...at least according to my pet theory.
I think it's quite likely that Picard had command of another starship for at least some of the 9 years between Maxia Zeta and Farpoint. I doubt very much that Starfleet would waste his 20 years of deep space experiance at some desk job and we know he didn't teach at the academy since Boothby hadn't seen him in...I forget the figure but it was more than 10 years for sure. It is possible however that he was attached to the Diplomatic corps for some of those 9 years which could explain his reputation as a mediator.
EDIT: I just had a look at the chronology and at the back (Appendix B) it says that it's possible that there was a 6 year period between commanding the 'Gazer and the E-D in which he was not serving aboard a Starship.
posted
Dukhat, what do you mean it was supposed to refer to the E-D? The very next sentence was "I knew I wanted her on my next command" or words to that effect.
--Jonah
-------------------- "That's what I like about these high school girls, I keep getting older, they stay the same age."
--David "Woody" Wooderson, Dazed and Confused
Registered: Feb 2001
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quote:You won't find anything official about Picard's second command. It's never been acknowledged. However, in his conversation with Ishara Yar in "Legacy", he says "Her ship had responded to the distress call, as had mine..." (referring to Tasha's ship).
This "as had mine" line was supposed to be in reference to the Enterprise-D, since this took place before the "new" backstory of Yar established in All Good Things. It was only after AGT premiered that Mike Okuda acknowledged this oversight. However, it is only fan speculation that this now means that Picard had another command between the Stargazer and the Enterprise. I personally take this line to mean that it was a ship that Picard was just a passenger on, and not in command of. The line "her ship" doesn't mean that it was a ship that Yar was the captain of, does it?
How could that be a reference to the E-D - his ship. The E-D didn't have half it's crew at the start of Farpoint.
As for the fact of JLP commanding the Stargazer so early. Maybe it was that he TOOK command - but didn't become Captain. Just commanded until they got back to a Starbase/whatever.
Also if he was a captain 20 years prior to "Farpoint" - wouldn't he have possibly known Rachael Garret or her him? Being a CAPTAIN. If he wasn't then he was just a 'little person'.
-------------------- "Bears. Beets. Battlestar Galactica." - Jim Halpert. (The Office)
quote:wouldn't he have possibly known Rachael Garret or her him? Being a CAPTAIN. If he wasn't then he was just a 'little person'.
Maybe she didn't recognize him, because he had hair when they last met.
-------------------- "Never give up. And never, under any circumstances, no matter what - never face the facts." - Ruth Gordon
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![[Smile]](smile.gif)
![[Wink]](wink.gif)
or even the number of torpedo launchers on the Akira ![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
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