posted
I've seen some gripes at Captain Harriman every now and then, and I was wondering what everyone's opinion of Harriman is?
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Shik
Starship database: completed; History of Starfleet: done; website: probably never
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posted
I think that he (& possibly Larry Styles) are merely shakedown commanders. They handle the ship & crew for the cruise to work out the bugs & then get reassigned to a new ship as a more experienced field commander takes official command.
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Not only that, but he had absolutley no clue how to handle a situation, to the point where he wasn't even prepared to take risk and initiative -- he needed Kirk to tell him what to do.
I not only can't imagine him being the full Captain of the ship, but I can't even believe that the guy managed to get promoted so far.
However, at the same time, it wouldn't make too much sense to have a shakedown commanding officer different from the normal commanding officer -- especially because most officers present seemed to be part of the normal crew -- I'm thinking mainly of Demora Sulu here.
I prefer to take the "Series ?" route here -- he didn't STAY stupid.
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posted
I think that Harriman was a very competant commander. The E-B was obviously his first command, and he didn't quite know how to handle this emergency. He didn't expect anything to happen, especially seeing as where his ship wasn't even fully equipped. All the pausing and thinking he did was probably him trying to figure out what he could do with what little he had. Kirk was there, he figured a little help wouldn't hurt.
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Shik
Starship database: completed; History of Starfleet: done; website: probably never
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I can't see that, though. Why give an inexperienced first-time commander the Enterprise? That's like saying, "well, I know you've only been mayor for a week, but hey! How'd y'like to run the nation! Here!"
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posted
Did Kirk have a command before the Enterprise?
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Shik
Starship database: completed; History of Starfleet: done; website: probably never
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Yeah, wasn't the original backstory that he'd been hero at the Battle of Ghioghe & commanded a couple of destroyers at first? The Lydia & the Sutherland, both the names of Hornblower's ships.
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posted
I think Harriman was competent and could have handled the situation better if Kirk (likely his idol) was not right fucking there to take over! If your first assignment on your new ship was a rescue mission where you had zero available resources and you have two of the fleet's most experienced captains and Engineer on board(and on your bridge) he would have been remiss not to have asked their help.
That being said, I do think the director should have gone for a "more frustrated" and less "bumbling" performance in this case.
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quote:Originally posted by Shik: Yeah, wasn't the original backstory that he'd been hero at the Battle of Ghioghe & commanded a couple of destroyers at first? The Lydia & the Sutherland, both the names of Hornblower's ships.
Actually, that backstory is from the novel "Enterprise: First Adventure" by Vonda N. McIntyre (though given Roddenberry's blessing before the Pocket Books restrainment). In that backstory, Kirk was in command of the Lydia Sutherland, which was one ship not two seperate vessels.
There are some backstories that place Kirk in command of the Saladin before the [I]Enterprise[/I, most notably in an issue of the Marvel "Star Trek" comics and the first DC "Star Trek" Annual. This command is also listed in the "Star Trek II: Biographies" by William Rotsler.
IIRC, it was never mentioned on screen what, if any, Kirk's first command or command before "Enterprise" was.
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posted
The whole idea that you can get to the rank of captain before you get your first command is ludicrous, as is Trek's seemingly ironclad rule that every starship commander has captain's rank. Given the time and training it takes to reach that rank, it makes no sense to have him or her commanding the U.S.S. Puddle Jumper on its Earth-Vulcan mail run. I've believed this clear back to STIII; I thought Esteban should have been a Lt. Commander (Commander, max), given Grissom's size and mission.
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posted
And that we have indeed seen Officers with ranks lower than Captain command Starships if only for brief stints Spock, Scotty, Dax, Data, Riker, Worf; and then there's the Captain of the Prometheus (NCC-71201) who was a Lieutenant Commander.
If I recall correctly wasn't the Enterprise going to be Decker's first command too? Then there is Picard taking command of the Stargazer...
As for Harriman, I agree that allot of his anxiety was due to his childhood idol milling around his bridge giving him funny looks. It might also be worth considering that he was chosen for this shakedown cruise for his "photogenic" nature, looking at how well he handled the press it looked like his last job might have been as a public relations officer. Perhaps he pulled some strings to get assigned to The Enterprise and fulfil some childhood dream.
quote:Originally posted by Reverend: and then there's the Captain of the Prometheus (NCC-71201) who was a Lieutenant Commander.
Lieutenant Junior Grade by his pips.
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