During Voyager's entire series run why wasn't Harry Kim promoted to a higher rank?
Who's decision at Paramount was it that he remain an ensign?
JDW
Who's decision at Paramount was it that he remain an ensign?
JDW
Ensign Harry Kim?
- Thread starter James Wright
- Start date
It would be the writers not paramount that didn't bother to do it. There was some things that the writers didn't bother to do on Voyager such as having Harry be promoted to Lt jr grade.
If I remember correctly, in the U.S. Navy an officer with the rank of ensign usually holds that rank for 3 years!?
JDW
JDW
It is odd, being a senior officer and Chief of Operations which is the same as Data's job.
They had a Captain, Commander, and Lt. Cmdr on the bridge, so there should have been space for a Full Lieutenant. He could have at least been Lieutenant Jr. Grade.
They had a Captain, Commander, and Lt. Cmdr on the bridge, so there should have been space for a Full Lieutenant. He could have at least been Lieutenant Jr. Grade.
It's like this:
The more fans (and certain actors, ahem) whined about the matter, the more amused the suits in charge of such things became. Eventually, it no doubt became a game for them, stringing the rank sticklers and Harry fans and Harry's actor along.
That and maybe they stayed ticked off that thanks to the People's Sexiest thing, they couldn't fire Wang like they planned and had to can Lien instead.
The more fans (and certain actors, ahem) whined about the matter, the more amused the suits in charge of such things became. Eventually, it no doubt became a game for them, stringing the rank sticklers and Harry fans and Harry's actor along.
That and maybe they stayed ticked off that thanks to the People's Sexiest thing, they couldn't fire Wang like they planned and had to can Lien instead.
I think during the whole run of Voyager that there was only one officer promoted, and that was Tuvok?
JDW
JDW
Plus Tom being demoted and then re-promoted. :thumbsup:
Ya, Tuvok was the only one that got promoted. He was Lt. Commander during the first part of season 1....mid season 1 he was down to Lieutenant.
Yes, an officer at the rank of ensign is for 3 years. Harry graduated in 2371 and transferred to Voyager. He would have been Lt. jr grade later in season 4 (2374). Tuvok got promoted to Lt. Commander in 2374...same year that should have happened to Harry.
Yes, an officer at the rank of ensign is for 3 years. Harry graduated in 2371 and transferred to Voyager. He would have been Lt. jr grade later in season 4 (2374). Tuvok got promoted to Lt. Commander in 2374...same year that should have happened to Harry.
He just wasn't very good at his job - they would have booted him off the ship but where to?
In the original scripts for the book relaunch, Harry was given a job as chief assistant to the assistant chief of stationary and Supplies at Star Fleet logistics and supplies (moon base sub-division).
In the original scripts for the book relaunch, Harry was given a job as chief assistant to the assistant chief of stationary and Supplies at Star Fleet logistics and supplies (moon base sub-division).
As Captain could Janeway have promoted Harry?
JDW
JDW
Well, actually he did make a little comment about it in Unimatrix Zero Pt 1. When Tom gets re-promoted he says something like "I didn't see a little box (pip box) on my chair." The rest of the senior staff just smirked at him.
its really odd that he didn't get promoted. then again on a ship so far from home with no options for people to ship out if janeway started promoting people the ship might have hhad 150 captains by the dnd
^ Would have made for some awkward commanding issues.
Wasn't it said on the show that there was only so much room for promotion on such a small ship? Then again when adding in that Tom was demoted then re-promoted and Tuvok was promoted, it seems kind of silly to refuse Harry a promotion. (Though I never liked him and didn't think he deserved a promotion anyhow, LOL)
Would have made for some awkward commanding issues.Wasn't it said on the show that there was only so much room for promotion on such a small ship? Then again when adding in that Tom was demoted then re-promoted and Tuvok was promoted, it seems kind of silly to refuse Harry a promotion. (Though I never liked him and didn't think he deserved a promotion anyhow, LOL)
By my recollection, there were only two promotions in the entire series, barring field commissions for the Marquis crew. Tuvok being promoted to Lt. Cmdr. and Tom being demoted to Ensign, then back to Lieutenant.
My explanation, Janeway decided to avoid any major promotions because then crew of 150 was stranded 70,000 lightyears from home, and she didn't want to create an atmosphere that may have fostered feelings of favoritism.
If Starfleet promotions work similarly to the real world, a Commanding Officer would submit his or her recommendation to Starfleet Command for approval, same as for decorations and awards. Janeway may have kept a file of recommendations for when they returned to the Alpha Quadrant.
My explanation, Janeway decided to avoid any major promotions because then crew of 150 was stranded 70,000 lightyears from home, and she didn't want to create an atmosphere that may have fostered feelings of favoritism.
If Starfleet promotions work similarly to the real world, a Commanding Officer would submit his or her recommendation to Starfleet Command for approval, same as for decorations and awards. Janeway may have kept a file of recommendations for when they returned to the Alpha Quadrant.
Janeway also promoted Torres to full lieutenant after initially granting her a Lt. j.g. status, in the first few episodes of season 1, after Chakotay whined and Carey groaned.
Mark
Mark
Janeway only ever promoted one Starfleet officer on her own authority - Tuvok in "Revulsion". And we could argue that this wasn't a "real" promotion, as Tuvok had been wearing the Lieutenant Commander pips during the first season already. Janeway might indeed have felt she wasn't entitled to give out any Starfleet promotions, unless those were reversions of demotions she had previously imposed.
In contrast, since Janeway felt she could give the Maquis a provisional rank in the first place, logically she could have promoted and demoted them at will later on, too. She would know that none of those provisional arrangements would stick once the ship returned to areas under Federation jurisdiction.
What is a bit cumbersome in this theory is that Janeway should have had a long backlog of promotions she would want to give once she regained contact with Starfleet. Why didn't she act on this backlog when proper contact was finally made in "Pathfinder"? Surely Kim could have gotten one more pip without compromising the rank structure on the bridge... Especially because he was (replacement) department head to a division where people of higher (Maquis) rank were apparently serving.
Timo Saloniemi
In contrast, since Janeway felt she could give the Maquis a provisional rank in the first place, logically she could have promoted and demoted them at will later on, too. She would know that none of those provisional arrangements would stick once the ship returned to areas under Federation jurisdiction.
What is a bit cumbersome in this theory is that Janeway should have had a long backlog of promotions she would want to give once she regained contact with Starfleet. Why didn't she act on this backlog when proper contact was finally made in "Pathfinder"? Surely Kim could have gotten one more pip without compromising the rank structure on the bridge... Especially because he was (replacement) department head to a division where people of higher (Maquis) rank were apparently serving.
Timo Saloniemi
Unfortunately, we don't know for sure how this went. Torres wore a very ambiguous set of dashes on her collar during the first season: it seemed to be one dark dash before the promotion to Chief Engineer in "Parallax", but in subsequent episodes, at times both the dashes appeared dark and at times one or even both seemed dark.
The standard insignia settled on one bright, one black (Lieutenant jg) from the second season on, and it was made explicit in "Day of Honor" that Junior Lieutenant Torres indeed was outranked by Junior Lieutenant Paris (who had had the 1½ pips slightly longer).
For logic's sake, we could argue that our TV sets were playing tricks with the color of her dashes. Before the "Parallax" promotion, the single dash would have been dark (enlisted rate); afterwards, the two dashes could have been bright (Lieutenant) or possibly one bright, one dark (Lieutenant jg); and after the mutiny in "Prime Factors", if she had worn two bright dashes, one would now become dark.
Timo Saloniemi
Similar threads
