Let's be real, could Captain Decker have pulled it off?

[Parallaxis]

Did Starfleet really need Kirk to assume command?

 

[Finn]

Yes

 

[Orac]

Probably, but not without the timely arrival of Mister Spock.

 

[JonnyQuest037]

Nah.

 

[BillJ]

Decker would've never made it inside the V'ger cloud. He was simply in over his head due to a lack of experience in the center seat. It shows in his recommendations to Kirk.

 

[Ssosmcin]

"Moving into the cloud at this time is an unwarranted gamble."

Pffft. No. Wrong choice entirely.

 

[Captain Marsh]

Maybe. Problem with Decker was really his lack of experience as a captain. It explains why the bridge crew was so relieved when Kirk showed up on the bridge.

 

[BillJ]

It did surprise me that with the stakes being so high that they didn’t assign some kind of senior advisor/mission commander to the Enterprise for the duration of the V’ger crisis (before Kirk went to Nogura). While allowing Decker to be in “operational command” of the ship.

 

[Maurice]

The film doesn't provide enough information for that to be readily apparent. Really, the only advice Decker gives is:

• Not to risk the warp drive while Scotty is unsure of it, and he's right given what happens
• He countermands the phasers with the torpedoes, also correct
• He recommends screens and shields, which Kirk dismisses, but it turns out V'ger shoots at dumb machines that don't reply to its millisecond-long message, so this may have been a non-factor
• He advises against moving into the cloud "at this time," but we don't know what would have happened if they dawdled outside. Either V'ger would get bored and pattern the ship or they'd have to go in. They never try a follow-up message to the linguacode, which is dumb
• After that, the only thing he's understandably hesitant about is having to play nice with the Probe

I think the big factor is if he'd have been able to bluff his way to the V'ger island as Kirk does.

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

Is he one of those by-the-book guys, who needs to hone his gut instincts?

 

[Firebird]

Is he one of those by-the-book guys, who needs to hone his gut instincts?

The movie doesn't provide enough characterization for Decker for us to know.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Maybe. Problem with Decker was really his lack of experience as a captain. It explains why the bridge crew was so relieved when Kirk showed up on the bridge.

How long was he lost below decks?

 

[urrutiap]

if it was just Decker while I think Uhura was on the Enterprise before Kirk even got involved, I think Decker's crew would have gotten killed obliterated. End of the Enterrprise and even of the movie just like that

 

[Nerys Myk]

if it was just Decker while I think Uhura was on the Enterprise before Kirk even got involved, I think Decker's crew would have gotten killed obliterated. End of the Enterrprise and even of the movie just like that

Yeah...no. Its fiction. If they need Decker to be the hero, he'll be the hero. Save the ship and the Earth.

 

[BillJ]

To be fair to Decker, Kirk would’ve likely have failed if Spock hadn’t shown up.

 

[CoveTom]

To be honest, I never liked the trope that Spock always has to save the day in engineering. Scotty is supposed to be a miracle worker, but throughout the series and the films, we see Scotty unable to manage until Spock gets involved. It happens over and over and over again. It really makes Scotty look less than competent, IMHO.

 

[BillJ]

To be honest, I never liked the trope that Spock always has to save the day in engineering. Scotty is supposed to be a miracle worker, but throughout the series and the films, we see Scotty unable to manage until Spock gets involved. It happens over and over and over again. It really makes Scotty look less than competent, IMHO.

Nimoy was the bigger star.

 

[Pauln6]

To be honest, I never liked the trope that Spock always has to save the day in engineering. Scotty is supposed to be a miracle worker, but throughout the series and the films, we see Scotty unable to manage until Spock gets involved. It happens over and over and over again. It really makes Scotty look less than competent, IMHO.

Scotty was a great engineer and a really competent officer, it was only from the TNG era that engineers started to become engineering geniuses.

Spock always stepped on everyone's toes, though. He was Mary Sue before Mary Sue existed. He does Uhura's job, Scotty’s job, fixes computers, engines, shuttles, electronic devices, even some medical stuff. I love it in Immunity Syndrome where McCoy berates him for botching the acetylcholine test.

 

[FredH]

My first thought was that, sure, Decker could’ve managed it… but then I realized that with him in command, when V’Ger grabs them in a tractor beam, Decker probably makes a direct phaser strike at the source of the beam. At which point V’Ger shrugs and swats them.

 

[CoveTom]

My first thought was that, sure, Decker could’ve managed it… but then I realized that with him in command, when V’Ger grabs them in a tractor beam, Decker probably makes a direct phaser strike at the source of the beam. At which point V’Ger shrugs and swats them.

Exactly. And that's why Kirk was correct when he said "my experience... five years out there dealing with unknowns like this" as justification for resuming command.