No. Spock is in 2266 125 earthyears old. Scotty is over 40...
Scotty as second officer
- Thread starter Lance
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No. Spock is in 2266 125 earthyears old. Scotty is over 40...
Still unconvinced there were Second Officers in the 23d century.
A number of problems with that. One is that Starfleet Command would no doubt want someone of their choosing to be in the important position of second in command. If the captain is killed, incapacitated, trapped in another dimension etc., I am sure the admirals concerned would not want to be wondering "Gee I wonder who wound up as second in command?"
Second, ranks mean something, and junior grades are supposed to obey the orders of senior grades. You could try to get around it, and say that Lieutenant So-and-so is now first officer and by virtue of that position is now the boss of all you lieutenant commanders who have a higher rank, more experience etc. This is a good way to cause a lot of problems, like a good chunk of your department heads putting in for transfers for instance.
Which leads to the third. Another way to look at seniority is more experience. Why would a captain want a less-experienced officer when there were more experienced officers available? If a senior officer is less capable of taking command than one of his juniors, that reveals a serious shortcoming, and he probably shouldn't be in his current job, either.
Has anybody mentioned this line yet from "The Enemy Within"?
Captain's Log, stardate 1673.1. Entry made by Second Officer Spock. Captain Kirk retains command of this vessel, but his force of will rapidly fading. Condition of landing party critical. Transporter unit still under repair.
http://www.chakoteya.net/StarTrek/5.htm
I mean, with the years nailed down by later series, that canonically establishes that there are "second officers" in the 23rd century.
Well...
http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Second_officer
Apparently it goes back to the NX-01 itself.
It missed the instance in "The Enemy Within" when Spock called himself "second officer." That might well have been a script error, but either way it's still canonical.
edited to add - That's actually mentioned on the talk page for the article.
I assume that's why he's in the two lists further down the page, but they don't list the episode higher up. I think for major characters they just expect you to go to their pages and find the reference there.
Oh. The talk page. Of course.
Settle in, make your hot drink of choice. This could go on a while.
I agree that the article is thinly sourced. I, on the other hand, quoted chapter and verse for my reference.
Not sure what the Dr. Smith reference is about, except that Jonathan Harris was cool.
Early installment weirdness. The trope page is linked to the image. Spock called himself second officer once. In an early installment. Weird, you know, for the best first officer in the fleet.I agree that the article is thinly sourced. I, on the other hand, quoted chapter and verse for my reference.
Not sure what the Dr. Smith reference is about, except that Jonathan Harris was cool.
ETA: And, yes! Jonathan Harris rocked.
Gotcha! I missed the link, that I've now seen mousing over.
Given that Spock was Second Officer under Pike, the mostly likely option IMO is that Spock was de facto First Officer (following the departure of "Number One") but hadn't yet got the nod officially by "Enemy Within" so refered to himself as "Second Officer" on the official record.
This has come up a few times. There seems to be some occasional confusion between second-in-command and second officer, who is third in command. But it's not just TOS. In TNG "The Battle" Data was called second in command instead of second officer. In Alien Ripley is apparently third in command, but also calls herself third officer. And on The Bob Newhart Show Howard Borden moved from navigator to co-pilot but was later called second officer.
Well he wasn't afraid to call himself acting captain in the log, so why not acting first officer?
Well he wasn't afraid to call himself acting captain in the log, so why not acting first officer?
Spock calling himself Second Officer, IMO, meant second in command,not Sevond Officer. Because the NX-01 Allegedly had a second officer, does not imply the 1701 had one. Where is the 1701 ready room?
Here's this can of worms theory to blow everone's mind: Perhaps Kirk was Pike's relief Captain after Pike's promotion, during the early first season. Maybe Kirk was an outsider, the others served under Pike, but he's been chosen as the relief captain, hence the tension between Kirk and Spock in the 2nd pilot. The log entry was made by "Second-Officer Spock" because technically Spock was only Second Officer.
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