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Why Ensign Harry Kim should've been promoted on Voyager

posted 4 years ago by TMC-4 (19574)
5 replies | jump to latest

https://www.looper.com/256056/why-ensign-harry-kim-shouldve-been-promoted-on-voyager/

Ensign Harry Kim (Garrett Wang): classy clarinet player, scrappy sidekick to Captain Proton, and practically the only officer on the U.S.S. Voyager not to get a raise.

For seven seasons, Star Trek: Voyager left a Starfleet crew stranded in the Delta Quadrant. In all that time Harry Kim performed his fair share of heroics, and yet by the time Voyager finds her way back to Earth, he's still an ensign. That's messed up. If everyone onboard Voyager had stayed the same rank throughout, that would be one thing — but that's not what happened!

For one thing, half the ship isn't officially Starfleet — they're Maquis. The Maquis, whether you choose to see them as freedom fighters or terrorists, don't exactly hold to the rules and regulations of Starfleet officers. And yet, in the pilot episode, Maquis leader Chakotay (Robert Beltran) is immediately promoted to the rank of First Officer. B'Elanna Torres (Roxanne Dawson) is a member of the Maquis, too, but by episode two, she's the head of Voyager's engineering section. Tom Paris (Robert Duncan McNeill) is a criminal that Captain Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) gave a second chance to. He starts as a lieutenant, gets demoted to ensign, and then gets promoted back to lieutenant. Neelix (Ethan Phillips) gave himself the job of ship morale officer before essentially waltzing in to the ship ambassador role.

What about Harry Kim, Star Trek: Voyager?

Read More: https://www.looper.com/256056/why-ensign-harry-kim-shouldve-been-promoted-on-voyager/?utm_campaign=clip[/url]

[–] Otter (24464) 4 years ago

The real reason is probably that the show's powers that be didn't like Garrett Wang very much.

But from the perspective of the characters, well, one of the minor stressors about live on the Voyager was - no career track! Stagnant command and promotional structure! You'll never make captain until you're eighty! The only way a person could get an actual promotion to a better job, is if some other crew member dies or is demoted. Okay, there may have been a little job mobility as new skills were called for and people retrained to fill dead crewman's boots, but still. The command heirarchy and seniority would stay the same for the whole voyage unless something drastic happened.

So giving anyone on that ship a promotion in rank would have all practical effect of putting a gold star on their test paper, because you're still in the same job and answering to the same superiors.

[–] PaladinNJ (20691) 2 years ago

Tuvok and Paris were both promoted on Voyager.

[–] Otter (24464) 2 years ago

Yeah, well, apparently the actors who played them didn't piss off the showrunners.

[–] MickyMac (2997) 3 years ago

About as stagnant as Riker.

[–] tyrannosaurus_sex (424) 2 years ago

But his future self gets 2 Cmdr rank, in endgame after voyager, just 1 of those things. Well Riker does accept Capt eventually.