From: rawdon@colby.cs.wisc.edu (Michael Rawdon)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.startrek.current
Subject: Re: Replacement for Picard
Date: 3 Jan 93 21:44:20 GMT
Reply-To: rawdon@colby.cs.wisc.edu
Organization: University of Wisconsin Computer Sciences Dept., Madison, WI

In <1993Jan2.193232.561@rivers> ph9991_manfr@rivers.acc.uwrf.edu writes:
>> Yes, this has been discussed a lot recently on this group.  To summarize,
>> there are basically two reasons why many people don't think Riker would
>> make a good captain:

>> 1) They don't like Jonathan Frakes, or at least don't think that he or his
>>    character are stong enough to be the center of the show.

>People used to think Kirk was irreplaceable (some still do).  
>Put in the captain's seat, I think we'd see a lot of other shades to Riker's
>persona than we see now because he won't have to be as aggressive once he's
>Captain because he'll have rank behind his opinions.  As it is now, if
>someone disagrees with him, and Picard does too, all he can do is shout.

None of this make any sense to me.  Are you asserting that the characters are
only what their positions on the ship make them, and that changing positions
will actually turn Riker into a different character?
 
At any rate, what would be the difference between giving Riker the captaincy
and having the writers whip up new personality traits for him, and just giving
the job to some new character?

>> 2) It's unrealistic for command of the Federation flagship to be given to
>>    someone who has never held a regular command of his own.  More likely,
>>    command would be given to an experienced Captain, and Riker would be
>>    offered the captaincy of a smaller ship.

>The Enterprise's flagship status has always seemed to me to be an honorary
>thing tied only to her name.
 
Not quite; the Enterprise is clearly one of the more important ships in
Starfleet because (as we saw in "Chain of Command") it would fill an important
fleet command position on the Cardassian border.
 
>                             There are/were at least five other Galaxy class
>ships which should have the same abilities as the Enterprise.
 
We only know of one:  The USS Yamato (which no longer exists).  According to
all the information which TNG has given us, we only know of a single existing
Galaxy class ship: The Enterprise.  (Non-film sources such as the TNG tech
manual are only speculative at best, until they actually decide to show or
tell us about information therein on the show.  Until then, they could change
their minds at the drop of a hat.)
 
>Additionally, I think Riker's superb performance in "The Best of Both Worlds"
>proved to all that he definitely is the man to beat for the big chair should
>Picard ever accept promotion.  He did with the ship he already knows well
>what 39 or 40 other starships couldn't do (or perhaps I should say he did
>it with the crew).

Well, he has several things going against him.  First, he's refused THREE
commands in the past already.  Why would Starfleet give him a fourth chance?
Second, there may be other captains in the fleet who have performed feats of
equal cunning and prestige, but we haven't heard about them on TNG.

Third, and maybe most importantly, when Picard was replaced as captain of the
Enterprise in "Chain of Command", command was NOT passed on to Riker.  (While
the Vice-Admiral did say that this was in part because Riker had scant
experience dealing with the Cardassians, Riker himself said that the command
change appeared intended to be permanent (since Picard was being sent on a
suicide mission).  Certainly Starfleet would not assign the Enterprise based
on his being able to handle only one particular mission.

Overall, Riker just doesn't have the *experience* to handle command of a
starship as significent of the Enterprise.  There are doubtless
better-qualified captains out there, who have been commanding vessels for
several years already.

>		    The crew would certainly like him to be next I'm sure,
>and if Picard gets a word in Starfleet's ear about his replacement, I think
>it likely he'll pull for Riker.  

Possibly, though there are probably other people out there who will have
people pulling for them.

-- 
Michael Rawdon				  rawdon@colby.cs.wisc.edu
University of Wisconsin Computer Sciences Department,  Madison, WI
( Now in the Boston, Massachusetts area! )

Be warned: I will answer flames and condescensions in kind.
Newsgroups: rec.arts.startrek.current