From: v075q5fr@ubvmsb.cc.buffalo.edu (Scott J Gorcey)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.startrek.misc
Subject: Re: Just when you thought it was safe to read the group - O'BRIEN RANK 2!!
Date: 14 Sep 92 18:04:00 GMT
Distribution: rec.arts.startrek.misc
Organization: University at Buffalo
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41




>The argument I speak of is the one where in "Where Silence Has Lease,"
>Riker calls the character at the transporter console "Lieutenant,"
>and this person is played by Colm Meaney in the same uniform that we
>are accustomed to seeing him in nowadays.

    [Minor "not quite:" This was second season, so it was the
     spandex uniforms, not the ones we're accustomed to seeing
     him in nowadays.]

>We all assumed this was O'Brien, as was the Conn officer back in 
>"Encounter at Farpoint" (also Colm), but the argument people came back
>at us with was that at this point in the series, this guy wasn't called
>O'Brien yet, an Colm was being used as a general extra, therefore we
>could not assume that this person Riker calls Lieutenant is the same
>Miles O'Brien we meet later.

>And I have to agree with that....until....

>In "The Mind's Eye," there is a holodeck simulation where the Romulan
>brainwashers are testing Geordi's killing abilities in a simulation
>of Ten-Forward.  They look across the room, and the Romulan asks,
>"Commander, who is that sitting over there?"
>Geordi answers him, "That's Chief O'Brien."
>"How long have you known him, " asks the Romulan.
>"Almost four years," responds Geordi, and then they tell him to walk over
>and shoot him.

>At this time in the series, the Enterprise has also been in operation for
>almost four years, so this means both Geordi and O'Brien have been on
>board the Enterprise since the very beginning or at least very close to
>the very beginning.
>Now, I ask you, if we know O'Brien was serving on the Enterprise at
>the time of "Where Silence Has Lease," and we see someone who looks and
>speaks EXACTLY like him, even doing the same thing we've always seen
>him doing since (transporter operation), isn't it reasonable to say
>that this man we see in the episode IS O'Brien?
>considering the alternative, that there is an identical twin or clone
>to O'Brien at loose on the transporter controls of the Enterprise, 
>I think it is VERY reasonable to say that the "lieutenant" Riker
>talks to in "Where Silence Has Lease" is definitely O'Brien.

     Yes, very reasonable.
     Reasonable also to assume that K'Ehleyr is the half-twin sister
     (from another timeline, naturally) of Doctor Selar.  We KNOW
     that both are on the Enterprise at the same time - because
     Doctor Selar was mentioned as still serving aboard the Enterprise
     AFTER K'Ehleyr had made her two appearances...
     And, of course, we can't forget that Ensign Ro is the reincarnation
     (thrown back in time several years) of Timicin's daughter in
     "Half a Life."
     Doctor Pulaski is really the long lost granddaughter of either
     Miranda or Lt Whatshername...
     Kirk's son David, of course, died on Genesis, but his ESSENCE
     traveled to the planet Ornara and was reborn.
     Funny, that Genesis thing: Joachim had the SAME thing happen
     to him, but he went to Brekka.

     Wow, there seem to be a lot of clones running around the
     Star Trek universe, the way you see it...

>Thus O'Brien is a Lieutenant.  I know the writers' guides and the writers
>want him to be a Chief Petty Officer, but to do so will constitute
>a continuity error, unless they say that his rank of Lieutenant is
>temporary to his assignment on the Enterprise.

     Or:
     Colm Meany was employed as an extra.  This grew into a
     couple of bit speaking parts - under the headings of
     CON OFFICER or TACTICAL OFFIER or TRANSPORTER OPERATOR.

     In the second season, Meany was offered a regular stint
     as TRANSPORTER OPERATOR - not a character mind you, but
     a familiar face.  Meany agreed.  

     Sometime after that, it was decided to upgrade Meany
     to a recurring character - give his familiar face a
     name and history to go with it.

     Why can't you just look at it a little differently?  O'Brien
     is a CPO.  Meany was referred to - once or twice - as Lt
     earlier on, but when O'Brien was "created" in the third
     season and a short, simple backstory was written, the
     character was seen as a CPO.
     A few references to Meany as Lt  ARE THEREFORE IGNORED.

     Will anyone dispute that, however Meany was reffered to
     on-screen in one or two second season episodes, O'Brien
     is MEANT to be, and is portrayed as, a CPO NOW???

                 Shortly  thereafter, the health of  Annie
                 Blackburn still in question, the behavior
                 of Special Agent  Dale Cooper was noticed
                 __________________________to have changed.
                                              Scott Gorcey.