30th Anniversary TNG Episode Discussion Marathon

[Nate the Great]

December 14th, 1992, "Chain of Command Part 1"

No fiver

The Episode

PICARD: Can I get you some coffee? Tea?
NECHAYEV: Thank you, no, Captain. I'm afraid there's no time for the usual pleasantries.

Really? Picard's team will train for days before this mission and you can't wait ten minutes? I wish they'd written Nechayev better.

NECHAYEV: The Cardassian forces which were recently withdrawn from the Bajoran sector, have been redeployed along the Federation border. They have mobilised three divisions of ground troops and their subspace communications have been increased by fifty percent. We believe that they're preparing for an incursion into Federation space.

Ugh. DS9 is about to start and they're already shooting holes in its premise? Furthermore I kinda thought that the DMZ was deliberately designed to be wider than either Neutral Zone so that any "incursion" would be signalled well in advance.

For that matter, of what use are "ground troops" if the Cardassians want to invade? Do they really think that they can spend days crossing the DMZ, drop off a few hundred troops on Bajoran worlds, and then expect them to hold said worlds for weeks until reinforcements arrive?

RIKER: Are the Cardassians ready for a war?
NECHAYEV: I didn't say war, Commander, I said incursion. Our intelligence reports suggests that they'll try to seize one of the disputed systems along the border. We think they're gambling that the Federation won't actually go to war over one system.

Yeah, that's a stupid idea. Under no circumstances can the Federation let itself lose territory without consequences. It would just be inviting the Romulans, the Breen, the Tholians, etc. to make further incursions. Nibbling away at Federation territory one system at a time can't be allowed to happen.

RIKER: Admiral, with all due respect, it's not necessary to give Captain Jellico command of the Enterprise just to conduct a negotiation.
NECHAYEV: I disagree. The Enterprise will be in a dangerous situation and I want someone on the Bridge who has a great deal of experience with the Cardassians. No offence, Commander, but that's not you.

So assign him as a negotiator, you don't need to give him command. Duh.

RIKER: Welcome aboard, sir. I'm Commander
JELLICO: William T. Riker. Class of fifty seven, graduated eighth in his class.

In 2357 Riker was 22. At least someone did the math.

JELLICO: It caught me by surprise too. I must admit, I miss the Cairo already. But a Galaxy class ship, that's something special. I can understand why you turned down a ship of your own to remain aboard.

Yeah, that's not why Riker is staying. Talk about superficial.

JELLICO: How many duty watches does the crew stand?
RIKER: We've a standard three shift rotation.
JELLICO: I'd like to change that to four starting tonight. I'd also like to examine the duty roster and the crew evaluations as soon as possible. I want readiness reports from each department head by fourteen hundred hours, and a meeting of the senior staff at fifteen hundred. Do you prefer Will or William?

Ugh, I hate this cliched tripe. Changing everything as soon as you arrive in order to make the viewer not like you is lazy writing.

JELLICO: Where are my quarters, Will?
RIKER: We have you assigned to cabin seven thirty five. Deck si
JELLICO: Deck seven. I'll see you at thirteen hundred hours.

Picard's quarters are on Deck 9, the rest of the senior staff stays on Deck 8. I suddenly wonder if Picard's quarters are at the front of the ship just above Ten Forward, to have the best view.

RIKER: There is no delta shift yet, sir. I have spoken to the department heads about changing from three shifts to four, and they assure me it's going to cause us significant personnel problems.
JELLICO: So you have not changed the watch rotation.

Yeah, Riker dropped the ball on this one. For something this minor you do it, then complain later.

JELLICO: I want you to install a bypass between the main phaser array and the secondary generators. I also want to run the main deflector pathway through the warp power grid and the auxiliary conduits through the lateral relays. You may have to reconfigure the transfer interface.

This stuff hasn't been done yet? After Wolf 359 you'd think modifying the ship to allow full engine power through the shields or the phasers would be Priority One.

JELLICO: I'm aware of your current design system. It's not good enough. If these negotiations fail, we could find ourselves in a war zone and if that happens I want to be loaded for bear.

I sorta thought that the Enterprise was already the best-armed ship in the fleet. Jellico should be trying to think of how to stop a war before it happens, not how to win it after it happens.

JELLICO: Good. Now these stations should be devoted to damage control and weapons status from now on. See that they're manned at all times.

Presumably he's talking about the two Science stations. That's not what they're for! Come to think of it, how come they don't use the Battle Bridge when they know a battle is coming?

JELLICO: Oh, and get that fish out of the ready room.

Ugh. As if you needed another reason to hate this guy. Who could hate Livingston?

JELLICO: Power transfer levels need to be upgraded by twenty percent. The efficiency of your warp coils is also unsatisfactory.
LAFORGE: Coil efficiency is well within specifications, Captain.
JELLICO: I'm not interested in the specs, Geordi. The efficiency needs to be raised by at least fifteen percent.

If that was possible they'd be doing it! Come to think of it, why wasn't the warp core replaced with a higher power model during the post-Wolf 359 refit?

TROI: I wouldn't call it resistance. More like uncertainty. Most of them had served under Captain Picard for several years. They knew him, they knew what he expected. Now they're being asked to adjust to a new captain and a new way of doing things, and they're uncertain how to react.

You react like trained Starfleet officers! Duh! There should be a whole Academy course about adapting to different command styles! Has the entire crew really gotten that complacent under Picard? And didn't Captain Maxwell claim that they were the best crew YEARS ago?

LAFORGE: Commander, he's asked me to completely reroute half the power systems on the ship, change every duty roster, realign the warp coils in two days, and now he's transferred a third of my department to Security.

It's that last part that's insane. By all means transfer a third of the Science department to Security for the duration, but you don't move the engineers who will be fixing the ship after it gets damaged in the predicted war.

JELLICO: Jean-Luc, let's be candid for a moment. The Cardassians aren't going to listen to reason, and the Federation isn't going to give in to their demands. And the chances are you won't be coming back from this mission of yours. I want this ship ready for action and I don't have time to give Will Riker or anyone else a chance.

Then you're an idiot. We'll be returning to this later.