Voyager Season 2

[Tenebrae]

I've been watching Voyager season 2 on Channel 5 these past few weeks. I've noticed that seemingly in EVERY episode both Chakotay and Be'Lanna are wearing - not the pips you'd expect out of an Lt. and a Commander but rather what appears to be something like NCO rank markings (maybe warrant officer?).

 

Now, maybe one or two episodes... but every single one? I mean, did they run out of pips or something?

 

"Sorry, Chakotay - we ran out of rank pips and they're made out gold pressed latinum or something like that and hence UNREPLICATABLE."

 

I've a sneaking suspicion it may well have been a psychological warfare tactic by Berman et al to break the will of Voyager viewers.

[TFMF]

They wear those pips throughout the whole series

 

I'm not exactly sure what it means - just because they were commissioned from the maqis ship

[Tenebrae]

I'd never really paid any attention... I suppose it could mean that it's a field commission... but that's about all I got - and really, you'd think they'd probably give them the real thing after a couple of years if that was the case.

 

Very strange.

[Mav]

Come on, there's an easier explaination.

 

Voyager was always conserving resources if possible.

 

They could easily replicate more pips, but that would require more replicator rations and power. So instead, Janeway chose to just give them what was laying around already, and keep her morning cup of coffee instead ;p

[TetsuoShima]

They had a name for those, it was provisional ranks I think, they were only that rank under Janeway and their status wouldhave to be re-examined upon re-entry in Federation space... Or something like that at least... But Mav's explanation seems very plausible too :)

[Vyperion]

It's non-commisioned officer bars. After a while they probably just forgot they were wearing them (or as Mav said JANEWAY NEEDS COFFEE :mad: )

 

Chief O'Brien wears one in DS9 too.

[Tenebrae]

Yes but O'Brian actually WAS an NCO.

 

I wonder what google will say...

 

Yeah, provosional rank... still I'd be pretty pissed if I was still wearing a provisional insignia after 7 years.

[TFMF]

If they were provisional ranks then it's weird that Paris was not given one...

[Tenebrae]

That's true... he DID graduate the academy and so did Paris... the only difference being that Chakotay resigned and Paris got a dishonourable discharge... but according to what I'm reading they were BOTH given field promotions.

 

This especially doesn't make sense given that Be'lanna and Paris were in fact the exact same rank - Lt. Jnr. Grade.

 

Good call on Paris though, I'd forgotten he got a field promotion too.

[TetsuoShima]

yeah, I wondered about Paris too, I guess they were just trying to make a visible difference between the maquis and starfleet personel, after all Paris was on board as an 'official observer', more affiliated with Starfleet than with Maquis troops. I'm guessing that's why. At least from a writers pint of view, from a Star Trek point of view, Ican't come up with any good excuse really....

[TFMF]

Paris was a member of the Maquis at one point however...

[Tenebrae]

Yes, for about five minutes - then he got caught and locked up and decided to rat on them. That's not exactly making him a lot more trustworthy in my eyes.

 

Reading a bit about the backstory - and this relates to the Locarno character thread - apparently the *official* reason they created Tom Paris is because he felt regret over making a mistake that resulted in the death of several people and covering it up, whereas Locarno never expressed any regret making him "beyond redemption". The actor, Robert McNeill, has said that it was (as I've mentioned) to get away from paying royalties... this presumably explains why they wanted someone like him to play the part.