MovieChat Forums > Star Trek: Voyager (1995) Discussion > Can anyone explain why the lame ensign K...

Can anyone explain why the lame ensign Kim was always with the officers?


I have always wondered this. Every time there is an emergency or meeting of the Voyager officers there is Kim standing out like a sore thumb. You also see him bossing other crew members about like he is the big cheese. From my understanding he was a raw recruit ensign, but was always way above his station. Obviously, Janeway's bit on the side.

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He was a bridge officer.

Circumstances meant he took that role whilst only being an ensign.

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It didn't really make a lot of sense. Kim, Neelix, Kes and Seven would nearly always be at the meetings while other crew members that outranked them (we know such crewmembers existed - for instance Seven goes on a date with a Lt in one episode) wouldn't be. It's like Janeway called out "Emergency meeting! Main cast members only!"

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Neelix was their guide then later the morale officer; perfectly understandable that he would be there. Kim was responsible for operations so likewise. Seven was essentially the smartest person aboard so that also made sense.

It wasn't just about rank.

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I can understand Neelix being there & later Seven, but Kim was nobody who just joined the crew & was suddenly an important figure on the ship. What was more ridiculous was no one on the crew seemed to object. Presumably it was done so all the boring main cast were at each meeting.

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Kim was the most qualified operations officer left after the ship lost a number of crew in the displacement wave. Had they lived, Kim would only have sporadically worked on the bridge but because they died, he was the most obvious choice for a permanent position.

Janeway then made it clear that crew members couldn't receive promotions due to their circumstances (though that was a pretty dumb decision... she should have made an exception for Kim).

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Was that actually established in an episode? I never understood how Paris was demoted and promoted but after 7 years Kim wasn't at least made a LT JG.

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Was that actually established in an episode? I never understood how Paris was demoted and promoted but after 7 years Kim wasn't at least made a LT JG.

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Tuvok was promoted to the rank of Lt. Commander in the episode "Revulsion."

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But what about Kes?! She was Neelix's squeeze? Well she helped them escape at the point of their abduction. And she warned them away from the planet where all the Away Team "died".

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On any other crew the Doctor would always attend the staff meetings. Since the doctor is just a hologram, Kes probably represented the medical staff at meetings.

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Kim was obviously extremely intelligent. That's probably why the actor wanted the character to be promoted as well because he knew it made little sense for him to always be around as an ensign but as the trivia say Rick Berman didn't like him and was going to fire him so stuck at ensign he was.

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They could have made seven an ensign ( she looked good in the uniform too) and promoted harry. Harry is great character, Neelix on the other hand...

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Seven declined the opportunity to be given a commission in the episode where Icheb made known his desire to attend the Academy virtually.

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Paris was there too. And he was a criminal.

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I also found it odd that Kim was an ensign for the entire length of the series. There were numerous crew members of higher rank who died throughout the series, so obviously there were plenty of vacancies that provided opportunity for promotion.

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as someone said "somebody's gotta be an ensign" haha

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It would be a dull Starfleet without them.

Laugh while you can, Monkey Boy!

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Especially when you look at DS9 where Nog went from first year cadet to full Lieutenant in 4 years.

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Kim was like a brown noser but a follow the rules type of character, being lost in the Delta quadrant when Voyager chose to stick with Star Fleet protocols it was like Janeway trusted him so he was included in everything. Serving on the bridge would also mean he needs to be included, if he wasn't in all the meetings he couldn't be up to date with all the others if something happened.

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Just for the sake of clarity an Ensign is an Officer, if you go through the academy rather than enlisting (like Miles O'Brien did) you graduate an officer. To harken back to O'Brien again, in DS9 he remarked that when Nog graduated the Academy (which he did as an Ensign) he would out rank him. Some will even graduate at a higher rank than Ensign depending on how well they did. Kim was also the Operations Officer and as such is the department head. He could order people about becasue he was part of the command crew.

Great spirits have always found violent opposition from mediocrities. The latter cannot understand it when a man does not thoughtlessly submit to hereditary prejudices but honestly and courageously uses his intelligence.

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He is a senior staff member.

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