10 Genius Decisions By Star Trek Captains

Don't you wish you were as clever as a Starfleet captain?


#StarTrek #Decisions #NotTilTuesday

[brianjlevine]

As for Picard, his best moment is easily the end of Darmok, where in the face of Riker getting the ship nearly destroyed (yet again), Picard waltzes onto the bridge, takes charge and in the space of a few moments gets the Tamarians to stand down.

[seantwigg]

No In The Pale Of Moonlight? Without the life of one Romulan senator, one criminal and the self-respect of one Starfleet officer, the Alpha and Beta quadrants could have been lost

[revparravager]

One minor teensy addition I would have made to the entry for Captain Garrett was that ultimately through her sacrifice she was able to show The Klingon Empire that, perhaps for the first time, that The Federation was made up of Warriors who understood the need for sacrifice. I say this for a couple of reasons:

Throughout the documented timeline of events in the conflict between the Klingons and The Federation whether it was Kirk, or an alternate-timeline Picard, or a Mirror Universe Rebellion at Terok-Nor against their oppressors or a host of other situations there were ample opportunities in which Klingons got to face Terrans as opponents on the field of battle. They even had a number of instances in which various opponents even earned a begrudging respect of the Klingons as formidable warriors. However, there was always this sort of 'reticence' to fully commit to the concept of blatant, unmitigated adherence to self-sacrifice on the field of battle.

That is NOT to say that Klingons never saw Terrans die in combat or to show the courage to face death with Honor, that certainly occurred abundantly. I am saying that with Captain Garrett I believe it was the first time they really got to see the mettle of StarFleet in what really, if you think about it, was a true Kobayashi Maru scenario. Why do I mention the Kobayashi Maru (heh, and considering you brought up Kirk's own issues with it)? I mention this because, unlike the Federation, to the Klingons the Kobayashi Maru Scenario is NOT a "Lose/Lose". It's a "Win/Win" and THAT is what I feel was lacking in the fundamental understanding between the Federation and The Klingon Empire.

To the Klingons, the concept of a "wasted death" in glorious combat was never a question, so therefore there is no idea of a "Lose" merely in the face of inevitable defeat, in fact its one of their highest moments of Honor to go into battle knowing you will lose but for the sake of your own Honor and your Warrior's Spirit. In viewing, the Federation they would likely have seen ample evidence of a captain or crew no doubt be willing to fight to the death but ultimately with the intent to win some goal even during a rout. While this is certainly honorable to the Klingon Code that is not the Core of their being. I believe in ample situations and lines of evidence the Klingons demonstrated an even higher respect for those demonstrations of honor in which Death was certain, no measurable victory was possible and defeat was inevitable and yet they would go to Sto-vo-kor with a song in their hearts because they chose to die as they lived, as warriors.

Captain Garrett KNEW (even before the whole being sucked into an alternate timeline thing gave her even greater insight) that putting herself between the defenseless Klingons and the barbaric Romulans was going to get her killed but she simply couldnt watch it and write a damn report to send back to Starfleet. She saw that her death and the death of her crew was inevitable and the chance that they could save the colony was impossible(she wasnt even thinking about the longterm consequences, thats where the whole alternate timeline in which she got to see The Bigger Picture comes in). She HAD to fight them regardless and she knew going into it they would die but that was the pivotal moment, the acceptance of Death on the terms of a warrior with no hope of any victory other than holding true to one's Honor.

THAT is what struck to the Heart of the Klingon Empire, that one of their enemies could be so like themselves when up till then they may have been seen as enemies, worthy of respect surely, but that they still remained "alien" to them. Through her sacrifice to defend an enemy, in a hopeless battle with only the promise of Death to be had she went into the fires of battle and showed that we Terrans were capable of understanding what it meant to be Klingons.

[cybertenchi]

Point of order, it's the Yamato, not the Yamamoto.

As you were.

[michaeljordan]

Picard convincing the Klingon HC to give him a cloaked ship with only his “gratitude” in exchange was brilliant, especially when he told them if he didn’t get the ship, he would get from Garwon’s enemies — and then they would have his “gratitude”.

[danielt.]

Star Trek III. Kirk destroys the wounded Enterprise.
"You transformed death into a fighting chance." - Leonard "Bones" McCoy

[mattevans]

Thank you for including a moment from Captain Archer. It's nice to see Star Trek: Enterprise not be thrown under a bus for once.

[opiewinston]

Captain Garrett found her own solution to the Kobiyashi Maru scenario.

[cerritouruguay]

Good job, just as a note: The sister ship is the USS Yamato, not the USS Yamamoto.

[reidtyndall]

There are much better examples in Star Trek lore:

May This Be Your Last Battlefield - Kirk activates the Enterprise self destruct sequence to stop rival aliens from hijacking his ship.

The Corbomite Maneuver - Kirk bluffs an alien into thinking that attacking the Enterprise would ultimately destroy him.

Counterpoint - Janeway outsmarts the Inspector and manages to free a group of telepaths.

Favor the Bold - Sisko convinces the Prophets to eradicate the en bound Dominion ships and retakes DS9.

Wrath of Khan - Kirk and Spock use an encoded transmission to fool Khan into thinking the Enterprise would be disabled for days.

Undiscovered Country - Kirk tricks Lt. Valeris into thinking the assassins were alive to expose herself and reveal her co-conspirators.

Year of Hell - Janeway realizes at the last minute that destroying the Krenum weapon ship would restore history.

The Defector - Thinking ahead, Picard has a squadron of cloaked Klingon Bird of Preys escort the Enterprise D into the Neutral Zone to investigate Romulan incursions. Picard signals them to de-cloak after they're ambush by the Romulans.

The Best of Both Worlds - Captain Riker uses an unorthodox strategy to out maneuver the Borg and kidnap Locutus.

Relics - (Just for fun) Captain Scott kept himself alive in a transporter buffer for over 80 years after his ship crashed into the Dyson Sphere.

[ryanmiller]

Some of these are questionable, BUT, Captain Garrett at #1 is spot on.

[DoctorX]

I think Janeway's decision to combine the crew was the only viable one -- and despite the Maquis disdain for Starfleet, _everybody_ wanted to get home. I don't think it would have gone well if the Maquis tried taking over the ship, either -- if Janeway had just locked them all in the brig, there wouldn't have been much a crew to run the ship. If the Maquis tried to mutiny and failed, then both sides would have probably taken casualties, the Starfleet crew would have been even worse off, and the Maquis would be stuck in the brig anyway. If the Maquis _did_ successfully take over the ship, they would still be low on hands, especially if they killed the remaining Starfleet crew or abandoned them on a planet. The Maquis might have traded tech and such to improve their odds of getting home, and used tactics that Janeway would never allowed, but I don't think they would have done as well as the combined crew did.

[grftube]

So, punching Q in the face is better than defeating him with well thought and articulated arguments? Remember when Picard lectured Q about his supposedly superior morality, or when he discovered Q’s real fears that humanity could one day become even more powerful than Q. That really pissed him off. That´s, my friend, is how you deal with an omnipotent being.

[lovehawks]

What? No love for Kirk's destruction of the war computer that calculates and orders the deaths of civilians on two worlds warring for 500 years? I'd say crashing what was essentially a high stakes game of StarCraft in order to bring the threat of real war between two civilizations unprepared or willing to go to such lengths was a brilliant gamble.

[stephenparallox]

So one liners:
1:26 Kirk: "I'm sorry, I can't hear you over the sound of how awesome I am"
3:34 Foreshadowing much? (knocks Q into submission)
6:14 Come on everyone together: "THERE ARE 4 LIGHTS!"
7:46 Janeway: "How would you like a SWEEET internship on the USS Voyager!"

[pmtthedancer]

Riker’s plan to get Picard, ending the Borg threat in that moment.

[dawnmcauley]

"Let history never forget the name Enterprise." Smartest decision? Debatable. Most influential? Indisputably.

[Samuel]

Q specifically provokes Picard because it’s a test, His entire arc is about humanity evolving past their baser violent tendencies. He literally held Humanity on trial with Picard as our representative for the entire TNG series.

He got his cheap laugh out of Sisko and then went on his merry way because Sisko had nothing more to offer.

[storyteller]

People keep praising Sisko as the best Captain because he once punched Q. Big deal. Long before that, Kirk did bitch slapped Trelane, twice.

[krisculin]

i think on this list is Janeway's decision to make a temporary treaty with the Borg. The result was Seven of Nine's release and an addition to the crew. it also provided Janeway the start of the path as the "knower of all" about the Borg (IMHO, at least). In the finale, the future Janeway is highly regarded as the expert on the Borg Collective.