Iām not talking about stuff like OāBrienās hollow rank pip, Iām talking about stuff like āWhy make Chakotay a lt. commander rather than a full commander?ā
It seems like there was at least some forethought put into who has what rank, but itās not clear to me how much thought, nor how much meaning was supposed to be baked in to those decisions.
For example, Dr Crusher was a full commander from Day 1, matched only by Riker on the main cast. Was that supposed to signify the authority afforded to the CMO? Was it supposed to be blatant enough for the audience to āgetā it?
One of the most prominent examples is Sisko starting his series as a commander. Again ā was that supposed to signify that he was more junior, a younger officer?
Behind the scenes, I wonder if we can trace a waxing and waning military influence in the writers room over the years. I know Roddenberry served, and I think some of the early TNG writers did as well. But I feel like that became less common in later series? (But I donāt know for sure.)
I think itās striking that rank is significantly downplayed on DSC, except for Burnham and potentially Saru.
Maybe I was a weird kid but I was keenly aware of the pips on the uniforms after the point in TNG where they vaguely explain how the rank insignia pips work. It was never for any particular reason except to know another āthingā about my favorite characters.
Thatās not to say that youāre wrong, maybe thatās what they told themselves when they didnāt change it! But if so they definitely underestimated some fans, lol
The commissioned officer pips were easy to see and read, but I had a very hard time telling what the provisional officer pip bar things they gave the Maquis crew members had on them. They were much more low contrast and the insignia was smaller.
Thatās a good point, I mainly paid attention to the officer pips
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