14 Dumbest Things In Star Trek The Motion Picture

13. Kirk's Dickish Decker Demotion

Enterprise wormhole Star Trek—The Motion Picture
CBS/Paramount
KIRK: I’m taking over the center seat, Will.
DECKER: You’re what…?
KIRK: I'm replacing you as captain of the Enterprise. You'll stay on as executive officer, temporary grade reduction to Commander.

As Daffy Duck has said, “Is this trip really necessary?”

“Ship’s captain” is a job, not a rank. You don’t have to hold the actual rank of captain to captain a ship. Commanders can do it. To invoke Star Trek’s 60s contemporary Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Kirk could play Admiral Nelson to Decker’s Captain Crane. Kirk in charge of the mission; Decker in charge of the ship.

So actually demoting him is, to use Decker’s word, “unwarranted”. You think that’s not going to look bad on his service record? There’s no good reason for Kirk to do. He just wants to be “Captain Kirk” again, so he’s literally screwing Decker over to get his wish fulfillment. He’s just selfish and cruel, and even when he starts to see the error of his ways, does he make amends by giving Decker his rank back? Nnnnnope.

At the very end of the movie he tells Uhura to list “Captain Decker” as “missing”. A little late there, Jim.

Contributor
Contributor

Maurice is one of the founders of FACT TREK (www.facttrek.com), a project dedicated to untangling 50+ years of mythology about the original Star Trek and its place in TV history. He's also a screenwriter, writer, and videogame industry vet with scars to show for it. In that latter capacity he game designer/writer on the Sega Genesis/SNES "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine — Crossroads of Time" game, as well as Dreamcast "Ecco the Dolphin, Defender of the Future" where Tom Baker performed words he wrote.