The 14 Dumbest Things In Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan
6. Wile E. Chekov
In old cartoons characters would frequently run in the same path of a steamroller about to flatten them, or stand by dumbly before getting clobbered by a car or flattened by a boulder. Chekov effectively does this on Ceti Alpha V upon seeing the belt buckle:
CHEKOV: Botany Bay... Botany Bay! ...Oh no! We've got to get out of here now! Damn!
He knows what this means, but instead of doing the logical thing, putting his helmet on and calling for extraction (assuming he even needs the helmet to do this), he and Terrell put on their helmets, step outside, and, at the sight of the 14 survivors, freeze like a bug-eyed Wile E. Coyote watching as a train bears down on him, stupefied.
By rights, Chekov should have tried calling the ship before stepping outside. You don’t stop to explain when you realize you’re standing over a live grenade, you run, duck, or throw yourself on it.
And even if for some plot-convenient reason the comm didn’t work inside the cargo containers, Chekov should have been screaming for beam-out throughout their exit from the hatch and even as Khan’s people moved towards them. But from the lack of alarm exhibited by Beach and Kyle on the Reliant, it’s obvious no communication of any sort was received.
One can excuse Chekov’s behavior after he gets an eel in the ear, but not his costly ineptitude at this stage in the story. No wonder he never made captain.