10 Best Pike Moments In Star Trek Discovery
5. The Chair Outranks The Badge
This is a very short scene in Lights and Shadows, but one that serves to remind Ash Tyler that he is getting a little too big for his boots. Having been recruited in Section 31, Tyler is assigned to the hunt for Spock and as such, feels his is entitled to know everything that Pike knows when it comes to details on the case.
Burnham returns to Vulcan to speak with her mother about Spock. Though Pike is aware of this, Tyler is not informed. He bursts onto the bridge, demanding to know where she is. Pike calmly responds that she is on personal leave. Tyler then demands to know why he wasn't informed.
Pike, without raising his voice or making a fool of Tyler, puts him in his place. Tyler tosses the black Section 31 badge into Pike's lap, saying he is owed an explanation. Pike calmly reminds Tyler that 'the chair outranks the badge'.
Section 31 has been used with varying degrees of success in Discovery and this scene is a very good example of the need to remind them to back down. They are a branch of the Federation, though they are not in authority over Starfleet protocol. Their use in Deep Space Nine was centered around secrets and espionage, whereas in Discovery they are more of a blunt instrument.
Pike, in tossing the badge back to Tyler, reminds him that Starfleet is the power in this room and that the captain's chair takes priority over the demands of a security agency.
It's short, it's cool and it's Pike being the boss.