Ever since the birth of theStar Trekfranchise, a wide variety of characters have passed across the small screen, fromone-off characterslike the LGTBQ+ allegory Soren, to forever-returning ones likethe near omnipotent Q. While many of these characters leave good lasting impressions on fans, there are a few that go down in history as universally disliked, and that audiences are glad only appear for short periods of time. Potentially one of the most universally disliked supposed ‘good-guys’ was captain Jellico, the short time replacement for Picard on boardthe iconic Enterprise D. But did he truly deserve the hate he gets?
The context for his command comes in the episode “Chain of Command.” In it, Picard, Dr. Crusher, andlieutenant Worfare reassigned on a secret mission, taking them away from the Enterprise for a short period of time. Starfleet, not allowing the ship to be commanded by Riker in their absence, gives command to Captain Edward Jellico. He is a hard-nosed military officer, and while this does not make him a bad captain at all, he was poorly suited to captain the Enterprise and its crew, which were more on the exploration/science driven side of Starfleet. Jellico would have been the perfect leader for other ships, and a fantastic training environment officer for the green cadets. However, his degrading and often tyrannical approach to leadership was ill-suited for the highly trained professional crew on board the Federation’s flagship.
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Jellico’s biggest issue is that he seems to have very little respect for the crew. He comes in with a mentality of not needing anyone’s input, just commanding the crew to follow his orders whether they make sense or not.Picard and other great captainsacross the franchise were so good because they listened to those around them, understanding that their crew has a wealth of knowledge that was invaluable. While the big decisions oftely lie solely on them, good captains come to that decision by respecting the views and options of fellow officers, from bridge crew membersbut also lower deckerswhen the moment calls for it.
Jellico, on the other hand, treats everyone like they don’t know what they’re doing. He comes aboard and instantly makes changes based on what he thinks is right, often as a way to demonstrate his power than for any real benefit. A prime example occurs when he first takes command, and he changes the shift watch routines from a 3 watch rotation to a 4 watch, with no advantage whatsoever. It is potentially a test, giving the crew only a matter of hours to make this change. But it was still a harsh move, and one based on the assumption that he did not trust the crew to do their jobs.
While Picard was all about efficiency, his approach was a far less militaristic one. For example, he put a greater emphasis on those working in engineering than security, a necessary role but one that he wanted to avoid using as much as possible, always looking for a peaceful resolution to situations. By contrast, Jellico was all about pontificating, wanting a large show of power. As such, he transferred a large portion of the engineering crew to security, building as large an army as possible aboard the ship. It’s also worth noting that he did this at the same time he demanded large modifications tothe warp nacelles. This job would require a lot of man-hours for the ship’s engineers, who are now down one third of their members. The situation with the Cardassians may call for these modifications, so there is once again logic in his actions. However, it is far from the most peaceful approach. Jellico continues with these power plays by not going to a meeting with the Cardassians when they arrive. It’s not necessarily a bad move, but one that shows him to be an aggressive instigator rather than diplomat.
What made things worse was that this kind of tactic could well have been done by other main protagonist captains like Picard, Sisko, orthe questionably ethical Janeway. But the fact that Jellico did this without telling any of his senior officers, putting them in an awkward position, shows how little he respects or cares for his senior officers. He doesn’t trust they can play along with his plans; instead, he orders them to do things and expects them to happen with no questions asked. The disparities between him and his subordinates come into play most with his second in command William Riker, with Jellico being needless confrontational towards him.
While these actions create a picture of a harsh and horrible figure, it’s easy to forget that this was verysimilar to how Picard acted during the first episode ofTNG, especially his attitude towards Riker. Picard and Jellico are both emotionally distant Captains who were often serious, and left the people pleasing mingling to others such as Riker. The difference was the lack of respect Jellico had for the crew, and the passive aggressiveness that seeped from him like blood from a wound. They both inspired confidence, knowledge that this person knows what they are doing and can be relied on during an emergency. But Picard was by far the empathetic and respectful captain of the two. The one good thing to note from Jellico’s command (and actress Marina Sirtis would agree) was that he madeDeanna Troiwear her Starfleet uniform, stating that her normal attire was not professional.
