#captains debate

Even though his name anagrams to Liberal Cargo, I’m going to have to say Gabriel Lorca. I am not comfortable with his code of ethics.

That being said, I’m very aware I’m taking the easy way out with this answer. Since I haven’t seen any of Enterprise, Archer would be the second-easiest answer. If I had to sort Kirk, Picard, Sisko, and Janeway, I really would be here all night. 

I didn’t think I was going to like Kirk so much and a while ago was inclined to place him at the bottom, but I really have fallen in love with TOS, and it’s hard to love the Triumvirate dynamic without him. (I’ve also been entirely influenced by the blogs I follow, so I’ve just spent way more time with Kirk lately than any of the other captains. At this point I’m not sure if I like TOS Kirk, or Tumblr’s version of him, or if they’re the same.) I can’t really judge AOS Kirk, as I’ve only seen Beyond (and, uh, really mostly know fanfiction AOS Kirk, who seems lovely, but wouldn’t necessarily be borne out by canon material), and I’ve heard very negative things about his characterization in the Abrams films (but haven’t seen them, so can I judge by hearsay?) He would, I guess, be an easy answer after Lorca and Archer, but again, that’s not the tough question here.  

As series enjoyment goes, it’s TNG next, then DS9, then VOY, so theoretically that would impact how I rank the captains, but I think Janeway’s great and a badass, and I have issues with putting her last. (Captains are never my favourite character in the series, but she’s the highest up on any list. Does that just mean that I connected less to a lot of the other characters in general? Hard to say.) I also think Sisko’s great, warm, funny, and an awesome dad, and I don’t want to put him last either. (Not only are they both fantastic characters, but there’s definitely some baggage associated with putting either Janeway or Sisko last, because we know that both of them tend to be judged unfairly due to culturally pervasive sexism or racism, and how much of that is internalized on an individual basis is anyone’s guess).

So that leaves Picard, who for a long time was clearly my favourite captain, because I started this whole thing on TNG, and I still like him a whole lot, and Patrick Stewart is so good, and I love his friendship/sort of relationship with Crusher. But maybe he could actually be, slightly, my least favourite of the four? Of course, now TNG is the series I’ve seen the least recently, so I’m thinking that’s influencing my feelings, and if I do a rewatch he could be at the top again. Right now he exists in a liminal state where he could be both favourite and least favourite. He’s Schrödinger’s Captain.

So, that’s why I shouldn’t drink a goodly amount of beer and then answer asks. King Solomon I am not.