They have no choice, Kirk killed off entire generations of Redshirts.
this post was submitted on 31 Aug 2025
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They discovered that away mission casualties are greatly reduced when the personnel involved have plot armor, and changed the regulations accordingly.
This sounds like the plot of John Scalzi's Redshirts
Feel like Stargate SG-1 had a much better approach for this. Send an anthropologist, a techy, the muscle and the team lead. Probably would have been a little more realistic if they had a squad of Navy Seals go first, but I think half they time they allude that they did off screen.
Super SG-1 nerd here, they often speak of the "marines" that get sent in to scout places first.
That said, the "front-line team", as they are called here and there, gets priority on a lot of the big missions.
Besides, you really think sg-12 is capable of tackling a galaxy-ending scenario every 6-12 months? They can barely sort their crayons at chow time.
They send a disposable robot first, technically.
How big was the video cable drum? That wormhole seemed quite long.
MALP tumbles off into space
"Well, there goes another MALP..."
I always wondered if the Atlantis team went to recover the MALPs when they exited a space gate. I mean, it can't get TOO far, given how slow it moves, but space is big and empty and by the time a mission gets approved it could be many miles away in a big empty void.
From what I remember of what little Stargate I've seen, a fair bit of it is "let's go see what happened to the Navy Seals" (or whatever spec ops they sent). The best way to do that being to sent the upper management of the project, as is tradition.
I'm not sure that's true, honestly. Sure, you've got the Major General that very rarely travels through the gate, but the front-line first into unknown field unit is led by the next most senior officer. A bit wild having a bird Colonel in command of a 4-man fire team, isn't it?
Always the least believable part of Star Trek.
It's funny that early on in TNG they make the point that Picard shouldn't go on away missions, but then the rest of the senior staff beam down every week.
At least they tried.
If you're taking the setting seriously, yeah the command staff and bridge crew would not go on away missions, especially "exploring strange new worlds." they'd have a team of petty officers led by a Lieutenant for that.
On a TV show, even one with an ensemble cast, you still want to put your main characters in situations to explore those characters, to include the Captain.
It is my understanding that the West Wing was originally envisioned as having the President as a recurring role, not a main one. That it was supposed to mainly be about the West Wing staff and not the politicians themselves. Except Martin Sheen's Jeb Bartlett kicked way too much ass for that.
Possible solution? Make the exploration ship very small, with a crew of like 30 people, and then it makes sense that the main cast does everything.
they’d have a team of petty officers led by a Lieutenant for that.
Hey now, there would be at least one Ensign.
What, you don't think an LT would lower himself to speaking to enlisted personnel, do you? That's lower decks stuff.
At least the captain doesn't go down with them most of the time, unlike a previous one.
Already sent all the redshirts to their deaths they are the only crew left on the ship at this point
They do this on the Orville too. At least with Trek it was either the Captain or the XO, not both. In the Orville they both always go down. Loved that series but that always struck me as odd.
In TOS it was both captain and XO (Spock) every single time.
Wasn't there a TNG episode centered around Troi being in charge pecause Picard and Riker being away?
I believe that was a situation where they were still on the ship, but there was an emergency because different parts of the ship were cut off from each other.
There was an episode where Geordi was in charge because Riker and Picard had transported to the surface. That was the first season, and he was a bridge officer (and I think a lieutenant or even lieutenant junior grade) at the time.
DS-9 is even worse about this. Entire senior staff and Captain on secret mission on the Defiant into a war zone, practically every other episode of seasons 5 and 6. Still somehow better track record of returning home without ado than Bashir's attempting to attend a medical conference.
Feel like this would fit better if they were Klingon. Lead from the front like a true warrior.
Check out the willful child series of books. The captain Hadrian Sawback (possibly spelt wrong I've only listened to audiobooks.) Always sends down all of the top officers and is constantly reminded of how bad an idea it is.