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STAR TREK: HOW THE ENTERPRISE GOT ITS WORST CAPTAIN (BACKSTORY EXPLAINED)
By John Orquiola
Updated Jan 9, 2024
The USS Enterprise-B's Captain John Harriman debuted in Star Trek Generations
but it was his only appearance and his backstory was never explained.
SUMMARY
* Captain John Harriman's canonical appearance was in the prologue of Star Trek
Generations, where he proved to be an inept and inexperienced captain.
* The backstory for Captain Harriman reveals that he came from a wealthy,
politically connected family who bought him the position as a stepping stone
into a political career.
* The introduction of new dynamic captains in modern Star Trek series further
highlights Captain Harriman's incompetence and makes him an outlier among the
franchise's captains.
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The worst Captain of the Starship Enterprise, Captain John Harriman (Alan Ruck),
was introduced in Star Trek Generations but the story oif how he got his command
wasn't told. Harriman's lone canonical appearance was in the prologue of the
seventh Star Trek movie, which was the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation's
leap to the big screen in 1994. Star Trek Generations' prologue contained
multiple surprises, such as the introduction of the new USS Enterprise-B and her
hapless Captain.
Star Trek Generations begins with Captain Harriman welcoming Star Trek: The
Original Series' heroes Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner), Montgomery
Scott (James Doohan), and Pavel Chekov to the brand-new Excelsior Class USS
Enterprise-B's maiden voyage, which was a media event. But both Harriman and his
starship were totally unprepared to encounter the temporal energy ribbon called
the Nexus, which endangered an El-Aurian freighter. After Harriman failed to
come up with a workable rescue plan, he asked Kirk to step in. Kirk, Chekov, and
Scotty led the rescue of the El-Aurians, but Captain Kirk was seemingly killed
in the process. (He was pulled into the Nexus until he reappeared later in the
film.) But as far as the galaxy knew for the next eight decades, Captain Kirk
was dead, and the tragedy happened on Captain Harriman's watch.
Related
STAR TREK GENERATIONS ENDING & KIRK’S DEATH EXPLAINED
Star Trek Generations not only passed the torch to the cast of The Next
Generation, it also revealed the ultimate fate of Captain James T. Kirk.
WHY JOHN HARRIMAN IS THE WORST ENTERPRISE CAPTAIN
FANS AREN'T USED TO SEEING AN ENTERPRISE CAPTAIN SO INEPT.
Close
Captain Harriman's ineptitude in Star Trek Generations was especially jarring
because, between Star Trek: The Original Series and Star Trek: The Next
Generations, audiences had spent years, and even decades, watching the two
greatest Captains of the Enterprise, James T. Kirk and Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick
Stewart) lead their respective crews to overcome numerous crises. Indeed, the
two Captains meeting in Star Trek Generations was the historic centerpiece event
of the film, which ended with Kirk's canonical death.
Star Trek fans didn't expect to meet a third Enterprise Captain at the onset of
Star Trek Generations. But instead of another dynamic leader cut in Kirk and
Picard's mold, John Harriman turned out to be the opposite of the legendary
commanders who both preceded and succeeded him. While this makes Harriman stand
out as a memorable foil to Captain Kirk, it's baffling how John became the
Captain of the Enterprise. It was never explained in Star Trek Generations how
or why John Harriman somehow succeeded Captain Kirk.
CAPTAIN HARRIMAN'S STAR TREK BACKSTORY REVEALED
HOW HARRIMAN BECAME CAPTAIN OF THE ENTERPRISE IS SURPRISING.
Captain John Harriman does have a surprising backstory that hasn't been
canonically revealed in Star Trek movies or TV series. In a 2018 interview with
The AV Club, Alan Ruck explained the backstory for Captain Harriman that Star
Trek executive producer Rick Berman gave him when Ruck was cast:
> I talked to Rick Berman... and he said, “Yeah, we figured that Harriman came
> from a wealthy, politically connected family, and they sort of bought you this
> job as a stepping stone into a political career.” That was the backstory,
> which you never heard. All you knew was that there was this young,
> inexperienced guy who was given the Enterprise-B , which was ill-equipped. And
> it wasn’t his fault.
In Captain John Harriman's defense, he was trying his best during the Nexus
crisis in Star Trek Generations' prologue, but he was woefully inexperienced,
and Harriman's Enterprise wasn't up to specs. The Enterprise-B's maiden voyage
was planned to merely be a ceremonial trip around the solar system for the
benefit of the reporters aboard. Harriman was also crushed when Captain Kirk was
lost and presumed killed, although what happened next to John and his career was
never canonically revealed. While there are Star Trek novels and comics that do
flesh out Harriman's story, those are considered apocryphal.
Meanwhile, Rick Berman's explanation that Harriman's family "bought" him the
Enterprise-B's Captain's chair is fascinating because it also doesn't make
sense. By the 23rd century, humanity had abandoned money and the pursuit of
material wealth. So how did the Harrimans "buy" John the prestigious posting of
Captain of the Enterprise, and to be Kirk's successor no less? Berman's
rationale opens up myriad questions about whether Starfleet Captaincies can be
"bought", and by what means.
Since Rick Berman's backstory for Captain Harriman never made it on screen, it's
also technically not Star Trek canon.
STAR TREK'S NEWEST CAPTAINS MAKE HARRIMAN EVEN MORE OF AN OUTLIER
AMAZING NEW CAPTAINS HAVE JOINED STAR TREK.
Close
Since the advent of Star Trek on Paramount+, the franchise's newest TV series
have introduced a slew of dynamic new starship Captains, including 2 new
Captains of the Enterprise and one reinvention. Star Trek: Discovery's eponymous
starship has two Captains, the bold, risk-taking Captain Michael Burnham
(Sonequa Martin-Green) and the compassionate and wise Captain Saru (Doug Jones).
Star Trek: Lower Decks' Captain Carol Freeman (Dawnn Lewis) has elevated the USS
Cerritos to an elite level among Starfleet's California Class support ships.
Even the self-styled young former Captain of the USS Protostar, Dal R'El (Brett
Gray), shows great promise in Star Trek: Prodigy.
Star Trek: Picard season 3's ending elevated Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan) to the
Captain of the USS Enterprise-G, and Captain Worf (Michael Dorn) was also
revealed to have succeeded Admiral Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) as Captain
of the USS Enterprise-E. But when it comes to modern Star Trek Captains, the new
gold standard may be Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount), who commands the
USS Enterprise NCC-1701 in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. Pike is fast becoming
the most popular Enterprise Captain since Kirk and Picard, and he makes his
eventual successor, Captain Harriman in Star Trek Generations, even more of an
outlier.
Star Trek Generations is available to stream on Max.
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Related Topics
* Movies
* Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987)
* Star Trek
About The Author
John Orquiola • Star Trek Lead Editor (3752 Articles Published)
John Orquiola is the head of Screen Rant's Star Trek Movies & TV coverage, a
Senior Features staff writer, and Interviewer.
Close
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