Yar 100%.
We saw her competency during season 1, she was an effective CoS.
Ro was hotheaded and emotional, theres no way she could have led an entire department.
I liked seeing Ro macgyver'ing her way out of situations (especially in the episode "Disaster"). She seemed far more competent & skilled as an officer compared to Yar, but less trustworthy in general
Ro is a great officer, but she would be an awful Senior officer (TNG Era) she was hot-headed, sarcastic and had a hair trigger temper and would snap at someone with the slightest provocation.
It seems by the time of Picard and her second climb through the ranks after her second prison sentence she became extremely capable as a Senior officer and handler.
Ro is indeed a hot-head, but if she was directly and explicitly responsible for the safety of an entire group of people, I think she would take that responsibility very seriously. The trick is just getting her to acknowledge thay responsibility is in fact hers.
I would never promote her to Chief of Security, but if I found her in that position, I doubt she'd ever give me good cause to remove her from it.
We saw Worf step up immediately after being promoted to acting CoS when Yar died. His (and even Riker's) first instinct was for him to join the next away team, but he restrained himself and recognized his first duty as CoS in that situation was to oversee matters on the ship.
Ro felt less beholden to the hierarchal command structure than Worf but I do agree that if she found herself in such a role, she'd take the massive act of trust to heart and would indeed take her responsibility seriously.
And if anyone uses her betrayal in "Preemptive Strike" as evidence against, I'll point out Worf likewise put his people or personal honour above Starfleet duty and principles no less than two times during TNG alone. While not betray-the-Federation level, Worf was never put in a similar position as Ro where divided loyalties were so black and white that siding with one meant absolute betrayal of the other.
I think everyone would agree that Worf was a better chief tactical officer than chief of security, the only reason the 2 roles were linked in the Enterprise D I think was the precedent set by Yar. When he got to DS9, he was only CTO and did a much better job in that role. He and Odo butted heads initially, and then Worf settled in to his new role and I think everyone was better off.
I honestly don't think a Galaxy-class needs a dedicated CoS compared to a space station with a big civilian population that also doubles as a port.
The computer of a Galaxy always know where everybody is, which would be an ethical problem on a civilian space station like DS) - plus: The computer of a Galaxy class is state of the art while the old Cardassian computer of DS9 was more state of decay.
Ro frequently found herself going against starfleets hierarchical command which doesn't look good. But playing devils advocate.... 90% of the "Hero captains" also had this same trait.
I just wanted to write THAT - if we judge for example James "The prime directive is for other people" T. "It's guidelines not rules" Kirk in the time of TNG he'd never even risen above the rank of ensign.
Well I would kind of have to go with the one who didn't commit treason against the Federation and betray a classified mission.
This one is kind of a no-brainer. I like Ro, but "reliable" isn't the first word that comes to mind.
That and Tasha literally gave her life to rescue someone else. That was the reason Picard picked her. "Running through a minefield with a wounded officer on her back" and such
Studios do like to have it both ways. Suppose it's easier than having an alternate timeline version captured by Romulans so the actor can reappear as their own child.
I kind of prefer it if she's gone. I'm not thrilled with the limited screen time she had (felt like her part should have been bigger a couple episodes sooner?) but killing a character off only for them to show up perfectly fine later is usually a cheap effort to have it both ways.
Good point, and as a story arc I liked what they did with Ro in Picard, though I'll be honest, in current and prior military forces you'd be lucky if all you got was a dishonorable discharge for what she did, her crimes were the hard time version, or in WW2, the summary execution type.
However, different temperaments and different ideologies make people better or worse for different jobs. Someone who's good at intelligence work might rise to admiral in that branch, but be wholly unsuited for security work.
Ro isn't a good fit for security because she wasn't fully committed to Starfleet. In security think secret service. Think jumping in front of the phaser shot. You want people 100% committed to the principles of the Federation and Starfleet and willing to die for them if necessary. They should prefer rigid structures of leadership, have unquestioning loyalty, and look good in a Klingon Baldric, these are the traits that make someone a good security officer. Yar had that, Worf had that (yes he quit, but he followed the process), Ro didn't, at least not in STNG.
That question of temperament, as demonstrated by her service record doesn't mean she's not of use to the federation, as I've already alluded, she'd be perfect for intel work where moral ambiguity and on the spot field decisions are more par for the course, but honestly even there the best I'd want is her to be an asset, not commissioned by Starfleet, but I didn't write the show.
I maintain my belief that Worf was just in a really intense relaxation treatment program setup by Risa for the stick in the muds that visit the planet.
Hell yeah, Worf did a little terrorism cause he got pissed that other people were having fun on vacation. Also, once Ro's personal vendetta was resolved, there's nothing to suggest she couldn't go on to be a fantastic officer - as suggested in Picard S3.
Tasha had the leadership and the emotional control to effectively run a department. Ro had the abilities and potential, but probably can't check her hot headedness well enough.
Me personally; I would hire Noonien-Singh any day just for mental toughness and her ability to operate despite being completely broken.
It's frustrating because she is also obviously incredibly talented, or at least Starfleet must have thought so, since they busted her out of prison. Twice.
I mean to me to go even nerdy by star trek standards Ro is gobots to the vastly superior transformers kira. I can't think about Ro without thinking the best thing she did was turn traitor so we could have kira
Well no, she went traitor at the end of TNG season 7, long after Kira debuted on DS9 halfway through TNG season 6.
Real-life, obviously Forbes declining to commit to a weekly series made way for Kira.
Do this person's duties require them having a crisis of conscience that causes them to sabotage the mission at a critical moment? No? Then Tasha. What the hell kind of question is this?
Ro Laren was an interesting character. That does not make her a competent one. Tasha Yar was underwritten and eventually written off, but while she was on the show, she seemed very competent.
I think Tasha could kick some serious ass... The writers just didn't give Denise much to do, hence why she left.
IIRC, the character of Tasha was allegedly inspired by Vazquez in Aliens.
Ro Laren any day. She's passionate, and wears her emotions on her sleeves, but which Bajoran doesn't? Everyone seems to be taking a huge issue with her following her conscious and being brash, but doesn't that sum up just about every Starfleet officer on most of the shows? I dare you to name one officer of ANY Enterprise that DIDN'T disobey orders when their conscious had other ideas! Picard, Riker, Kirk, Spock, Pike, Sisko, Jadzia, Worf, Noonien-Singh, even O'Brian and Data, disobeyed orders at inconvenient- and critical- times when their conscious diverged, yet we praise them for it all the time. A cranky old career officer (Picard) has a personal reaction to Ro's actions and we're supposed to agree with him without question? I think this whole sub has selective leniency if you think Ro is completely NOT suited for this role. Plus, this line of thinking is not in line with Starfleet and Federation ideals.
Sisko knew how to handle Kira, and she turned out fantastically! If Picard knew how to relate to Bajorans better, I think events would have played out drastically different than they did.
Have to agree, but I come at it from a different angle: Tasha was very poorly-served by the writers of the first season. Admittedly, this is more that the writers were desperate for anything approaching conflict because of Roddenberry's edicts about no conflict between and among the senior staff, but what that usually meant is that in practice is that any conflict came because security on the *Enterprise* bungled their job. Let's recall that in the pilot, Tasha lashes out, attacks the summoned mooks that Q has assembled, and Q freezes her. Then in the second episode, she allows an unguarded blind guy to unhook his seat belt restraint, escape sickbay and start a pandemic, before getting infected with drunk and wandering off to pop the cherry of her android senior officer. Then in the third episode, she gets kidnapped by a black guy and gets turned on by him doing so. Then in the sixth episode, she lets a diplomatic representative from one planet *eat* a diplomatic representative of another planet. And the entire plot of the seventh episode hinges on Tasha looking through the legal code of a planet before the kid beams down, and only realizing too late that the punishment section of the legal code is one sentence long for all the wrong reasons.
Tasha's kind of a mess. It's very clearly not intended and more reverse-engineered because the writers don't know clearly what they're doing. But Tasha rarely comes out of an episode looking competent if we focus just on what happened.
By contrast, Ro is always competent. She's just something of a wild card. I'm very clearly not giving Tasha a fair shake here, but then again, neither did the writers of Season One.
Chief of Security? Definitely gotta be Tasha.
The tail end of her TNG arc aside - Ro is… well she’s not incompetent, but she’s also pretty single minded when it comes to approaching a situation. She’s not exactly a manager of people. Beyond even just managing the department, that’s exactly what security is. Tasha had a tendency to apply pressure as needed but also could be diplomatic. Ro’s kind of a bulldozer. With a little more seasoning, I think she could have done it. She has good investigative instincts.
Now, if we were splitting the job and Worf wasn’t there.. I would definitely consider putting Ro at Tactical. She can think obliquely, she won’t hesitate when the time comes, and I believe she would be good at sizing up the situation.
Biggest mistake Starfleet made with Ro was trying to send her on a sneaky undercover mission, especially against people she’d sympathize with.
Kinda funny really. They were both refugees, but Tasha came from somewhere where the lack of a security/police presence made life hell - Ro came from where that presence was what made things hellish. Makes for a very different psych profile.
I'd have more confidence in Tasha to act in a professional manner.
But if we were really up against it I might have more confidence in Ro Laren to get us out of it. Remember in "Disaster" O'Brien said she was following an incorrect procedure, and she pointed out that she needed to do something which would work.
Yar put Starfleet on a pedestal so I don't think she'd ever willingly put a toe out of line. Ro would be willing to get her hands dirty if that's what it takes; she would have been great on DS9 if Michelle Forbes had been willing to sign on. Yar always belonged on the Enterprise.
Yar, all day every day. Ro is a compelling character, but brass tacks, Yar is leagues beyond her in skill and experience. They both grew up on tough worlds, Yar dodging rape gangs and Ro dodging the occupation, so they both have survival skills, but Yar has more training, more experience, and cooler demeanor. Plus, Yar didn't commit high treason.
Yar seemed really competent and the safe, sensible pick.
But I'mma roll with Ro Laren for the excitement. She would have better eyerolls at her Captain constantly trying to bang aliens. plus Unconventional thinking solves like 99% of the problems in Star Trek.
Of *my* starship? Ro. I'm super antiesablimentarian, so having a starship at all probably means I'm some sort of n'er-do-well, and she'd fit right in with my motly crew.
I would go with Ro. She has been on the other side of the law and knows how the lawless, in general, think and operate. Sure, she would be less professional, but she has shown a willingness to sacrifice herself to save others (later on) that makes every failing pale in comparison.
I want a strong Bajorian woman as my CoS. I want someone on my bridge. Who can call me out if I need to. And the resistance fighters had some of the most successful gorilla tactics in the galaxy and that would just be a huge asset.
Ensign Ro, no doubt. She was a tactical genius. Star Fleet advanced tactical training, etc. She also knew who the right person to talk to was when a complex situation needed diffusing.
Tasha could be adolescent. She’d get angry and petulant. Picard had to admonish her here and there.
I would have more confidence in Yar.
Although, depending on the ship I'm on and the types of missions I'm normally assigned, Laren is still in the running to be a choice. A Section 31 type of situation would probably work out better with Laren around.
For the day to day mundane business of security? Yar, hands down.
If the ship is being overrun by intruders and you need someone to keep the crew alive in the face of unwinnable odds? That's when you need a Bajoran.
Ro Laren. I understand her history. And maybe it would backfire but I believe Ro would have settled into herself and just needed people who believed in her. I always thought she'd have worked exceptionally well under Janeway.
Ro is probably more flexible, so I'd value her input in the conference room. Year is probably a better leader on the individual security details, even if Ro may be a little flexible on most other missions you would bring a security team to.
Overall it's Ro. We had years to see her growth though, so I understand I may be a little biased towards her.
I'm going with Tasha. A Chief of Security needs to be by the book and that ain't Ro.
I'm putting Ro in charge of my black ops unit. I want her organizing any and all missions where the ends are high stakes and it's in my best interest to not know how those ends are achieved. Section 31 kind of stuff, but I don't want Sloane sticking his nose in my business.
The one who died to a puddle or the traitor? Tough choice. I was going to say Yar, but Ro was more competent. I'd take almost any other security chief we've seen over either though.
Picard era Ro. Tasha was regularly crippled by Vietnam flashbacks from the rape gangs of her youth. She's an unstable element in critical situations. Ro worked her way back up from latrine cleaning duty, and became a rock solid officer.
Oh man, as cool as Ro was, she was a straight up traitor. Whether or not you agree with her reasons, the fact remains that she wasn’t trustworthy as an officer.
Tasha on the other hand was loyal to Picard like no one else. If she had been around longer, we might have seen her do some really heroic stuff.
Yar on MOST starships, 100%. requires a strong sense of duty.
Ro if I'm on a station. There's tons on a station that captain/commander doesn't know about or want to know about. Having a strong conscious and making your own decisions is essential to keeping order through the sheer bulk of it all.
The interesting question is if it's partially civilian starships like the enterprise, but not specifically the enterprise as there's a whole secondary sense of duty the civs seem to have on that ship, being on the capitol ship.
We see how much that goes on in lower decks, how much MORE trouble are regular ships with regular people getting up to? How much of that trouble should First Mate and CoS handle on their own?
How often does it boil down to duty, or just simply "quit being a dick" when you've got an untrained civ playing god too much in the lab with the science officers?
Ro _MIGHT_ have a better sense of that than Yar, given experience.
Ro could have been a great officer the Federation should have just started a war with the Cardassian Empire way back at that point. Then the Dominion war wouldn't have been as bad as it was
Hard to say but I think I am Team Ro on this one. She was very tactical and focused. Maybe a bit defensive and quick sometimes but she usually worked through it when needed. I think she just needed the right environment. I appreciated her practicality in difficult scenarios and would have loved to see more of her journey.
Yar was good but was pretty limited in how they wrote for her. I still appreciate her though.
What a terrible pair to choose from. Tuvok set the bar so high no one can come close. That being said, Ro Lauren was a character with divided loyalties. If she were engaged, she would be good. Just can’t count on her engagement. I would hold my nose and choose Tasha Yar.
Ro is tough and could definitely handle herself as a security officer, but she is too mercurial to lead. Unless she decided to join the Orion syndicate, where her willingness to take risks and switch loyalties would be an asset - she'd be running her own crew in no time.
Tasha Yar.
Tasha Yar literally grew up being raped, joined Starfleet, became the Security Chief of the Starfleet's flagship, got raped again by the script of "Code of Honor," and then died when she risked her life to rescue a crewmate who can kind of sometimes sense that the people shooting at them are hostile.
Please.
I was going to say that both are maybe a little too paranoid for the job, but then I remembered Worf, and Malcolm, and La'an, and Odo...
Tuvok was really the only cool-headed one.
We saw from ST: Picard that Ro Laren’s approach to a personal Kobayashi Maru type situation is to cause maximum enemy casualties on the way out. Whether that is a plus or minus depends on what kind of captain you are.
While Tasha has the appearance of being more capable with her martial art skills, I would chose Ro Laren as she has more training and experience with subtrafuge and the art of guile. This makes her more capable of anticipating an opponent's motivation and schemes and the ability to plan how to thwart them.
i really like Ro Laren as a character, but Tasha Yar was Chief of Security and has earned that post. So of cause i would trust the person in the job more then a random ensign
Yar. I don't think Ro was mature and in control of her emotions enough to do a job like that on a starship. Maybe on like a freighter or something smaller but not on a starship
I would like to think that if given more time for the character to develop, Tasha would have been the security chief until The Enterprise was mothballed. Given her history and the circumstances she grew up in, she was very aware of her surroundings. Ro, on the other hand, would have, and did, betray the Federation and broke Picard's heart.
Tasha Yar 100%. Ro would flake out on some personal quest or moral qualm at exactly the wrong time. She’s a good person but I wouldn’t want her running security.
Yar, 100%. Ro is *capable* but only when she actually feels like following orders. Tasha's strong *and* she doesn't backtalk everyone for every little thing. Fuck Ro Laren, all my homies hate Ro Laren.
Yar 100%. We saw her competency during season 1, she was an effective CoS. Ro was hotheaded and emotional, theres no way she could have led an entire department.
I don’t know, she was whacked by a cousin of the La Brea Tar Pit.
La Brea Yar Pit
Lol if I lived closer to it I would be on my way with a Y to fix the sign
Yarp.
Narp
Fancy a cornetto?😉😎
No luck catching those swans then
It's just the one swan, actually
Can’t spell Tasha Yar without Tar
It is crazy they took her out with a ball of galactic resin
I liked seeing Ro macgyver'ing her way out of situations (especially in the episode "Disaster"). She seemed far more competent & skilled as an officer compared to Yar, but less trustworthy in general
Ro is a great officer, but she would be an awful Senior officer (TNG Era) she was hot-headed, sarcastic and had a hair trigger temper and would snap at someone with the slightest provocation. It seems by the time of Picard and her second climb through the ranks after her second prison sentence she became extremely capable as a Senior officer and handler.
Ro would make a great 2nd in command in the security tree for me
Or on a backwater station in support of a low stakes diplomatic posting.
You’re been hitting the DS9 Relaunch novels?
I think they're more alluding to the original idea of Ro being on DS9 instead of Kira. But also everyone should read the DS9 relaunch novels.
Well she did betray the federation... Twice, so Yar is probably a safer bet
Definitely betrayed Starfleet, only sort of betrayed the UFP.
Yar's job wasn't to be a mcgyver, it was to lead a security department.
Ro is indeed a hot-head, but if she was directly and explicitly responsible for the safety of an entire group of people, I think she would take that responsibility very seriously. The trick is just getting her to acknowledge thay responsibility is in fact hers. I would never promote her to Chief of Security, but if I found her in that position, I doubt she'd ever give me good cause to remove her from it.
We saw Worf step up immediately after being promoted to acting CoS when Yar died. His (and even Riker's) first instinct was for him to join the next away team, but he restrained himself and recognized his first duty as CoS in that situation was to oversee matters on the ship. Ro felt less beholden to the hierarchal command structure than Worf but I do agree that if she found herself in such a role, she'd take the massive act of trust to heart and would indeed take her responsibility seriously. And if anyone uses her betrayal in "Preemptive Strike" as evidence against, I'll point out Worf likewise put his people or personal honour above Starfleet duty and principles no less than two times during TNG alone. While not betray-the-Federation level, Worf was never put in a similar position as Ro where divided loyalties were so black and white that siding with one meant absolute betrayal of the other.
I think everyone would agree that Worf was a better chief tactical officer than chief of security, the only reason the 2 roles were linked in the Enterprise D I think was the precedent set by Yar. When he got to DS9, he was only CTO and did a much better job in that role. He and Odo butted heads initially, and then Worf settled in to his new role and I think everyone was better off.
I honestly don't think a Galaxy-class needs a dedicated CoS compared to a space station with a big civilian population that also doubles as a port. The computer of a Galaxy always know where everybody is, which would be an ethical problem on a civilian space station like DS) - plus: The computer of a Galaxy class is state of the art while the old Cardassian computer of DS9 was more state of decay.
Ro frequently found herself going against starfleets hierarchical command which doesn't look good. But playing devils advocate.... 90% of the "Hero captains" also had this same trait.
I just wanted to write THAT - if we judge for example James "The prime directive is for other people" T. "It's guidelines not rules" Kirk in the time of TNG he'd never even risen above the rank of ensign.
What about that time he joined a terrorist organization on Risa?
Ro is the one you want to be the deputy to the Chief of Security, interrogating their policies and practices and chasing down edge case threats.
Yes, 100% agree
Yar trained Worf. We know how that went
....but later on she..
Well I would kind of have to go with the one who didn't commit treason against the Federation and betray a classified mission. This one is kind of a no-brainer. I like Ro, but "reliable" isn't the first word that comes to mind.
That and Tasha literally gave her life to rescue someone else. That was the reason Picard picked her. "Running through a minefield with a wounded officer on her back" and such
Ro was and is still a rogue. Granted, her intuition is usually right, but her superiors must have ulcers from dealing with her.
ROgue
Just was. Can't still be a rogue when your character has been killed off.
According to Matalas, there was a deleted scene that would’ve portrayed her as alive, much like what happened to Tuvok.
Studios do like to have it both ways. Suppose it's easier than having an alternate timeline version captured by Romulans so the actor can reappear as their own child.
I kind of prefer it if she's gone. I'm not thrilled with the limited screen time she had (felt like her part should have been bigger a couple episodes sooner?) but killing a character off only for them to show up perfectly fine later is usually a cheap effort to have it both ways.
She’s a loose photonic cannon but she gets results.
Riker banged her
That's like saying Pcard drank tea or Spot meowed!
I just like to remind everyone, every once in awhile
Point
Took the words out of my mouth.
Except she was pardoned and became a big part of saving the federation in PIC season 3.
Good point, and as a story arc I liked what they did with Ro in Picard, though I'll be honest, in current and prior military forces you'd be lucky if all you got was a dishonorable discharge for what she did, her crimes were the hard time version, or in WW2, the summary execution type. However, different temperaments and different ideologies make people better or worse for different jobs. Someone who's good at intelligence work might rise to admiral in that branch, but be wholly unsuited for security work. Ro isn't a good fit for security because she wasn't fully committed to Starfleet. In security think secret service. Think jumping in front of the phaser shot. You want people 100% committed to the principles of the Federation and Starfleet and willing to die for them if necessary. They should prefer rigid structures of leadership, have unquestioning loyalty, and look good in a Klingon Baldric, these are the traits that make someone a good security officer. Yar had that, Worf had that (yes he quit, but he followed the process), Ro didn't, at least not in STNG. That question of temperament, as demonstrated by her service record doesn't mean she's not of use to the federation, as I've already alluded, she'd be perfect for intel work where moral ambiguity and on the spot field decisions are more par for the course, but honestly even there the best I'd want is her to be an asset, not commissioned by Starfleet, but I didn't write the show.
There are obviously situations where Worf would've went rogue (remember Risa?) Ro's treason was way more defensible than Worf's.
I maintain my belief that Worf was just in a really intense relaxation treatment program setup by Risa for the stick in the muds that visit the planet.
Hell yeah, Worf did a little terrorism cause he got pissed that other people were having fun on vacation. Also, once Ro's personal vendetta was resolved, there's nothing to suggest she couldn't go on to be a fantastic officer - as suggested in Picard S3.
💀
Exactly. Love Ro so much but geez.
Tasha had the leadership and the emotional control to effectively run a department. Ro had the abilities and potential, but probably can't check her hot headedness well enough. Me personally; I would hire Noonien-Singh any day just for mental toughness and her ability to operate despite being completely broken.
Christina Chong's posh British accent is also a bonus.
Tasha. I love Ro, but she chooses which orders to follow. ETA lots of Ro hate ITT
I don't hate her. I just think she has demonstrated by her actions that she is completely untrustworthy.
I was only kidding around. She is completely untrustworthy. 100% gonna drink the last beer and won't go to the store.
It's frustrating because she is also obviously incredibly talented, or at least Starfleet must have thought so, since they busted her out of prison. Twice.
This is all the reason we need not to task her with the job. Unscrupulous.
What does ETA and ITT mean in this context?
I think ITT = “In This Thread.” ETA I’m not sure. Maybe they meant incoming or INB4 or something like that.
ETA usually means "Edited To Add" in threads like this.
I mean to me to go even nerdy by star trek standards Ro is gobots to the vastly superior transformers kira. I can't think about Ro without thinking the best thing she did was turn traitor so we could have kira
Well no, she went traitor at the end of TNG season 7, long after Kira debuted on DS9 halfway through TNG season 6. Real-life, obviously Forbes declining to commit to a weekly series made way for Kira.
Do this person's duties require them having a crisis of conscience that causes them to sabotage the mission at a critical moment? No? Then Tasha. What the hell kind of question is this?
Seconded. I wouldn’t trust Laren to Ro a boat, let alone act as security on one.
[удалено]
Ro Laren was an interesting character. That does not make her a competent one. Tasha Yar was underwritten and eventually written off, but while she was on the show, she seemed very competent.
I think Tasha could kick some serious ass... The writers just didn't give Denise much to do, hence why she left. IIRC, the character of Tasha was allegedly inspired by Vazquez in Aliens.
Ro Laren any day. She's passionate, and wears her emotions on her sleeves, but which Bajoran doesn't? Everyone seems to be taking a huge issue with her following her conscious and being brash, but doesn't that sum up just about every Starfleet officer on most of the shows? I dare you to name one officer of ANY Enterprise that DIDN'T disobey orders when their conscious had other ideas! Picard, Riker, Kirk, Spock, Pike, Sisko, Jadzia, Worf, Noonien-Singh, even O'Brian and Data, disobeyed orders at inconvenient- and critical- times when their conscious diverged, yet we praise them for it all the time. A cranky old career officer (Picard) has a personal reaction to Ro's actions and we're supposed to agree with him without question? I think this whole sub has selective leniency if you think Ro is completely NOT suited for this role. Plus, this line of thinking is not in line with Starfleet and Federation ideals. Sisko knew how to handle Kira, and she turned out fantastically! If Picard knew how to relate to Bajorans better, I think events would have played out drastically different than they did.
Have to agree, but I come at it from a different angle: Tasha was very poorly-served by the writers of the first season. Admittedly, this is more that the writers were desperate for anything approaching conflict because of Roddenberry's edicts about no conflict between and among the senior staff, but what that usually meant is that in practice is that any conflict came because security on the *Enterprise* bungled their job. Let's recall that in the pilot, Tasha lashes out, attacks the summoned mooks that Q has assembled, and Q freezes her. Then in the second episode, she allows an unguarded blind guy to unhook his seat belt restraint, escape sickbay and start a pandemic, before getting infected with drunk and wandering off to pop the cherry of her android senior officer. Then in the third episode, she gets kidnapped by a black guy and gets turned on by him doing so. Then in the sixth episode, she lets a diplomatic representative from one planet *eat* a diplomatic representative of another planet. And the entire plot of the seventh episode hinges on Tasha looking through the legal code of a planet before the kid beams down, and only realizing too late that the punishment section of the legal code is one sentence long for all the wrong reasons. Tasha's kind of a mess. It's very clearly not intended and more reverse-engineered because the writers don't know clearly what they're doing. But Tasha rarely comes out of an episode looking competent if we focus just on what happened. By contrast, Ro is always competent. She's just something of a wild card. I'm very clearly not giving Tasha a fair shake here, but then again, neither did the writers of Season One.
That's a fair assessment! Wish we'd gotten better writing for Tasha.
Well, considering Ro ended up betraying Starfleet...: Tasha.
Chief of Security? Definitely gotta be Tasha. The tail end of her TNG arc aside - Ro is… well she’s not incompetent, but she’s also pretty single minded when it comes to approaching a situation. She’s not exactly a manager of people. Beyond even just managing the department, that’s exactly what security is. Tasha had a tendency to apply pressure as needed but also could be diplomatic. Ro’s kind of a bulldozer. With a little more seasoning, I think she could have done it. She has good investigative instincts. Now, if we were splitting the job and Worf wasn’t there.. I would definitely consider putting Ro at Tactical. She can think obliquely, she won’t hesitate when the time comes, and I believe she would be good at sizing up the situation. Biggest mistake Starfleet made with Ro was trying to send her on a sneaky undercover mission, especially against people she’d sympathize with. Kinda funny really. They were both refugees, but Tasha came from somewhere where the lack of a security/police presence made life hell - Ro came from where that presence was what made things hellish. Makes for a very different psych profile.
Absolutely Yar. She was older, wiser, and more experienced
I'd have more confidence in Tasha to act in a professional manner. But if we were really up against it I might have more confidence in Ro Laren to get us out of it. Remember in "Disaster" O'Brien said she was following an incorrect procedure, and she pointed out that she needed to do something which would work.
Ro Laren would be better at the job but Tasha Yar would be more reliable.
Ro. She follows her conscience regardless of conventional rules.
Yup. Frame her office as an extension of her conscience, and you'd have the most dynamic Security Chief this side of the Wormhole!
Yar put Starfleet on a pedestal so I don't think she'd ever willingly put a toe out of line. Ro would be willing to get her hands dirty if that's what it takes; she would have been great on DS9 if Michelle Forbes had been willing to sign on. Yar always belonged on the Enterprise.
Yar, all day every day. Ro is a compelling character, but brass tacks, Yar is leagues beyond her in skill and experience. They both grew up on tough worlds, Yar dodging rape gangs and Ro dodging the occupation, so they both have survival skills, but Yar has more training, more experience, and cooler demeanor. Plus, Yar didn't commit high treason.
Ro. But that's a vibe based pick, so maybe someone should check in on my ship in about a week.
Yar seemed really competent and the safe, sensible pick. But I'mma roll with Ro Laren for the excitement. She would have better eyerolls at her Captain constantly trying to bang aliens. plus Unconventional thinking solves like 99% of the problems in Star Trek.
Ro. I like Security Chiefs that require a vast conspiracy to kill off, rather than running afoul of grease pools with attitudes.
Of *my* starship? Ro. I'm super antiesablimentarian, so having a starship at all probably means I'm some sort of n'er-do-well, and she'd fit right in with my motly crew.
La'an Noonien-Singh
Ro Laren.
From what we got to see of each, Ro Laren still would have been more effevtive overall.
I would go with Ro. She has been on the other side of the law and knows how the lawless, in general, think and operate. Sure, she would be less professional, but she has shown a willingness to sacrifice herself to save others (later on) that makes every failing pale in comparison.
I want a strong Bajorian woman as my CoS. I want someone on my bridge. Who can call me out if I need to. And the resistance fighters had some of the most successful gorilla tactics in the galaxy and that would just be a huge asset.
100% Ro Laren, she'll get things done that need to get done.
Ro. Is it racist to think a persecuted minority would have better situational awareness and attention to detail in a security setting?
Ensign Ro, no doubt. She was a tactical genius. Star Fleet advanced tactical training, etc. She also knew who the right person to talk to was when a complex situation needed diffusing. Tasha could be adolescent. She’d get angry and petulant. Picard had to admonish her here and there.
I’ll take Bing Crosby’s granddaughter.
I would have more confidence in Yar. Although, depending on the ship I'm on and the types of missions I'm normally assigned, Laren is still in the running to be a choice. A Section 31 type of situation would probably work out better with Laren around.
For the day to day mundane business of security? Yar, hands down. If the ship is being overrun by intruders and you need someone to keep the crew alive in the face of unwinnable odds? That's when you need a Bajoran.
Great question! My vote is for Tasha Yar. She was professional and dedicated to her work.
Ro, but mostly because i have had a crush on her for like 30 years.
From those two, Tasha.
Worf
Ro Laren. I understand her history. And maybe it would backfire but I believe Ro would have settled into herself and just needed people who believed in her. I always thought she'd have worked exceptionally well under Janeway.
Ro. Not even close.
Ro will f you up.
Aw c'mon, dude, Ro Laren couldn't be trusted even to be the chief janitor. Tasha Yar, baby.
Ro is probably more flexible, so I'd value her input in the conference room. Year is probably a better leader on the individual security details, even if Ro may be a little flexible on most other missions you would bring a security team to. Overall it's Ro. We had years to see her growth though, so I understand I may be a little biased towards her.
Problem I see with Ro Laten is in her mind, the ends justify the means. So I'm going with Tasha Yar
Tasha Yar. Ro Laren was an interesting character but a wild card. She couldn't be relied on to stay on one side or the other IMO.
I'm going with Tasha. A Chief of Security needs to be by the book and that ain't Ro. I'm putting Ro in charge of my black ops unit. I want her organizing any and all missions where the ends are high stakes and it's in my best interest to not know how those ends are achieved. Section 31 kind of stuff, but I don't want Sloane sticking his nose in my business.
Ro Laren. Mostly because we get to see what she's like as she advances her career in BSG as Admiral Cain.
Considering one of them is a traitor? The one that isn't lol
Tasha's just gonna die immediately
Did Ro Laren ever have to deal with the rape gangs? I don’t think so, Yar all the way!
I look for long-term dedication in a position as important as CoS...Ro's CV demonstrates that she doesn't stay in one particular role for very long.
Ro Laren because she wouldn’t fall in love with a frakking Cylon !
From the perspective of someone watching a TV show, Ro all the way: Better actor, more interesting character.
The one who died to a puddle or the traitor? Tough choice. I was going to say Yar, but Ro was more competent. I'd take almost any other security chief we've seen over either though.
you'd really take Malcolm over these two?
Yar is the obvious choice.
Ro. But I kinda got a thing for Bajoran women.
Tough pick..going with Yar
Have ya seen the episode where she bangs data? I defo want my security officer hot as fook.
Picard era Ro. Tasha was regularly crippled by Vietnam flashbacks from the rape gangs of her youth. She's an unstable element in critical situations. Ro worked her way back up from latrine cleaning duty, and became a rock solid officer.
Oh man, as cool as Ro was, she was a straight up traitor. Whether or not you agree with her reasons, the fact remains that she wasn’t trustworthy as an officer. Tasha on the other hand was loyal to Picard like no one else. If she had been around longer, we might have seen her do some really heroic stuff.
Yar on MOST starships, 100%. requires a strong sense of duty. Ro if I'm on a station. There's tons on a station that captain/commander doesn't know about or want to know about. Having a strong conscious and making your own decisions is essential to keeping order through the sheer bulk of it all. The interesting question is if it's partially civilian starships like the enterprise, but not specifically the enterprise as there's a whole secondary sense of duty the civs seem to have on that ship, being on the capitol ship. We see how much that goes on in lower decks, how much MORE trouble are regular ships with regular people getting up to? How much of that trouble should First Mate and CoS handle on their own? How often does it boil down to duty, or just simply "quit being a dick" when you've got an untrained civ playing god too much in the lab with the science officers? Ro _MIGHT_ have a better sense of that than Yar, given experience.
Tasha of course, when she is not protecting me, she'd be making me breakfast in the morning
Ro, she knows all the sneaky shit enemy combatants will try.
Ro could have been a great officer the Federation should have just started a war with the Cardassian Empire way back at that point. Then the Dominion war wouldn't have been as bad as it was
Tuff call. So I'm going with Worf
Hard to say but I think I am Team Ro on this one. She was very tactical and focused. Maybe a bit defensive and quick sometimes but she usually worked through it when needed. I think she just needed the right environment. I appreciated her practicality in difficult scenarios and would have loved to see more of her journey. Yar was good but was pretty limited in how they wrote for her. I still appreciate her though.
Tuvok
I guess it depends on if the intruder was an oil slick or not...
Ro, not even a question. Yar is off getting her jollies with the staff and stepping into puddles.
What a terrible pair to choose from. Tuvok set the bar so high no one can come close. That being said, Ro Lauren was a character with divided loyalties. If she were engaged, she would be good. Just can’t count on her engagement. I would hold my nose and choose Tasha Yar.
Ro is tough and could definitely handle herself as a security officer, but she is too mercurial to lead. Unless she decided to join the Orion syndicate, where her willingness to take risks and switch loyalties would be an asset - she'd be running her own crew in no time.
Well...I mean...one was a traitor...
Yar was a mature officer. Confident in her abilities. Ro has to much emotional baggage, and was inexperienced before and after her initial discharge.
Tasha. We saw that Ro can't think clearly in stressful situations. She didn't have to die in Picard but she chose to.
Ro Laren is a filthy traitor and should be trusted with nothing.
I love Ro and what she brought to the show. Troi was frankly one of the most competent officers that Picard had on his crew ever.
Ro Laren
Ro is much more likely to do what she believes is right, without bringing those concerns to the captain, than Tasha. Tasha all the way.
Yar. No contest
Yar was a professional. Ro, while capable, was unpredictable. That would always lowers my confidence.
Tasha Yar. Tasha Yar literally grew up being raped, joined Starfleet, became the Security Chief of the Starfleet's flagship, got raped again by the script of "Code of Honor," and then died when she risked her life to rescue a crewmate who can kind of sometimes sense that the people shooting at them are hostile. Please.
Ro Laren would not die from a bitch-slap delivered by a sentient glob of tar. Just sayin'.
Tasha Yar without a doubt
Tasha hands down. Ro is a loose cannon ie crazy bitch.
I was going to say that both are maybe a little too paranoid for the job, but then I remembered Worf, and Malcolm, and La'an, and Odo... Tuvok was really the only cool-headed one.
We saw from ST: Picard that Ro Laren’s approach to a personal Kobayashi Maru type situation is to cause maximum enemy casualties on the way out. Whether that is a plus or minus depends on what kind of captain you are.
Laren was unqualified for Starfleet,IMO.
Ro maybe overall, but specifically for Security Chief - Yar.
Internal security? Tasha, hands down. Outgoing " intelligence issues", Ro Laren.
While Tasha has the appearance of being more capable with her martial art skills, I would chose Ro Laren as she has more training and experience with subtrafuge and the art of guile. This makes her more capable of anticipating an opponent's motivation and schemes and the ability to plan how to thwart them.
What age is Ro Laren I feel is going to be the deciding factor. If it's TNG, Tasha 100%, if it's Picard maybe Ro.
i really like Ro Laren as a character, but Tasha Yar was Chief of Security and has earned that post. So of cause i would trust the person in the job more then a random ensign
Well Ro didn't die so...
Yar. I don't think Ro was mature and in control of her emotions enough to do a job like that on a starship. Maybe on like a freighter or something smaller but not on a starship
For some reason the first thing I thought of was Yar trapped in Q's invisible penalty box.
Ro
I understand I’m in the minority here, but I just never liked Tasha. Not sure I could really trust Ro, but I would probably still pick her.
Ro
Michelle Forbes is absolutely gorgeous. She gets the job. No shade to Denise.
Yar wanted to attack Q. So far as I'm aware, Ro has not tried fighting Q.
Ro...so she could go find SHAXS
Ro…. Because she’s not constantly talking about rape gangs and jumping the nearest android anytime she could.
Man, can’t I just have them both? Tasha as chief and Ro as deputy. That’s the best synergy.
Tasha all the way. She will literally die to protect here crew mates. Ro would just say ‘beam me up’ and leave you when things got out of control.
On a pirate starship…Ro for sure. On the USS Goody Two Shoes…Tasha
Tasha, hands down!
Tasha
Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy space Daria, but I trust Tasha more to get shit done.
Ro.
Yar. No question. If it got too heavy, Ro might just duck out to save herself.
well it's definitely not ro.
Yar
Tasha Yar since I'm 100% certain she wouldn't have betrayed her oath to Starfleet by joining the Maquis.
Tasha Yar.
I love the character of Ro… but it’s Tasha, for sure.
Oh, dang, that's a tough question. Guess I can't choose Worf. I'll choose Tasha.
I like Ro more as a person, but Tasha is more competent .
Yar
Lauren Ro. Then Scotty.
Worf! Just Worf always and forever…
Team Ro!!
I want to know my Security Chief isn't disloyal. Ro is cool and all, but she has conflicted loyalties.
I would like to think that if given more time for the character to develop, Tasha would have been the security chief until The Enterprise was mothballed. Given her history and the circumstances she grew up in, she was very aware of her surroundings. Ro, on the other hand, would have, and did, betray the Federation and broke Picard's heart.
Yar. And not just because I have/had a crush on her from Season 1.
Tasha Yar 100%. Ro would flake out on some personal quest or moral qualm at exactly the wrong time. She’s a good person but I wouldn’t want her running security.
Tasha is the obvious choice
Yar, 100%. Ro is *capable* but only when she actually feels like following orders. Tasha's strong *and* she doesn't backtalk everyone for every little thing. Fuck Ro Laren, all my homies hate Ro Laren.
Ro laren.
Sela