Follow TV Tropes

Following

Rank Up / Live-Action TV

Go To

  • 24:
    • Tony gets promoted to director of CTU in season 2.
    • Bill Buchanan is an odd example. He was introduced on Day 4 as regional director of Division, which would have him supervising all CTU bureaus in California, but on Day 5 he's now in command of just CTU Los Angeles. It's still treated as a promotion because it's the show's equivalent of a Frontline General. Arguable, this applies to George Mason as well, who made a similar move between Day 1 and Day 2.
    • Inverted in the case of series protagonist Jack Bauer, who starts the series as Director of CTU Los Angeles. In Season 3, he's merely the Head of Field Ops, and in subsequent seasons, he's just a field agent without rank, albeit one who informally calls the shots. Justified somewhat by the fact that Jack doesn't actually work at CTU anymore after Season 3 and is usually just temporarily reinstated on a provisional basis at the start of a season.
  • On Arrow, Quentin Lance starts out as a detective with the rank of Sergeant in the SCPD. In Season 2 he's demoted to an Officer and stripped of the detective shield. By Season 3 however, he's become a Captain.
    • Later in the series, Dinah Drake effectively gets a new rank every season! She's a detective when she joins the SCPD in Season 5, is promoted to Liuetanant by Season 6, and is SCPD Captain in Season 7. In the series finale she's offered the position of SCPD police chief, but declines.
  • In Season Two of Agent Carter, SSR Agent Daniel Sousa has been promoted to Director of the SSR's West Coast branch.
  • Babylon 5:
    • Lt. Commander Susan Ivanova is promoted to Commander and later to Captain. In the Distant Finale, she's a General.
    • Lieutenant JG David Corwin is promoted to full lieutenant.
    • Other characters on B5 to get promotions possibly include Captain Lochley (she is a colonel in The Lost Tales, but it's not clear if it was a promotion or just part of a rank restructuring) and Zack Allen (goes from officer to chief of security. Since Station Security is set up more like a police department than a military force, those appear to be the only two named ranks, though Zack does end up replacing Garibaldi's first right-hand man after the first one shoots Garibaldi in the back).
  • Band of Brothers: Happens to many characters, with the protagonist Dick Winters being the most conspicuous example: he starts the series as 2nd Lieutenant and ends it as Major, outranking the officer who trained him.
  • Barney Miller: In the last episode, Barney gets promoted to inspector, and uniformed officer Levitt gets promoted to detective. About halfway through the series Wojo gets promoted to Sergeant after taking the exam multiple times over the years.
  • Battlestar Galactica (2003): Most of the military characters go through this at varying points in the series. Commander Adama gets a bump to Admiral after Admiral Caine is shot leaving him in charge of both Galactica and Pegasus and keeps the title even after the Pegasus is destroyed. Apollo and Helo jump around the ranks several times as they get promoted or demoted based on the needs of the fleet. Colonel Tigh is probably the only comissioned officer who didn't change rank throughout the show's run, fitting for a character who's happy to be second-in-command.
  • Baywatch: Mitch’s first day as a Lieutenant is in the Pilot Movie.
  • The Bill: Happens to multiple characters over the course of this show.
  • The Brittas Empire:
    • Colin goes from the Deputy Manager Wet to the Manager in Charge of Building Fabric in “Blind Devotion”.
    • Gavin Featherly is promoted from pool attendant to a Deputy Manager at the end of Series 5.
  • Chuck: Major John Casey gets promoted to colonel toward the end of Season Two.
  • CSI: Jim Brass gets a side-ways promotion to Homicide detective from Head of the CSI Lab team after Holly Gibbs get killed at a crime scene in the first episode. For the rest of the series, he is the main cop dealing with the crime lab.
    • Catherine gets promoted from Night Shift Assistant Supervisor to Swing Shift Supervisor at one point (as a political move by Ecklie to hurt Grissom), then goes back to Assistant Supervisor when Grissom gets "his team" back. Then when Grissom leaves she gets promoted again to replace him.
    • Nick eventually becomes Assistant Supervisor under Catherine, then at the end of the series accepts a promotion to run the San Diego Crime Lab.
    • Greg takes a demotion (and a substantial pay cut) from a senior lab tech to a CSI Level 1, but works his way back up to Level 3.
  • CSI: Miami: Frank Tripp is promoted between Seasons 5 and 6 to Sergeant. He spends the first half of Season 6 on uniformed patrol, then moves back to Homicide.
  • CSI: NY: Danny Messer was briefly promoted to sergeant after passing the exam, but then he felt betrayed by his rookies and went back to the crime lab and his old detective rank.
  • Death in Paradise: Over the course of the series Fidel and J.P. study for, take, and pass their sergeant's exam, while Florence is promoted from sergeant to detective sergeant 'off-screen' after her predecessor leaves for a new assignment.
  • Doctor Who:
    • Colonel Lethbridge-Stewart was promoted to Brigadier between his first and second appearances.
    • Corporal Benton (coincidentally?) got a promotion every time the Doctor regenerated: Corporal Benton appeared with the second Doctor, Sergeant Benton with the third, and Regimental Sergeant Major Benton with the fourth.
      • This second promotion, however, is extremely unusual, if not downright unrealistic. Benton is seemingly promoted from Sergeant during the Pertwee era, to Regimental Sergeant Major by his final appearance, supposedly about a year or so later. In the British Army, Regimental Sergeant Major is not actually a rank but an appointment - that is, a title held by a soldier of the rank Warrant Officer class 1 (WO1 for short). To reach this rank, Benton would have been promoted over TWO lesser ranks - from Sergeant to Staff Sergeant, than to Warrant Officer class 2 (WO2), then to WO1. Although this could be used as an excuse for later appearances of UNIT being set a few years into the future of the broadcast date, as an attempt to explain why Benton has moved up three ranks...
  • Downton Abbey: The servants have a strict hierarchy which determines who gives orders to whom and other matters like the order they sit at dinner. A great deal of Thomas Barrow's antagonistic behavior, especially early on, is rooted in his desire to move up from First Footman to Valet or Butler as quickly as possible. He is temporarily made Valet in Series 3 while Bates is in prison, and upon Bates's return Barrow ranks up again, as Lord Grantham reinstates the obscure position of Underbutler to be able to keep him on.
    • Also in Series 3, Anna Bates is promoted from Head Housemaid to Lady Mary's personal Lady's Maid, Daisy Mason is promoted from Scullery Maid to Assistant Cook, and in the season finale, Jimmy Kent is promoted to First Footman over Alfred Nugent, his rival for the position.
    • The only character to jump the barrier between the downstairs and upstairs worlds is Tom Branson, who begins the series as merely the chauffeur, but falls in love with and marries Lady Sybil, to the horror and disapproval of everyone on either side of the stairs. Branson has suddenly made the jump from chauffeur to in-law, and after Sybil's death, struggles to find a place for himself in the upstairs world, ultimately becoming Downton's Estate Manager.
    • The Grand Finale sees Barrow, (who by this point has gone through a full Heel–Face Turn), finally rising to the position of Butler of Downton Abbey upon Carson's retirement. Meanwhile, upstairs, Edith marries Bertie Pellham, the Marquess of Hexham, and as a newly minted Marchioness ends up holding a higher social rank than the rest of her family, a very big deal among English aristocracy. Not a bad finish for someone who for most of the series has been the Born Unlucky Unfavorite Middle Child.
  • Endeavour is a prequel to Inspector Morse and deals with the rise through the ranks of Morse and Strange. In the original series, Morse is an Inspector and Strange is Chief Superintendent; both start Endeavour as constables and their ascent is a key part of the show's Story Arc.
  • Enemy at the Door: At the beginning of the series, the garrison commander is Major Richter and the ranking SS officer is Hauptsturmführer Reinicke. In the first episode of the second season, Reinicke is given a promotion to Sturmbahnführer as part of a gambit by his SS superiors — the rank is the SS equivalent of Major, so Richter can no longer overrule him as he did several times in the first season. He gets one scene to enjoy his new position before Richter breaks the news that his own Army superiors have responded by bumping Richter up to Oberst.
  • Family Matters starts with Carl Winslow as a Sergeant in the Chicago PD. Over the course of the series he's promoted twice, first to Lieutenant after passing a difficult test, then to Captain when the Commissioner's son says Carl is more qualified for the rank than he is. It helps that for everything else in his life, Carl is exceptionally good at being a cop.
  • Game of Thrones:
    • Kevan is appointed Hand of the King by Grand Maester Pycelle after Cersei is arrested by the Faith.
    • Bronn begins as a lowly sellsword, albeit a highly intelligent and skilled one. Over the course of the series, he:
      • Gets promoted to commander of the City Watch by Tyrion in Season 2, replacing Janos Slynt. It lasts until the end of the season, though, as he's dismissed by Tywin. He turns out to be almost as ruthless as Janos Slynt, though he never kills children. In anticipation of Stannis' siege, Bronn has his men round up and kill all the known thieves, because they steal all the food when a siege begins.
      • Gets rewarded with a knighthood after the battle of Backwater.
      • He was going to marry into nobility, but that was yanked under promise of, eventually, a better marriage. Jaime tells him in Season 7 that he'll have his pick of castles in Westeros when the Lannisters win the war.
      • In the final season, he's been promised lordship Riverrun by Cersei if he kills Jaime and Tyrion. Knowing the way the wind is blowing, coupled with Tyrion's promise to double any amount paid to Bronn to kill Tyrion, Bronn manages to not only bag himself the lordship of Highgarden, but also a seat on the Small Council as Master of Coin, despite not being remotely qualified (he doesn't even know what a loan entails).
  • Golden Boy: The Framing Device is that Walter Clark rises through the ranks of the NYPD and becomes police commissioner after less than ten years on the job. In the pilot he is promoted to detective due to his heroic actions during a robbery and chooses to be assigned to homicide where all the other detectives have at least ten more years seniority than he. A recurring plot point in the first season is that both Det. Don Owen and Det. Tony Arroyo are eligible for promotion but Owen has been effectively blacklisted by the senior staff for the last twelve years and he needs to close a high profile case to finally get his promotion. In the season finale Owen finally gets his promotion after he and Walter catch a Professional Killer who committed 15 murders during his career.
  • Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.: An episode revolved around Gomer and the rest of his platoon going for corporal. (Or maybe it was PSC to PFC, it's been a long time since I've seen the episode.) Gomer didn't want to at first, he "liked being the backbone." (Privates are - or were - called the Backbone of the Marine Corps.)
  • Homicide: Life on the Street:
    • Kay Howard passes the promotion exam and becomes a Sergeant at the beginning of Season 4. John Munch had planned to take the exam at the same time, but he missed it because he couldn't find his lucky socks.
    • Megan Russert is promoted from Lieutenant to Captain in Season 3, to the surprise of Al Giardello (same rank, but longer time with the BPD). She gets busted all the way down to Detective in Season 4.
    • Over the course of two seasons (3 and 4), Roger Gaffney somehow gets promoted from Detective all the way to Captain, ultimately replacing the demoted Russert and infuriating Giardello no end, which is in large part the point.
  • House of Cards (US): Frank Underwood begins the series as a US representative, is appointed to the vice presidency at the end of season one, and ascends to the presidency at the end of season two. His wife, Claire, also moves up, from second lady to first lady, then simultaneously being the US ambassador to the United Nations, from which she later resigns. As of the fourth season, she's her party's nominee for vice president.
  • I Dream of Jeannie: Capts. Tony Nelson and Roger Healey were promoted to major late in the first season. This happened early enough that popular culture tends to forget they were ever captains with people generally referring to them as Major Nelson or Major Healey.
  • Inspector George Gently: In season 7, Bacchus is promoted from Detective Sergeant to Detective Inspector, which he had been angling for since season 1, and Rachel is promoted from WPC to Detective Sergeant.
  • JAG Most of the promotions on the show were shown: i.e. the character raises the right hand and takes the oath of office and the insignia is switched:
    • Harmon Rabb, Jr. gets promoted from Lieutenant (O-3) to Captain (O-6) through the course of the entire series.
    • Sarah Mackenzie gets promoted only once, from Major to Lieutenant Colonel offscreen between the fourth and fifth season.
    • Bud Roberts goes from Ensign (O-1) to Lieutenant Commander (O-4) in nine seasons. When we see him again in an episode of NCIS over a decade later he's made Captain (O-6). His wife Harriet went from an Ensign to a Lieutenant (O-3).
    • Petty Officer Jennifer Coates gets a promotion in the ninth season.
    • Recurring character Thomas Boone (Terry O'Quinn) gets promoted from Captain (O-6) to Rear Admiral (O-8), and is about to become a Vice Admiral before allegations of war crimes surfaces and cancels it.
  • Law & Order: Special Victims Unit: John Munch was promoted after he took the Sergeant's exam as a bar bet. He ended up acting squad commander of the SVU for half an episode when Cragen got transferred to the Chief of Detectives office as punishment for his team's tendency to be Cowboy Cops.
    • In Season 15, Olivia Benson takes and passes the Sergeant's exam as well. 2 seasons later, she passes the Lieutenant's exam so that she can permanently take over as the squad's commanding officer. 4 years after that, she's promoted to Captain.
    • After Olivia makes Lieutenant, Fin passes the Sergeant's exam himself in Season 19 so that he can be her Number Two and the squad's supervisor.
  • WPC Annie Cartwright in Life on Mars gets a promotion to WDC in the second series, causing some consternation from Ray Carling because it's 1973 and sexism was still okay at the time...
  • The series finale of Major Dad ended with the title character learning he'd been promoted to Lieutenant Colonel.
  • M*A*S*H:
    • In early seasons, Lt. Colonel Flagg from Military Intelligence was a recurring character. In the fourth season he became Colonel Flagg. This paralleled the head of 4077th going from Lt. Col. Blake to Col. Potter, because Flagg couldn't be subordinate to the CO; otherwise his orders could be easily countermanded. (Not that Col. Potter listened to him much, anyways).
    • Also, in the last two seasons or so Klinger is promoted from Corporal to Sergeant, and Father Mulcahey from First Lieutenant to Captain.
  • Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries: In "Game, Set and Murder", Hugh is promoted from constable to senior constable.
  • MonsterVerse TV series Monarch: Legacy of Monsters: Major supporting character and early Monarch operative Lee Shaw was a U.S. Army lieutenant during the 1950s storyline, and a colonel by the time that he'd retired in the 2015 storyline.
  • NYPD Blue:
    • Detective Martinez takes the sergeant's exam and passes, so he can get Put on a Bus to another precinct. (Earlier he had been promoted from undercover officer to detective, but it was never shown or mentioned in much detail.)
    • Bobby Simone gets promoted to detective first class (or whatever it's called) in a big ceremony.
    • New Meat John Clark is promoted to detective for meritorious service; at the same time, Sipowitz is promoted to detective first class, which pisses off John Clark Sr.
    • Sipowitz takes the Sergeant exam; he passes and becomes the desk sergeant downstairs from the squad. In the final episode he gets promoted (ahead of others waiting) to be the squad commander, still as a Sgt. He promises that this will be his last job - he's not planning to try for another promotion or transfer.
  • Odd Squad often uses this to justify cast changes between seasons. In the Season 1 finale, Olive and Otto leave Precinct 13579 to run their own Odd Squad. At the end of Season 2, Oprah is promoted to the position of the Big O and departs for one of the seven Big Offices scattered around the world, from where she issues orders to the Odd Squad Mobile Unit in Season 3.
    • In the Season 2 premiere, "First Day", Olympia graduates from the Odd Squad Academy and moves up from being an agent-in-training to an Investigation agent. Similarly, Otis also becomes an Investigation agent, although he didn't attend the Academy.
    • Ori becomes a full-fledged Investigation agent in "Worst First Day Ever", following the events of "Hold the Door" where he was an agent-in-training.
    • Oscar is promoted from Lab Director of Precinct 13579 to President of the Scientists in "Oscar Strikes Back", and stays in the Science wing of the Odd Squad Academy.
    • Due to the Fantastic Caste System in the world of the show being heavily downplayed, this trope is played with in the case of O'Mary and Obby, two Maintenance workers in "High Maintenance" who become Investigation agents while Olympia and Otis are Maintenance workers. Maintenance/Transportation was the lowest-ranking department at the time of the episode's airing, and since the department switch was made by Oprah at her own discretion, it could potentially count as a promotion.
    • In "Dr. O No", Oro, a Maintenance worker, is promoted to the Medical department. However, he continues to remain in the Maintenance/Transportation department, meaning that while he is technically promoted, he now works in two departments instead of one.
    • In "Odd Off The Press", Orpita, an agent-in-training previously seen in an earlier episode of the season, is revealed to have been made an agent and works in the Big Office department as one of Oprah's assistants. She eventually gets promoted to the newly-created role of the Little O by the end of the episode, where she serves as Oprah's Number Two, if not the head of the entire organization considering Millie Davis's departure from the show.
      • Likewise, Esmerelda Kim, now correctly referred to as Osmerelda Kim, goes through training at the Odd Squad Academy and is eventually made an agent of the Mobile Unit department, replacing Opal, who left the show in the previous episode.
    • Although it's temporary, Orla and Omar are promoted to the Management department from the Mobile Unit department in the place of an incapacitated Seattle Mr. O in "O for a Day", and become co-Directors.
  • Ordinary Joe: In the Cop Joe timeline, Joe gets promoted from beat cop to detective in the second episode for saving Congressman Bobby Diaz from an Assassination Attempt in the pilot.
  • In The Orville, Ed Mercer first appears as a Commander (we learn later that he was stationed at the Epsilon Eridani outpost) before being promoted to Captain when Admiral Halsey gives him command of the USS Orvile.
    • "New Dimensions" has John LaMarr taking the role of Chief Engineer and thus a promotion from Lieutenant to Lieutenant Commander.
    • In "Gently Falling Rain", Talla Keyali is promoted from Lieutenant to Lieutenant Commander, though her actual role on the ship (Chief Security Officer) didn't change.
  • Power Rangers:
    • Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers: When Tommy is transformed into the White Ranger, he is also promoted to team leader (out-of-universe, this was done because the actor for the previous team leader was soon to leave the show), creating a rare instance of a leader in Power Rangers who isn't a Red Ranger. (Tommy would become Red Ranger with a power set change in Power Rangers Zeo, though.)
    • Power Rangers S.P.D.: Has its first Rank Up at the beginning, when Sky, Bridge and Syd are promoted from being police cadets-in-training to being the department's Power Rangers (though Sky is pissed to learn that he's only the Blue Ranger, while the role of team leader and Red Ranger went to new draftee Jack instead). It then has another one in the finale when Jack decides to leave the force; Sky (having matured since his last promotion) becomes the new Red Ranger and Bridge moves up from Green to Blue. And when Bridge makes a guest appearance on Power Rangers Operation Overdrive a couple seasons later, he reveals that a third set of promotions happened offscreen: the team's commanding officer was promoted to head the entire organization, Sky replaced him as head of the Earth branch, and Bridge replaced Sky as Red Ranger.
    • Power Rangers Cosmic Fury: When Zayto goes missing and Ollie is Brainwashed and Crazy, Dino Fury Pink Ranger Amelia finds herself giving orders to the remainder of the team. When they get a new power set, Izzy, Aiyon, and Javi maintain their old colors, but Amelia finds her suit color to be a strangely "dark pink". Yup, it's red, implied to be the will of the Morphing Grid itself deciding that she's the best choice for new team leader.
  • Revolution: In episode 6, upon returning to Philadelphia with Danny, Captain Tom Neville is promoted to Major.
  • Rizzoli & Isles: Jane's love interest 'Casey' Jones is a Lt. Col. in the US Army. After recovering from injury and returning to active duty, he is offered a promotion to Colonel. His decision to take the promotion and stay in the army is one of the reasons he and Jane break up.
  • In Series/Sharpe, the eponymous Richard Sharpe goes through several promotions, starting as a Sergeant being promoted to Lieutenant for saving Wellington's life, then Captain followed by a promotion to Major in Sharpe's Enemy. In Sharpe's Waterloo he's a Colonel on the staff of the Prince of Orange.
    • Harper also gets in on a bit of the Rank Up action, eventually gaining the rank of Sergeant Major.
  • Stargate-verse:
    • Jack O'Neill gets a double treatment: promoted from colonel to brigadier general in season 8 of Stargate SG-1, and to head of Homeworld Security in season 9. By Stargate Universe he's wearing three stars.
    • Jack's first act as a general? To officiate the promotion of Sam Carter from major to lieutenant colonel. She had started the series at captain before being promoted to major in the third season. Sometime between Stargate: The Ark of Truth and Season 4 of Stargate Atlantis, she gets her promotion to full ("full-bird") colonel.
    • General Hammond was Put on a Bus in SG-1: "The New Order" by giving him a third star and sending him to the Pentagon to head up Homeworld Security.
    • Though it went unremarked, supporting character Dr. Janet Fraiser started out wearing captain's insignia, then later switched to the brass leaf of a major.
    • Major Samuels, Hammond's original second-in-command, moved up to Lieutenant Colonel after he was reassigned to the Pentagon.
    • Stargate Atlantis: John Sheppard goes from Major to Lieutenant Colonel between Season 1 and 2. He's rather confused as his military superiors disapprove of him, his rebellious attitude and questionable record. (He started the show exiled in Antarctica for disobeying orders). Sure enough it's revealed that it was actually Elizabeth (his civilian commander on Atlantis) who forced through his promotion as his superiors were trying to replace him as military commander of Atlantis, Sheppard having only stepped into the role when his commanding officer was killed and they were cut off from Earth. Elizabeth, having established a very successful co-leadership with Sheppard while cut off from Earth and witnessed him putting his life on the line for the city numerous times, insisted the military let him keep his position even if he needed to rank up to do so. John is clearly touched when she hints at her role in his promotion.
  • Star Trek: Deep Space Nine:
    • Benjamin Sisko started off as a commander and was promoted to captain at the end of the third season.
    • Major Kira Nerys gets bumped to lieutenant colonel in the Bajoran Militia at the start of the seventh season, and is later commissioned as a Starfleet commander.
    • Nog gets bumped up to Ensign at the start of the Dominion War mostly because, as even he admits, that Starfleet is in a war and desperate for any men they can get. In the series finale he's promoted to Lieutenant, Junior Grade.
    • Though it went unremarked, odd for a main character, Julian Bashir started out with the rank insignia of a lieutenant, junior grade (one gold pip, one black pip), then at the start of season four he started wearing the insignia of a full lieutenant (two gold pips). A similar thing happened with Jadzia Dax, who started the series as a lieutenant and started wearing lieutenant commander insignia at around the same time.
    • In the seventh season finale, Rom becomes the Grand Nagus of the Ferengi while Worf becomes an ambassador. Meanwhile, Martok rises from general to chancellor through Klingon Promotion.
    • In villainous examples, Dukat rises from a gul to the head of Cardassia (subject to the Dominion and retaining his title of "Gul" as he prefers the hands-on nature of the role), while Damar rises from the ranks to succeed Dukat (before his Heel–Face Turn). Additionally, Winn rises from Vedek to Kai.
    • O'Brien was a Chief Petty Officer in The Next Generation but is promoted to Senior Chief Petty Officer when he joins the Deep Space Nine cast.
      • This has, however, been one of the most controversial elements of Chief O'Brien's character. While he was consistently referred to as Chief O'Brien on Next Generation, there was at least one episode where he's referred to as a lieutenant, and throughout the show he wears the rank insignia of a full lieutenant, so one could infer that calling him chief was a reference to his job as transporter chief, the same way that Dr. Crusher and Counsellor Troi are referred to by their positions and not their ranks. The novelization of Deep Space Nine's pilot refers to him as a subensign, and in the episode he wears one black pip. For the most part, Next Generation seems to assume enlisted personnel are a rarity and officers the norm on a starship, while Deep Space Nine is often more open to the idea of enlisted personnel serving on Starfleet ships and bases.
  • Star Trek: Discovery:
    • Saru goes from Lieutenant Commander on the Shenzhou to full Commander on Discovery followed by a brevet promotion to Captain when it turns out Lorca is an impostor.
    • Keyla goes from a Lieutenant (j.g.) on the Shenzhou to a full Lieutenant on the Discovery. And all it cost her was a lot of friends, one eye and a chunk of the side of her head!
    • At the end of the first season Tilly earns her Starfleet commission and is promoted to Ensign while Stamets is promoted from Lieutenant to Lieutenant Commander.
    • Inverted with Michael Burnham, who is stripped of her Commander's rank and imprisoned early in the series. She earns it back later.
  • Star Trek: The Next Generation:
    • Riker got a field promotion to captain when Picard was captured by the Borg. When Picard was rescued Riker reverted to his previous Commander.
    • Wesley was promoted from boy to acting ensign to actual ensign (then dropped back to cadet when he entered the academy). He left Starfleet before graduation.
    • In the episode "Lower Decks", several ensigns are concerned about who will be promoted. After the most likely candidate got killed in action, her friend was promoted but he didn't feel he deserved it.
    • Geordi La Forge goes from lieutenant junior grade in the first season, to full lieutenant in the second season, to lieutenant commander in the third to seventh seasons. And in a flash-forward in an episode of Star Trek: Voyager he's a captain.
    • Troi, who started as lieutenant commander, went for a promotion to commander; the test's Secret Test of Character was whether or not she'd send a friend (Geordi) on a Suicide Mission in order to save the ship.
    • Worf was promoted twice, starting as Lieutenant J.G., moving up to full Lieutenant off screen between seasons 2 and 3, then promoted on screen to Lieutenant Commander in Star Trek: Generations.
    • Inverted in the case of Data: in the "normal" flow of time, he started out and remained a Lieutenant Commander; in the final episode flash-back time (to the first episode), he wore the rank of Lieutenant.
  • Star Trek: Voyager. At the beginning of Season 4, Tuvok gets a promotion from lieutenant to lieutenant commander. After being demoted to ensign in "Thirty Days", Lieutenant (Junior Grade) Tom Paris soon gets his pips back as Status Quo Is God; this is in noticable contrast to Ensign Harry Kim whose lack of promotion after seven years in the Delta Quadrant is a Running Gag among fans.
  • Star Trek: Picard:
    • In the time between Star Trek: Nemesis and this series, Capt. Picard was promoted to Admiral before resigning out of protest for the Federation's indifference to Romulus's destruction, and Geordi La Forge went from being a Lieutenant Commander to Commodore.
    • Seven of Nine and Tuvok from Star Trek: Voyager have gone from civilian and Lt. Cmdr. to Commander and Captain, respectively.
    • When we last saw Ro Laren on Star Trek: The Next Generation, she was recently promoted from Ensign to Lieutenant before defecting to the Maquis. On Picard, we see that after serving time in prison for her defection, Ro has since risen to the rank of Commander.
  • In Tour of Duty, Myron Goldman goes from 2nd lieutenant to 1st lieutenant between first and second seasons, and Staff Sergeant Anderson is promoted to Sergeant 1st Class in season 3.
  • The Wire shows many characters who rise through the Baltimore Police Department ranks, like Bill Rawls, Ervin Burrell, Stan Valhek, and Cedric Daniels.

Top