Analysis of this Trope within specific works
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Star Trek
SF Debris likes to call out the poor assignment of jobs in the various Star Trek series.
- From "The Descent" (TNG) review:
- In the review about the episode "The Naked Now" he points out a scene where the Chief Engineer and her assistant are both called away from Engineering. The assistant refuses to leave his post, as he's reluctant to leave Engineering without any supervisor. But then Wesley convinces the assistant to just leave him in charge... Instead of one of the dozen qualified Engineering personnel seen milling about in the background.
- From "Heart of Glory" (TNG):Chuck: Speak of the Devil, they've been detecting an approaching ship, and sure enough it's the Klingons, come to collect the criminals. This forces Tasha to ask which of her two jobs should she be doing right now: Staying at Tactical in case the Klingons get trigger-happy, or head the Security team to apprehend the Klingon criminals on-board and possibly deal with a Worf with uncertain allegiances.
- From the review of "Our Man Bashir" (DS9):Chuck: Meanwhile, all the senior officers of the station have crammed themselves into one tiny little Runabout, after pissing off the Klingons, the Cardassians and the Dominion. Surprisingly, someone actually gets the idea into their head that this would make a convenient target. [...] They try an emergency beam-out, but the explosion blows out the transporter, leaving Eddington now in command.
- From the review of "Resistance" (VOY):Chuck: So Tom Paris not only flies the ship, the most important shuttle missions, is the field-medic-slash-assistant-to-the-doctor, has 24th century lockpicking ability... he's also a commando. Oh, and let's not forget he once designed an engine that went to infinity.
[Later in the same review...]
Chuck: Since this is an important engineering matter, it's quickly handed off to Harry to take care of, instead of one of the actual engineers.
[Still in the same review, this time regarding a multi-purpose villain]
Chuck: Because this is a television show, Augris will be the face of these people in all situations: whether communicating to off-world aliens, performing interrogations, or searching the streets for criminals. What a micro-manager. - From "Warlord" (VOY):Chuck: ... With all the radiation, they have to move in close to beam them out, but Harry is working to beam through it, since he's the Transporter Chief and all that. Or, actually, NOT, but why leave it in the hands of a specialist when you can assign it to the guy who never held that position in his life?
- From "Strange New World" (ENT):Chuck: Meanwhile Archer pilots a shuttlepod down, with Reed alongside him. At this point it means that Hoshi is in command - who is terrified of Enterprise and all of its contents.
[Later in the same review...]
Chuck: The transporter is new technology, just approved for use on human-beings in the last two months, and is designed to break them down and put them back together again. This is all done by highly-trained experts, who know how to handle this thing precisely, to avoid any problems... and who are all apparently on a coffee break, because we see Reed down there instead. After all, he's already the tactical officer, security officer, deliverer of weather reports, and the guy who rides shotgun whenever Archer takes the shuttlepod out, so why shouldn't he operate the transporter too? I mean, how hard can it be? [Cue horrific transporter accident] - Archer seems to have demoted Hoshi to be the Enterprise's delivery girl for the jobs that the others can't be arsed to do. Moments after launching a Subspace Communications Amplifier, which needed to be checked was working properly so that Enterprise could maintain their link to Earth, he asked Hoshi to find out Reed's favourite food for his birthday, choosing her over any other random crewman, and told her to make it her top priority. Its not as though Hoshi is the damned Communications Officer!Chuck: Is there a medication for what you're on, Archer?
- Yet another appearance of a random authority figure representing everyone on their planet, in "North Star" (ENT):Chuck: Archer finally overcomes the bad guy, and in so doing ends all prejudice forever. The sheriff agrees some of the laws can be changed, and naturally he speaks for all towns, everywhere, and that definitely there will not be a posse like the one that shot him ever riding into town from another settlement once they hear that the Skagarans are being treated equally here.
Video Games
- Watch Mojo calls this the "Ramirez do Everything" cliché in video games, after Private Ramirez from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (see main page quote).
