Recently I managed to get Brother the Rhymer to watch Firefly for the first time. Being an intelligent fellow of taste & discernment, he was, naturally, quite taken with it. As we discussed the episodes (and he praised Gina Torres), we both happened to agree that the crew of the Serenity would be significantly better off if Malcolm and Zoe switched jobs; she has a lot more sense and would get them into fewer avoidable scrapes. (Of course, the show is better off with Malcolm in command; he’s more likely to generate interesting drama.) We agreed, furthermore, that the same was true on Star Trek, or rather the original series (as no one really wants Riker in charge of anything other the barber shop).
Any other examples anybody can think of? What characters, both in the same series, could happily exchange jobs to the betterment of their situation?
I don’t know about the crew of Serenity… The only thing that holds that crew together is that every one of them individually has a personal loyalty to Mal. Maybe Zoe could command that kind of loyalty, but as it is, she doesn’t.
If, by your Star Trek example, you meant Kirk and Spock, didn’t Spock conclude (in the episode where Kirk was split in the transporter accident) that strong emotion was a valuable asset for a starship captain? And Kirk as a science officer… Well, I suppose we would learn a lot about comparative anatomy of various alien races, but not so much about spatial anomolies.
I always thought Hoynes would make a much better PotUS than Bartlett on The West Wing. Hoynes had a much more Presidential air and when arguing made more sense. I think Bartlett would also make a much more compent and Loyal VP than Hoynes ever was.
I’m not so sure I agree that Mal is the glue that holds the crew together. While Zoe and Kaylee are loyal to Mal, no doubt, but Inara’s ambivalent and Jayne’s out only for himself whereas Wash is there for Zoe and Simon and River are more loyal to one another than anyone else on the boat.