During Star Trek: Voyager's seven years in the Delta Quadrant, there were plenty of times when Ensign Harry Kim (Garrett Wang) deserved a promotion, but didn't get it. Ensign Kim's elusive second pip has persisted for so long that it's become a running joke in Star Trek fandom, with Wang himself referring to his character as the "eternal ensign" as co-host of The Delta Flyers podcast with Star Trek: Voyager's Tom Paris actor Robert Duncan McNeill. Even when Paris is re-promoted in Star Trek: Voyager's season 6 finale, "Unimatrix Zero", Kim points out being skipped over for advancement.
There was never one singular, concrete reason that Harry Kim was never promoted in Star Trek: Voyager. One behind-the-scenes explanation points to Voyager producer Brannon Braga insisting that "somebody's gotta be the ensign", equating Ensign Kim with Star Trek: The Next Generation's Wesley Crusher (Wil Wheaton) or Star Trek: The Original Series' Pavel Chekov (Walter Koenig). A lack of new officers kept the USS Voyager's hierarchy fairly static. Still, Captain Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) rewarded Tuvok (Tim Russ) and Tom Paris with promotions, so Harry Kim could have earned a promotion for excellent service, too.
Star Trek: Voyager Season 1, Episode 7 - "Eye of the Needle"
Ensign Harry Kim's Academy-fresh optimism is valuable to the whole crew right after the USS Voyager is transported to the Delta Quadrant, and everyone is looking for easy ways to get home quickly. In Star Trek: Voyager season 1, episode 7, "Eye of the Needle", Kim discovers a wormhole leading to the Alpha Quadrant, and remains undeterred by the fact that the wormhole is way too small to be a viable path home. Ensign Kim's solution to send a communications signal through the wormhole shows promise, and would likely have worked if circumstances weren't stacked against him.
After all, it's not Kim's fault that the Harry Kim Wormhole happens to tunnel through time as well as space, or that Voyager's new Romulan friend, Telek R'Mor (Vaughn Armstrong), didn't live long enough to pass their message to Starfleet Command. Narratively speaking, it probably doesn't make as much sense to promote Ensign Kim so soon in Star Trek: Voyager's run, so it's alright that Harry's bright idea doesn't quite save the day this time. At least he gets a wormhole named after him.
Star Trek: Voyager Season 3, Episode 1 - "Basics, Part II"
Star Trek: Voyager's season 3 premiere, "Basics, Part II" would have been a great turning point to promote Harry Kim, as the USS Voyager left Seska and the Kazon behind to start its next chapter. Ensign Kim wouldn't necessarily have to accomplish one particularly outstanding act to get promoted to Lieutenant junior grade, because Kim proved himself with cumulative efforts over the USS Voyager's first two years in the Delta Quadrant. Harry Kim was often ready with functional and creative solutions, and capably handled the psychological strain of being so far from home on his very first post-Academy mission.
Two years seems like a reasonable length of time to spend as an Ensign in Star Trek , since Tom Paris spent about two years as an Ensign before being re-promoted to Lieutenant j.g. in Star Trek: Voyager , and most of the USS Cerritos junior officers in Star Trek: Lower Decks also had about two years under their belts (except Tawny Newsome's Beckett Mariner, of course).
Giving Harry Kim another half-pip after a few years into Star Trek: Voyager's run wouldn't have been out of place, nor would it have compromised the hierarchy of Voyager's crew structure in any significant way. Ensign Kim was already on Janeway's senior staff as Voyager's Chief Operations Officer, so why not give Harry the rank to go with the work that he's clearly capable of doing?
Star Trek: Voyager Season 3, Episode 3 - "The Chute"
Star Trek: Voyager season 3, episode 3, "The Chute", was a challenging situation for both Ensign Harry Kim and Lieutenant Tom Paris, with both men trapped in an alien prison and subject to psychological torture. In "The Chute", there's no way out of the prison they're sentenced to after being falsely accused of terrorism, but Harry Kim still hangs onto his optimistic outlook, even when the prison's neural implants push Harry towards aggression. Harry Kim uses skills in engineering, diplomacy, and even field medicine to keep Tom Paris alive, and comes out of the experience with more wisdom.
Both Ensign Kim and Lieutenant Paris would have been lost if Harry had succumbed to the prison's torture methods; in fact, Tom might have even died at Harry's hands, instead of being saved by him. Kim's ability to withstand psychological duress reads like a lighter version of Captain Jean-Luc Picard's (Patrick Stewart) in Star Trek: The Next Generation season 6, episodes 10 & 11, "Chain of Command". That must be worth a promotion.
4 Harry Kim Could've Been Promoted For Taking Tom Paris' Place
Star Trek: Voyager Season 5, Episode 9 - "Thirty Days"
Following the argument that "someone's gotta be the ensign", Tom Paris' demotion to Ensign during Star Trek: Voyager seasons 5 & 6 would have been the perfect opportunity to promote Harry Kim to Lieutenant. Assuming that a shortage of officers means there's a finite number of slots for each rank, Harry's clean Starfleet record, history of relatively good ideas, and years of service make him more worthy of the extra pip than Paris. After all, Tom Paris was re-promoted simply for being on his best behavior, and Kim's best behavior arguably exceeded Paris' on any given day.
"Thirty Days" is the second appearance of Tom Paris' Captain Proton holodeck program, with Harry Kim playing Proton's sidekick, Buster Kincaid. Being Kincaid is just another way that Harry draws the short straw in Voyager , as Ensign Kim later expresses interest in wanting to play the hero, if only on the holodeck.
Swapping Paris and Kim's ranks halfway through Star Trek: Voyager's run could have posed interesting challenges to one of Star Trek's best friendships. Tom is no doubt worldlier and wiser with his years of lived experiences, compared to Harry's Academy-fresh naïveté, so Kim outranking Paris might have actually leveled the playing field. Chalk up another missed opportunity for character development in Voyager.
Star Trek: Voyager Season 5, Episode 25 - "Warhead"
Star Trek: Voyager season 5, episode 25, "Warhead" is one of the few instances where Harry Kim can actually claim the lion's share of the credit for saving the day. Ensign Kim is already entrusted with command of the USS Voyager's night shift when Voyager encounters a distress call, and Commander Chakotay (Robert Beltran) gives Ensign Kim clearance to lead the mission to investigate. After discovering an artificially intelligent ancient weapon programmed to relentlessly destroy, Harry Kim makes the risky call to route the AI through the Doctor's program so he can reason with it.
Harry Kim deciding to convince the weapon to become a protector of peace is a page right out of the Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) playbook. Kirk used logical loops to defeat sentient computers like Landru and Nomad in Star Trek: The Original Series, and Kim takes that tactic a step further by changing the alien warhead's entire objective.
Harry Kim excels when given the opportunity to demonstrate leadership skills and engineering expertise, by taking the lead on the away mission, and delegating tasks to others like B'Elanna Torres (Roxann Dawson). Over halfway through Star Trek: Voyager's run, "Warhead" is an exceptional portrait of a fully capable and mature Harry Kim that demonstrates Ensign Kim's growth over Voyager's time in the Delta Quadrant.
Star Trek: Voyager Season 7, Episode 8 - "Nightingale"
When Harry Kim takes emergency command of an alien medical vessel dubbed Nightingale, Harry soon discovers the mission of mercy is actually a terrorist plot in disguise. "Nightingale" juxtaposes Harry Kim's valid experience against the much-greener crew of the Nightingale, showing just how much confidence Harry has earned. After a brief setback, Harry Kim steps up to mentor the Nightingale's crew by showing them Starfleet values, even after the mission's true colors are revealed.
At this point in Star Trek: Voyager , it's almost ridiculous to keep Harry Kim from being promoted.
Caught between an alien war and his eagerness to prove himself, Ensign Kim's mission teaches him lessons about the weight of command, the value of loyalty, and his own self-worth. "Nightingale" tries to justify withholding Harry's promotion by suggesting that Kim still isn't ready for his own command, but it's important to remember that Kim isn't trying to skip directly to Captain. At this point in Star Trek: Voyager, it's almost ridiculous to keep Harry Kim from being promoted when he's not only gained enough experience to be a full lieutenant, but also demonstrated that he deserves the rank.
Star Trek: Voyager Season 7, Episode 25 & 26 - "Endgame"
If Harry Kim's well-deserved promotion couldn't happen anywhere else in the series, Star Trek: Voyager's series finale, "Endgame", should have included Lieutenant Kim as part of an epilogue that actually showed the aftermath of the USS Voyager's safe return to Earth. The timeline of Star Trek: Prodigy reveals that promotions for Captain Kathryn Janeway and Commander Chakotay happened very shortly after Voyager's return, with pardons for Voyager's Maquis-affiliated crew members who wanted to rejoin Starfleet. There's no reason Harry Kim should have had to wait any longer to advance after seven whole years as an ensign.
Back in the Alpha Quadrant, all excuses for not promoting Harry Kim fall flat. With the USS Voyager made a museum, Lieutenant Kim would serve on another ship, and fresh new junior officers would be available to fill the positions under Kim. Star Trek: Lower Decks' 5th season, taking place in 2381, promises the long-awaited appearance of Lieutenant Harry Kim, so Harry did wind up getting that promotion within a few years after Voyager's 2378 return. With plenty of opportunities for Harry Kim's promotion to take place in Star Trek: Voyager as it should have, it's almost too late.
