But no, between Archer and Kirk Starfleet must have recruited just the worst of the worst.
All good points.
But I’ve done some mental gymnastics to make it work. We actually know:
Lorca and Saru backstory Spoilers
Lorca defied orders to recruit Burnam, and keep Burnam out of space jail.
I also assume Lorca recruited Saru specifically because Saru’s native culture includes lots of putting up with inane bullshit, which was useful to Lorca after disposing of original Lorca’s body.
And I assume that the same character in my spoiler tag recruited various dysfunctional crew, while Saru recruited those crew that actually perform like Starfleet officers.
So basically, with enough mental hoops, I can assume that only Discovery, itself, is crewed unusually for Starfleet.
Edit: I also feel that Archer’s bring-my-dog-to-work leadership should also shoulder some blame. And Kirk is still a low ranking officer at this point, so we haven’t reached Starfleets prime.
I waited for the big reveal that all took place in the Mirrorverse. That would have explained a lot!
Then have them travel to our Universe and adapt to it. But no, between Archer and Kirk Starfleet must have recruited just the worst of the worst.
Could have been a cool story.
All good points.
But I’ve done some mental gymnastics to make it work. We actually know:
Lorca and Saru backstory Spoilers
Lorca defied orders to recruit Burnam, and keep Burnam out of space jail.
I also assume Lorca recruited Saru specifically because Saru’s native culture includes lots of putting up with inane bullshit, which was useful to Lorca after disposing of original Lorca’s body.
And I assume that the same character in my spoiler tag recruited various dysfunctional crew, while Saru recruited those crew that actually perform like Starfleet officers.
So basically, with enough mental hoops, I can assume that only Discovery, itself, is crewed unusually for Starfleet.
Edit: I also feel that Archer’s bring-my-dog-to-work leadership should also shoulder some blame. And Kirk is still a low ranking officer at this point, so we haven’t reached Starfleets prime.