Mister Winthrop had been a thorn in the Captain’s side from the time he came on board. He was belligerent, independent and bordered on disrespectful but at least he had the good sense to refrain from being insubordinate

As for letting Mister Winthrop melt down during the trip through the auxiliary channel It is a risk anytime a leader allows a high level subordinate to make a fool of himself in front of lower level managers and employees, but sometimes it is a risk that needs to be taken. In almost every situation, the senior manager will take steps to protect a high level subordinate from embarrassing the management team but this was not a normal situation.

The captain allowed Mr. Winthrop to crash and burn in front of the entire ship’s company. He had to allow his credibility to diminish to the point that he would no longer influence the officers and the crew. Circumstances, or a clever plan, put Mr. Winthrop in a situation where only the captain could save him, or let him sink.