CaptainWacky
I want to smell dark matter
William Thomas Riker
In 1987, TNG viewers quickly discovered that Captian Picard was a very different character from their much loved Captain Kirk. When creating Star Trek: The Next Generation, Gene Roddenberry decided that Picard wouldn't lead away teams and that his younger, more Kirk-like First Officer William Riker would instead. It was an idea Roddenberry took from his unproduced Star Trek Phase II televison series and Riker certainly has shades of that show's conception of First Officer Willard Decker. Season 1 Riker is fine, but when you rewatch he doesn't feel quite right. Other than turning down the powers of the Q there aren't really that many memorable season 1 Riker moments. There's something missing...
THAT'S the Riker we all know and love. The beard came along in season two and Riker felt like a new man, a twinkle in his eye to go with the hair on his face. Riker is a bit like Kirk, sure, but he's more than that. He's the modern Kirk for the late eighties who'll kiss a genderless alien and check out Worf in a dress.
Riker is also the absolute best Trek character for getting angry or freaking out when he notices something wrong with the nature of reality. For me there's nothing more Star Trek than a character saying "FUCK YOU THIS ISN'T MY UNIVERSE."
And of course nobody sits on a chair like him.
He's just basically the fucking man.
I had issues with the returning character of Jean-Luc Picard and Seven of Nine in Star Trek: Picard, issues that couldn't just be explained away with "well it's been twenty five years, of course they're different!" I was concerned they'd get Riker wrong too, but he felt 100% Riker, all the more impressive when you consider that Jonathan Frakes hadn't acted for years when he returned for Picard. You could be cynical and put it down to Frakes lacking range or whatever, but two of the brightest spots of Picard for me, two moments that made it feel like an actual Star Trek, were Riker ordering "shields up!" in his own home and Riker in the Captain's chair of that ugly starship he was commanding.
I love you, Will Riker.
In 1987, TNG viewers quickly discovered that Captian Picard was a very different character from their much loved Captain Kirk. When creating Star Trek: The Next Generation, Gene Roddenberry decided that Picard wouldn't lead away teams and that his younger, more Kirk-like First Officer William Riker would instead. It was an idea Roddenberry took from his unproduced Star Trek Phase II televison series and Riker certainly has shades of that show's conception of First Officer Willard Decker. Season 1 Riker is fine, but when you rewatch he doesn't feel quite right. Other than turning down the powers of the Q there aren't really that many memorable season 1 Riker moments. There's something missing...
THAT'S the Riker we all know and love. The beard came along in season two and Riker felt like a new man, a twinkle in his eye to go with the hair on his face. Riker is a bit like Kirk, sure, but he's more than that. He's the modern Kirk for the late eighties who'll kiss a genderless alien and check out Worf in a dress.
Riker is also the absolute best Trek character for getting angry or freaking out when he notices something wrong with the nature of reality. For me there's nothing more Star Trek than a character saying "FUCK YOU THIS ISN'T MY UNIVERSE."
And of course nobody sits on a chair like him.
He's just basically the fucking man.
I had issues with the returning character of Jean-Luc Picard and Seven of Nine in Star Trek: Picard, issues that couldn't just be explained away with "well it's been twenty five years, of course they're different!" I was concerned they'd get Riker wrong too, but he felt 100% Riker, all the more impressive when you consider that Jonathan Frakes hadn't acted for years when he returned for Picard. You could be cynical and put it down to Frakes lacking range or whatever, but two of the brightest spots of Picard for me, two moments that made it feel like an actual Star Trek, were Riker ordering "shields up!" in his own home and Riker in the Captain's chair of that ugly starship he was commanding.
I love you, Will Riker.
