How Riker is treated has always confused me. I can't really be sure of how much we know about him and how much is conjecture.
Here's what we think we know; the first time we meet Riker, he's 29 years old and has had an exemplary career. Part of that included being the leader of a security detail on Betazed, serving on the USS Potemkin and being first officer to Captain DeSoto on the USS Hood. After his tour on the Hood, he was offered command of the USS Drake, which he turned down for the opportunity to serve on the Federation's flagship.
We know that just over a year later, he was again offered a command, this time the USS Ares, which he also turned down. Just over another year, and he was offered command of the USS Melbourne, which he again turned down. That's three captaincies offered to him before age 35. The point is repeatedly driven home that Riker is beyond ready for the captain's chair and that Starfleet has expectations of a man in his position.
It's not that he's so exemplary that offers are coming his way that would not be coming to someone else his age and with his record. He was roughly of an age with Paul Rice, who was the second choice to captain the Drake, and took it. He was also the same age as Donald Varley, who commanded the USS Lantree. Clearly men Riker's age, with the same record and career trajectory, were considered the right age to command their own ships.
The right age being...late 20's, apparently. What?
Now, we don't really know how old Riker was. We just think we do, because in "The Icarus Factor", Riker states that his father walked out on him at age 15 and that this episode takes place 15 years later. So, Riker's 30, according to that script.
Here's the problem: 30 is an absurdly young age for Riker to be at a point where Starfleet has become concerned that he seems unwilling to advance to the captain's chair. At age 30 he should, at best, be just at a point where he's ready to be a first officer, unless he's an exceptional officer who moved through the ranks at breakneck speed, proving himself overqualified at every position along the way, and we know that while he's exemplary, he's not that exceptional. Not only do we know of two captains his age, we also observe that not once does Picard or anyone else act as if Riker is uncommonly young to be so far in his career.
Now, I know that Picard apparently was promoted to captain while still in his mid-twenties, but the situation there was indeed exceptional, as he showed uncommon ability to command in a high-pressure situation after all the officers senior to him were killed. Kirk was probably around 31-33 when he gained his first command, depending on when the mission began vs. when the show began (he's stated to be 34 in "The Deadly Years"), but the general feeling of Kirk was that he was uncommonly young. Spock was apparently older than he, and yet still only a commander (or maybe lieutenant commander) at the start of the mission, and all the captains Kirk met in the series were visibly his senior by at least a decade, often more.
It often seems to me that the writers were writing Riker's character as though he were the same age Jonathan Frakes himself was. I almost wonder if they really understood that the dialogue in "The Icarus Factor" made him 30. One wonders if it wasn't just a mistake that while writing, they forgot that Riker was abandoned at age 15, not that he was abandoned 15 years ago. After all, he's never treated as if he's merely 30, and in a time when living past 100 and still being hale and hearty is not uncommon, 30 is practically a child.
Frakes was 35 during TNG's first season, and thus, in "The Best of Both Worlds" he would have been 38. If Riker was, at that point, also 38, a lot more would make sense, both in terms of how many years he'd been an active officer and the idea that he'd been offered three commands and it was becoming a concern that he kept turning them down. At age 38, an upwardly mobile command officer would have every reason to wonder "what am I still doing here?" and be upbraided by a younger officer for standing in her way.
At age 31 or 32? Not so much. We saw umpteen other officers that age and older who were still lieutenants, lieutenant commanders, et al, even while on the command track. Worf was well into his 30's by the time he got to DS9, even if one accepts that he was apparently a mere 24 during the first season of TNG. Hell, Sisko had to be over 40 when he was assigned to DS9, which would have made him 37 and a lieutenant commander during his time on the Saratoga. Jadzia Dax was 34 when she died, and had command experience during a war. There's no frickin' way she wouldn't at least be someone's first officer already, and it's clear that no one thinks it's odd that at her age she didn't already have her own command.
Here's what we think we know; the first time we meet Riker, he's 29 years old and has had an exemplary career. Part of that included being the leader of a security detail on Betazed, serving on the USS Potemkin and being first officer to Captain DeSoto on the USS Hood. After his tour on the Hood, he was offered command of the USS Drake, which he turned down for the opportunity to serve on the Federation's flagship.
We know that just over a year later, he was again offered a command, this time the USS Ares, which he also turned down. Just over another year, and he was offered command of the USS Melbourne, which he again turned down. That's three captaincies offered to him before age 35. The point is repeatedly driven home that Riker is beyond ready for the captain's chair and that Starfleet has expectations of a man in his position.
It's not that he's so exemplary that offers are coming his way that would not be coming to someone else his age and with his record. He was roughly of an age with Paul Rice, who was the second choice to captain the Drake, and took it. He was also the same age as Donald Varley, who commanded the USS Lantree. Clearly men Riker's age, with the same record and career trajectory, were considered the right age to command their own ships.
The right age being...late 20's, apparently. What?
Now, we don't really know how old Riker was. We just think we do, because in "The Icarus Factor", Riker states that his father walked out on him at age 15 and that this episode takes place 15 years later. So, Riker's 30, according to that script.
Here's the problem: 30 is an absurdly young age for Riker to be at a point where Starfleet has become concerned that he seems unwilling to advance to the captain's chair. At age 30 he should, at best, be just at a point where he's ready to be a first officer, unless he's an exceptional officer who moved through the ranks at breakneck speed, proving himself overqualified at every position along the way, and we know that while he's exemplary, he's not that exceptional. Not only do we know of two captains his age, we also observe that not once does Picard or anyone else act as if Riker is uncommonly young to be so far in his career.
Now, I know that Picard apparently was promoted to captain while still in his mid-twenties, but the situation there was indeed exceptional, as he showed uncommon ability to command in a high-pressure situation after all the officers senior to him were killed. Kirk was probably around 31-33 when he gained his first command, depending on when the mission began vs. when the show began (he's stated to be 34 in "The Deadly Years"), but the general feeling of Kirk was that he was uncommonly young. Spock was apparently older than he, and yet still only a commander (or maybe lieutenant commander) at the start of the mission, and all the captains Kirk met in the series were visibly his senior by at least a decade, often more.
It often seems to me that the writers were writing Riker's character as though he were the same age Jonathan Frakes himself was. I almost wonder if they really understood that the dialogue in "The Icarus Factor" made him 30. One wonders if it wasn't just a mistake that while writing, they forgot that Riker was abandoned at age 15, not that he was abandoned 15 years ago. After all, he's never treated as if he's merely 30, and in a time when living past 100 and still being hale and hearty is not uncommon, 30 is practically a child.
Frakes was 35 during TNG's first season, and thus, in "The Best of Both Worlds" he would have been 38. If Riker was, at that point, also 38, a lot more would make sense, both in terms of how many years he'd been an active officer and the idea that he'd been offered three commands and it was becoming a concern that he kept turning them down. At age 38, an upwardly mobile command officer would have every reason to wonder "what am I still doing here?" and be upbraided by a younger officer for standing in her way.
At age 31 or 32? Not so much. We saw umpteen other officers that age and older who were still lieutenants, lieutenant commanders, et al, even while on the command track. Worf was well into his 30's by the time he got to DS9, even if one accepts that he was apparently a mere 24 during the first season of TNG. Hell, Sisko had to be over 40 when he was assigned to DS9, which would have made him 37 and a lieutenant commander during his time on the Saratoga. Jadzia Dax was 34 when she died, and had command experience during a war. There's no frickin' way she wouldn't at least be someone's first officer already, and it's clear that no one thinks it's odd that at her age she didn't already have her own command.
