The Sabotage of Tom Riker

[Lance]

I'm surprised they never did a 'The Fly' episode with the transporter. Or did they?

They did It was called "Tuvix", where Neelix and Tuvok got blended together, with fascinating results (and the impetus for much discussion and debate on the ethics on this very forum )

---https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuvix

 

[Mojochi]

To be fair to Troi I don't think she acting in the role of Counselor with Thomas Riker. I don't think he had any sessions at all which does seem like a oversight. You would think someone in his condition might need some help. Granted as a Starfleet officer you are kind of expected to push through personal issues and do your job and with access to planet going away in a few days you can see how they might be asking to much from him to get the mission done.

Jason

I agree she certainly isn't applying herself as counsel to him, whether he needs it or not, but she does offer herself in the briefing as an official evaluator of his state, as Beverly was initially hesitant to send him back down there, which means at least someone there was thinking that his mental well being was at least as important as the data retrieval mission, but because she intervenes, they move forward. She is still acting in an official capacity as the ship's counselor, & personally, I think she is too involved to be objective

Honestly, did we see anything that seemed like she was assessing his capability to handle being back in his prison, with the guy who'd stolen his life? Her whole exchange with him was dodging the fact that he still loves her, & she spent the whole time explaining why she'd moved on from Will, which was entirely beside the point of her ill-conceived visit, and then at the end...

Captain Picard wanted me to find out if you'd be willing to help us retrieve the station's database.

No. Captain Picard wanted you to determine if Beverly had a valid concern about sending him back down there, & when he said he'd be happy to help, all you did was ask him if he was up to it, & when he tugged his clothes, put on a sturdy posture, & said "Absolutely" you awkwardly excused yourself, giving the impression that this little meeting didn't really play out very well. Totally lack of objectivity imho

 

[Jayson1]

I basically hate every episode (and its premise) involving the transporter splitting people into two or other weird stuff like that. I'm surprised they never did a 'The Fly' episode with the transporter. Or did they?

The transporter, to me, is the most unlikely piece of tech in the entire Trekverse, up to and including the warp drive. It was conceived as a way to save production costs. The fact that it was turned into a plot device almost as fast is one my few overall pet peeves with Trek.

Rant over! (Yes, I feel better now! )

The did do "The Fly" only it was with warp drive instead. The "Voyager" ep, "Threshold" is very much "The Fly."

Jason

 

[Sareesataka]

As an aside, were there any books, novels or other sources (canon or non-canonical) which explain whatever happened to Thomas Riker after he got imprisoned by the Cardassians?

 

[flandry84]

Yeah,and predictably the results are uncoordinated and somewhat contradictory.A quick search on this board should bring you to the book discussions on the literature thread.

Interesting discussion about Will’s reaction to his new “twin”.It seems to me that Riker is somewhat embarrassed by his old self so much so that he neglects his brothers welfare.(So not as confident in himself as he would like to have others believe?)

Speaking as a twin myself....they are more trouble than they are worth

 

[Mojochi]

(So not as confident in himself as he would like to have others believe?)

I've always thought so... Ever since the would-be captain kept putting off taking a command

Some interesting points. I'd always felt that Will was a little cold to Tom Riker, considering how they were essentially identical twins. At least Will saves him in the end.

Ironically, as much as it was worth doing, having Tom end up owing Will for saving his life now too is probably even worse for his mental state. It's like he owns nothing of himself. Even the very body he still inhabits is only his because the other guy Willed it (No pun intended lol)

I liked Tom Riker, I'm glad he lived. He was the ambitious young Will Riker that we never got to see. He deserved a better fate than becoming a Maquis renegade and a DS9 ratings ploy.

Interestingly, when going back over this episode, I looked at an original script http://www.st-minutiae.com/resources/scripts/250.txt

The interesting difference in the premise is that the notations clearly call for Will to be more relaxed & understanding of Tom early on, & it isn't until Tom starts questioning the life choices that Will has made that things start getting tense. Will is a more seasoned guy now, & as others have pointed out, he's come to terms with his life choices in ways that his younger self might not understand... as Tom clearly doesn't, & in the original premise, it's that which is the root of their growing animosity, which is very understandable, & maybe would make us identify more with Will over Tom. Even the poker game would play more like Tom teasing Will about playing it safe, & getting a well deserved poker thrashing he never expected, but with Will drawing 1st blood, it plays like Tom is just scrapping to fit in & prove himself as being just as valid a man as Will, & Will stomps him down even further

With Frakes choosing to play Will much harsher with Tom from the get go, it changes the whole dynamic to make him seem repulsed by Tom, maybe just that he exists, like @Timo was saying about his resentment of a duplicate of himself, but also maybe just what he represents, a version of himself that he's parted ways with, which he still isn't confident with. His immediate animosity towards Tom comes off as cracks in his self esteem (Which ultimately gets developed even more in the next season's Pegasus episode)

I don't disagree with Frakes choosing to play it that way, but it really changes the dynamic, to reflect less flatteringly on Will, & in doing so, features Tom as more sympathetic, because not only has he had his life taken away & someone else is living it... even squandering some of it, in his view, that guy is also in a position to oppress him even more as a superior officer & greater influence in their world, & does so

When we start dissecting some of these Riker moments, it's pretty clear to me that Will seems to suffer self esteem issues that he might mask with machismo, & heroism, & much of that could come from the Pegasus shame. He is always trying to prove he is a hero, especially when he's younger, & more impetuous like on Nervala IV, & while the DS9 episode is not the best way to send Tom off, it does tend to fit with this character arc of him being desperate to be a hero. It makes me wonder not only about how Tom felt about Will marrying Deanna, but even more so how he felt about the Pegasus stuff coming to light

In my head canon, after the events of the episode with Pressman, Starfleet reopens the investigation into the Pegasus, some time in 2369 or 2370 & Tom, as an active Starfleet officer too, is brought in to testify. Both Riker's names are sullied some, as Picard said might happen, & because Will is living his comfy life among friends on the Enterprise, it doesn't really hurt him much. Things might not have gone so well for Tom on the Gandhi, which may have soured his Starfleet experience & attitudes, leading him down the drain. Hell, After Pegasus, Will is taken into custody just like Pressman. It's very possible the same thing happened to Tom on the Gandhi, & that might have seriously ruined his reputation among his crew

Without ever even thinking about how it might affect Tom, Will even makes the decision to out Tom for his involvement in the Pegasus mutiny. Tom can't even have control over his past. Will calls all the shots, & Tom suffers the worse consequences for it imho

 

[flandry84]

/\Hmm.I hadn’t even considered the Pegasus fallout and how it would affect Tom.
Perhaps Tom viewed his solitary confinement as punishment for his part in the scandal...and then balked at suffering any other blowback.That might exacerbate any problems he might have had on the Gandhi.
Ironically Tom might have been more “okay” about the whole Pegasus situation than Will.Again that would indicate that Will is a seriously insecure guy.

Even a throwaway episode can plumb some serious depth.I love Trek.

 

[Mojochi]

^Think about how everyone treated Ro Laren when she came aboard the Enterprise, because of her tragic past transgressions. If someone who'd only been serving with a crew a short while were to be exposed for having been involved in the deaths of an entire ship, while supporting a criminal officer, & then had kept that secret many years, in order to further his career, that might be very badly looked upon, by Tom's shipmates.

Especially since Tom wasn't the one to blow the whistle... Will was. Being the one to come forward kind of exonerates him, in some of this. He was just a dumb kid following his captain, but the real disgrace is that Will & Tom have been complicit their entire careers, in covering up the criminal truth that caused many deaths, & that in itself is criminal. However, Will is the one to come forward, & in doing so, redeems himself some. Tom never did. Granted, Will only came forward because he was boxed in, & more people's lives were in danger. Had Pressman never come back, he probably would've been content to go on hiding the truth. There's an issue of integrity that Will had the chance to set right. Tom is likely to be much less fortunate with how people look on him, because he never did try to set things right.

In fact, it's possible that if all this had come out about our Mr. Riker(s) without Will blowing the whistle, they both may have faced punishment for withholding the truth, like being kicked out of Starfleet. Since that didn't happen to either of them, then Tom has managed to benefit from Will coming forward, & I'd think because he must have admitted the truth when made to testify, but even if that saved his career, he was ultimately forced into telling the truth, whereas Will did so by his own... will lol

Anyway, Something like that might sour people's attitudes toward Tom on his own ship... at least enough that he began getting disillusioned with Starfleet, & began questioning their actions enough to become a Maqui sympathizer.

 

[Silvercrest]

Speaking as a twin myself....they are more trouble than they are worth

You have a twin? Or is it just another Doombot?

 

[Sareesataka]

@Mojochi:
Interesting analysis of the possible fallout for Tom after the Pegasus incident.

 

[Vger23]

Tom Riker was a jerk.

 

[Sareesataka]

Tom Riker was a jerk.

Maybe. But Will was the bigger jerk.

 

[Mojochi]

Any Riker is probably a jerk. Just imagine what a pain in the ass that grungy beard Riker from the Parallels Borg reality must be

 

[Vger23]

Maybe. But Will was the bigger jerk.

That's why he's hands-down my favorite TNG character. He's a believable, down to Earth, genuine, flawed human being. Love it.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Any Riker is probably a jerk

Including Kyle. He only appeared in one episode and we already could see he's a dick. No wonder Will turned out the way he did.

As for Tom: Can't say I blame him for being pissed off at his lot. Will literally stole his life, how's Tom supposed to feel?

 

[Discofan]

To think that after having spent eight years alone in a cave, Tom Riker is now likely to spend the rest of his life in a Cardassian prison. Talk about bad luck!

 

[Michael]

Some great discussion going on this thread! I really appreciate the varying perspectives so eloquently put by all the people here. Thank you!

“Second Chances” has always been one of my favorite episodes, not only because I love Will Riker as a character, but because it presents a really interesting and personal what-if scenario which really makes you think about how you would handle such a situation. On the surface one might think that you'd have an easy time getting along with a copy of yourself, but looking deeper into it I'm not so sure most people could really stand themselves.

I agree that Will's treatment of Tom in this episodes does come across as rather unfair and most of the time Will really seems just like a jerk. (It happens in a lot of episodes, if you think about it. “Hollow Pursuits” and “Chain of Command” are other examples that come to mind, where our heroes really don't seem all that sympathetic.) But I think it's rather realistic that Will looks at Tom and sees in him all the things and character traits he long abandoned.

Conversely, he might see in Tom all the things he lost as a person. I know Tom's the same age as Will, but he does come across as a quasi younger version of Will and deep down he might not appreciate being presented with the youthful aspects he's lost with advancing in the ranks, loosing Deanna etc.

Oh well, episodes like these remind me of how awesome an episode of Star Trek could be back then. It's just this mix of outlandish sci-fi scenario plus well-written character study that leaves you with the feeling that an episode like this is about something. Not to unnecessarily shit on Discovery here, but I do think this is something that's really missing in that newer version of Trek. The Short Trek episode “Calypso” was the first and only time where I felt like they came close to the quality of earlier Trek. But oh well …

 

[Discofan]

One thing that I appreciate about "Second Chances" is that they didn't take the (often taken) easy route of killing off the alternate Riker, as I expected they would when I first saw the episode. Although it could have been interesting to let the alternate Riker live and not the regular one and give a new start to the Character. It's one of the possibilities that I thought was likely. Instead, they opted for keeping Riker pretty much the same as usual while getting the new one transferred to another ship, IOW a hit of the reset button. A bit of a disappointment.

 

[Jedman67]

Does anyone else like this rejected idea? From Memory Alpha:

I really wish they had done that. I love that idea, it would have been so shocking and opened up such interesting story avenues.

Also from Memory Alpha:

Another tragic missed opportunity! Should have gone with that one.

If they'd killed off Will, Tom would have become Will 2.0 by the next episode. TNG doesn't hit the reset button as hard as voyager does, but its still very episodic. Over the course of 7 seasons, there were like three episodes which brought up Riker and Troi's past romance. It really only came to light when the episode called for some drama, and was completely lampshaded in Orville.

To break it down; Tom didn't even exist as a separate person until the Enterprise crew beamed down to the station. Until then, he was literally Will Riker 2.0.
Once returned to the Enterprise, he couldn't just assimilate back into Starfleet because of two glaring reminders of his past: a fantasy that Troi would be waiting for him (she left Will because he ghosted her) and his "other" self; the "duplicate" Riker that successfully beamed out.
I would imagine that Tom would petition the Federation Court to recognize that he is not in fact, William T. Riker, currently XO of the Enterprise, but rather "Thomas Riker" who happens to share the same memories and DNA of Cmdr Riker because of a transporter fluke. Likely he'd be considered a brother; but why should he have to bear Will's transgressions on his conscience.

As far as stealing Deanna, the only reason she and Riker ended up getting married was because the Bakku planet de-aged their libido.

 

[Discofan]

One injustice that is glaring to me is that up until he beamed back to his ship, Will and Tom were the same people, so the same deeds that got Will to be promoted and awarded should also get the same rewards to Tom. The fact that they didn't makes me think that Starfleet is a bureaucratic monstrosity where true merit is in fact rarely recognized.