Numbah One?

[EnriqueH]

So am I to assume that there's no definitive proof that Stewart was renegotiating his contract after Season 3? Stewart thought he'd be fired? Where can I read about this?!?!?!

Anyway, I would NOT have wanted Shelby. She ended up ok, but to have her be the new XO permanently would've been "Kate Pulaski Part II". I just don't see that character meshing with the others.

 

[velour]

It was a narrative mistake to not to make any cast changes post The Best of Both Worlds, Riker's character arch as "Number One" had come to its natural conclusion and he was ready to move on. Keeping him on the show/keeping him on the show without moving him up to Captain just meant keeping a character around with whom everything had been done, pointlessly standing around on the bridge.

I'm at odds with myself to say what would have been better, letting Riker (by becoming captain of another starship) go or Picard (by either dying or retiring to Earth). Probably keepng Picard would have upset less of the audience, but making Riker the captain would have been the bolder move.

I personally would have loved Shelby as First Officer, better than just internally promoting Worf or Data. The question is how well would she have meshed with the others? That's an important question when including a new character into an ensemble cast. Her an Riker (if e had ended up staying) would have had an interesting dynamic. But how would she have meshed with Beverly or Troi?

The scene that sticks in my mind whenever I have to think about Riker is that last scene in Generations.

RIKER: I always thought I'd get a shot at this chair one day.
PICARD: You may still, Will. ...Somehow I doubt this will be the last ship to carry the name Enterprise. ... Picard to Farragut. Two to beam up.

I can't help but shake my head when I think about it. How pathetic. It had been 7 long seasons and a movie to boot, and you're still a number 1. A number 1 loser would be more apt.

The writers did the Riker character a disservice by having him consistently, throughout the series, yearning for his own command, yet he never had the gumption to accept one and move on up. This made Riker seem weak and pathetic.

Shelby was right on when she called Riker out. He should either step up or step aside. That scene diminished Riker's image even more imo.

I didn't understand why the writers had the character mocked and then really didn't do anything to right the character. BoBW was the perfect opportunity for the writers to make changes. But we just got more of the same.

 

[Lance]

The scene that sticks in my mind whenever I have to think about Riker is that last scene in Generations.

RIKER: I always thought I'd get a shot at this chair one day.
PICARD: You may still, Will. ...Somehow I doubt this will be the last ship to carry the name Enterprise. ... Picard to Farragut. Two to beam up.

I can't help but shake my head when I think about it. How pathetic. It had been 7 long seasons and a movie to boot, and you're still a number 1. A number 1 loser would be more apt.

The writers did the Riker character a disservice by having him consistently, throughout the series, yearning for his own command, yet he never had the gumption to accept one and move on up. This made Riker seem weak and pathetic.

Shelby was right on when she called Riker out. He should either step up or step aside. That scene diminished Riker's image even more imo.

I didn't understand why the writers had the character mocked and then really didn't do anything to right the character. BoBW was the perfect opportunity for the writers to make changes. But we just got more of the same.

The problem is that it makes Riker look infantile because of his almost myopic obsession with the Enterprise. It's easy to reconcile Riker's lack of career development as being his priorities in life changing (I think there were multiple episodes that addressed this very idea, that he simply wasn't the dynamic go-getter that he had been at the beginning anymore), but the way it's presented to us makes it seem like he only chooses not to move on because he thinks if he hangs around long enough for Picard to retire, then he'll get the Enterprise. The scene in Generations only underlines this, and comes after a sequence in which Riker, while in command, managed to get his ass handed to him by a geriatric century-old Bird of Prey. Who wants this guy as Captain after that?!

 

[borgboy]

I agree with all this. It does make Riker look weak and indecisive that he wants his own command yet won't accept a command away from the Enterprise. I think in part the issue may stem from his attachment to Picard as a father figure.
Also, it irks me that his ambition was given as a reason why he didn't want to have a serious relationship with Troi. So he gives up true love for ambition, and then doesn't follow thru with that either? It does make Riker look bad.
The problem is that Riker was created to be so ambitious and supposedly suited for command, so you get some weird character traits and history when his growth is held back. Compare this to Spock, who didn't want command, Kira, who was exactly where she wanted to be, Chakotay who has no advancement possiblel given the Voyager's unique situation (As well as his own history with Starfleet and a Maquis)...Riker suffers from his character and role not being well thought out for the long term.

 

[Lance]

I think in part the issue may stem from his attachment to Picard as a father figure.

This is very plausible. We know Riker had daddy issues, and he (subconsciously?) latches onto Picard as a strong male parent figure. As they grow professionally and personally, he re-evaluates his life, reluctant to leave behind the "family" he has settled into (and something he never really had before).

Consider also his role in the Pegasus affair (protecting his Captain without question) and his decisions aboard the Hood (not to let Captain DeSoto put himself in harm's way), and a pattern emerges of Riker looking for father substitutes in his life, utterly devoted to his Captain's to the point of it being something pathological.

On the occasions when Picard acts brusque with him -- for example in the ready room scene in Generations -- Riker's reaction is ALWAYS like a child who has been scolded by his parents.

 

[borgboy]

And by extension the rest of the command crew were Riker's extended family. Riker was clearly reluctant to leave Troi as well. Riker really played her well, having the intimacy and sometimes sex (at least in the novels and comics) with Troi without committing to her. Eventually they did marry, but it always seemed to me that Troi wanted to have a more serious relationship if Riker would've.

 

[InklingStar]

I think in part the issue may stem from his attachment to Picard as a father figure.

This is very plausible. We know Riker had daddy issues, and he (subconsciously?) latches onto Picard as a strong male parent figure. As they grow professionally and personally, he re-evaluates his life, reluctant to leave behind the "family" he has settled into (and something he never really had before).

Consider also his role in the Pegasus affair (protecting his Captain without question) and his decisions aboard the Hood (not to let Captain DeSoto put himself in harm's way), and a pattern emerges of Riker looking for father substitutes in his life, utterly devoted to his Captain's to the point of it being something pathological.

On the occasions when Picard acts brusque with him -- for example in the ready room scene in Generations -- Riker's reaction is ALWAYS like a child who has been scolded by his parents.

That really explains his actions in Chain of Command. "You're not my real dad!"

 

[Iamnotspock]

...the way it's presented to us makes it seem like he only chooses not to move on because he thinks if he hangs around long enough for Picard to retire, then he'll get the Enterprise. The scene in Generations only underlines this, and comes after a sequence in which Riker, while in command, managed to get his ass handed to him by a geriatric century-old Bird of Prey. Who wants this guy as Captain after that?!

Riker: "I always thought I'd get a shot at this chair one day."

Picard: "Oh, really? Well, maybe you should have tried, ooh, I don't know, ejecting the warp core or rotating the shield frequencies rather than getting the damn thing destroyed. Just sayin', Number One..."

 

[Wingsley]

That's the problem with too many TV shows, especially American (Hollywood) ones. The cast and stories of a given show in "season six" look too much like "season one". Granted, Patrick Stewart was a catch, and they weren't about to give him up. So replacing Stewart with Frakes wasn't going to happen. But the downside is that you're stuck with the same cast for six of seven years. (The only major changes were Beverly Crusher/Kate Pulaski and Wesley Crusher departing.) It's too bad they didn't allow a story arc in which one or more of the crew is promoted off the ship and meanwhile grooming a successor. That would've been more realistic.

 

[Marsden]

^ or just not started the whole "Riker is in line for the captaincy anytime now" thing. He very easily could have been a newly promoted full commander that needed many years put in at xo. That's not how he was presented.

 

[Squiggy]

He very easily could have been a newly promoted full commander that needed many years put in at xo. That's not how he was presented.

I think that's what was alluded to, since he graduated only 7 years before EaF and was supposed to be only 29 (born 2335, graduated 2357). That's not going to be the age of someone who's been an XO of another ship for any worthwhile amount of time.

Again, not really realistic to have the command staff of the flagship to be comprised of a bunch of newbs...but that's television. Picard seemed to be the only member of the crew to have any applicable experience in their position.

 

[doubleohfive]

I think in part the issue may stem from his attachment to Picard as a father figure.

This is very plausible. We know Riker had daddy issues, and he (subconsciously?) latches onto Picard as a strong male parent figure. As they grow professionally and personally, he re-evaluates his life, reluctant to leave behind the "family" he has settled into (and something he never really had before).

Consider also his role in the Pegasus affair (protecting his Captain without question) and his decisions aboard the Hood (not to let Captain DeSoto put himself in harm's way), and a pattern emerges of Riker looking for father substitutes in his life, utterly devoted to his Captain's to the point of it being something pathological.

On the occasions when Picard acts brusque with him -- for example in the ready room scene in Generations -- Riker's reaction is ALWAYS like a child who has been scolded by his parents.

That really explains his actions in Chain of Command. "You're not my real dad!"

I like this interpretation. It certainly takes into account Riker's behavior in "Gambit, Part I." It also makes for a fun reversal of "Chain of Command" ("You're not my real dad!") in "Rascals:"

Picard: Thanks Number One. ...He's my Number One dad!"

 

[Makarov]

Riker is bad ass in All Good Things as the grey haired captain. I like how he looks completely pissed off all the time. Would have liked to see a whole season of that - it would be like watching a full season of captain Jellico in command.

 

[tafkats]

DATA was second officer, and should have become first, and if he wasn't ready for that then he also had no business being second officer, either, since if both captain and first were incapacitated he would have to be ready to take command.

That logic doesn't track. How do people prepare for positions of responsibility? By spending time in positions of slightly less responsibility, getting used to it. If no one were allowed to become second officer of a starship without being ready for a full-time captaincy, there would no way for anyone to get to that point.

If Riker had become captain, moving Shelby into the first officer position would have led to a lot of interesting possibilities; the actors had good chemistry, and seeing them come to respect each other's abilities would have been a good character arc. In the situation we're discussing, with Picard staying and Riker leaving, it's harder to say; we never really got that many chances to see Picard and Shelby interact. However, if Frakes were removed and the cast didn't get any fresh blood, the show could have quickly gotten pretty boring.

 

[doubleohfive]

Too, it's pretty much always been established in Trek lore that selecting a first officer has been the captain's prerogative. Look how pissed Sisko got when Bajor reassigned Kira in favor of Li Nalas. Janeway would very much likely have promoted Tuvok to XO had the Maquis not been around when they were all stranded in the Delta Quadrant.

Which brings up an interesting query... who was Decker's first officer before Kirk took back the center seat?

 

[borgboy]

That is an interesting question, I had never thought about who Decker's first officer would've been. I don't think there was anyone on screen who obviously seems to be the intended first officer.
I have no doubt that Janeway would've promoted Tuvok to her first officer if Chakotay and the Maquis hadn't been around. Anytime Janeway and Chakotay were both unavailable she always put Tuvok in charge.

 

[Lance]

I suppose one logical assumption might be that it would have been Sulu, as probably the ranking 'command level' bridge officer (and who had even assumed the center seat in TOS), but another reasonable alternative is that it's simply a position that hadn't been filled yet when the V'Ger crisis happened.

I doubt it would've been Sonak, as he seems to be spoken of as if he's solely filling in the science officer position, although obviously there's little to suggest one way or the other.

 

[Ithekro]

Thinking about this, the premise of Star Trek and Star Trek: The Next Generation, is the continuing voyages of the Starship Enterprise. It is the story of the ship and those that happen to be serving on her. So the crew could rotate a lot, just as long as the ship remains, the story continues.

Riker seems to have got into him mind that he wanted to be captain of the Enterprise. It is pretty much the prime starship assignment in the fleet. "Flagship of the Federation", one of the few Galaxy-class starships. A high profile assignment, and one huge seat to fill as captain. Once he saw that chair, he wanted it. No other starship would do. This is where things happen.

I'm not sure if he felt that way about the Enterprise-E's chair. At that point he might have a black mark on his record for the lose of Enterprise-D and need to earn the right to be captain of a starship again, plus having turned down so many offers prior to the Battle at Wolf 359, that Starfleet might just have passed him over like Admiral Hansen said they would if he turned down the USS Melbourne.

I suppose the Dominion War was too close to the loss of Enterprise-D for Riker to warrent his own combat command to fight the Dominion. Instead continuing on Enterprise as they do whatever during the war. Then finally accepting his own command of USS Titan some four years after the end of the war. Titan, which seems to be somewhat like the Miranda/Nebula version of the Sovereign-class starship.

 

[tafkats]

Re: Sonak, I think he would have been the highest-ranking officer after Decker at that point (Sulu being a lieutenant commander and Sonak being a full commander).

 

[Lance]

^ Good point. The script doesn't address it explicitly, simply refering to him as "science officer", but Sonak does have the stripes, so it's not unreasonable to assume he might have been in the running for XO under Decker:

KIRK: Commander Sonak, you received your appointment as Enterprise science officer?
SONAK: Based, I am told, on your recommendation, Admiral. Thank you.
KIRK: Why aren't you on board?
SONAK: Captain Decker requested I complete final science briefing here before we leave on our mission.