Riker was a great character, but I feel like the writers held him back after season two and especially after "The Best of Both Worlds." I've often wondered if that was done on purpose to avoid the first officer stealing the spotlight from Capt. Picard. Personally, I would like to have seen more character development in Riker and less stagnation, but overall he was a good character.
Riker: An underrated character?
- Thread starter TerragonSix
- Start date
This is a huge tangent, but they always referred to the Enterprise as the "Federation flagship" did they not? Does it make more sense to be a flagship of the Federation or Starfleet?
antiquityscion
Commander
Well, in that case it is pretty much synonymous, isn't it? Internally to the Federation, the Enterprise is Starfleet's flagship, but to an alien civilization, like the Romulans or Klingons, they would refer to the Enterprise as "Federation flagship."
Sounds like what happened to V from the comicbooks when the character made the transition to the silver screen in V for Vendetta.
eh? He was softened a bit yes, but still pretty much a terrorist even if one for a good cause.
I don't thing the Enterprise was "The Flagship" in the usual sense of a fleet command ship carrying a Admiral. More like she was a deliberate showpiece, kind of like when a business has a "Flagship Store."
A senior seasoned Captain was place in command of her, someone experienced in diplomacy, and knowledgeable in the Federation's philosophy. Many of the missions the Enterprise received didn't seem to be just because she was just the closest ship (although sometimes that was the case), but because Starfleet wanted Picard there with this big sexy ship. Which was a showpiece of what the Federation could do and build.
The Flagship of the Federation was a symbol.
Riker is a bit under rated, sure he was sidelined a bit in later seasons, but he still had moments to shine, like in Best of Both Worlds. He wasn't a waste of space, like say Harry Kim.
I think SOTF was a real turning point for Riker. By all in-universe logic and all dramatic logic, Riker should have been Worf’s Cha’DIch after Kurn. For two and a half seasons, TNG had developed Riker as someone fascinated by Klingon culture and becoming an expert on it, and had begun to develop a close personal bond between Riker and Worf. It should have been Riker getting caught up in dramatic internal events of the IKE, and Riker constantly by Worf’s side during Worf’s personal journey to hell and back through discommendation and redemption. It would have been a more personal and dramatically powerful arc.
I say that despite recognizing that Stewart was a much better actor than Frakes. Riker was the more appropriate character for the dramatic needs of the tale. However, it was juicy material, Stewart was the one with the clout, he wanted it and he got it.
Riker still got some good material when circumstances made it impossible to give that material to Picard, as in BOBW. Aside from that, it seems he got table scraps of material on which Stewart was willing to pass. The character didn’t become 100% useless, but he wasn’t developed nearly as effectively as he could have been.
Or like Chakotay, truly a useless character.
Kim, in my mind, fills the “enthusiastic youth” role that was filled in the five series by Chekov, Wesley, Nog, Kim, and Porthos. Kim is easily my least favorite of the five.
Riker is one of my favourite Trek characters, so yes, I would say he is totally underrated.
I too always thought Riker was the logical choice to be Worf's Cha'DIch and even remember wondering why he wasn't at time. Don't get me wrong, I love Patrick Stewart but I always thought Riker should have gotten more screen time.
And as much as I liked Enterprise I would much rather have seen "Star Trek: Titan". Such a wasted oppurtunity of using an actor who clearly loves Star Trek.
I too always thought Riker was the logical choice to be Worf's Cha'DIch and even remember wondering why he wasn't at time. Don't get me wrong, I love Patrick Stewart but I always thought Riker should have gotten more screen time.
And as much as I liked Enterprise I would much rather have seen "Star Trek: Titan". Such a wasted oppurtunity of using an actor who clearly loves Star Trek.
I find Riker difficult to really explain to a non-Trekkie. Yes, he comes across as less cerebral than Picard, but that's really just because he can crack a smile. They're both extremely intelligent men and highly competent at their jobs. I suppose Riker is made more distinct by his interest in women and his general gregariousness and friendliness. But his depiction does just generally seem a little bit unfocused. (Though I would be glad to be proven wrong.)
On another tangent, I'm not sure that Riker's position is necessarily one that is just a stepping stone to a captaincy. XO is clearly more managerial and administrative than CO. As XO, Riker really had to negotiate and straddle two worlds: above him, a world of captains and admirals, and below him, one of department heads, and lieutenants and ensigns and enlisted crewmembers. That requires a unique skill set, which Riker was clearly depicted as having, and that Picard was not. I think Riker genuinely enjoyed being on both Enterprises and genuinely enjoyed the work that he did.
On another tangent, I'm not sure that Riker's position is necessarily one that is just a stepping stone to a captaincy. XO is clearly more managerial and administrative than CO. As XO, Riker really had to negotiate and straddle two worlds: above him, a world of captains and admirals, and below him, one of department heads, and lieutenants and ensigns and enlisted crewmembers. That requires a unique skill set, which Riker was clearly depicted as having, and that Picard was not. I think Riker genuinely enjoyed being on both Enterprises and genuinely enjoyed the work that he did.
I think you’re absolutely correct.
There was an original concept that was pretty easy to explain to a non-Trekkie. Picard was the philosopher, the intellect, the diplomat, the voice of experience, the man who looks before he leaps and thoroughly thinks things through. Riker was the lover, the fighter, the man of action and danger, the feeler, the doer, often flying by the seat of his pants and putting himself at risk by leaping before he looks.
Somewhere along the line, the character concepts changed. They decided they wanted Picard’s character to encompass all those aspects. It made for a more complex Picard and gave an accomplished actor more to work with, but it had the unfortunate side effect of leaving the Riker character without a clear role.
Frakes was a bad actor who was unprofessional in not maintaining a slimmer figure and Riker was a boring character.
Please post pictures of your rock hard abs at age 50. Would be much appreciated.
I thought Frakes was 35 when he took the role, which would've made him 43 when the series ended. Frakes did add some serious pounds while playing Riker. If it had been an actress, they would've been shown the door.
Yes, this, exactly. See, when I was introducing TNG to my girlfriend, I made a slideshow with little blurbs on all the characters. Picard, Data, Worf, LaForge were all easy. Crusher was, too, although it basically amounted to, "She's a doctor, she really knows her stuff and she's really passionate." (Nothing non-stereotypical.) Troi was difficult to explain (mainly because of the empath-not-telepath stuff), but Riker was just like, what? I said basically what you said above, but then I had to say, "well, that's how he looks at first glance, anyway. Really, he's very smart and very thoughtful, and isn't an idiot."
I never thought about this before (I tend to look at TNG as a whole, not really noting in detail its progression as seasons went along), but it really is true. Gave us an awesome Picard, but yeah. Riker suffered.
I mean, Riker still held many of the characteristics that you described
but they just seemed... diluted.
I think what Riker came down to, by the end of the series, was a bon vivant who knew how to get serious when the situation demanded it.
You know, we could chalk this character shift up to (perhaps unintentional) character development of both Picard and Riker; Picard took a cue from his XO and became less stiff, while Riker noted Picard's style and developed a more serious command style.
You're probably correct about that second part, but even if so, two wrongs and all that...
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