Riker's attitude
- Thread starter Lt. Tyler
- Start date
It might be expected that an Ensign would be obedient to the then Captain Pressman.
The idea of the writers was that Riker was a good XO, that'd he'd stand up to the Captain should circumstances demand it. In the pilot Picard tests that Riker over an incident where Riker blocked his then Captain deSoto from going to the planet. This incident is brought up in this episode as well.
The idea of the writers was that Riker was a good XO, that'd he'd stand up to the Captain should circumstances demand it. In the pilot Picard tests that Riker over an incident where Riker blocked his then Captain deSoto from going to the planet. This incident is brought up in this episode as well.
Excellent point. Riker was probably the most junior member of the Pegasus survivors, anyway. The rest of them must have intimidated him into silence. Pressman, especially; he'd say that Riker owed him for saving his life during the mutiny.
And an officer as young as Riker was, is going to unquestionably follow whatever his superiors tell him. You can't expect a young Ensign to simply spill his guts, because he's going to get crucified on the stand.
I've sometimes chalked this up as one reason why he hangs around on Enterprise as XO for so long. He gets 'comfortable', not necessarily just on the ship, but also because Picard is the nearest he's had to a stable paternal influence. They grow something of a bond, more than a professional one even. Witness Riker's reaction whenever Picard gets angry with him (eg. twice in ''Generations''): he simply lowers his head and looks somewhat cowled, as if daddy has just shouted at him....
Here's an interesting thought. I wonder if Tom Riker even feels the same about the Pegasus as Will, given that he turns to the Maqui. He might not be so firm on the opinion that the phasing cloak is a bad thing, as Will, nor would he likely care as much about the legality of it, or Federation policies in general. Seems now like Pressman could've found a better ally in Tom, than Will
I think the opposite actually. I think a little bit like Khan, a stranded Tom would have plenty of time to fester over the ugliness of the Pegasus business whereas William would've been busy enough climbing the ladder and going from job to job for it to slip into the back of his mind. Tom would become disillusioned with the Starfleet hierarchy that permitted the Pegasus cover up and then returning to the banality of being a Lt and the stricter regime that follows after his independent, solitary existence on the planet - it would've been enough to push him into being a Maquis.
It's a pity the Pegasus episode didn't precede the Second Chances one. It would've been nice to see the two Rikers throw venom at each over that.
Paradise City said:
My take has always been that Will's meteoric rise through the ranks got him to questioning after a while whether it was on merit or nepotism, and it could account for him putting the breaks on when he reached Enterprise. He was hiding the 'little secret' about the Pegasus all along, maybe because he had that nagging feeling that (in part) his career was jump-started by it. And with each new promotion, even though they might have been on merit, there was the festering guilt inside of him that he was moving up the ranks quicker than maybe he should have been, and that maybe that's because of something happening behind the scenes. Each new promotion probably only made him look at the Pegasus incident with a fresh perspective, and start to see all the holes in the deal.
Lt Riker, having not seen the after-planet-saving part of Will's career flourish for him, probably never went through that same introspection, and may have instead retained his naive loyalty to Pressman. Or just never gave it any thought at all.
Paradise City said:
Agree. It would've made an interesting discussion between the pair.
^ Right. Tom might be more likely to see thing Pressman's way than Will is, especially when you factor in that he ended up becoming Maqui. Clearly, Tom is more prone to questioning Starfleet rules/treaties than Will is, & that's precisely what Pressman was all about, sidestepping a treaty he believed was unsound (not that I agree is was)
Truthfully, I'd love a renegade type story that included all the rejects like Pressman, Ben Maxwell, Ro Lauren, Tom Riker, etc...a Starfleet Dirty Dozen
Truthfully, I'd love a renegade type story that included all the rejects like Pressman, Ben Maxwell, Ro Lauren, Tom Riker, etc...a Starfleet Dirty Dozen
No, still disagree. Pressman isn't all "about treaties". Pressman is a hawk, that wants a security-centric Federation. That's what Pressman is about. He's similar to Admiral Leyton.
It's far more likely that Tom stewed in resentment and guilt over the corruption that is present in Starfleet Command/Federation and saw confirmation in that when the Federation rode rough shod over the interests of the colonists and so he joined in the Maquis in sympathy and in a spirit of redemption over his Pegasus guilt.
In fact, guilt over the Pegasus scandal, brings something to Tom joining the Maquis that it otherwise lacked - namely a plausible motivation.
Yes, he was particularly harsh on Barclay.
Getting laid does not seem to help him much, does it?
Well, to be fair most people in Riker's position would be hard on the guy.
I actually think Geordie's attitude would be harder to work with than Riker's. Sometimes he's nice and other times he seems to flip out, at least with Riker you know what you're getting. They were both hard on Barclay but Geordie made it personal.
Riker gets too much blame for Chain of Command and not enough credit for Best of Both Worlds, imo.
Riker gets too much blame for Chain of Command and not enough credit for Best of Both Worlds, imo.
The situations were different and he acted appropriately for them, I still think he was the same old Riker; a great first officer. Second to Mister Spock IMHO.
LOL Poor Riker. I just remembered moments of stress he had suffered.
Such as in the episodes:
"A Matter Of Perspective"
"Shades Of Grey"
"Future Imperfect"
"The Host"
"Frame Of Mind"
would drive any body angry!
It does not help that he has an evil twin!
And even though he is very comfortable being the First Officer, when he was offered promotion he started to become tense. And also I think Riker had somewhat an attitude problem his entire life. He had many problems with Kyle Riker and that added to his bitterness.
Such as in the episodes:
"A Matter Of Perspective"
"Shades Of Grey"
"Future Imperfect"
"The Host"
"Frame Of Mind"
would drive any body angry!
It does not help that he has an evil twin!
And even though he is very comfortable being the First Officer, when he was offered promotion he started to become tense. And also I think Riker had somewhat an attitude problem his entire life. He had many problems with Kyle Riker and that added to his bitterness.
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