The Anti-Riker Collective
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I think it's because Riker can be a bit of a dick.
He has his nose in the air with subordinates (Lower Decks is a good example). He beds women regularly. He is all talk when it comes to his career ambitions. He can be abrupt and abrasive at times. He's insecure and over-compensates by taking himself too seriously. He was an insubordinate ass to Jellico during a crisis situation. He took the wrong side in the Admiral Pressman incident aboard the Pegasus.
And for all this, he's my favorite TNG character, because he's a real, relatable, flawed officer who also kicks ass at his job. Just like a real person would be.
He has his nose in the air with subordinates (Lower Decks is a good example). He beds women regularly. He is all talk when it comes to his career ambitions. He can be abrupt and abrasive at times. He's insecure and over-compensates by taking himself too seriously. He was an insubordinate ass to Jellico during a crisis situation. He took the wrong side in the Admiral Pressman incident aboard the Pegasus.
And for all this, he's my favorite TNG character, because he's a real, relatable, flawed officer who also kicks ass at his job. Just like a real person would be.
In the first season he was kinda...jumping around like some sort of monkey the whole time and that's kinda annoying.
He gets better starting in the second season.
And then after Best of Both Worlds when he really should have assumed his own command, it became clear that he just wanted to be an eternal First Officer so that he can stay home on the Enterprise with his adoptive Papa.
So that kinda killed all character progression for him, which to me, made him rather uninteresting.
Other than that he wasn't better or worse than most other TNG characters, I just tend to find others more interesting.
That's not saying that Riker couldn't have his moments. He frequently got pretty funny lines, for example, like when he mocks Picard with that little Picard doll some child made for Captain Day or whatever it was called.
He gets better starting in the second season.
And then after Best of Both Worlds when he really should have assumed his own command, it became clear that he just wanted to be an eternal First Officer so that he can stay home on the Enterprise with his adoptive Papa.
So that kinda killed all character progression for him, which to me, made him rather uninteresting.
Other than that he wasn't better or worse than most other TNG characters, I just tend to find others more interesting.
That's not saying that Riker couldn't have his moments. He frequently got pretty funny lines, for example, like when he mocks Picard with that little Picard doll some child made for Captain Day or whatever it was called.
I love Riker. He is one of my favourites, not the favourite. It’s a good point about his flaws making him a believable rounded character.
About the only thing you forgot was the him on the fence about his Imzadi BS, which was an unflattering position at best, & downright wrongful at it's worst. It's bad enough that the guy has passed over Deanna in any number of ways, but then when it looked like Tom Riker might have a shot to rekindle that love, what's he do? He torpedoes that shit.
As we all now know, after all the years of beating around the bush, Riker does FINALLY end up with Deanna, & they live tropely ever after, BUT frankly, when Tom 1st comes back, & wants to rekindle, he's shot down because of Will's claim that he too would break her heart. Tom can't reconnect with Deanna because of the implication of Will's transgression against her, even though Will manages to move past it with her & rekindle later on himself.
In retrospect, it all comes off as very self-serving. Every time I see them now, I'm reminded that Tom should probably have been the Riker she better deserved, because he didn't do any of the shit to her that Will did, which took them years to get past & finally reunite
I understand your point, but isn't part of the issue that Tom hasn't 'grown up' yet, and proves this by (once again) jumping ship at the first opportunity?
He hasn't undergone the character growth that Will has. He hasn't (such as it was) reconciled with his father, and he's still that hungry, ambitious Shelby-esque career officer he was at the start.
Time heals wounds, and reconciling is a two-way street. Deanna probably got caught up in the 'young romance' that Tom brought on board, in a kind of nostalgic way, but recognised and appreciated Will's commitment to being better than the man who had left her on Betazed all those years ago. And as I say, Tom does ultimately prove himself to be that younger, immature Riker. He doesn't waste any time moving on at the end of the episode.
And he was responsable for the destruction of the beautiful Enterprise D.
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It’s worth noting that I asked this question because I think Riker is awesome and I didn’t understand why others were so critical.
It’s worth noting that I asked this question because I think Riker is awesome and I didn’t understand why others were so critical.
I can't stand his constant womanizing but otherwise he's fine with me - as a general rule I feel mostly indifferent towards him. 
I like Riker, but his record in charge of the Enterprise is a mixed bag at best. Sure, he does fine when Picard is captured by the Borg (albeit with some of coaching from Guinan). But when in command he also:
If I was Starfleet, I'm not sure I want to pull out the captain's chair for this guy, despite any of his other heroics.
- Nearly loses his Chief Engineer to the Pakleds
- Gets himself captured by space pirates
- Gets the ship boarded and captured by a handful of Ferengi
- Crashes the Enterprise after losing a battle to an old, dilapidated Klingon Warbird
If I was Starfleet, I'm not sure I want to pull out the captain's chair for this guy, despite any of his other heroics.
I'd argue that in some ways, Tom has undergone growth that Will never will even understand. He's had time to reflect on what matters to him, & has an appreciation for Deanna that younger Will never wrestled with similarly
He's undergone completely different character growth. It's not sensible to assume that Tom is just a stunted or paused Will. He's not Will 1.0. Those 8 years happened for both of them. Tom is a living embodiment of a different timeline. Neither of the Rikers are the same man who left Deanna, & if Will could grow, to be a better man than he'd been, then So could Tom.
That's not how I see it. I see it as Tom gets shut out by Deanna, & turns immediately to the only other thing he valued in his life.... and how well did that work out for him?
In truth, Will drove Tom out, by being pretty unsympathetic & conflictual, & that drove a wedge between Tom & Deanna, because Tom felt he had no ability to stay there as long as Will was there, which is what he told her & why he pursued other avenues for his future. Deanna interpreted that as Tom being like young Will had been, prioritizing his career over her, (Prompted largely by Will's warnings no doubt) but that might not have happened if Tom had felt comfortable & welcome on the Enterprise (a thing Picard actually instructed them to do, & they didn't)
The fact that both Will & Deanna treat Tom as if he's a previous version of Will, is about the worst disregard they could've shown him, because it doesn't account for any of his individual life experience & wisdom, & that disregard sends Tom spiraling down a path of ruin, quite frankly, always trying to prove he's not just some lesser version of the real Riker
Personally, I think I'd have liked Tom better as a person than Will. The one thing that dude needed was some hard won humility
(BTW, over the years, I've really come to appreciate Frake's performance in that episode. All of those nuances are in there)
Oh definitely, Frakes acted his arse off making the two of them the same, but distinct. I always got the impression one of his bigger regrets was that DS9 didn't bring Tom back one more time -- he often used to talk about it -- I suspect he quite enjoyed the challenge.
I think Tom offered more potential for interesting story telling & acting variety than Will did. I too would've preferred Tom to Will as a performer.Oh definitely, Frakes acted his arse off making the two of them the same, but distinct. I always got the impression one of his bigger regrets was that DS9 didn't bring Tom back one more time -- he often used to talk about it -- I suspect he quite enjoyed the challenge.
I always felt Tom got short changed in story development too. One of my biggest unanswered questions is how did the Pressman/Pegasus scandal affect him? He was also serving at the time, aboard the Gandhi, & just like Will, up to that point, was harboring the mutiny secret.
If Pressman faced charges, & Will was questioned at an inquiry over them, there'd be no way they wouldn't also subpoena Tom as well, which would've been a huge unexpected disgrace for him, aboard his own ship, that he'd only maybe been on for a year. So all that subsequently "earned respect" that Picard talks to Will about, isn't as much in Tom's corner, & that may have been a catalyst for why he became disillusioned with Starfleet. Basically, Tom could've suffered much more ignominy than Will, when this all came out.
And because Will was the one to come forward, & apparently got some leniency or forgiveness because of it, Tom ultimately looks like the guy who DIDN'T come forward, & much like Will spent years before another captaincy came up for him, Tom might have never advanced beyond lieutenant. Tom becoming a turncoat might have all begun with Will's choices on how he treated him, how he handled him courting Deanna, & then again in how he came forward about Pressman, not to mentioned commandeering his identity in the 1st place.
Good lord, Will wrecked that poor bastard's life time & time again lol
I don't hate Riker. I just wish he was who he was supposed to be. Half of TNG makes no sense because they abandoned the 20 year mission premise right away. Once you toss that out you lose the need for families on the ship and you lose the reason why Riker doesn't accept a command. If these people were on a real trek into deep space Riker wouldn't have the opportunity to have his own ship. He'd have chosen this executive position for life and we'd have to watch him deal with that, as he does in the first season by sneaking away what responsibilities he can from Picard. As the show became a more known-space affair, Riker sticking to the Enterprise becomes unbelievable and all his ambition washes away. The guy becomes useless and bland, a lot like everyone else.
I'm pretty sure the show runners once said that if they had come up with the idea for Thomas Riker sooner than the second-to-last season, they would have replaced Will with him on the show.
Which, imho, would have been an all-around improvement. Simply because Riker's ark should have been done after BoBW, while Thomas would have had room to grow on the Enterprise.
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