Uh-oh, that crazy stalker Betazed woman found me again ...

[Nebusj]

(My apologies if this belongs in a proper shipper thread, but I don't see one that fits among currently active threads.)

On watching ``Encounter at Farpoint'' to check on a trivia point I noticed something odd about the grand introduction between Troi and Riker: Troi does all the `talking' about their past together. Troi goes on about how did he still remember how to read her thoughts too, and calling him imzadi, and how she could never say goodbye ... all through this, though, Riker just looks on with a sense of nervous surprise, like, ``I thought I got away from her'', and there doesn't seem to be any particular warmth or remembered-warmth from Riker back to Troi.

Similarly, in ``The Naked Now'', Troi comes stumbling drunk to Riker, begging him to have her in his mind; he's about as interested in this offer as he would be if Worf made it.

Now I'm curious ... when is it actually established that Riker and Troi did have a meaningful two-way relationship, and not just Deanna Troi chasing, Lwuxana-like, against this guy who attracted her interest regardless of what his interests might actually be?

 

[The Old Mixer]

I'd say it's made evident that it was two-way at least as early as "Haven" (which is only episode 5 in production order). After a point, the characters seemed very comfortable with one another, sharing a lot of little bits of business, from discussing their past openly (like the funny scene in Picard's ready room in "Manhunt") and virtually dating in "Menage a Troi", to the odd meaningful glances that the actors would improvise.

I think Riker comes off as less interested in those two early incidents from a combination of him being uncomfortable having to face again after he left her for his career, and just him generally trying to be the stoic first officer, immersed in his duties. (His portrayal of Riker in the first season was informed by Gene Roddenberry having told him that Riker never smiles. By the beginning of second season, Roddenberry took it back and told him to loosen up.)

 

[Kegek]

^
Interesting, because when I think of Riker I normally think of Frakes' typically wide grins.

Anyway, I think the imbalance of the relationship boils down to this: Riker wanted to call it off. She didn't.

 

[Scatta]

Re: Uh-oh, that crazy, stalker Betazoid woman found me again

I just took his reaction to be, "Oh my stars! I have to work with my ex-girlfriend every day! This is awkward." I mean, how would the stereotypical guy feel if his boss introduced the newest addition to the office and she was the woman he used to be intimate with, who he just suddenly up-and-left for his career. I'm sure there were all kinds of, "Hell hath no fury..." warnings running through his mind.

 

[Nebusj]

Re: Uh-oh, that crazy, stalker Betazoid woman found me again

Oh, I know the intent -- I was reading Starlog through the summer of 1987 too, after all -- but it can be fun to come up with ``subversions'' of the show's intent and try to keep them as consistent as possible with what's actually seen (for example, over on Enterprise they clearly intend for Daniels to not be a menace and a villain, but it works better if you don't go along with them). So it was a surprise to see you could fairly well recast the relationship as a fanatic Troi pursuing and, ultimately, wearing down an uninterested Riker.