Why Commander Riker is Just the Worst

[@Spacedock]

Apologies for the mirrored footage guys. Gotta do that for copyright reasons i'm afraid.

[@Thrawn1]

do not worry this is the mirror universe william T Riker he would make Arnold judas Rimmer barf

[@aciarduce]

I understand why you did it, but it still bothers me on an emotional level.

[@marcusmanchester7095]

It bothers me more that this is necessary in the reality we live in.

[@baskkev7459]

You should have done this with lore reloaded

[@abelzatyko1513]

Sorry for asking but what is the intro music? It is really good

[@NWAWskeptic]

When Will Riker met his own duplicate, even the alternate Riker hated Commander Riker

[@davesthinktank]

Riker even had to show himself up. "You've been in this station for years, but dont even know where this switch is?"

[@zyme5998]

"Thomas Riker"; I wonder if by the time of ST: Picard he's gotten out of that Cardassian prison camp yet...

[@conroypawgmail]

@@zyme5998 - Ask Colonel Kira. She promised to rescue him.

[@meowcula]

I thought that was awesome, by the way. Really made me think if past me met me now, would we get along? probably not!

[@NWAWskeptic]

@@meowcula lol me neither I'm afraid. Sooo different than I was so long ago.

[@Alorand]

Riker is smart enough to know that if he left the Enterprise he might lose the plot armor that comes with the territory and die somewhere off-screen.

[@Camelotsmoon]

He would've just been another red shirt if he had accepted it.

[@CtisGaming]

@@Camelotsmoon The 2nd him would've also died a few episodes later. XD So I'd say that armor served him well here.

[@josepetersen7112]

Icheb!!! LOL, if you leave the main story you might get your eyeballs plucked

[@ILikeMyPrivacytbt]

In the episode "best of both worlds II" that literally would have been the case. He was offered the command of a ship that was deployed at wolf 359 and it's wreckage was scene floating around destroyed, but since we was on the Enterprise he survived and defeated the Borg with one ship when the entire fleet he would have been apart of was wiped out.

[@zippy-zappa-zeppo-zorba-etc]

Plot armor! Lol

[@Immashift]

"The most stagnant person, in all of Starfleet". *Harry Kim would like to know your location.*

[@Bateluer]

Ensign Hoshi Sato too. Even in future episodes, she was still an ensign. Or empress, I suppose.

[@startrekker4596]

I would say not by his choice, remember when he said “I didn’t see a little box on my seat this morning...” when Tom Paris got re-promoted back to lieutenant?

[@oddish4352]

@@startrekker4596 That was arguably the stupidest thing on Voyager. Yes, "Threshold" was insanely stupid, but it was a one-time thing. Not promoting Harry Kim was five years (not counting the first two since it was appropriate for him to be an ensign then) of SUSTSINED stupidity.

[@Bird-Birdy-Love]

The excuse was they needed and Ensign for Voyager but that decision itself was stupid when Paris got re promoted to Lieutenant he guy wasn't even a full Starfleet officer he was just a temporary hired guide. Tuvok also got a promotion but Kim never did. I really Hope just as we saw Seven back on Picard and Janeway in the upcoming Star TreK Prodigy we might see Kim in a future episode of new trek in the captains seat at that. They owe him.

[@oddish4352]

@@Bird-Birdy-Love And that excuse was completely ridiculous. Star Trek TNG had no ensign in the main cast from Season 4 on. Deep Space 9 never had an ensign in the main cast period. Clearly, someone *does not* have to be the ensign.

[@gregorynofsker7554]

He always ducked whenever Picard ordered "Fire at Will"....

[@luciferangelica]

lol. i love that joke. did you hear it on tailspin too? if not, sorry. ik that all sounds like a dis, but it's totally not a dis

[@gregorynofsker7554]

@@luciferangelica Years ago I had a DVD with marionette puppets portraying the bridge crew of STtNG and after Picard ordered "Fire at Will!" Worf shot him with a phaser IIRC... lol.

[@luciferangelica]

@@gregorynofsker7554 that's awesome

[@theveryworstluck1894]

*golfclap*

[@CptJistuce]

@@luciferangelica I heard the joke on Ninja Turtles first.

[@earnestbrown6524]

But he has a Beard.

[@InnocuousRemark]

And have you seen how he gets into chairs??

[@HuggieBear39]

🧔🧔

[@pepsiatlas5452]

you beat me by one second

[@davidhewitt5937]

@@InnocuousRemark In fairness, the chair thing is supposedly because the actor has injuries that force him to do that. Not because the character is that way.

[@remo687]

Yuck! She never kissed him with a beard before (altho she actually had, many times before).

[@BionicleSaurus]

But... but the way he sits down is so special.

[@_faultee_]

The real Riker maneuver.

[@Mobscene_CDN]

@@_faultee_ Yeah, whole video dedicated to how much of an ass Riker is, doesn't mention this :( Apparently it had something to do with Frakes' back irl though.

[@darthXreven]

and the way he stands behind crewmen, putting one leg up on their seat or the console?? like a champ.....really watch one of those scenes where he's behind the helmsman or navigator and get a good laugh lolz

[@thoughtfortheday7811]

@@darthXreven the episode I remember best when he does the leg thing is with Data in a timeloop story and Data uses the number of pips on Riker's uniform as a clue on how to escape the loop.

[@mainstreetsaint36]

It's to do with a back injury here obtained when he moved furniture for a living.

[@arsenal_616]

I think Riker just wanted to command the Enterprise. And he was willing to wait as long as necessary for Picard to retire or die. But he got tired of waiting and eventually moved on to the Titan.

[@benjaminbierley2074]

I remember that being a stated reason at some point...stands out in my memory cause my mother who was former Navy pointed out how stupid it was. His passing up promotion really does get stupider the more you think about it.

[@josephlatourette8329]

I bet riker made everybody on the Titan call the ship the Enterprise when in his presents

[@toddnolastname4485]

Don't forget that the Enterprise by the time Riker left wasn't the Enterprise. It was a completely different ship, and not the flag ship of the fleet.

[@josephlatourette8329]

@@toddnolastname4485 what do you mean it wasn't the the Enterprise the Enterprise d was destroyed so they built the Enterprise E and it became the flagship of the federation

[@meowcula]

That's the best case ever as to why he was holding on to that position on that ship.

[@emeraldpilgrimfireuma]

Riker's role in the series was to sit next to Picard, lean to one side and say, "Red Alert, Shields Up."

[@oddish4352]

That and do some "will they, won't they" sexual tension with Troi.

[@iopohable]

more like "what are shields?"

[@oddish4352]

@@iopohable It's the blue button. Don't push the red one, that's the autodestruct.

[@ymishaus2266]

Don't forget his best line, the dramatic, dynamic "h'what?"

[@popkhorne5372]

And also bang anything that moves.

[@Topperfalkon]

I mean, I do like Riker, but this episode is totally correct. Then again, Starfleet is hardly a competent military organisation

[@jamoecw]

my thoughts exactly.

[@lukasvillar9328]

True, if it were not for section 31 the Federation would be extinct. That's why Sisko is my favorite, he was one of the only high ranking officers who understood that the morality of the federation was a dream that was impossible at that time. Picard was an exemplary Starfleet Captain, but I believe most of the fleet commanders like Picard would not be able to save the federation in a war. Perhaps that is why the federation being so powerful is almost always exterminated by forces not so formidable as the Dominion.

[@Topperfalkon]

@@lukasvillar9328 the TV series, especially TNG, portray Starfleet as being fairly non-militaristic, and primarily focused on first-contact (though they're spectacularly inept at it, constantly ignoring or paying lip service to their own Prime Directive which forbids interference), exploration, and scientific discovery. The Enterprise is supposedly the flagship of the fleet, but it's poorly outfitted for battle with terrible shielding, and inexplicably explosive circuitry which likes to knock out the junior bridge crew when a totally unrelated area of the ship gets damaged. The Enterprise hasn't been retrofitted with cloaking technology despite being a flagship, and despite the Klingons having joined the Federation at the point of TNG. The bridge doesn't have proper pressure locks and airlocks and on account of not having them does not seal the bridge during combat actions, nor are their vacuum-rated space suits in easy reach. I'm sure there's much more that you could complain about, but it's hard to look back at much of Star Trek as being anything other than silly when you've been spoilt by the likes of The Expanse

[@myah528]

@@Topperfalkon I agree with everything you said except for the part about not having a cloaking device. In the episode where we learn Riker used to serve on a ship where they were secretly making a cloaking device, we learn that part of the agreement with the Klingons was that we wouldn't attempt to create our own cloaking devices. Everything else is spot on, though ( especially about the bridge exploding when a completely different part of the ship is hit )

[@Topperfalkon]

@@myah528 That's fine, but why didn't the Federation work out some kind of leasing or purchase and service program? The UK has a similar agreement with the US over the F35 program (which is a little contentious given we helped build the thing, but whatever...). In other words, we wouldn't create our own cloaking devices, we'd borrow theirs, and hire on Klingon staff to operate and maintain it. Besides, I've not watched much of DS9, but in that doesn't the Defiant get its own cloaking device at some point?

[@IndySkyFan]

Riker: "Come on, guys. There is no Starfleet. It's a television show. If I take a position as a Captain, that really just means I'm off the show and out of a job".

[@afuriousblackman]

Also Riker: "Why are you booing? I'm right!"

[@atomicdancer]

Me: "I want you to know that, I'm not a complete brain case, ok? I understand completely that it's just a TV show. I know there's no beryllium sphere, no digital conveyor, no ship..." Commander William Riker: "Stop! Stop for a second, stop... It's all real." Me: "Oh my God, I knew it. I knew it! I KNEW IT!!"

[@Almonddragon]

@@atomicdancer I got that reference!

[@Chasmodius]

Pretty chatty for a fictional character then, aren't you?

[@tomrenjie]

Its take captain and play bimonscificons for the rest of my life or stay a salaryman.

[@LordSathar]

I love the one time he got the entire crew mind slaved to aliens just to get some alien booty on vacation.

[@CptJistuce]

It's funnier since the video game was a stand-in for STDs, and he spread it around the whole crew like ten minutes after leave ended.

[@oddish4352]

And frickin Wesley Crusher had to save the ship. Again.

[@radioflyer68911]

StarFleet doesn't have a shortage of potential captains, if anything there's a shortage of ships.

[@jonfarrow9862]

I thought after the Dominion war there was talk about not having enough senior officers because so many crews were lost in combat? I mean I agree with you, especially in the context of TNGs TV run. Then again, that could have been something out of a novel or fan fiction I read, so take it with a grain of salt

[@YouTubecanbitemyhairybanger]

Jon Farrow ships can be built quicker than a crew can be trained

[@DOSRetroGamer]

just replicate or 3d-print them.

[@henrynorcrossii3363]

The only starship that they should be able to fully replicate as a compete ship were the runabouts. Larger scare starships probably had issues arise from full scale replication.

[@Imerias2]

Within universe, it's telling that Riker did not get a command during the Dominion War, a time where Starfleet was probably scrambling for as many experienced and, crucially, combat tested officers as they could find. Either they had completely lost faith in him or he was so obstinate that he kept refusing captaincy even during wartime.

[@eaglescout1984]

Picard plays a Ressikan flute. The last vestige of an alien culture, it has a smooth calming sound, reflecting Picard's own diplomatic skills and his fascination with other cultures. Data plays the violin, an instrument that is difficult to learn and even harder to master. It demands mathematical precision, but also heart, reflecting Data's quest to become more than the sun of his parts. Riker plays the trombone.

[@killwalker2474]

Harry Kim plays the clarinet Miles O'brien played a cello once in the episode where Data had a girlfriend with ....issues. Also i think Spock played a mandolin or a ukelele.

[@CatoNovus]

@Darth Revan Only if he didn't oil it up enough and it got rusty...

[@spethmanjones2997]

Hehe... hehehe... *HOOONK*

[@johnlockhart7751]

Trombones make more noise.

[@stevenscott2136]

And he plays it badly, reflecting his lack of discipline and focus.

[@TheLazyEyebrow]

"that'll get you fired in retail, let alone the space military" that's about the truest Star Trek critique I've ever heard

[@KarimMaassen]

Excuse me? My potted plants have tremendous charisma thank you very much!

[@picknroll8221]

Riker is as sanctimonious as they come. Expects almost blind obedience and adherence to regulations from subordinates, but bucks the system whenever he doesn't like HIS orders. I've had commanders like that myself, and agree that "Chain of Command Pts. 1 and 2" points this out well. Great video. Thanks for posting!

[@jetflaque8187]

Spacedock: "Riken: the Painted Saint of Smug in the star trek universe" Q: hold my omnipotence

[@giovannirocket9954]

Q would be the God of Smugness, but he would still need a harold for the little man.

[@OmegaSteel429]

Why do you think Q tried to give Riker omnipotence in the first place? They're kindred spirits

[@tprime2702]

@@OmegaSteel429 OMG... you're right.

[@FerdinandCesarano]

Riker is my favourite character precisely because he turned down commands in order to stay in his job that he loves. He thus demonstrates an understanding that contentment is preferable to a mindless ambition.

[@FerdinandCesarano]

He absolutely was not - and that's why that goofball Captain Jellico hated him.

[@duffman18]

I love Riker mainly because he has the most consistently good episodes of any of the main cast. Except maybe Picard. But ones like Future Imperfect where he wakes up 20 years later and he's captain, or so he thinks. Or the one where he's put on trial for murder, A Matter of Perspective. Or the one where he thinks he's going crazy and can't work out if he's trapped in prison or is on the enterprise, Frame of Mind. Or the one where he is getting secretly taken off the ship every night and having stuff poked in his head, Schisms. There's loads more. But whenever I am doing another watch through and I realise it's a Riker episode, I'm like "awww yeah" cos you know it'll be good.

[@Josh_Fredman]

Minuet made a similar comment in "11001001," about Riker being exactly where he wanted to be and knowing it. That's a powerful combination in life--being where you belong and being able to realize it while you're there--and this is the closest we ever come in Star Trek to an explanation for why Riker would go on to remain first officer of the Enterprise for decades. Ironically, they told us right from the beginning. So in that sense I agree with what you're saying about Riker turning down commands because he knows he loves what he's already got. There's a tendency in modern society to ruthlessly promote people no matter what, even though many people really shine in a lower position. Realistically, though, Riker should have moved on, because it's not just about him and his desires: It's about his position: first officer of the flagship of the Federation. Starfleet isn't about letting people hang onto plum assignments. It's about a constant cycle of development and excellence. Riker was selfish to stay in his position for as long as he did, because Starfleet lost out on a lot of good first officers who never got the benefit of serving under Jean-Luc Picard. (And even Picard himself shouldn't have been in his position for so long.) Like Scotty said in "Relics," eventually you get too old for something, and it's time to stop doing it, even if you wish you could continue. He was talking about falling in love, but it applies to anything.

[@sam21462]

@Col. Commissar Ibram Gaunt - Spot on. It's not what you need from your job it's what your job needs from you. Had he wanted long term stability he could have picked art director instead of command chain officer.

[@davemarx7856]

There is an argument to be made... that his stubbornness is unbecoming for a man of Service. Service and Sacrifice outweighs personal comfort.

[@rimjobsteve3264]

Remember how his clone became infinitely cooler than him by joining the maquis?

[@johnmiller7682]

It was a mistake for the writers to ever bring up Riker and his turning down promotion. First, this is Star Trek, nobody gets promoted or transfers out of their position. It's just part of the show. Hell, exactly how long did it take Sulu to get his own ship? And Chekov never got promoted. Literally everyone from TOS should have been an Admiral, by the end of the movie run.

[@melodysdanceoff]

Chekov became the xo of the Reliant. Scotty became CE of the most advanced ship in the fleet. Bones retired until he was drafted back into the service. Spock took command of the Enterprise. Apparently so backstory had it that Sulu was actually applying for the Captaincy of the Excelsior before the WOK and he had just lost out to Captain Styles. The only crew member who hadn't moved on or up during the TMP and WOK era was Uhura.

[@johnmiller7682]

@@melodysdanceoff XO is not a rank, it's a position. As for their ranks, check out their uniforms. The only one who was a captain was Spock.

[@melodysdanceoff]

@@johnmiller7682 I am well aware that xo is a position. Chekov was a lieutenant commander at the time and was the executive officer of the USS Reliant. I think that shows that he had in fact been rising up in the ranks considering that when we met him in the TOS he was an Ensign and held the position of navigator. What we did see was that all members of the TOS crew were rising in the ranks. Hell I could even point out that Janice Rand rose from an enlisted rank to the rank of commander by the time we reach TUC,

[@johnmiller7682]

@@melodysdanceoff I guess you're missing the point. In the real world, not only would they all have risen higher in rank, they would also not have continued to serve on the same ship. That's just not how the military works. But, because you can't do that in a TV show/ movie series, you get what we see in Star Trek.

[@daniels7907]

Yeah, pretty much all of the TOS cast had been promoted by the time the films started and it continued over time. Scotty eventually made the rank of Captain as well, although he appeared to have more of a desk job rather than being in command of a starship. Sulu went on to become Captain of the Excelsior. Spock was a Captain, but preferred his role as an Academy instructor. Bones eventually became an *admiral* with Starfleet Medical. Everyone else made it as far as Commander. Contrary to popular belief, there *is* a ceiling to advancement in the military and not everyone eventually reaches the highest ranks. But the TOS crew did very well all things considered.

[@RKNGL]

Riker was just picky he wanted a ship he considered equivalent to the Enterprise. All other ships were below him, that explanation fights his ego pretty well.

[@AeneasGemini]

Or maybe he just valued the enterprise crew and had an emotional attachment to the ship? You see ego because that's what you want to see, it could easily be sentimentality

[@RKNGL]

@@AeneasGemini Comradery towards the crew or not, I'm far from the only person who thought Riker had an ego

[@LyneaSilver]

@@RKNGL Riker wanting to stay with his friends and people he considered practically family doesn't mean he didn't have an ego. They aren't mutually exclusive.

[@luckstar4550]

You've convinced me. Now let's give Captain Jellico his own series.

[@MrGoesBoom]

I liked Jellico, a series or mini-series about him being boss during the Dominion War would be great

[@Oblithian]

captain cohagen

[@callumunga5253]

6:31 Actually... The always excellent SFDebris in his Second Chances review proposed an alternative that would have shaken up the crew dynamic for season 7 without outside-universe interference. He proposed that after meeting the ambition Thomas Riker, Riker realized how much of a waste his career has been, leaves the Enterprise to command another ship (to maybe intermittently return in future episodes). Thomas Riker would be reassigned to the Enterprise (thus enabling that Frakes would still be a regular) at some bridge station. Though it wouldn't change the problem with a lingering First Officer, considering the immortal android would become first officer, presumably for the next 30 years until Picard dies of natural causes.

[@terryforsdyke306]

I do not disagree with your assessment, except for 1 point Picard was in his 50s, the average earth human life span was 120, so Data could have been Picard's first officer for 60+ years. but yes, there would have been nothing to stop them have Riker get his own ship, maybe even take a few other charactors with him and have Riker's ship assigned to the same sector as Enterprise so you frequently get episodes based on Riker's ship or joint missions

[@callumunga5253]

+Terry Forsdyke Forgot that humans live till their '20s in the Federation. Whoops. The slight problem with have William Riker as a recurring character in this new system would be that Frakes would need to regulary pull double duty. Will could return for an episode every now and then, but probably shouldn't be over used, else what's the point of the shakeup.

[@falseprophet1415]

There's always an airlock....

[@KuraIthys]

@@terryforsdyke306 mmh. 58 at the start of TNG. 65 at the end. 73 at the time Nemesis happened...

[@Riceball01]

@@terryforsdyke306 The problem with that is that, persumably, Starfleet works along similar lines as a real life military and they have a timeline for when they expect every officer to be promotable or just serve at a given duty station/unit/ship. In the US military active duty personnel are reassigned every 2 - 4 years, regardless of whether they're promoted or not. So this would mean that Data wouldn't likely serve as XO of the Enterprise until Picard retires, only until Starfleet Command decides that it's time that Data moves as XO to another ship or be given a command of his own.

[@mikesmith8338]

In Chain of Command Riker came off like a teenager that wouldn't accept his new stepfather rather than an experienced military officer with a new captain. I found it unrealistic to have Riker offered command so few years after being promoted to commander just to create dramatic tension between him and Shelby. Same way it was unrealistic to have someone as young as Kirk in command of flagship. At the rate they go, everyone should hit admiral before they have 20 years in.

[@Generalscorpio]

"Possessing of all the charisma of your average potted plant..." - but he was banging Seven of Nine for a while, credit where credit's due.

[@Rumblestrip]

No, holograms don't count. Lol

[@apotheases]

That was a really forced romantic situation. Even Jeri Ryan said that whole thing came out of nowhere in the script.

[@falseprophet1415]

Just because you got a pity fuck from a Celeb doesn't mean you're gonna share the lime-light or get the royalties.....

[@mjbull5156]

Borg implants chafe.

[@BatarianBob]

She also has all the charisma of a potted plant. Just a prettier potted plant.

[@davidtherwhanger6795]

I agree. Jelicho was a good captain. And exactly the kind of captain I would want in that situation.

[@RurouniKalain]

Yeah he was, I think the main problem was that he was acting like he was the captain of the Enterprise or something... Oh wait. but really I think they all knew it was temporary and personally I can see how changing from a three to a four shift rotation in a short time might cause more problems in the short-term, but they ARE military officers after all.

[@davidtherwhanger6795]

@@RurouniKalain Exactly. I was in the Navy. It wasn't "do you agree" it was "Make It Happen"

[@herbderbler1585]

If your ship is suddenly switching roles from exploration to military intervention, I'd say a change in shift rotation is getting off easy as far as potential consequences go.

[@RurouniKalain]

@@herbderbler1585 Ya got a good point there actually. Perhaps it's partly because they didn't like being in the dark in terms of why Picard left, but they ARE military so...fo be expected at times. yeah. Maybe he (Jelicho) was right captain for the time, as we're what he did. I mean, he DID get Picard back.. Dang this is hard to swallow I have to think on this, haha.

[@hafor2846]

It's not like Picard isn't a good military captain. He just has different, non-traditional leadership style that only he could pull off.

[@Darbobski]

Riker was a way to Keep Kirk's spirit alive without making him a Captain. My friend and I always called him Commander "Re-Kirk".

[@iggyarctic5711]

Riker ,it turns out,IS JIM Kirk's PROGENY. Picard was a critical,opinionated,arrogant, critical A.H.

[@101jir]

​@@iggyarctic5711 "Picard was a... arrogant... A.H." And Kirk was so humble too, I miss him =/

[@Strand0410]

Love how he starts TNG as this fresh-faced, handsome Kirk-ish dude, then grows a beard to hide the double chin.

[@seanmanscott]

Well sure, but most of the cast put on weight except for Patrick Stewart, Levar Burton and Gates McFadden.

[@RPY]

seanmanscott Even LeVar did.

[@kimmyisgreen2929]

Oh, but it’s one of the best beards of all time!

[@sweetsour6783]

oof, yeah, Riker was horrible in 'Chain of command'. I wanted to slap him.

[@Oblithian]

It was probably written by someone who didn't actually understand the bigger picture. Else it would be more sympathetic to the Captain or scolding of Riker. Like in many other series where both learn something, one learns you can't be strict to the rules well above rational practicality, and the other learning that you need structure for things to run reliably. I suspect andromeda, stargate, and babylon 5 all had episodes doing just that (I don't recall off the top of my head).

[@Tempusverum]

Agreed. Riker keeps doing the sucking in the chest thing to look macho, but it ends up being lame and cringy. Besides, his chronological snobbery and self-righteous preachy bearing to ppl from the past/Q continuum insufferable. “We no longer invest in things, we invest in ourselves.” Shut up, Roddenberry. Yes, I see you.

[@meowcula]

he certainly was. though it's kind of nice that he (and the other characters) aren't perfect goody little two-shoes, that would be boring. A good character needs flaws.

[@DrewLSsix]

The stagnant nature of starfleet crews is something that always has bothered me about trek. You complain about this one guy but nearly the entire crew of the “original” Enterprise maintained their positions and functions more or less over several decades! Spock never gets a command, Scotty never moves on to teach his genius to students at the academy, Uhura... poor poor Uhura!

[@simonpreston]

Spock was captain of the Enterprise in Star Trek 2. It's never made clear why, after Star Trek 4, there is more than 1 captain on the Enterprise. Plot, I guess. Scotty is made Captain of Engineering of the Excelsior, and I believe retains that rank for the rest of the films. Chekov is first officer of the Reliant. Sulu is made captain of the Excelsor. Uhura.... err... yeah.

[@jmswms53]

WRONG!!! Scotty became cpt. Scott His methods & discoveries were standard reading for Starfleet engineering cadets. Uhura was head of Starfleet communications. Sulu got his own command. As did Chockov. Nurse Chappel became an MD Mckoy head of Starfleet medical. On & off again "Admiral Kirk!" as Kahn put it. Granted this happend in the films & after decades. Which makes. Since it's stupid to just to get coumfirtable withe the cast & promote them all away when you're show only got a 3 yr. run. M.A.S.H. lasted more the twice the actual war it depicted & some of them never left or were promoted. If you didn't leave out of shear boredom or actually die.

[@jdlech]

@@jmswms53 Well, TBH, Klinger was never going to be promoted. In fact he should have been bused to perma-private until the war ended.

[@DrewLSsix]

James Weems Largely within the narrative run of their own franchise the crew were remarkably stagnant. Yes they often moved on, like Admiral Kirk in TMP, but they still without fail always returned to their respective roles when it was time for another on screen adventure. Kirk dropped in rank twice to return to the captaincy, Uhura didn’t think twice about her teaching position when the plot decided she needed to come along. Hell, I think they even make a funny stab at the issue in the whale movie! When Pavel whistfully reports his rank as admiral, a position easily attainable for a skilled and experienced officer with decades of service! We don’t know why Kirk kept command of the Enterprise after Deckers ascendency, he was still an admiral on temporary assignment and there were no doubt many young officers bucking for command. Scotty is easily one of the most skilled and experienced engineers in starfleet and was given positions that demonstrated that, yet always shortly after the starting credits he was returned to the engine room of the Enterprise, funnily enough even during his appearance on the D. I think that episode was not only a great tribute to TOS Scotty as a character and the original crew as a whole but it also shines a light on that trope by forcing the character and the audience to admit that at some point it’s just not plausible for it to keep happening. The whole setup if you go by established events seems to suggest that he’s just going to show up and start running engineering lol.

[@etexpatriate]

There's a modicum of justification in the original series for the static organization, in that they're on a "five year mission" of deep exploration, implying that they're not in regular contact with central command for transferring crew. Unfortunately, in practice the show puts them in regular enough contact with HQ to blow this justification out of the water.

[@JTMC93]

IIRC a 4 shift rotation means less work for the crew. As it is a 6 hour shift instead of an 8 hour shift. (Though it can also be 12 hour shifts with 2 shifts per day meaning the person has 36 hours between shifts that is rare and more an industrial thing.)

[@JoshuaKevinPerry]

He knows his limits. Also, who doesn't enjoy being called Number 1 everyday.

[@antred11]

Exactly. That is precisely one of the things wrong with the real word. This silly notion that people absolutely __must__ be promoted upward over time, or else they're bad at their job. Some people are ideally suited for the position they're holding, and promoting them any higher would turn them from an excellent to a mediocre or even poor .

[@YouTubecanbitemyhairybanger]

Someone with a weak bladder?

[@MaximilianonMars]

Smitty Werbermanjensen. He was Number 1!!

[@libertinarey]

@Max Wylde Why doesnt this apply to Picard then? Picard kept refusing promotion to admiral just like Riker.

[@deusexaethera]

There's a lot to be said for knowing your limits and working effectively within them, rather than pushing the envelope and getting someone else killed. As a society we make fun of beta-males, but they are immensely useful to any hierarchical organization.

[@doemacmonkey]

I have to say, I think you were a bit harsh to the potted plant!

[@falseprophet1415]

You're not kidding. At least a potted plant exchanges your Carbon emissions for Oxygen.

[@Zandiv]

Stagnant?! He grew a beard - haven't you been paying attention Daniel? That's literal character growth,..sheeh!

[@WhereWeRoll]

This

[@JonSmith-cx7gr]

Exactly! And you want story arc? How about the arc Rikers leg takes every time he straddles a chair?

[@weldonwin]

Now, imagine if instead of Jellicoe, Starfleet sent Captain Sisko to command the Enterprise? Riker: I Don't Think... *(BAM)*

[@TheVeritas1]

That's accurate. This makes me reflect on the dressing down Sisko gave Kira when she made a decision behind his back.

[@weldonwin]

@@TheVeritas1 And if Riker continues to mouth off, he will learn why the Jem'Hadar have come to fear the Sisko backhand

[@BigTylt]

That would have been great.

[@Drog007]

@ True, but he did surface restrained and calm with emotional undertone phenomenally. It always felt over the top when he showed anger, but the moments where he did the command or diplomacy equivalent of a dad saying "I'm not angry, just disappointed" were generally pure gold.

[@MisterHughes]

@ He peaked as Hawk in "Spenser for Hire".

[@NitpickingNerd]

Riker was rude toward Remmick because he was scared he might discover his past with the Pegasus ...

[@michaelmooney4024]

But shouldn't that decrease his obstinance? The fact there wasn't an official inquiry into his behavior was only due to plot armor

[@TJJones-ck7gj]

There's a couple points you're glossing over in your condemnation of Riker. So I'll try to cover the for and against sides as evenly as I can. Yes, Riker and crew should have followed his orders to a T once he gave them. He was the captain (if an assumed acting capacity as it was expected to be a short term stint) his orders were the rule of the land. Yes, that was a jarring reaction to see them moaning and complaining and constantly second questioning Jellico's decision. THAT SAID. Coming into a Flash Point situation as you stated and pouring gas all over the fire and cackling maniacly while doing so is just poor command form. Generally command change overs are a long and intimate process. Anytime someone tries to come in and swing their dick around like they're the biggest super star on the block simply because is over compensating for a lack of quality. Breaking the crew up into four shift teams meant that there would be an acclimitazation process as the crew adjusts to their new schedules and work mates. Making policy changes on the fly during tense negotiations and getting into pissing contests with cardassians just because you happen to be behind the wheel of the biggest stick Star Fleet can give you again, is poor command choice. And let's not even get started on how inanely stupid Admiral Nacheyev was for sending Captain Picard the aforementioned CO and arguably best of the fleet at this point both diplomatically as well as tactically, and sending him and two members of his command staff off on a suicide mission. Not only did you just send what could be debated as probably the most poorly conceived spec ops team set up, but you also knee capped your fleet flagship's command staff, and THEN compound that poor scenario by tossing Jellico in on top of it? Nah. Riker wasn't being a baby, he was trying to articulate that Jellico didn't need to front as hard as he was. That if you want the crew of the best ship to perform like the best crew, that you have to earn that respect, and build that relationship. Not just come in cod swinging around like the biggest pendulum and expect every one to toe the line to your stupid whims.

[@deathtoll5000x]

Nechayev was a bitch

[@101jir]

While I think he was a bit too hard on Riker at some points, such as you mention here, I think we are likely in agreement that Riker overall treated the crew more as a club than a work environment. His main benefit was that his confidence left him able to take control of the ship with pretty much no problematic anxiety. But he was extremely selfish and shortsighted, and these two things would have made him a terrible captain anyway, as he looked more to the immediate crew than the needs of the Federation as a whole. He simply did not care about the big picture, only the situation of himself and those immediately close to him. In this way he contrasted sharply with Piccard. I tend to think some of the criticisms in the video were unfair, but agree that he was not a good commander.

[@ebantink4843]

Bang on and jolly well said !

[@ralphgoodman4670]

Exactly, who does he think he is, captain of the ship or something? As if they are facing a war, acting like a military commander instead of on a cruise ship making sure the drinks are all served on time? You Millennials really have no clue about reality.

[@TJJones-ck7gj]

@@ralphgoodman4670 lol, That's adorable ^_^ "reality" regarding a ficticious tv show set 400 years into the future. Setting aside the contrived set up of the show, with sending three of the flagship of the fleets command staff on a sooper sekrit mishun, there were elements about Jellico that did work, but his insistence on trying to ramrod sweeping changes that did make sense on top of a hillariously stupid 4 shift structure on a work day, along with not keeping his command staff in the loop when he changes things up on the fly during tense negotiations (Because lets be real a moment. This wasn't war. This was a negotiation. Jellico was there to deal with them, not shoot them.) On top of all this, the super contrived plot to remove Picard from the ship was just a ploy. There was no base. No bio weapon. It was all just a hilariously stupid ploy to draw the CO of the fleets flagship off vessel to milk him for intel, and the Federation (looking at you Nacheyev) were all too happy to fall face first into the trap.

[@youtubevoice1050]

Career, career, career ... Nah, Ryker knew where he wanted to be. He wanted the Enterprise. Nothing wrong about that. Also, it's not a good idea to deplete your personnel with 4-shifts BEFORE shtf.

[@purplefood1]

Not sure about the shift thing. If anything it's odd to do if you're a temporary assignment because you're asking several thousand people to get used to a brand new sleep and work schedule.

[@eXcommunicate1979]

I give Jellico a lot of credit, but you're right that switching the Enterprise from a 3 shift rotation to a 4 shift rotation a couple of days before a potential battle situation was just jackassery on Jellico's part.

[@sparks1773]

@@eXcommunicate1979 If there was a battle then it's very likely a war would follow, maybe he was thinking more long term?

[@sparks1773]

@@Splatterpunk_OldNewYork Riker knew about the Borg and was a single battle, Jellico knew about the Cardassians and was preparing for a prolonged war.

[@vivalkyrie1530]

I remember from when I used to play the old Star Trek CCG that the forums had a long post about why Riker did not deserve any on his stats. This video reminded me of that, nice work :D

[@Marconius6]

I still like the fact Troi continued to wear her uniform after that episode... well, mostly.

[@kimmyisgreen2929]

When she’s on the bridge in civilian clothing, it always felt invalidating to me. Like they were saying Troi isn’t as good as the rest of the bridge crew so she doesn’t have to wear the uniform.

[@nickokona6849]

No man. Riker stayed in the Enterprise because he didn’t just want some ship. He wanted THE ship. Either the flagship it’s self, or at least a very important one. The Aries wasn’t going to be doing central or supremely important work. The Melbourne was an older Excelsior class. Not a fitting goal for someone who doesn’t settle for less than what he wanted. And he wanted the best. Also, I’d argue Troi was much more stagnant as a character. Starfleet isn’t specifically a military. And rivers issue with Jellicho is his attitude having a negative impact in people’s ability to do their job.

[@csehszlovakze]

at least Troi had a promotion lol

[@101Mant]

Starfleet aren't going to give a new Captain the flagship, or an important ship, until the have proved themselves with a smaller vessel. Nobody is going to go straight from Commander to captaining a Galaxy class outside of wartime. If he wanted the Enterprise he needed to take one of the commands offered to prove he was a good Captain, the longer he waited to do it the longer it would take.

[@nickokona6849]

@@101Mant They might do it for one of their top Commanders who has mentored under one of Starfleet's finest Captains in history, and who also successfully captained the Hathaway in a war game against the flagship, Captained the Enterprise (flagship) and saved the entire Federation from the Borg. It's not like he hasn't done anything to warrant consideration for something more important than a garbage scow. But it doesn't matter what we think. It's the motivations fo the character that matter. Even if his goal wasn't specifically attainable in this way, that doesn't mean he wouldn't strive for it. He does say in Generations that he always thought he'd get a shot at the Command of the Enterprise-D. The implication is that he might replace Picard when he retired.

[@nickokona6849]

@@csehszlovakze Riker got a Captaincy of the Enterprise during Best of Both Worlds, and saved the Federation. .Troi got bumped to Commander in mid season 7 in a meh episode and it never played a single role from this point on. Not exactly an arc.

[@csehszlovakze]

@@nickokona6849 Riker's was only a field promotion and temporary, while Troi's was permanent. What's worse, it took him several years till he finally got promoted to captain post-Nemesis.

[@Jarangel87]

I also thought Jellico was a badass, from how he sets up "negotiations" from basically holding the Cardassians by ba**s with his plan at the end of the episode, it was pure satisfaction to watch. Granted, he might not have been the right man for your average peace and exploration mission but rue the day men like that are not available when s**t hits the fan.

[@oddish4352]

If Jellico had stayed on, almost everyone on the Enterprise would have been better off. Picard has time off to recover from his Four Lights ordeal. Riker gets tired of bumping heads with Jellico and happily takes his own ship. Data serves well as Jellico's by the book first officer. Worf is serving under a warrior captain and couldn't be happier. When Jellico gets a squadron during the Dominion War, he and Data both get their own ships. Troi goes off with Riker. She sticks with the uniform, though. Geordi can connect with anyone: an android, a Borg, an ASD introvert... he can get along with Jellico. Crusher ultimately realizes that Jellico's ultimate goal is the same as hers: saving the lives of the crew.

[@pwnmeisterage]

Jellico was part of the group which assigned Picard on that mission in the first place. Along with Picard's medical officer and his Worf. Doesn't make sense. Why would you assign flagship officers onto a covert tactical intrusion in hostile territory? There must be agents specially trained for such things.

[@Jarangel87]

@@pwnmeisterage Ever since the first Star Trek series you would see at least half of the top ranking officers leave ship to explore anything they'd come across, placing themselves in mortal danger half of the time, I am guessing the reason for this was to give the protagonists, well, more protagonism in the show! But yeah, I agree, it comes down as really irresponsible.

[@jasonvoorhees5640]

@@oddish4352 Geordi can connect with anyone? then why was he always freindzoned?

[@oddish4352]

@@jasonvoorhees5640 Because he's not so good at connecting THAT way.

[@joewedg3703]

He gets all the females though lol. Rewatch next generation, they should rename it adventures of will riker: intergalactic sex tourist

[@iggyarctic5711]

A lucky man.You go,Will!

[@roebuddy01]

yeah, every other episode was like 'the next penetration'

[@AWMJoeyjoejoe]

Intergalactic sex pest more like!

[@Cool70sfreak]

With the exception of The Perfect Mate, though there is a bit of flirting in that episode anyway

[@blizzy78]

The real question is, why does everyone have to "advance their careers??" Perhaps someone is just happy with what they are doing, and want to keep doing it.

[@GraysonGranda]

blizzy1978 Particularly in this time period. Advancing one's military career in modern times is generally incentivized by glory, money, and better benefits on retirement. In their day, literally the only reason to advance is for personal fulfillment and the glory of being "X rank in starfleet." Riker is the first officer on THE FLAGSHIP of STARFLEET. He was for over 7 YEARS, under, arguably, the greatest captain to ever hold the mantle of "captain of the flagship." I mean, what could possibly give Riker greater fulfillment or glory than that? His own ship would not be the flagship, at least, not until Picard retires.

[@ingerasulffs]

@@GraysonGranda It's inefficient for the organisation as a whole if capable people sit on their asses because they are happy.

[@maxpower3990]

Part of the jobs of First officer is to be a replacement for the Captain if they are incapacitated. This is a war ship, people die. If Riker doesn't think he would make a good Captain then he shouldn't be First Officer. Send him to a training school, or some in charge of a Logistics unit.

[@randallcase1009]

@@GraysonGranda Being the skipper of his own ship and training the next generation of commanders like Picard did. Also, Picard was a great captain and Riker clogged him up and prevented other officers, like Shelby, from being groomed by him. Each year of Riker jamming the flow was another officer missing a chance to be trained by, and learn from, Picard and that is a horrible waste. Also, Riker was a decent captain when he was in command so he missed his chance to train and groom junior officers too. I get this this was a TV show and that you keep a good cast together, but this is also a military organization and passing experience is part of the job.

[@lillyanneserrelio2187]

@@randallcase1009 you make the best point. Serving as Exo under Picard is, in its own way, a continuation of training. Learning doesn't stop after graduating Starfleet academy. While others argue lack of ambition, lack of power lust, seeking glory: Self betterment, not greed, lust, etc are all qualities extolled in this utopian Startrek future.I believe that while these attributes may be true and visible to many civilians living on Earth, those accepted into Starfleet pass psych evals. 1 would think specific qualities are looked for in command track recruits such as leadership qualities. And, a desire to better the Federation. Riker remains where he is on the Enterprise simply because *he's in his comfort zone* and not because his stagnancy helps Starfleet. Its a selfish reason and I find it interesting he wasnt rotated (under orders) into another assignment after X period of time. Even in real life modern day Navies, sailors are rotated during their tour of duty. You hamper their growth and learning if they only do 1 task for their entire 4/6 years tour.

[@ChickSage]

The director's commentary, on First Contact, is one of the best I've ever heard. Treat yourself, by checking it out. Frakes rocks! :)

[@killwalker2474]

Im quite sure that the director of First Contact really likes Frakes 🙄

[@ChickSage]

@@killwalker2474 You're probably right, since Frakes was the director :)

[@killwalker2474]

I was being facetious 😆

[@ChickSage]

@@killwalker2474 I was being oblivious :)

[@DerAua]

@@ChickSage Best comment! :-D

[@basslinedan2]

About two thirds of the way through I was expecting you to break into the usual Spacedock technical breakdown: "The Riker is powered by a compact fusion reactor, possesses adequate shielding, and is armed with an array of of twin-linked photon batteries..."

[@Ektalon]

“Sorry boss, I’m not rotating the stock in the dairy cooler because I don’t respect you as a manager.” “Then get the hell outta my store!” Bill Riker, everybody! The biggest douchecanoe in the SuperMegaMart chain! Also: Nothing about how he’s clearly insane because of the way he sits down in chairs?

[@andrewtyrell4795]

He doesn't sit in chairs that way because he's insane. He does it to show you and the chair who he thinks is in charge.

[@jacoblaffoon6485]

He was born to mount things and doesn’t care what. That chair was just the closest object

[@tennoshenaniganizer9234]

There's only 1 good thing that Riker taught me, and that's how to mount wild chairs

[@JanetDax]

The Riker Manuver (from Honest Trailers)

[@talon12020]

While I agree with you that Riker's behavior was over the line in Chain of Command he was in his quarters because he had been relieved of duty by Jellico. Where else would he be at that point? Data had replaced him as First Officer.

[@IRMentat]

Jellico did nothing wrong. Hell, putting troi in uniform while clearly defining her role, that deserves bonus points and could be said to be her first steps towards her ranking up.

[@roberthofmann8403]

Rikker was holding out for command of the Enterprise. When Jellico came in, he thought the guy had stolen his job.

[@mckenzie.latham91]

Actually its because Jellico begins demanding respect and full trust of the crew without showing them any reason to do so, he also fully is aware of picard being tortured and held prisoner and is willing to let him rot if it will save the treaty’’which Riker couldn’t accept at face value.

[@mckenzie.latham91]

@Wicker 2 Yeah that chain of command “follow me no matter what” has literally led entire companies of men to their deaths needlessly and wastefully in many numerous and documented tragedies of military history. The issue was that Jellico doesn’t communicate with riker like a second in command, or even as an officer, he keeps everything to himself, and demands respect and trust without showing any. Picard always made the final decisions, but he often cued Riker into his thinking and or asked his advice, making sure that his second in command was in the loop and could be there if he fell through or short. Even then. Also The point was that Riker’s indignation towards Jellico also strived from how little he seems to be bothered and or care about Picards situation, and given that the crew and rider are loyal to picard, the true captain of the ship, that was the point of contention. again jellico was just another in a long list of politcan officers whose entire focus was appeasing space fascists and ethnic cleansers like the cardassians rather than standing up to them that’s why they often sacrificed dozens of settler worlds, relocated federation personnel forcefully and literally had to help and or allow cardassians to kill federation settlers and citizens (Maquis) dominion and cardassian alliance

[@BoogerLeader]

Your first complaint is just ignorant. He explains it in that episode. He enjoys being there with friends. It's the first time he's happy. It's also the first officer of the most advanced ship in Starfleet. You think the captain of the Titan is going to be as well known as the first officer of the Enterprise? The changes to a four shift were a problem that were addressed in the episode. Ryker's job is to make sure that the captain doesn't lose himself in his position and remembers his people. You purposely misrepresent just about everything in this video while purposely missing context. And how is he hurting anyone's career just because he's not interested in moving positions? That seems like such a reach in logic. If he didn't take the position in another ship, someone else would. No position is being lost. If anything, he's allowing others that WANT a promotion to get one.

[@101jir]

"Ryker's job is to make sure that the captain doesn't lose himself in his position and remembers his people." His job is to take care of the ship in times of crisis, to _advise_ the captain, and to backup the captain in times of crisis. The senior officers _together_ are supposed to keep the captain in check, not second in command by himself. You seem to forget in your comment that the captain of the ship is not a head of state, but a naval captain. I agree that he was under no obligation to take the promotion, I thought that was a bizarre criticism myself. But he interacted with the other crew members like he was the head of a convention or something, not the second in command of a starship. His behavior was, overall, very immature. He was very short-sighted.

[@deusexaethera]

Responding to the other replies: Actually, yes it _is_ the XO's job to make sure the captain doesn't lose himself in his position. The captain is by necessity isolated from the crew; it is the XO's job to make sure the crew follows the captain's orders, but it is _also_ the XO's job to make sure the captain knows what the crew thinks of his orders. If the captain makes decisions that cost him the loyalty of the crew, he won't be able to trust them to follow his orders in emergency situations where some of those orders might involve people sacrificing themselves for the crew, the ship, or the mission. Generally speaking, people who think that military command structures are a strict top-down hierarchy have never been in the military and have never had to ask a fellow human to do something that might get them killed. It takes a _lot_ of care and attention to build strong-enough loyalty for someone to jump on a grenade to save you.

[@CptSchmidt]

@Max Wylde By your logic, Picard would also be selfish for staying in command for so long. Even Kirk would be selfish and detrimental to Starfleet. I mean, he even said as much himself when he said never to give up the chair or your ship. Is Geordi being selfish for not transferring out after all that time? We know that Geordi stayed on the Enterprise post-Nemesis. What about Data, is he selfish too? Worf, Troi, or Crusher? It's the crew, not just the captain, that makes a ship. The flagship has its reputation because it's the best of the best, which it has to be. If the flagship's crew experienced the kind of turnover you say it should (you think that people taking and remaining in positions for which they're qualified damages the fleet as a whole), then it would be an incredibly dysfunctional place. Nobody would know anyone, there would be no professional relationships built on experience and familiarity, there would be less earned respect (which is key). Maybe the Enterprise crew stayed where they were because it worked. We know that they were the best in their positions in the fleet, which is, as we heard and saw on screen, why they were there and remained there.

[@VaniFoxOfficial]

Does your dumb ass realize that being in the military isn't like going to high school? It's not about hanging out with friends and having a good time, you know.

[@BoogerLeader]

@@VaniFoxOfficial Are you replying to me? Because the military has postings, and when you're assigned to one you become friends with those people and tend to want to stay there. And as for Starfleet, the Enterprise D has schools and nurseries. It's a ship that you live in, not just work in. So you REEEALLY don't know what you're talking about. And as for those shifts, they can make a huge difference in morale (directly affects performance) and exhaustion (also directly affects performance). Soldiers NEED downtime in order to unwind if you want them to perform and peek efficiency.

[@PaperbackWizard]

The word "career" has a different meaning in the 24th century. I cover this more on my podcast, but basically, in the future, where no one gets "paid" for their jobs, you basically just take whatever job you believe in and are the best at. From Riker's perspective, he's "best" at being second-in-command, leading the away teams on the Enterprise. Obviously, it's the same from Picard's perspective, too, or he would just kick Riker off the Enterprise. We've already seen that Picard can pretty much have his pick of officers. From Starfleet's perspective, there are plenty of other ways to give the rising generation of officers experience. Serving on the Enterprise isn't their only option; especially after the Borg destroyed so many of their ships. If Riker doesn't want to be captain, then they'll just give that seat to someone else. Sure, Shelby and others may want the Enterprise, but, you can't always get what you want. (Unless you're Picard, of course.)

[@LexieAssassin]

To be fair, putting the crew into 4 shifts instead of 3 actually means than the crew would have to do LESS work. They'd be working 6 hours per day instead of 8. I must say that, personally, that is a genius idea.

[@amigabang6157]

It must mean fewer days off for each person, then.

[@PT-rg2vo]

You do not have unlimited amount of people in there though. So the same pool of 20 personel, instead of doing rota every 16 hours, would need to do it every 12. Straight away unbalances your daily pattern as today you are morning, tomorrow afternoon, the next day night and so on.

[@davidjames4915]

Once they got to BBoW/Family, one of two things really needed to happen: 1. Picard, as was hinted at in Family, leaves the Enterprise, either by leaving Starfleet or being promoted to Admiral. That would open up the captaincy of the Enterprise. But it does create an issue for who becomes first officer between Shelby and Data. 2. Picard remains as captain of the Enterprise but Riker takes command of another ship. He takes Shelby or Data with him, and the other remains as first officer aboard the Enterprise. This basically means a spin-off series (the series could start with the rebuilding of one of the dead ships, so having Chief O'Brien along as well would work).

[@SirDupree]

My vote is for First Officer Potted Plant!

[@jameskennedy8030]

Under Picard officer's had to work LONGER hours than under Jellico so the crew had more work with Picard than Jellico. Also under Picard the crew were able to detain 2 aliens without a word spoken...seems to me that they're well tuned to what their captain would call on them to do....

[@BeyondDaX]

You would think that but Space dock is very right

[@jameskennedy8030]

@@BeyondDaX not really. Jellico was a control freak on steroids and made crew morale plummet, especially when he relieved Riker....

[@w1953]

So, when told by the preeminent combat captain that they are going into a war zone and changes x,y, and z are needed to help keep everyone on board alive, Riker, in front of the bridge crew, says no and you can stuff it where the sun doesn't shine (publicly countermanding and insulting his superior officer), Riker did so to preserve moral and should have been kept in his position?

[@espalorp3286]

Pull that shit as a submariner and you'll not only be relieved, but also have your ass kicked seven ways to wherever you came from, and then you will be unrelieved immediately and demanded to pick up your slack.

[@jameskennedy8030]

@@w1953 Jellico was the only one to think that. ENTERPRISE saw more combat than 90% more in fact and did better than most Excelsior class ships until the Dominion War and performed a lot better when Picard or Riker was in charge than that arrogant ass Jellico....

[@jacobwalsh1888]

Btw, smugness and disregard for superiors is rather common among excellent military commanders. For example, Horatio Nelson, or Bernard Montgomery.

[@SvenStadt]

Picard always talks about how he's the best officer he's ever known. The only thing I've ever seen him do is bark at people and push Barclay around. He's a blowhard playboy that people are afraid to stand up to!

[@michaeljameskeating1348]

"The patron saint of Smug" Lol, brilliant

[@VinceLyle2161]

Agree with you on "Darmok," but Riker stays on the Enterprise because Jonathan Frakes signed a contract.

[@CptJistuce]

Actor's contract didn't help Tasha Yar.

[@scollyb]

Every time Riker got command of the Enterprise he screwed up and had to be rescued by Picard returning or Data

[@BogeyTheBear]

I'd think that the transporter event which twinned him split elements of his personality away and stranded then on that planet with 'Thomas' Riker. Ambition and determination.

[@RandomPerson-kb7em]

I'm surprised an internal investigation wasn't launched against him.

[@jamesvalentine2845]

Oh it was...very...very internal...bowchikawowow

[@isegrim1978]

There probably has been... and they invoked the "Kirk protocol"

[@espalorp3286]

Riker is the Harvey Weinstein of Starfleet

[@lukasperuzovic1429]

@@subraxas Kirk expanded the Federation Borders significantly, his discoveries was monumental to Federation security, and he monitored the Klingon and Romulan threats under the guise of a exploration mission. Riker just put everyone under him at risk of not being able to advance and caused problems fleet wide.

[@5133937]

Agree with almost all of this except the part about Darmok. An alien species forcibly kidnapped the captain of the Federation flagship, was doing who knows what with or to him on the planet's surface, and was using powerful jammers and other tech to prevent the Enterprise from communicating with Picard or retrieving him. That was already technically an act of war, and Riker and crew were justified in rescuing Picard by any means necessary. Also, they did the same thing when Picard was later kidnapped by the Borg, it's basically SOP in those situations.

[@What71628]

Riker could have been the Robert Goulet of Starfleet. Picture Riker with a microphone (with a Bill Murray’s Lounge Singer on SNL twist) saying “Thank you, I’ll be here all week Captain.” Bill Murray as Riker would have absolutely slayed.

[@MidlifeCrisisJoe]

To be fair, Riker was a backup Captain in the original couple of seasons in that the showrunners weren't entirely confidant that a more sophisticated Captain such as Picard would play as well with audiences familiar with the original series who liked the more rule-breaking and undisciplined Kirk. It was basically a way for the showrunners to be able to write Picard off the show and replace him with Riker if audiences thought Picard was too boring. But Patrick Stewart brought enough gravitas to the role that he became one of the most beloved aspects right away, so even if the first season had its problems (and boy of boy did it) he wasn't one of them. This made Riker's role a bit more confused rather quickly, since having a second in command as your Kirk presents some real issues. The XO is almost always supposed to be more serious, and more disciplined than a potentially less serious and more gregarious Captain, but the Captain was the serious and disciplined one here which made Riker's initial risk taking personality a bit of an ill fit (other than as a foil). The result was that his military role on the ship demanded he be disciplined, but his structural role in terms of writing on the show positioned him as more undisciplined and wild. They were stuck trying to play it both ways for a while, and it did not serve his character well. The writers DID at least try to address the fact that he wasn't leaving for his own Captaincy a few times on the show. You point out a couple of the key episodes where this comes up, and it's nice that they at least confronted the obvious fact that a character portrayed early on as aggressively career minded (which he is in the first couple seasons) wasn't moving from his comfortable position. But yeah, lampshading the issue isn't actually character growth if nothing actually changes. This again comes off as rather awkward, since obviously audiences liked Riker enough and Jonathan Frakes liked the role well enough that neither the audience nor the actor wanted to him to leave the show. It ends up with Riker being a character with rather little to do but look dumb in the later seasons (Riker became the guy always asking questions for the audience that he probably should have known the answer to in universe being a well educated Starfleet officer). But hey, at least it isn't as bad as what happened with Worf, who was the least able to secure any situation security officer in television!

[@ZephyrGlaze]

Might've already been said, but the episode Second Chances was originally written to have William T sacrifice himself and Thomas Riker take over as an ambitious lieutenant, but the plot line got scrapped. Also o thought the quad shift thing always meant a different rotation of hours and not necessarily more or less work.

[@bobsterclause342]

Accepting this actually soothes my soul and makes me feel a little better. We have too much of this main protagonist supporting crap, and character flaws need to be handleed. Too man yjerks like this in real life too.

[@merlark]

oh yeah, Riker is a bit of an A Hole. not only that but my impression is that he is hanging around waiting for picard to die so he can command the enterprise. Like he is thinking, hey if I keep turning down other ships when this old geezer kicks the bucket they are just going to say well it would be too much work to find a proper captain for the enterprise so since your already living there its your ship now. He actually says this a few times, they are like hey this is a good ship that could use you but he's like "Yeah but its not the enterprise...by the way are artificial hearts still effected by microwaves? can I heat you up some hot pockets Picard? My treat!" Seriously I really think Riker is Doctor Evil, secretly trying to kill Picard.

[@Statalyzer]

Not so much die, but get promoted or put in charge of the newest class of ship at some point.

[@BlazingOwnager]

You know when you have a great, amazing band that breaks up and goes on solo acts to advance their careers, and all the solo acts are inferior? I think that's pretty much what Riker is trying to avoid in character. Though I still think they had a really good idea with having Riker move on / die and be replaced with Thomas Riker to shake his character up. I rather not have him die, but it'd been a great way to both give him a captaincy and also keep Riker on the show.

[@deaks25]

Watching the episode "Rascals" the other day: Riker loses the Federation FLAGSHIP to a pair of crappy Brel class Birds of Prey that have been nicked out if mothballs by a handful of Ferengi! Despite the two ships blasting away at the Enterprise, he returns fire ONCE. Wow, what an able commander 😂

[@apotheases]

Well B'rel did end up destroying the Enterprise in Generations.

[@lukasperuzovic1429]

With a ship from Kirk's era. How does a 80 year old Klingon ship out combats a brand new Star fleet vesicle. Without shields the Enterprise of the TOS can hold its own against the exact same class of ship. And Riker went against one thats 80 years old and is in a state of disrepair.

[@KuraIthys]

@@lukasperuzovic1429 Well, honestly that film was totally contrived. It's basically an act of god level random nonsense. Just think about it. If you count what you see onscreen and hear in those scenes then the Enterprise took 3 torpedo hits, and somewhere around 40-50 disruptor blasts. And most of the damage it had due to that was superficial. For that matter, they destroyed the BOB and only noticed about 3 minutes later that anything at all was wrong. That's clearly a narrative asspull if I ever saw one. To rub it in, they had 5 minutes to evacuate, should have been able to solve the problem by ejecting the core (surprise, surprise, the eject mechanism doesn't work. How convenient.) Then, as if that wasn't absurd enough, the saucer separates, and wouldn't you know it, gets caught in the shockwave of the core detonation and just HAPPENS to lose all engine power, forcing it out of orbit into a crash-landing. That's 4 improbable, almost nonsensical 'failures' in a row, all from basically 'invisible' damage that only became apparent once the fighting was over. That film is utter fail. But yes, Riker's counter-attack strategy during that fight was equally stupid. You can fire 10 torpedos at a time and hit much harder with your phasers than just firing 1-2 shots. It shouldn't have required some obtuse exploit. Just bombard the thing with all guns blazing and I doubt it would outlast the Enterprise even with the shields not being functional. Also what happened to rotating the shield frequencies? For that matter, why not turn the shields off at that point and redirect the power to something more useful?

[@deaks25]

At least in Generations Riker had the excuse that the BoP was firing through the shields. It takes literal minutes for Riker to give the order to return fire. Generations does mean Riker losses the Federation flagship twice 😂 No wonder promotion offers stopped coming in..,

[@eXcommunicate1979]

@@KuraIthys Generations was such a mixed bag. There were a lot of moments I liked (seeing the Enterprise-B, the sailing ship on the holodeck, Picard's alternate family Christmas in the Nexus, the ethereal music soundtrack of the film), but overall it's just such a let down.

[@lonjohnson5161]

I was ready to disagree, but there were some solid points. I still like Riker, but...

[@Oblithian]

When you take a few moments in a long running series and rest on those, even if they are contrary to the general established character...

[@rossvolkmann1161]

The main argument people use against Riker is his apparent lack of ambition. Riker could be a captain, but doesn't want to climb the ladder yet for personal reasons, ergo he's a failure. This is a very 21st century outlook on a 24th century life decision. Riker is a good first officer. He's doing important work for society that he enjoys with people that he's close to. The fact that Riker doesn't feel the need to climb the Starfleet hierarchy, and that Starfleet is patient with this reflects something very healthy about 24th century work culture. In today's corporate world you climb that ladder because that's how you get more money and status. You can be a great engineer or commercial artist or teacher or beat cop, but unless you get into management you're never going to make real money. In almost any industry you can think of supervisors and managers are paid more than the people they manage. This results in two problems for society 1) talented 'doers' follow the money up to management roles leaving behind a constant state of brain drain, and 2) people who are ill-suited to management fight their way into management roles because the pay scales incentivize that. Nobody on the Enterprise is being paid. They're all volunteers who are intrinsically motivated by the work they do. Captain Picard is the captain because he's the best at leading and likes being the captain. The 40 year old Ensign punching the LCARS at the back of the bridge isn't a failure because he's a 40 year old ensign. Maybe he's just really good at his job, he's comfortable at his current rank, and there aren't a bunch of unhealthy societal pressures demanding he chase promotions he's not suited for.

[@FRODIII]

I disagree! Tng has lots of problems riker isn't one of them! But anyway you're just jealous of the beard aren't you ?

[@johnweatherman5685]

I admit it, as a young may I truly wanted a piece of Troi.

[@chrisbullard5901]

Fully agree on Riker. Frakes is awesome and has the charisma if they figured out how to make Riker an up and coming officer that would be promoted below the zone. Frankly, what they should’ve done by mid-season 4, is offer Frakes more directing opportunities if he took a recurring guest star role on TNG. They could’ve made him a captain of another ship, promoted him to run the fleet reconstruction task force with Shelby, or something where he’d still pop on the viewscreen or visit from time to time. Hell, they could’ve even made him an instructor at Starfleet Academy, which would give some cool Wesley interaction akin to Viper and Maverick in “Top Gun”.

[@cowboycurtis2099]

he's just trying to get his Riker on.

[@johnjdumas]

Being 2nd in command of the Enterprize is more prestigious than the captain of an average ship, just as being Sargant of the Army is more prestigious than being an average officer anywhere else. He is basically the highest commander in Starfleet.

[@gideonmiles7161]

You missed the part where the first office is making a pass at every woman one the ship.

[@admiraltee]

Just about the initial criticism re not advancing/moving beyond his position - that in itself is not a bad thing and not a valid criticism. You can be happy with your current position in life, in your career, and not wanting to advance any further. That's not a negative.

[@LordZontar]

In the military, it is a huge negative. Officers are expected to advance upward, not remain in the same rank for the duration of their service. This is because junior officers beneath them are also expecting/expected to advance, and also because the military expects a certain return on its investment to train the officers who populate the ranks. If an officer proves incapable or unwilling to advance, that individual is shunted aside to clear the way for more ambitious and capable juniors and essentially dead-ended in a non-essential assignment.

[@admiraltee]

@@LordZontar That would make sense in the current military but we're not certain that's the case in Star Trek. We're adding our contemporary cultural influences and assuming it's the same in ST. For e.g., Riker is never shunted elsewhere, he's promoted to Captain of the Titan and then made Commander. No evidence of being shunned here. He's also very highly regarded as a Starfleet officer - not shunned here.

[@LordZontar]

That's because the TNG writers understood even less how the military works than the TOS writers did - some of whom were World War II veterans themselves. The TNG writers couldn't even be bothered to do basic research in the area in the absence of real world practical experience.

[@lukasvillar9328]

7 years would not be enough to gain command in a navy anyway.

[@MMDelta9]

See it's stuff like this that always reminds me that Star Trek had *serious* writing problems. A lot had to do with the Roddenberry Box which demanded that there be no internal conflict with the crew and a strict adherence to the status quo. Honestly, if they had let Riker get promoted to captain by season 3, shake up the crew dynamic, bring on different characters, the show would have future proofed itself. DS9 did this. Remember that little Ferengi twerp, Nog? *He became an officer at the end of the show!* From a writing perspective, DS9 got so much right because it tossed out a lot of the established conventions of Star Trek.

[@blkgardner]

Having the crew change with time would have effectively resulted in new series, as the main cast would have changed over time, resulting in different crew dynamics. It is possible to give a character a token promotion, but it is not feasible to graduate out the show's commanding officer (to go be an admiral somewhere and sit behind a desk) and the show's first officer (to go be the captain of a small ship somewhere.)

[@TheOtherGuys2]

Riker. Freaking Riker. I think it's good that he kept turning down captaincy though. I can think of three times that Riker was left in command of the Enterprise for a mission/event. There's probably more, but three come to mind. In one of those times, because he's a complete lunatic who doesn't understand things like space and inertia and any sort of reason, he makes a command decision that comes within literal seconds of having the entire crew of the Enterprise killed by radiation exposure. In another one of those times, the Enterprise was destroyed by a Romulan ship that was already crippled or something. In the third time, the Enterprise was also destroyed, this time by a gosh darn 80 year old tiny Klingon ship that wasn't even good enough for the Klingons. And in that "battle" Riker's strategy was "we're being fired at, and we have no shields! Turn the ship slowly around so that they can hit all the parts, and don't fire back until we come up with some clever way to bypass their shields in return." Oh yeah, and he commanded the Enterprise E once. Played it like a video game, and used the tactics of "probably blow up the ship", "jettison the warp drive" and "almost crash the ship into the Captain". Riker is ...inept as a commander. Riker should have been busted down to Lieutenant for recklessness in command. Data should have made Captain first. Instead. He's more than capable of the job and has demonstrated so on several occasions. Data would have made a superb Captain. Shows with Data and Sulu as Captains would have been amazing.

[@themecoptera9258]

Riker’s arc was over with the Best of Both Worlds, he got the captain chair and the enterprise with his friends. Then he lost the former, at which point he should have realized that he has command potential and decisive style he should have moved on with his career. He could have been an occasional guest character as the captain of some other major ship (bonus points if it’s called Yorktown), and we could have had some other up and coming command officer take up his old role. It would really help sell the idea that there are other major vessels besides enterprise, and after the majority of the fleet with all the admirals were destroyed by the borg, really Picard should have been promoted to admiral, and half of the cast should have been assigned to the newly built ships as they have significant experience.

[@MrJerks93]

Agreed. That was his story arc, and it shows. They had nothing for him to advance towards afterward. Star Trek is very focused on the bridge crew, but if they had opened it up a bit they could have retained their actors and had a feeling of progress. Make Riker the Captain of the Enterprise with Picard either becoming an Ambassador or Rear Admiral with his flag on the D.

[@themecoptera9258]

@@MrJerks93 perhaps the “best of both worlds” as a storyline should have been saved for the series finale. With the general arc being from rash and rowdy first officer in the early seasons to someone able to fill in Picard’s shoes. Meanwhile Picard’s arc is about realizing his own age and that he is eventually going to have to step down from command and leave starfleet in the hands of the younger officers he helped to mold. Then in the end after Picard is rescued at the end of part 2, he can say something like “I’m getting too old for these little adventures, Plot a course for earth, I’m going to put in a request with starfleet to make your position here permanent... ...Captain.” Music swells, the enterprise jumps to warp, and the words: “Created by Gene Roddenberry” Appear one last time in those classic blue letters. They still could have encountered the Borg at other points in the series as they did already, so you still get Hue and other fan favorite storylines, it’s just that you save the big dramatic borg fight where earth is imperiled for the season finale.

[@Dragonsecho3]

technically it was longer than 7 years. When Picard and crew movied into the movies (an eigth year on the D, plus 2 movies on the E) Riker still had the same position. To be fair, Spock was first officer for the five year mission, plus whatever time with Pike. And again after Kirk's Admiral promotion. So Spock might be per-emtively giving Riker a run for his money

[@gaillewis5472]

Jellico walked in with an objective eye and put things back in order. Military commands task is to assess and respond to situations using reasoning instead of reacting with emotion, especially when implementing sensible orders.

[@tomashize]

Sold. I love how outraged you are by this! You're totally correct. I was blinded by my crush on him!

[@kibbles5724]

I don't know... While I agree with a lot of your points, especially his unwillingness to take on new roles. I think there is a reason that Picard came to his defense on several occasions. He knew that Riker was special, he had a different kind of insight. One that was somewhat self-centered and leisure focused, but maybe a necessary balancing force nevertheless? Many of the decisions that security officers Worf put forward (and before that Natasha Yar) were hotheaded and confrontational. At his best, Riker was able to question the necessity of a constant militant mindset, after all, this is 100's of years in the future and Captain Picard argued with Q that humanity was evolving to be less egocentric and authoritarian. In some ways, I think Picard felt Riker embodied this. Nice video either way!

[@Josh_Fredman]

You make an excellent point, and in fact Gene Roddenberry specifically developed something for the series that he called "the special relationship" between the captain and the first officer. Patrick Stewart was keen on it, because Picard wasn't given a ton of scenes with the other officers. He had a lot of dialogue with Riker in particular, and so it would make sense for the two characters to have a deep relationship. (Roddenberry was building on the Kirk, Spock, McCoy trio--you'll notice in Season 1 that Riker and Beverly Crusher are the two people who are closest to Picard.) In Roddenberry's imagination, Riker was essentially a younger version of Picard (and Wesley was an even younger version of Picard). He liked the idea of showing the same person at three different points in their life. (And Picard also had a fair amount of "special relationship" dialogue with Wesley as well.) Sadly, the "special relationship" didn't last beyond Season 2, when Roddenberry's influence on the show ended. From that point on, Riker became almost an extraneous character. He didn't have anyone he was closely tied to, the way, say, Geordi had Data, etc. There was Troi, but they never developed that romance, and at the end they put Troi with Worf instead.

[@mustangdru]

I do like the character of Riker but I always hated how he conflates being caring with being angry. Just watch, anytime he gets emotionally invested, he just gets angry and starts yelling. It was always weird to me.

[@NWAWskeptic]

lol yeah, even Data cried because he cared about his cat so much

[@acarrot9868]

The reason he doesn't accept any command positions is because the Titan is the first Starfleet vessel to be equipped with a mountable captain's chair, all the other commands he was offered didn't have straddle-able command chairs.

[@mattevans4377]

It also came with joystick manual control ;)

[@acarrot9868]

@@mattevans4377 Especially of the atari kind

[@rafetizer]

lmfao

[@capt4in1]

HOLY CRAP, A TYPING CARROT!

[@alakani]

@@capt4in1 That's ridiculous, carrots can't type. They're probably using voice recognition.

[@williampennjr.4448]

He even turned down being a member of the Q continuum.

[@lucki4780]

Too qool for the continuum.

[@sagaswp]

"Speak for yourself sir. I plan to live forever." Well you blew that chance already, didn't you Riker?

[@pikkuadi]

Lucki wow

[@gortab]

@@lucki4780 Too cool to be Q.

[@tonebonebgky2]

Nope he gave that up.

[@secretcouple1681]

“Chakotay: Literally a convicted terrorist. “ That killed me 😂

[@spencersholden]

And has the charisma of a potted plant.

[@Mark-xh8md]

Chakotay was never convicted IIRC?

[@spencersholden]

Mark P oh yeah

[@duanscott2490]

Chakotay should have at least been compared to a venus fly trap or some other cool plant. Not just a run of the mill potted plant. He at least got 7 of 9 before she switched to girls. Oh dang. She switched to girls after Chacotay... Nevermind.

[@spencersholden]

Duan Scott spoiler much.

[@brucesinclair6039]

Riker: Thinks his first command should be Starfleet's flagship, the Enterprise D. Also Riker: While in temporary command of the Enterprise D, crashes it into a planet.

[@Sei783]

It seemed as good a place as any to land.

[@zyme5998]

He also has plenty of time to wait, because as he says (pretty much right after crashing 1701-D): "I plan to live forever".

[@alisak1701]

That fact troubles me a lot

[@tparadox88]

Wouldn't the primary responsibility for the security breach that led to the ship's destruction fall on Worf for not being paranoid enough for a change? "You were restrained and they took your VISOR away for a while, a little like that time the Romulans brainwashed you into an assassination attempt? That sounds uncomfortable. Anyway, your next shift in Engineering is at 0700."

[@ETHRON1]

Your forgot about insurrection...he about burned up the engines on the E...

[@prinzyth7395]

Riker is the womanizer everyone thinks Kirk was

[@NerdilyDone]

To be fair, Kirk did hit on everyone in a skirt.

[@prinzyth7395]

@@NerdilyDone not really, that’s the general cultural perception but the more you look into it the more you realize just how untrue it is

[@anon9060]

@@prinzyth7395 yeah, Kirk was actually kind of a sly and charming hardass. Even in the first episode where Bones meets his old flame, instead of being possessed by the demon's perception, because of it's natural ability as a predator to lure victims with telekinesis, he just saw some old broad that Bones used to bang and kind of just went along with it. Sure, he got around but he was still, at heart, a professional space cowboy.

[@DeadlyDanDaMan]

Censorship was A LOT harsher in the 1960's. It was borderline fascist back then.

[@lharless105]

@@DeadlyDanDaMan censorship is harsh now

[@grand-dadmiral]

Commander Riker doesn't sit. He mounts.

[@MikhaelAhava]

What do you mean Grand Admiral?

[@theshlauf]

@@MikhaelAhava Search 'Riker sitting down'

[@ivankraljevic1]

Yeah it was due to back injury

[@gungriffen]

@@MikhaelAhava Riker never sits like a normal person would, he steps over the chair like a saddle and mounts it. Apparently he also does the "Riker Lean" as well. Essentially he had a back injury so in the show he always leans on stuff and mounts chairs so he doesn't have to move his back much. kzbin.info/www/bejne/ooeseJuPgtyFndU

[@jameskennedy8030]

And you better watch out for your bodyguard, Admiral....

[@reverendfloyd]

Riker is basically Kirk's libido in a Starfleet uniform.

[@beansprout9256]

That's not fair. Kirk wasn't half as interested in sex.

[@GraysonGranda]

Snow quilty The entire meme of Kirk is that he stuck his dick in like, half the sentient races that ever appeared on the show. There is an *extremely* long running joke about that. Regardless of it's exact accuracy, the fact remains that Riker had a tendency to sleep around, especially when compared to the rest of the crew. And so, you take Kirk, take his libido, put in on a starfleet uniform, and you get Riker.

[@beansprout9256]

@@GraysonGranda: People also say Star Trek has the first interracial kiss in Kirk kissing Uhura, but that's not true either.

[@henrynorcrossii3363]

I don't recall a specific time that Kirk's libido endangered the entire ship, or where it risked causing an intergalactic incident.

[@williammcconville4967]

@@henrynorcrossii3363 he almost caused riots in the real world tho

[@metalmadsen]

If my captain was Picard, and my mates was Data and Worf - I wasn't going any where either.

[@bdr32965]

I'd stay just for Deana Troi and Beverly Crusher, they were pretty hot

[@goodyking6732]

Worf got beaten up all the time, except when he fought Klingons.

[@sam21462]

I think I would rather hang out with Bashir than Worf. I think I would rather hang out with Bashir's hypospray than Worf.

[@RIDDICK0911]

@@sam21462 I'd give up my personal life for hanging out with Bashir, O'Brian and occasionally Garak.

[@sam21462]

@@RIDDICK0911 - I'd hang with O'Brien any day any time and I guess late series Bashir can come too, not that early series guy though. Garak can only come if he has his Supersecretspy Mastercard to pick up tabs.

[@lawrencemorkeberg8371]

Show me where the bearded man hurt you.

[@thekornreeper]

Lawrence Morkeberg Exactly

[@tprime2702]

Right in my potential promotion.

[@DrCuriensapprentice]

Pre beard Riker, I want to bang him so hard. Post beard Riker meh

[@gregoreder8205]

In getting himself promotion to captain in the Borg-Arc, only for gladly giving up the rank of Captain to become First Officer again. That was so stupid and idiotic it hurts.

[@jaytomioka3137]

Lawrence Morkeberg he hurts us every time he plays the trombone or tells a joke... but really that is just bad writing.

[@jimwoodman8158]

I always got a kick out of it when Riker would make a suggestion on the bridge and either A: Data would explain why it wouldn't work, B:Geordi would explain why it wouldn't work , or C: Picard would dismiss it out of hand

[@garysmith3037]

"I feel this one deeply."- Worf

[@SuperDeinVadda]

Until they are stuck in a time loop and Riker suggests that venting the shuttlebay will solve the problem which resolves the episode at the end.

[@seannemo8076]

@@SuperDeinVadda I wonder if they shoehorned that in because the writers realized that Riker was always wrong and wanted to make him right at least once?

[@darklordofyocommunitah4781]

@@SuperDeinVadda A broken clock is right twice a day.

[@Ascania]

@@darklordofyocommunitah4781 We switched to digital to ensure that won't happen again.