Commander William Riker

Just a quick tribute to Commander William Riker. I've not done a character profile on him yet because I haven't had a lot to say about him.

 At first his character was awful. Most of them were. His was particularly annoying. In fact, next to Wesley, his was  my least favorite. They wanted him to fill a couple of spots. First they wanted a womanizing figure like Kirk. Women were always desperately attracted to him and he even had a main character, Troi, sort of on the line the whole time.  Eventually though, his romances became more comical than a classic show of manliness. They also served as better plot devices as the series progressed.

 As well as "new Kirk" persona they also made him very buttoned up and anal in regards to duty and his job.  The two personalities didn't really meld together very well. On one hand he's a carefree playboy and on the other he was a mother hen over Picard with a smug and arrogant air about him. That smugness never went away entirely, but he did eventually lighten up and develop a personality. And a likeable personality at that.

 They made him a regular-guy kind of cool character because the others couldn't be that kind of cool. Picard had the cool mind and self control that made him the greatest captain of the franchise. Worf had the cool fighting skills. Geordi was the wizard of tech cool. Data was a cool piece of engineering. Beverly was an expert in her field kind of cool. Troi had the cool alien powers. Riker became like the popular kid at school who is well rounded and not a bully. He could plug in almost everywhere and be useful. His combat skills were right up there with Worf's and the technical capabilities to operate various stations on the ship. And could also take charge.

I think that's what prompts these thoughts today more than anything. I mentioned yesterday that by the time the sixth season came around I was quite tired of  various characters obsessing over the fact that he's not a captain like it's a bad thing. At first I appreciated the realistic edge - military types transfer and move up the ranks all the time. And quickly if they're really good. But the incessant jabs taken at Riker for never moving on became just plain mean spirited. He was accused of everything from being unambitious to being unqualified to make the hard decisions.

But while Picard did have to make some really hard choices, the job of the captain, in TNG anyway, was a desk job. Yes, everyone had to obey you, but you didn't get to get out and get any action. Riker's wild and woolly personality was suited to undercover assignments and dangerous away team missions. And he got to command the missions, so he was getting the best of both jobs. Why would he want to be captain? The prestige obviously didn't matter to him. He never seemed to feel "too old for this shit." And he had the freedom to pursue his clandestine affairs. He didn't deserved to be called, essentially, a lazy coward for not taking command of his own ship every season. It wasn't until these charges started piling up that I really started to appreciate the character of William Riker and noticed how much he'd grown over the seasons. He was a first officer worthy of more than just a promotion. Spock and Chakotay didn't have time to be as versatile because both were saddled with the challenge of controlling their super hero captains which they both mostly failed at. Kira, although she's one of my favorites, was never entirely a Starfleet officer and was substantially more insubordinate than Riker. Trip was the captain's best friend and consequently biased.

So, respect and props to the best first officer of the Star Trek franchise, Commander William Riker.