I like Riker, but two Rikers is too many for me... lol. I never noticed how much yelling he does until this one. It's a decent episode though. It's more of a "what would you do?" poser in regards to personal decisions which TNG had done many times up to this point either in the main or sub plots. So, the only science fiction in this one is more of that fishy transporter technology, although as far as that goes when you consider all the bizarre accidents: aging forward or backward, people trapped in the pattern buffers, etc, this one actually seems like the most believable scenario.
It begins with the Enterprise coming into orbit around a planet. They're waiting for the chance to go down and retrieve some data that Starfleet researchers had to abandon when they were forced to evacuate eight years ago. While they wait, we see that Will is playing in a jazz band in Ten Forward. Beverly and Troi are sitting at the bar enjoying the music. When he done with the song he's playing he asks for requests from the audience. Troi playfully calls for Night Bird. He tries to get a request from others in the audience but Troi is the only taker and she asks for it again. He grudgingly announces that the next song is Night Bird and the band strikes up behind him. Beverly asks why he was so hesitant. Troi tells her that he's been trying to get the solo right for ten years and he's never made it through it yet. She's taking advantage of their long history together to have some fun with him, but just as he's about ready to start into the melody, Data calls him to the bridge. He smiles victoriously as he leaves. On the bridge, Data informs him that they'll be able to beam down sooner than they thought by using the transport records of the Potemkin, the ship that had to leave so suddenly all those years ago. It's then that we learn that Riker was on that ship at the time and had been down there before. He talks about how he barely made it out of there due to heavy distortions from the sun interfering with transporting out. Data estimates that they'll have three short windows over the next three days to retrieve the database. They won't have this chance again for another eight years. So Riker decides to go down ahead of schedule. He takes Worf and Data with him. When they get down to the station he notices immediately that it looks different. He can tell that someone had been in there tidying up. Data's tricorder picks up a humanoid life form coming towards them. They all take defensive positions and raise their phasers. The man that enters is an exact duplicate of Riker, only he's a lieutenant in a gold uniform.
The lieutenant claims that he is Will Riker. He says that he never made it back to the Potemkin eight years ago because the distortion interfered with his transport. He tells them to check with Starfleet to verify that he's listed as missing. Commander Riker assures him that he is Will Riker and that he did make it off the station eight years ago, but barely. Lt. Riker understands that they need to verify what he's saying so even though he's agitated, he agrees to be examined. It's notable that the torn uniform he's in is an older style of uniform, like the ones they wore in the first season. I love little details like that. Beverly confirms that he is genetically indistinguishable from Cdr. Riker. She rules out cloning. Their brain scans are also nearly identical and she explains that brain scans can't be cloned because their development is based on experiences. (Writing this directly after Rightful Heir, in which the Klingon priests claim to have programmed their cloned Kahless with memories, makes that episode all the more stupid in retrospect and only buttresses my points.) Geordi discovers that the way they transported him back accounts for the fact that there are two of him. Lots of technobabble, but essentially they set up two containment fields to transport him since it was so risky. They didn't need the second one for Riker One, but after a massive distortion during the transport, Riker's pattern bounced off of the second one before it dispersed and re-materialized Riker Two on the station as well. So, in answer to Will's question of which one of them is the "real" one, Picard can only answer that they were one in the same until eight years ago. Troi offers to talk to him. When Lt. Riker sees her he rushes to embrace her passionately but when she's not returning his affections, he backs off assuming that she's with Cdr. Riker now. She gently explains their history - of how Will chose his career over their relationship and now they're just really good friends. But Deanna is all that Lt. Riker has had to think of over the last eight years so he tells her outright that he won't give up trying to win her back. At any rate, they've decided that Lt. Riker could be useful in retrieving the database since he knows the station so thoroughly now and he's expected to be with the away team at the next transport window.
It's also important to note that the lady operating the transporter in these scenes, Ensign Palmer, is a real-life astronaut, the first that ever got to appear on Star Trek, and she even had a brief speaking line to let everyone know when they'd be able to beam down. Lt. Riker is late and when he shows up Cdr. Riker is easy on him at first. But after they're on the station for a while he gets increasingly annoyed with him. Will isn't happy with his attitude when he tries to tell him that he and their dad had made things up as well as his decision not to take his own ship command. Since he's matured and become more responsible, he's likely amazed that he used to be so rash minded and driven. And I must say, I've never understood this obsession with Riker's career over the course of the series. Every season they bring up the fact that he's not a captain yet like it's a bad thing. Am I the only one who's noticed that he's the best first officer of any Star Trek series? Drop it already! But, they needed to cause more tension between the Rikers. Data and Worf observe their arguing in their own unique ways - Worf uncomfortable and Data confused. The computers are a mess because Lt. Riker had to cannibalize a lot of systems over the years, and they determine that they'll have to go under the station to access the core directly to get what they need, but there's only three minutes left in this window. Lt. Riker insists on staying to retrieve it, assuring them that he'd be done by the time they come back on the third window. Will won't allow it because it's too risky due to the distortions. He has to "jerk a knot in his tail" so to speak and make him come back with them. He spends his next stretch of time on the ship wooing Troi. He sends her on a little scavenger hunt leaving notes with a flower and some candy until she ends up in Ten Forward where he presents her with an engraving of the last place they were together at on Betazed. He'd carved it himself with a phaser over the years. They sit and talk for a while and she's forced to admit how disappointed she was when Will didn't show up at their next rendezvous spot having chosen to transfer. The strange fact is that she was missing Will the same time, for a little while anyway, that Lt. Riker was pining for her. Lt. Riker is looking much more appealing in her eyes now. Later Will and Lt. Riker have more to fight about. Picard tells Will that Lt. Riker's plan to go directly to the core is a good one since he seems confident in his ability and this is the last chance to get it for eight years. Will tells Lt. Riker off some more for going to Picard behind his back and threatens to take him off the away team if he breaks rank again. I think it's delightfully funny that Will can't handle the very
same insubordination he'd showed Captain Jellico earlier in the season. It seems like a fitting payback for what a pain-in-the-ass he was being.
Then we get a little girl time in a gymnasium. Beverly and Troi are doing some of Worf's martial arts forms and Beverly is encouraging Troi to take a second chance with Lt. Riker against her better judgement. She not-so-subtly leaves when Lt. Riker joins them and after Troi takes him down handily with the Klingon moves, she gives in to her feelings. The good part about science fiction shows is that they never have to fully commit to things like this since they can just create a throw away double of Riker to experiment on. But, it's a believable scenario as well, examining the complexities of Will and Deanna's relationship since they were deeply in love once. She then discusses it with Will acknowledging that even thought they've both had other relationships over the years, that this is a very unusual situation. Will isn't as bothered by it as you'd think but warns her to be careful reminding her that he'd chosen his career over her eight years ago and he doesn't want to see her hurt when Lt. Riker makes the same choice, which is another realistic thing to consider. Later Lt. Riker comes to see Will in his quarters and Will invites him to sit in on the poker game. He quickly calls his bluff and is kind of a jerk about it since he doesn't like Lt. Riker very much and, I supposed, is worried about Troi. Data and Worf are caught awkwardly in the middle again. Lt. Riker leaves after one hand feeling and behaving like the younger brother that's always gotten the short end of the stick. However, Will's prediction soon comes true when Lt. Riker goes to Troi to tell her that Picard has arranged to get him a post on another ship. It really is a great opportunity since he'd been out of commission for eight years, so he'd be foolish not to take it, but Troi is left in the same position she was the first time around. He asks her to come with him, but she's worked hard and is happy with the life she's made for herself on the Enterprise. She says she'll think about it. The away team assembles for the third window.
They prepare to go under the station. Lt. Riker thinks Data will be accompanying him under the station, but Will insists on going instead. He tries to talk him out of it but Will won't budge. Worf and Data share a comical conversation about why meeting a double of oneself seems to cause such friction. It's funny because Worf admits that he's hard to get along with, but this really shouldn't puzzle Data that much since he too has a double, even though Lore is a different person. But it makes a great point about being faced with all of your characteristics that you don't like about yourself in the form of your duplicate. They move along some dangerous terrain and come to a conduit before a bridge that has only recently begun to leak radiation. Lt. Riker is thrown by this. If they have to stop and fix this, they won't have time to get to the core. But Will looks around and finds a valve to shut off that solves the problem. He tells him not to give up so easily the next time which showcases the experience he's gained over eight years. The next time comes very quickly as they head over the bridge. Will goes first with Lt. Riker behind him. The bridge collapses and Will scrambles to the other side. Lt. Riker is a little further down and having trouble holding on. He tells Will to just leave him and go on but Will struggles and pulls Lt. Riker up anyway. He looks back to see the deep chasm he almost fell into and is grateful. So now they get along. It actually seems almost as silly as Will and his father suddenly getting along after the Anbo Jyutsu match in which his father cheats. But, at least it's consistent. They make the repairs and download the database.
Troi gives Lt. Riker her final decision - she's not ready to leave the Enterprise. He's not surprised, but she leaves him with a little hope saying that perhaps some day she'd be ready to. They kiss goodbye and then Riker comes by to give Lt. Riker their trombone as a gift. (Is he just trying to get out of playing Night Bird again? Makes you wonder...) He accepts it and then moves to leave. Will wishes him luck and calls him "Will." Lt. Riker tells him that he's decided to go by "Thomas" which Troi points out is his middle name. Will notes with surprise how different they must be if he prefers Thomas because Will never really liked that name. Thomas Riker, bids Will to take care of Troi as he leaves. Will also leaves the room, comforting Troi since he can see she's just had to suffer the same let down as before. I imagine this would bring her back to the reality of their relationship as it is now - strong and perhaps even closer than when they were lovers.
It's a likeable episode. It's more about relationships than sci-fi, but it's better than others of this kind. I read that they were originally planning to strand or kill off Will Riker and have Lt. Riker take his place while promoting Data to Commander, but I'm glad they scrapped that. That would've been a terrible mistake after spending years and years developing a character. Like the way they replaced Iolaus with his alternate double in Hercules. No, in the time before
they started taking chances with marrying off main characters - Worf and
Dax; Paris and Torres, etc., this is just a surreptitious way to test the audience's reactions to the possibility of
permanently writing in the romance of Riker and Troi. And it's a writing device that I actually like so that they can try out various different things without the commitment... much better than making it all a dream like Dallas did for a season; nobody cares for a dream as a plot device. (Oh my... I'm showing my age.) I'm torn between three and a half and four stars on this. It doesn't technically merit four stars but I genuinely liked it. Although, from a technical standpoint, it's Levar Burton's directorial debut and with all the tricky camera work involved in twinning a character it was a great success. I'll go with four stars.
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