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William T. Riker

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William Thomas "Will" Riker was a 24th century male Human Starfleet officer . Riker served as first officer for Captain Jean-Luc Picard for 15 years on the USS Enterprise -D and USS Enterprise -E before finally accepting his own command with the USS Titan . ( TNG : " Encounter at Farpoint "; Star Trek: First Contact ; Star Trek Nemesis )

As captain of the Titan , Riker and his wife Deanna Troi had two children: a son named after Riker's ancestor Thaddius , and a daughter named after Troi's deceased sister Kestra . Thad contracted mendaxic neurosclerosis , prompting his family to move to Nepenthe , where Thad eventually died from his condition. The Rikers remained on Nepenthe for the rest of the 24th century. ( PIC : " Nepenthe ")

In the early 25th century , Riker had returned to active duty as he was scheduled to give a speech during Frontier Day . During Captain Vadic 's attack on the USS Titan -A , Riker was temporarily placed in command by the Titan -A's commanding officer, Captain Liam Shaw . ( PIC : " The Next Generation ", " Disengage ", " Seventeen Seconds ")

• 1 Early life
• 2.1 Starfleet Academy
• 2.2.1 Service aboard the Pegasus
• 2.2.2 Stationed on Betazed
• 2.2.3 Service aboard the Potemkin and Duplication Incident
• 2.2.4 Service aboard the Hood
• 2.3.1 First year
• 2.3.2 Combat record
• 2.3.3 Diplomacy and cultural exchange
• 2.3.4 Undercover missions
• 2.3.5 Disciplinary actions
• 2.3.6 Medical record
• 2.4.1 First contact
• 2.4.2 Fighting the Son'a
• 2.4.3 Battle with Shinzon
• 2.5 Command offers
• 2.6.1 First assignment
• 2.6.2 Dealing with the Pakleds
• 2.6.3 Becoming a father
• 2.7.1 Life on Nepenthe
• 2.7.2 Return to duty
• 2.8 Rescuing an old friend
• 3.4 Other interests
• 4.1 Marriage
• 4.2.1 Jean-Luc Picard
• 4.2.4 Carol Freeman
• 4.2.5 Beckett Mariner
• 4.3.1 Kyle Riker
• 4.3.2 Thomas Riker
• 4.4.1 Beata
• 4.4.2 Minuet
• 4.4.3 Lwaxana Troi
• 4.4.4 Brenna Odell
• 4.4.7 Lanel
• 4.4.8 Carmen Davila
• 4.4.9 Etana Jol
• 4.4.10 Ro Laren
• 4.4.11 Soren
• 4.4.12 Kamala
• 4.4.13 Amanda Rogers
• 4.4.14 Rebecca Smith
• 4.4.15 Deanna Troi
• 5.1 First contact with Bragu's species
• 5.2 Malfunctioning holoprogram
• 5.3 Jam session on the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701)
• 6 Alternate realities and timelines
• 7 Holograms
• 8 Miscellaneous information
• 9 Chronology
• 10 Memorable quotes
• 11.1 See also
• 11.2 Appearances
• 11.3.1 Character development
• 11.3.2 Legacy
• 11.4 Apocrypha
• 11.5 External links

Early life [ ]

A descendant of Yankee forebears , William Thomas Riker was born on August 19th , 2335 to Kyle and Betty Riker in Alaska on Earth . ( TNG : " The Last Outpost ", " The Icarus Factor ", " Conundrum ", " Second Chances ", " Lower Decks "; PIC : " The Bounty ") His distant ancestors included Thaddius Riker , a Union Army colonel who fought during the American Civil War of the mid- 19th century , and a particularly rugged great-grandfather of note. ( VOY : " Death Wish "; TNG : " Shades of Gray ")

Betty died when Will was only two years old, leaving his father to raise him alone. ( TNG : " Interface ", " Time Squared ") The Rikers remained in Alaska at Betty's wish. The only thing which kept Kyle going was Will, but he did not feel as if he could discuss the situation with him, even when Will was older. The memories of Betty's presence at their Alaska home were also painful for both. This initial trauma created a rift between the two Rikers which lasted thirty years. ( TNG : " The Icarus Factor ")

When Will first started school in 2340 , the five-year-old told all of his new friends that his mother was still alive. Eventually, he told the story so often that he began to believe the lie . Soon, his teacher learned of this problem, and both she and Kyle had to talk to Will and make him realize that his mother was dead and was not coming back. Will cried the entire night following, but later realized it was an important step in accepting his mother's death. ( TNG : " Interface ")

However, Will's relationship with Kyle continued to deteriorate into his early teens. He was often left to care for himself, learning such skills as cooking. ( TNG : " Time Squared ", " Future Imperfect ")

Will was never able to concentrate much on subjects such as math , as he constantly daydreamed about starships . ( TNG : " The Royale ")

Young Will Riker with a nice catch

In 2344 , Will and his father went on a fishing trip. Will was able to hook a large fish , but Kyle insisted on reeling the fish in. This incident bothered Will for many years.

He also practiced anbo-jyutsu with his father. By 2347 , when Will was twelve, Kyle admitted that his son's skills at the sport were superior. Will did not know that the only reason he always lost was because his father used illegal hachidan kiritsu moves.

Kyle completely abandoned Will by 2350 , when Will was fifteen. Will held a grudge against his father for the following fifteen years. ( TNG : " The Icarus Factor ")

Starfleet career [ ]

Starfleet academy [ ].

Will entered Starfleet Academy in 2353 . Paul Rice was at the Academy at the same time, and they were friends. Riker's superintendent was a Vulcan , who had taken the time to memorize the personnel files of each and every cadet . ( TNG : " Chain Of Command, Part I ", " The Arsenal of Freedom ", " The First Duty ")

During his first year, Riker felt at odds with everyone, as if the world was against him. ( TNG : " Frame of Mind ")

At one point, Riker calculated a sensory blind spot on a Tholian vessel and hid within it during a battle simulation . ( TNG : " Peak Performance ")

Upon graduation in 2357 , Riker was ranked eighth in his class and was commissioned as an officer with the serial number was SC 231-427. He set lofty goals for himself and hoped to reach captain before thirty-five years of age. ( TNG : " Chain Of Command, Part I ", " Gambit, Part I ", " Second Chances "; PIC : " The Bounty ")

Early postings and assignments [ ]

Service aboard the pegasus [ ].

Seven months after graduation, Ensign William Riker's first posting was to the USS Pegasus under the command of Captain Erik Pressman . He was the ship's conn officer, and his youthful appearance earned him the nickname " Ensign Babyface ," coined by fellow crewmember Lieutenant Boylen . ( TNG : " The Pegasus ") Phil Wallace was another of Riker's friends aboard the Pegasus . ( ENT : " These Are the Voyages... ")

Fresh from the Academy, Riker was still somewhat serious about his work. Loyalty and obedience to his commanding officer were top priorities, with his ears still ringing with words like "duty" and "honor". This attitude caused him to behave against the principles of the Treaty of Algeron during a crisis on board the ship.

Captain Pressman had been illegally testing a prototype phasing cloaking device aboard the Pegasus . This top secret project was in violation of the Treaty of Algeron , not to mention extremely dangerous to the crew, leading most of the Pegasus officers, such as the first officer and chief engineer, to mutiny against Pressman. Riker was the only bridge officer to defend the captain, picking up a phaser and instigating a running firefight all the way to the escape pods . Only a few other members of the crew joined Riker and Pressman. Once safely away, Riker and the others watched as the Pegasus apparently exploded, killing the remaining seventy-one personnel.

Although Pressman commended Riker for his unquestioning loyalty, over the years Riker began to have doubts about whether he had made the right decision. The Starfleet Judge Advocate General investigated the Pegasus incident, but the survivors participated in a coverup. The JAG discovered evidence of a mutiny aboard the Pegasus before its destruction. While further investigation was recommended, Starfleet Intelligence declared the entire incident classified and no follow-up was ever conducted. ( TNG : " The Pegasus ")

Stationed on Betazed [ ]

Riker and Troi on Betazed

Following the Pegasus incident, Riker was stationed on Betazed . While there, he met Deanna Troi. The two began a relationship which lasted several years. ( TNG : " Encounter at Farpoint ", " Ménage à Troi ", " Second Chances ")

Sometime during his early career, Riker needed to wear a feathered costume while on a diplomatic mission to Armus IX . Similarly, he wore furs to meet with the leadership council on Kabatris . ( TNG : " Angel One ")

Service aboard the Potemkin and Duplication Incident [ ]

By 2361 , Riker was promoted to lieutenant and served in the operations division aboard the USS Potemkin . Aboard the Potemkin , he developed a tactic which involved using a planet 's magnetic pole and shutting down all ship's systems to confuse an enemy vessel's sensors. He also took up poker so he could ingratiate himself with the senior officers in their games, which came across as rather obvious brownnosing. Fortunately, they realized he was young and inexperienced and decided not to hold it against him. ( TNG : " Peak Performance ", " Lower Decks ")

Later that year, Riker led an away team to Nervala IV to rescue researchers stranded at the outpost on that world. Riker was the last to beam out. Atmospheric distortions threatened to dissipate his pattern, so the Potemkin transporter chief compensated by creating a second confinement beam. Only one beam was needed for Riker to rematerialize on the ship, so the second beam was shut down. In an odd twist of fate, the second transporter beam, which had exactly the same phase differential as the distortion field, maintained its integrity and was reflected back to the planet's surface, where it also successfully rematerialized a William T. Riker. The Potemkin crew did not realize that the beam had been reflected to create duplicate Rikers, resulting in the one on the planet (later known as Thomas ) remaining stranded there for the next eight years. Up until the moment of transport, both Rikers were the same person. As a result, both had an equal claim to being the "real" William T. Riker. However, as Riker and his crewmates were unaware that he was not the sole William T. Riker after returning to the Potemkin , he retained the identity thereafter. He later received a promotion to lieutenant commander for "exceptional valor" during the mission. He was quickly posted to the USS Hood as first officer . ( TNG : " Second Chances ")

Service aboard the Hood [ ]

Riker's commanding officer on the Hood was Captain Robert DeSoto . His service aboard the ship was exemplary, despite an incident where Riker, risking a court martial , refused to allow Captain DeSoto to transport into a hostile situation on planet Altair III . He was ultimately rewarded for this action, as it was what made his profile stand out in the eyes of Captain Jean-Luc Picard. ( TNG : " Encounter at Farpoint ", " The Pegasus ")

Riker was offered his first command, that of the ill-fated USS Drake , in 2364 . However, he turned down that position for a far more enticing offer. ( TNG : " The Arsenal of Freedom ")

Service aboard the Enterprise -D [ ]

First year [ ].

Riker, with Picard and Troi during the Farpoint Mission

William Riker was promoted to commander and first officer of the newly launched USS Enterprise -D in 2364. He was ferried to planet Deneb IV by the Hood and met the Enterprise at the planet. The ship had undergone a saucer separation after being threatened by the entity known as Q . Riker reported aboard the stardrive section and was briefed about the current situation and was ordered to perform a difficult and unusual manual docking with the saucer module , which he conducted very well.

During the Farpoint mission, Riker led several away teams which discovered that Farpoint Station was a living entity, trapped by the Bandi for their own selfish purposes. ( TNG : " Encounter at Farpoint ")

Q was intrigued with Riker, so much so that he believed Riker deserved to be empowered with the abilities of the Q Continuum . Q made a bet with the Continuum that Riker would accept the gift and trapped the Enterprise while it was en route to a disaster on a mining colony on Quadra Sigma III . Most of its senior officers were then taken to a deadly illusion world. Riker used his newfound powers to save the crew from hostile aliens inhabiting the fantasy, bringing Lieutenant Worf and Wesley Crusher back to life in the process. Picard was concerned about these events and requested that Riker not use his supernatural abilities. However, Riker changed his mind after he refused to save a young girl killed in the disaster. He became angry with Picard, feeling he had suppressed his abilities and caused the death of the girl.

Further temptation by Q led Riker to grant several wishes to the Enterprise crew: to Geordi La Forge , normal eyesight; to Worf, a Klingon female mate; to Wesley, full growth to adulthood. He nearly transformed Data into a Human, but Data refused the offer, feeling that it would be merely an illusion. As Picard predicted, the other crew also turned down Riker's gifts because of their inherent emptiness. Riker learned his lesson, and the powers were taken away once Q was recalled to the Continuum. ( TNG : " Hide And Q ")

The Enterprise was stolen from Starbase 74 by a race called the Bynars . Their computer-based society was on the verge of collapse after the star Beta Magellan went supernova and damaged their central computer. They required the Enterprise in order to repair it. The crew evacuated, but Riker and Picard remained on board, infatuated by a holodeck program created by the Bynars as a diversion. The two were successful in retaking the Enterprise and saving the Bynar homeworld from destruction. ( TNG : " 11001001 ")

Riker became involved with the alien conspiracy which infiltrated Starfleet Command in 2364. The possessed Admiral Gregory Quinn attempted to infest him with a parasitic being in order to have an alien operative aboard the Enterprise , but Riker resisted. He struggled with Quinn and was knocked out but was able to alert other personnel to the situation. Dr. Beverly Crusher incapacitated Quinn with a phaser, then determined the nature of the neural parasites. She implanted a fake parasite on Riker, who then beamed down to Earth just in time to prevent the infested Starfleet officers from co-opting Captain Picard. He and Picard were able to find the mother creature, hosted in Lieutenant Commander Dexter Remmick , and destroy it before the alien conspiracy grew any further. ( TNG : " Conspiracy ")

Combat record [ ]

Riker in 2365

Riker was an accomplished tactician, inventing several strategies while serving aboard various starships. He apparently acquired a reputation for using unorthodox solutions, as Enterprise Second Officer Data estimated he only used traditional tactics 21 percent of the time. In 2365 , Riker was given temporary command of the outdated USS Hathaway during a combat exercise to ready for the Borg invasion. The Hathaway was to fight the Enterprise in a simulation designed to test the response of a crew when faced with a substantially superior enemy. Although Riker's crew managed to turn the poorly maintained Hathaway into something flyable and score several hits against the Enterprise during the initial phases of battle, the test turned deadly when a Ferengi marauder intervened. The Enterprise believed that the Ferengi were a holographic trick designed to divert attention from the Hathaway , and therefore did not raise shields. The Ferengi opened fire, disabling the Enterprise 's weapons and shields. The Ferengi demanded that the Enterprise hand over custody of the Hathaway , as they incorrectly assumed the Hathaway had valuable Federation secrets on board. In order to fool the Ferengi, Riker devised a plan to have the Enterprise fire photon torpedoes at the Hathaway , which would jump to warp just before they exploded, making it appear to the Ferengi as if the Hathaway had been destroyed. Worf then fooled the Ferengi sensors into believing that a Starfleet ship had entered the system, scaring them away. ( TNG : " Peak Performance ")

Riker orders Worf to fire on the Borg cube

In 2366 , the Borg launched their first invasion of the Federation . A Borg specialist, Lieutenant Commander Elizabeth Shelby , was assigned to the Enterprise . The two butted heads over protocol, and Riker felt that Shelby was trying to ingratiate herself to Captain Picard in order to prove her qualifications as a first officer, particularly since Riker had recently been offered command of the USS Melbourne and was having trouble deciding whether his reluctance to accept the post meant that he had become scared of his old ambitions to become a captain himself. Picard was eventually abducted by the Borg and assimilated , becoming Locutus of Borg . Riker was then left in command of the Enterprise and faced with the difficult decision of choosing to use a new deflector dish weapon against the Borg cube , which would destroy that ship along with Picard. When a rescue attempt failed, Riker gave the order to use the weapon. ( TNG : " The Best of Both Worlds ") However, the assimilated knowledge of Captain Picard gave the Borg an advantage, and they altered their shields to resist the weapon.

Riker as captain of the Enterprise

As the Borg continued on a direct course for Earth, Admiral J.P. Hanson gave Riker a field promotion to captain. Riker chose Shelby as his new first officer. Even though their relationship had a rocky start, Riker realized that they worked well together, and Shelby had the knowledge necessary to mount a successful fight against the Borg. Riker was still reluctant to accept the responsibility in light of Picard's abduction, but Guinan , an old and close friend of Picard, was able to convince him that he needed to let Picard go not only to win against the Borg, but also to save Picard. The Enterprise was repaired after its use of the deflector weapon and warped to rendezvous with the fleet at Wolf 359 . It arrived shortly after the devastating Battle of Wolf 359 , where many ships, including the Melbourne , were destroyed. At this point, Riker formulated a plan to recover Captain Picard, in hopes that the Borg might halt their approach with Locutus gone. The Enterprise caught up to the Borg and used Shelby's plan of separating the saucer section. Picard had been briefed on this plan before he was assimilated and knew that the stardrive section was the only threat. As the Borg focused their attack, the saucer launched a shuttlecraft carrying Data and Worf. They beamed aboard the cube and brought Picard back to the Enterprise . The Borg were temporarily confused but continued on course. Data and Dr. Crusher later learned that the Borg interconnectedness gave them access to the entire Collective through Picard. Data linked himself to Locutus and accessed the Borg command structure as the cube entered Earth orbit. Initial attempts to deactivate the Borg were fruitless, and Riker prepared to ram the Borg cube with the Enterprise in hopes that the collision would disable the vessel. Picard was able to tell Data to instruct the Borg to regenerate, which was a low-priority command. The cycle ended up in a feedback loop, and the cube exploded, cutting Picard's link and restoring his Humanity. Riker returned to his post as Enterprise first officer following Picard's recovery, having proven to himself and others that he was capable of shouldering the burdens of command, but chose to remain on the Enterprise because he liked the friends and relationships he had formed on the ship rather than because he was frightened of reaching for more. ( TNG : " The Best of Both Worlds, Part II ")

During the Klingon Civil War of 2368 , Riker was placed in temporary command of the USS Excalibur along with Geordi La Forge as his 1st officer. The ship was part of an armada led by the Enterprise -D and set up a tachyon detection grid using blockade tactics in order to reveal Romulan assistance to the House of Duras . ( TNG : " Redemption II ")

On stardate 46235.7, Riker was again left in temporary command of the Enterprise when Captain Picard and three other crew members were transformed into children. The ship was attacked by a pair of B'rel -class Bird-of-Prey ships under the command of Ferengi privateers. During the battle, the Enterprise was overwhelmed and subsequently boarded by the Ferengi. The Ferengi seized control of the ship, and it was only with the help of Captain Picard and the other transformed crewmen that control was regained. ( TNG : " Rascals ")

Riker braces himself as the Enterprise -D crashes into Veridian III

Riker with the captain's chair after the Enterprise 's destruction

Riker was in command during the Enterprise -D's final battle in 2371 . The ship had been attacked by the Duras sisters by order of Dr. Tolian Soran . The sisters were given an unfair advantage, as Soran had placed a visual transmitter in La Forge's VISOR , giving them access to the Enterprise shield modulation. Riker's quick thinking led to the identification of a plasma coil flaw on the sisters' old Bird-of-Prey , which was destroyed. Unfortunately, the Enterprise suffered catastrophic damage to its warp core . Riker ordered a saucer separation, and the saucer section maneuvered to safety before the engineering section exploded. The shock wave from the blast caused the saucer to plunge into the atmosphere of Veridian III , where it crash-landed. The entire crew survived, although Riker was disappointed that he would never have the chance to command the ship. ( Star Trek Generations )

Diplomacy and cultural exchange [ ]

Riker participated in first contact with the Ferengi in the Delphi Ardu system in 2364. The Enterprise and a Ferengi marauder were trapped in orbit, paralyzed by a Tkon energy-dampening weapon. An away team commanded by Riker contacted the Tkon portal . The portal sensed Riker's great courage and dignity, while it only found deception with the Ferengi, leading it to grant Riker's request and release both ships. ( TNG : " The Last Outpost ")

Riker conducted another diplomatic mission that year on the planet Angel I . Survivors from a Federation freighter , the Odin , were discovered on the matriarchal world and sentenced to death for advancing policies to grant equal rights for male members of the society. Riker successfully argued their case to Mistress Beata , Angel I's Elected One , convincing her that change was inevitable. She later allowed the Odin crew and their families from Angel I to be moved to an isolated continent so they could continue their lives without affecting mainstream culture. ( TNG : " Angel One ")

Riker was an early participant in the Officer Exchange Program , temporarily transferring to a Klingon Bird-of-Prey, the IKS Pagh , in 2365. To prepare for the assignment, he indulged in many different Klingon foods . Worf also gave him an emergency transponder shortly before his departure, just in case of an emergency situation. On board the Pagh , Riker had to quickly learn the Klingon way of doing things, physically fighting the second officer to prove his loyalty to Captain Kargan and enduring the abusive comments of the Klingon crew. At the same time, the Enterprise became infected with a hull-degrading bacterium, which it inadvertently transmitted from the Pagh . The Klingons believed that it was a new Federation weapon and returned to attack the Enterprise . Riker was able to relieve Kargan by giving him the transponder and sending him to the Enterprise , then staging a mock battle with the Starfleet vessel to maintain the honor of the Klingon crew. Riker returned to his post aboard the Enterprise following the incident. ( TNG : " A Matter Of Honor ")

In 2366, the Enterprise hosted negotiations for rights to the Barzan wormhole . The Federation representative, Mendoza , was poisoned by the Ferengi delegation, requiring Riker to take his place. The wormhole later turned out to be useless, as its terminus fluctuated between the Gamma and Delta Quadrants . ( TNG : " The Price ")

The Enterprise responded to sensor readings which indicated a Romulan outpost on Alpha Onias III in early 2367 , on Riker's birthday. Riker led an away team to investigate but was trapped by an alien named Barash . The alien had been hidden on the planet by his mother to keep him safe from their enemies and was given technology to generate any type of fantasy. He became lonely and hoped Riker would stay to keep him company. When Riker regained consciousness, he was confronted by an Enterprise sixteen years into the future. Dr. Crusher claimed that he was infected by Altarian encephalitis and had lost all memories since Alpha Onias III. He was a single parent with one slightly troublesome child, " Jean-Luc Riker ." "Admiral" Picard then arrived on a Romulan warbird with a diplomatic delegation. Riker was to complete the final peace accords with the Romulans, which he had been working on ever since the Enterprise rescued a damaged Romulan ship. Although Riker began to accept his new circumstances and give "Jean-Luc" attention, the simulation quickly began to fall apart as the technology was not able to keep up with Riker. The Enterprise computer was much too slow, and the senior staff were unable to answer Riker's questions about the previous sixteen years. Moreover, a recording of his wife revealed her to be Minuet , a holographic fantasy. This illusion gave way to another wherein Riker was imprisoned in a Romulan laboratory. Barash stayed in the form of the child, now called " Ethan ." Riker and Ethan plotted an escape, but Riker figured out this second deception when Ethan accidentally called Tomalak "ambassador," a rank he only held in the first illusion. Barash then revealed his true nature to Riker. Will offered him safety and companionship aboard the Enterprise , and the two transported back to the ship. ( TNG : " Future Imperfect ")

The Enterprise was crippled after a defect caused its dilithium chamber hatch to explode. Initially the incident was blamed on Romulan espionage, but it was later determined to be a problem with the hatch, which had been replaced at Earth Station McKinley a few months previously. Riker participated in the initial questioning of a Klingon suspect named J'Dan . After Admiral Norah Satie came aboard and instigated a "witch hunt" with the intention of forcing out Romulan collaborators, Riker served as defense counsel for Crewman Simon Tarses . Tarses was singled out as a spy because his grandfather was Romulan. Satie's investigation was later canceled by Starfleet Command when it became apparent her accusations had very little factual support. ( TNG : " The Drumhead ")

Riker piloted Trill ambassador Odan to a meeting on Peliar Zel in 2367. En route, their shuttle was attacked, and Odan's host body injured. The symbiont was removed, and later transplanted to Riker at his insistence. Human physiology was not totally compatible with the symbiont, but Odan survived in Riker's body long enough to complete negotiations between the two moons of the planet. Odan had been romantically involved with Dr. Beverly Crusher, and she was confused by Odan's change. She tried to avoid him as much as possible as she was uncomfortable with the Trill way of life. Eventually, Crusher realized that she was attracted to Odan's personality as much as his physical appearance and made love to him in Will's body. When a new Trill host arrived, the symbiont was removed from Riker, and he recovered with no long-term effects. ( TNG : " The Host ")

Will was left in command of the Enterprise in 2368 while Captain Picard visited Romulus in search of Ambassador Spock . He was ordered to investigate the disappearance of the Vulcan ship T'Pau from Qualor II when the wreckage of its deflector array was found among the debris of a Ferengi cargo ship . The Enterprise discovered that a mercenary vessel had been stealing ship components from the surplus depot which orbited the planet. The mercenaries were killed when they attacked the Enterprise , ( TNG : " Unification I ") forcing Riker to turn to the planet for information. He found a Ferengi trader named Omag who revealed that the Vulcan parts were being sent to Galorndon Core . The Enterprise continued to investigate, and Sela attempted to divert the Enterprise by sending a fake distress signal from a Federation colony . Riker saw through the deception and the Enterprise went to intercept the stolen Vulcan ships at the Romulan Neutral Zone , but they were destroyed by a Romulan Warbird before entering Federation space . ( TNG : " Unification II ")

Riker was to escort Iyaaran ambassador Byleth during his visit to the Enterprise in 2370 , but the ambassador insisted on Worf instead. ( TNG : " Liaisons ")

Undercover missions [ ]

Riker disguised as a Mintakan in 2366

While serving on board the Enterprise -D, Riker participated in away missions in which he employed disguises to protect Starfleet's Prime Directive .

When a cultural observation post on Mintaka III was severely damaged in 2366, it was discovered by a Mintakan named Liko . Liko was severely injured after being startled by the structure's appearance, requiring his transport to the Enterprise for treatment. While there he briefly woke and saw Captain Picard, whom he believed to be a deity. Several members of the observation team were also injured and wandered from the post. Riker and Troi attempted to correct the damage done to their culture by masquerading as Mintakans. They tried to convince the Mintakans that Liko was merely delusional. Riker was able to retrieve one of the observers, Dr. Palmer , from the Mintakans, but Troi was left behind. The Mintakans, terrified that Picard was a god and would come to punish them, wanted to execute her as a sacrifice to Picard. Picard later transported their leader aboard the Enterprise and convinced her that he was not a god, and Troi was released. ( TNG : " Who Watches The Watchers ")

In 2367, Riker was injured while observing the Malcorians . In preparation for the mission, his face was surgically altered to look Malcorian. He posed as Rivas Jakara . After being injured, he was treated in the local hospital. A female Malcorian nurse, Lanel , who discovered that he was an alien, offered him help when he agreed to make love with her. Unfortunately, Riker was soon discovered by others and detained. Minister Krola , a government official who was frightened of the idea of alien visitors, attempted to kill himself with Riker's phaser. Riker was eventually rescued by Dr. Crusher and Worf. ( TNG : " First Contact ")

Riker defending himself while undercover on Tilonus IV

In 2369 , he undertook an undercover mission to Tilonus IV to find and rescue a Federation research team on the planet. He was disguised as a Tilonian merchant but was eventually discovered, ambushed, and drugged. The Tilonians then tried to operate a neural drain on him in an attempt to learn secrets in his mind, but his mind kept fighting back with recent memories that included a play about an alien sanitarium. His mental defenses eventually allowed him to regain consciousness and fight his way to his concealed communicator, allowing the Enterprise to beam him away to safety. ( TNG : " Frame of Mind ")

In 2370, Data was damaged on a mission to Barkon IV. Riker and Dr. Crusher disguised themselves as Barkonians and brought Data back to the Enterprise . ( TNG : " Thine Own Self ")

Riker as a Bajoran in 2370

Also in 2370, Riker and Ro Laren were sent on a mission to infiltrate the Maquis . Riker was disguised as a Bajoran and claimed to be a relative of Ro's. Ro eventually betrayed Riker and joined the Maquis, but she allowed him to leave. Riker wished her "good luck" as he returned to the Enterprise . ( TNG : " Preemptive Strike ")

Disciplinary actions [ ]

The Enterprise left Riker and other personnel at the research station of Dr. Nel Apgar in 2366. They were to inspect his Krieger wave converter technology, as his research had been funded by Starfleet. While there, Apgar's wife, Manua , tried to seduce him. Dr. Apgar caught them kissing, and he and Riker fought nearly the entire visit. Tensions were at a breaking point when the Enterprise returned to pick up the crew. Shortly after Riker beamed out, the station exploded, killing Apgar. Riker was initially suspected of murder due to accusations by Apgar's widow and assistant , and he was placed under arrest by Tanugan authorities. The Enterprise crew began their own investigation using the holodeck. They determined that the station was not destroyed as a result of a phaser blast from Riker into the station's power core, but as a result of an energy beam directed at Riker by Apgar. Apgar had actually been developing the new technology into a weapon which he wished to sell to the Romulans, and he was worried that Riker had discovered his plan, which would terminate the research before the weapon could be created. The beam was intended to disperse Riker's pattern as he beamed off the station, but it unexpectedly deflected off the transporter beam and into the power core. Upon this revelation, chief investigator Krag dropped all charges. ( TNG : " A Matter of Perspective ")

Shortly after Cardassian withdrawal from the Bajor sector in 2369, Captain Picard was reassigned to a covert infiltration of a Cardassian outpost on Celtris III . Command of the Enterprise was transferred to Edward Jellico at the order of Admiral Alynna Nechayev . Riker tried to convince her that he was suited for the position, but she wanted an officer with experience in dealing with the Cardassians. The transition from Picard to Jellico was difficult for the entire crew. He reassigned many crewmembers from engineering to security, placed overbearing demands on all departments, and instituted new duty shift cycles which led to personnel management problems. As first officer, Riker was the recipient of complaints. Jellico saw Riker as arrogant for questioning his changes and questioned Picard's high opinion of him. ( TNG : " Chain Of Command, Part I ") Riker was present for the negotiations with the Cardassians and learned that Picard had been captured on Celtris III. Jellico deemed Picard lost and refused to attempt a rescue mission. He and Riker got into a verbal altercation in which Riker accused Jellico of sacrificing Picard's life and Jellico accusing Riker of challenging his authority. Riker was subsequently relieved of duty, with Data taking his place as first officer. The Enterprise later developed a plan to ambush a Cardassian invasion fleet in the McAllister C-5 Nebula , involving a shuttlecraft planting mines on the hulls of the Cardassian warships. Riker was the only pilot with the experience to fly the mission, and Jellico returned him to duty following a conversation wherein they both vowed not to let their opinions of one another affect their duties. ( TNG : " Chain Of Command, Part II ")

Early in 2370, Captain Picard was believed to have been killed on Dessica II . He was transported to a mercenary ship commanded by Arctus Baran and joined their crew with the name " Galen ." The Enterprise pursued the mercenaries to the Barradas system , where Riker too was abducted. He worked with Captain Picard to learn more about the mission of the mercenaries and assumed the role of a rebellious and untrustworthy Starfleet officer, trying to gain the trust of Baran. He later attempted to deactivate the Enterprise 's shields with his out-of-date command codes, giving a signal to Data to drop the shields. ( TNG : " Gambit, Part I ") Picard reconfigured the ship's weapons to a harmless setting, and the Enterprise pretended to be damaged. The mercenaries continued on their quest, and Picard eventually learned that they were planning to assemble an ancient Vulcan psionic weapon . The final component was aboard a shuttle piloted by a Klingon named Koral , who had been pulled over by the Enterprise . The mercenaries planned a raid on the Enterprise with Riker's help. Meanwhile, Baran instructed Riker to kill Picard, who had challenged Baran's authority. The group transported to the Enterprise and found the last component, but Picard then shot Riker before returning to the mercenary vessel. Riker was merely stunned, however, and reassumed command of the Enterprise . The ship went to Vulcan and stopped T'Paal , a Vulcan isolationist , from using the weapon. Back on the Enterprise , Picard jokingly suggested that Data place Riker under arrest for treason. Data did not understand the joke, and actually brought Riker to the brig . ( TNG : " Gambit, Part II ")

Cmdr. Riker together with Admiral Erik Pressman in 2370

In 2370, the wreckage of the Pegasus was detected in the Devolin system . Erik Pressman, now an admiral, came aboard the Enterprise and the ship was sent to locate the Pegasus and to salvage it. Starfleet Security was interested in retrieving the phasing cloaking device , which also piqued Romulan interest. Pressman then told Riker that the the head of Starfleet Security had sent orders not to discuss the true mission of the Pegasus . The badly damaged Pegasus was found submerged deep within asteroid Gamma-601 , but the phasing cloak was still intact. It was returned to the Enterprise , but the Enterprise was now trapped within the asteroid as a result of Romulan weapons fire. The phasing cloak was the ship's only hope of escape, and Riker revealed its existence to the Enterprise crew, to the ire of Pressman. La Forge and Data were able to connect and activate the cloak, letting the Enterprise escape. Picard informed the Romulans of what had happened, then took Pressman into custody. Riker was also arrested, at his own insistence, and appeared before a board of inquiry at Starbase 247 . Riker, however, was allowed to return to duty despite this setback. ( TNG : " The Pegasus ")

Riker playing the chef of Enterprise NX-01 in the holodeck in 2370

Riker had only discussed the truth about the Pegasus with ship's counselor Deanna Troi, and had difficulty deciding whether or not to reveal the true circumstances of the Pegasus incident to Captain Picard. At Troi's suggestion, Riker recreated the final mission of Enterprise NX-01 on the holodeck in order to gain command insight and to try to learn from the relationship between Captain Jonathan Archer and his chief engineer, Commander Charles Tucker III . He interacted with several Enterprise crew members as " Chef ", and as a MACO participated in the mission to rescue Shran 's daughter . By observing Tucker's willingness to disobey orders during a critical moment, saving the life of Archer and ensuring the birth of the Federation, Riker realized that telling the truth and trusting Captain Picard's faith in him was much more important than obeying Pressman's orders. ( ENT : " These Are the Voyages... ")

Medical record [ ]

While leading an away team to planet Minos in 2364, Riker was encased in a stasis field by one of the automated weapons drones reactivated by the USS Drake . Data was able to use a phaser to free him. ( TNG : " The Arsenal of Freedom ")

Riker was attacked by the Ornaran T'Jon in 2364. T'Jon wanted Picard to hand over a shipment of felicium and threatened to kill Riker if he did not comply. ( TNG : " Symbiosis ")

Later that year, Riker was "absorbed" by the malevolent entity Armus on Vagra II . He was later returned to the planet unharmed, although he was completely covered in a viscous black liquid. ( TNG : " Skin Of Evil ")

Gregory Quinn, under the influence of the neural parasites, knocked Riker out after throwing him through a table. ( TNG : " Conspiracy ")

While exploring Surata IV in 2365, Riker was stuck by the thorn of a native plant. The thorn contained an organism which began to attack Riker's central nervous system and caused him to fall into a coma. Dr. Katherine Pulaski was able to stimulate certain memory centers in Riker's brain. The emotional response provided resistance to the organism, which was suppressed. ( TNG : " Shades of Gray ")

Treated for scratches in sickbay

Riker was part of a cultural observation team on Malcor III in 2367. The Malcorians were on the verge of warp capability, and the Federation planned to make first contact with the race. However, Riker was mugged and badly injured in a Malcorian city and was brought to a Malcorian hospital for treatment. His different anatomy and physiology perplexed the Malcorian doctors, and rumors soon spread that Riker was indeed an alien. Despite his best efforts to escape, Riker was kept captive and his whereabouts left unknown to the Enterprise . Furthermore, the strong xenophobic tendencies of the Malcorians were demonstrated when Krola , a member of Malcorian leader Durken 's staff, tried to make it look as if Riker assassinated him in order to make it appear as if the Federation was hostile and therefore discourage any contact. Riker was eventually rescued by a team from the Enterprise and treated by Dr. Crusher. However, the incident proved to Durken that the Malcorians were not ready for contact with other species, and he requested that the Federation leave the system until the culture was better prepared. ( TNG : " First Contact ")

Riker's arm was broken when the Enterprise investigated an apparent distress call from the USS Essex on Mab-Bu VI in 2368. His injury prevented one of the disembodied criminals trapped there from inhabiting his body. ( TNG : " Power Play ")

In 2368, Riker was one of three Enterprise officers mentally assaulted by a Ullian named Jev . Jev forced Riker to relive an accident in main engineering where he was forced to seal a crewmember, Ensign Keller , behind an isolation door , causing her death. Riker then fell into a coma, which was believed to be a side effect of Iresine Syndrome . Investigation by Enterprise personnel revealed that Jev was the cause of the comas, and doctors from the Ullian homeworld helped with Riker's recovery. ( TNG : " Violations ")

Taken by the solanagen aliens

Riker being examined

Early in 2369, Commander La Forge made enhancements to the sensor array during a survey mission to the Amargosa Diaspora . The modifications involved channeling warp power through the main deflector. Unknown at the time, the energy signatures reached into a tertiary subspace domain and allowed a group of solanogen-based lifeforms from another universe to gain access to the Enterprise . They wanted to learn more about our universe and potentially discover a way to project their universe into ours. Riker and several other crewmembers were abducted and analyzed by the aliens, sometimes involving gory medical experiments. Riker's right arm was amputated and reattached at some point. The side effects from the experiments left him very fatigued and claustrophobic, and it was these symptoms which led him to speak to Counselor Troi. She brought Riker together with other Enterprise personnel who were experiencing similar feelings, and the group was able to create a holodeck simulation of the alien environment where they were taken. Later, Dr. Crusher found evidence of the medical experiments in all the abductees. In order to close the link between the normal universe and the solanagen universe and seal a spatial rupture forming in the Enterprise cargo bay, Riker wore a homing beacon which was able to isolate the tetryon emissions emanating from the solanagen universe and allow La Forge to initiate a graviton beam to seal the breach. Dr. Crusher also gave him a counteragent to ward off the sedative used by the aliens. Later that night, he was removed from the ship and taken to the alien laboratory, where the homing beacon allowed the Enterprise to seal the rupture shortly after Riker returned with another missing Enterprise crewmember. ( TNG : " Schisms ")

Also in 2369, the Enterprise stopped at the Remmler Array for a baryon sweep . While there, the Enterprise command crew was invited to a reception at Arkaria Base . A terrorist group took them hostage in order to secure trilithium resin from the Enterprise . Dr. Crusher devised a plan to use La Forge's VISOR as a way to knock their captors into unconsciousness but needed a distraction to make the modifications. Riker went up to one of the terrorists and tried to punch him but was hit in the jaw himself. ( TNG : " Starship Mine ")

In the play Frame of Mind

Later in 2369, Riker was sent to Tilonus IV to track a Federation research team lost when the government collapsed into anarchy . During the mission, he was abducted and held captive in a facility run by Dr. Syrus . The doctor began experiments on Riker's mind which threatened his sanity. His mind resisted the torture by accessing memories of a play, Frame of Mind , which Riker had participated in as the main character shortly before the mission. He began shifting between practicing the play on the Enterprise and actually living the plot of the play, with the characters as Tilonians . He was committed to the hospital after being found guilty of murder and was threatened with synaptic reconstruction before resorting to a procedure called reflection therapy . In the end the two events merged, with Riker being rescued from the mental hospital by the Enterprise . Syrus was present throughout the hallucinations, allowing Riker to deduce that he was fantasizing and regain consciousness. He was rescued by the Enterprise before Syrus was able to inflict further damage, and he personally dismantled the Frame of Mind set as part of his therapy. ( TNG : " Frame of Mind ")

Riker hated cats , but was one of many Enterprise crewmembers who attempted to care for Data's cat, Spot . Riker was in charge of feeding Spot while Data was away at a conference in late 2369 and was scratched on the forehead as he attempted to set down a bowl of food. Riker later passed responsibility for Spot to Dr. Crusher and was somewhat wary of entering Data's quarters. ( TNG : " Timescape ")

In 2370, Dr. Beverly Crusher treated Reginald Barclay for a case of Urodelan flu and accidentally activated a dormant gene, mutating his T cells . The gene became airborne and began to affect the rest of the crew, causing them to "de-evolve" into more primitive forms of life. Riker devolved into an australopithecine and was found by Picard and Data attempting to break open Livingston 's fish tank in the captain's ready room . He then tried to attack Picard and Data but was stunned by a phaser and taken to sickbay. Data eventually discovered a way to reverse the effects, and the crew was returned to normal. ( TNG : " Genesis ")

Service aboard the Enterprise -E [ ]

First contact [ ].

Riker aboard the Phoenix

Riker transferred to the new USS Enterprise -E in 2372 , along with most of the senior staff of the Enterprise -D. In 2373 the Enterprise took part in the Battle of Sector 001 against Starfleet orders. Thanks to the ship's intervention, the Borg cube was destroyed, but not before it launched a sphere which generated a temporal vortex and traveled to the year 2063 . The Enterprise pursued and destroyed the sphere before it could prevent the first flight of Zefram Cochrane aboard the Phoenix warp ship. The Phoenix was damaged during the attack, and several Enterprise -E crewmembers assisted Cochrane in repairs. Riker also needed to convince Cochrane of the importance of his first warp flight, as Cochrane considered canceling it following the Borg attack. Riker, along with Geordi La Forge, was present on board the Phoenix for Cochrane's historic flight. ( Star Trek: First Contact )

Fighting the Son'a [ ]

Riker in 2375

In 2375 Riker, along with the Enterprise crew, defied Federation orders and rebelled against the plan to relocate the Ba'ku people from their homeworld in order to harvest the metaphasic radiation from their planet's ring system. While Picard and the rest of the senior staff protected the Ba'ku on the planet, Riker took the Enterprise out of the Briar Patch and alerted the Federation Council to the real issues surrounding the forced relocation. During the journey out of the Briar Patch, the Enterprise was engaged by two Son'a vessels. The ship was seriously damaged in the process and forced to eject its warp core to seal a subspace tear . Riker needed to invent a new tactic on the fly. Dubbed the " Riker maneuver " by chief engineer Geordi La Forge, it involved collecting metreon gas with the Bussard collectors and then venting the gas while the ship continued to move. The cloud left behind the ship reacted with the isolytic weapons of the Son'a ships, destroying one and crippling the other. Riker then returned with the Enterprise in time to disable Ru'afo's flagship and beam Picard off of the Son'a collector before it exploded. ( Star Trek: Insurrection )

Battle with Shinzon [ ]

Commander Riker leads a team to combat a Reman boarding party

Will Riker's last mission aboard the Enterprise -E was during its encounter with Praetor Shinzon in 2379 . Although Riker was eager to begin his life aboard the USS Titan with Counselor Troi, he realized how important it was to stop Shinzon and was willing to sacrifice anything in order to prevent him from using his thalaron radiation weapon on Earth .

The Scimitar fought and weakened the Enterprise in the Battle of the Bassen Rift , sending several boarding parties to the ship. Riker and Worf took a security detail to fight off the invading Remans . The Reman Viceroy entered the Jefferies tubes in an attempt to reach the bridge and kidnap Captain Picard. Riker followed and they fought hand-to-hand, with Riker eventually killing the Viceroy by knocking him down an Enterprise maintenance shaft. ( Star Trek Nemesis )

Command offers [ ]

Riker was offered several commands during his tenure aboard the Enterprise- D and Enterprise -E. In addition to the Drake , he was offered the USS Aries in 2365 and the USS Melbourne in 2366. ( TNG : " The Icarus Factor ", " The Best of Both Worlds ") The Aries command was offered to Riker because of his exceptional abilities as an explorer and diplomat. He turned down the Aries posting because he felt he was not yet ready to leave the Enterprise and the distinction that the first officer post held. ( TNG : " The Icarus Factor ") Starfleet put a great amount of pressure on Riker to accept command of the Melbourne . Many admirals and even Captain Picard felt that he had remained too long on board the Enterprise and should have accepted a command by that point in his career, lest it seem like he was standing still in a sea of upstart officers like Shelby. Even Riker questioned why he remained as Enterprise first officer and was unable to understand what kept him from leaving. ( TNG : " The Best of Both Worlds ")

Ultimately Riker did not need to make a choice, as he was field promoted to captain during the encounter with the Borg and the Melbourne was subsequently destroyed at Wolf 359. Although it was believed Riker would have a pick of any command because his decisive leadership was a major factor in the defeat of the Borg, he still elected to remain Enterprise first officer. ( TNG : " The Best of Both Worlds, Part II ")

Captain William T. Riker prior to taking command of the USS Titan .

By 2379, Riker decided to accept promotion to captain of the USS Titan , assuming command of the ship that year. Troi also transferred to the Titan . ( Star Trek Nemesis )

Commanding the USS Titan [ ]

First assignment [ ].

Following Riker's assuming command of the Titan , they were dispatched to the Romulan Neutral Zone to serve as the command ship for a diplomatic task force . ( Star Trek Nemesis )

Dealing with the Pakleds [ ]

Captain Riker in command of the Titan

In 2380 , Riker, along with the Titan 's crew, saved the USS Cerritos when it was being attacked by three Pakled Clumpships . He later offered Ensign Brad Boimler a promotion to lieutenant junior grade and a position aboard the Titan based on the Cerritos ' first officer Jack Ransom 's recommendation, which Boimler accepted. ( LD : " No Small Parts ")

Three months later, the Titan fought several Pakled battle harpies . To escape, Captain Riker ordered the ship to enter a nearby anomaly , where the Titan and its crew underwent gluonic disruption . ( LD : " Strange Energies ")

Riker debriefing his bridge crew on his suspicions of the Pakled attacks

In 2381 , the Titan was ordered to investigate the takeover of a mining colony located on Karzill IV . While Riker expressed unabashed love for his captaincy of the Titan and her role in the fleet, he also admitted to Boimler that he wished he could return to exploration and "solving science mysteries" like during his years on the Enterprise -D, fondly noting " Damn, do I miss that ship. " ( LD : " Kayshon, His Eyes Open ")

Becoming a father [ ]

Captain William Riker shortly after the birth of his son Thaddeus.

Later that year, Riker and Troi welcomed their first child, Thaddeus Troi-Riker , although the delivery was touch and go. Riker was on the bridge of the Titan when he was hailed from sickbay to get down there right away. It took him seventeen seconds to get down there, during which Riker thought he was going to lose his unborn son and Thad's whole future flashed before Riker's eyes.

Sometime after Thad's birth, he met up with Picard at 10 Forward Avenue on Earth to share a celebratory drink of whiskey . ( PIC : " Seventeen Seconds ")

Reserved retirement [ ]

Life on nepenthe [ ].

As of 2399 , the retired Admiral Picard still considered Riker a loyal colleague who would not hesitate to join him on a mission if asked. By that time, Riker had left active service in Starfleet, though he remained in reserve as needed and settled on the planet Nepenthe . His house there was protected by shields due to trouble with the Kzinti . He remained married to Deanna Troi and along with Thaddeus, had a second child, Kestra . "Thad", as his family called him, died in childhood from mendaxic neurosclerosis , caused by a silicon-based virus that could have been cured with the aid of an active positronic matrix ; by the time Thad was diagnosed , however, there were no active matrices to be found, and none could be made due to the ban on the technology following the attack on Mars in 2385 . ( PIC : " Maps and Legends ", " Nepenthe ")

Riker shares a moment with Picard

Picard soon arrived on Nepenthe later that year with Soji Asha , whom Riker immediately recognized as being an android descended from Data. As Picard had expected Riker and Troi both offered to help him without hesitation, opening their home to him and Soji for as long as they needed. ( PIC : " Nepenthe ")

Return to duty [ ]

Captain Riker on the Zheng He in 2399

Shortly afterwards, Riker temporarily left retirement to command the USS Zheng He at the head of a fleet dedicated to helping the residents of Coppelius resist a Zhat Vash attack. There, he confronted General Oh , claiming Coppelius to be under Federation protection, but the Zhat Vash fleet withdrew before a fight could begin, due to Soji's deactivation of the beacon. Riker contacted a relieved Picard, explaining that he had returned to help after learning of Picard's SOS in order to help his old friend since he wasn't going to talk Picard out of his plan. The Zheng He then withdrew from Coppelius with the rest of the fleet to escort the Romulans from Federation space. ( PIC : " Et in Arcadia Ego, Part 2 ")

Rescuing an old friend [ ]

Captain Riker was temporarily in command of the USS Titan -A after its captain, Liam Shaw, was injured.

In 2401 , Riker had returned to Starfleet full time. He was scheduled to give a speech at the Frontier Day ceremony. He aided Picard when Riker learned of Crusher's message to Picard. ( PIC : " The Next Generation ")

Personal interests [ ]

Riker plays the trombone

Riker was a jazz aficionado, and his favorite musical instrument was the trombone . Although he was an accomplished player, his skills were not quite up to that of a professional musician ( TNG : " 11001001 ") and he had trouble with certain pieces, including " Night Bird ". ( TNG : " Second Chances ") As captain of the Titan , Riker was known to frequently clean his trombone, to the point that Boimler considered it to be somewhat disruptive. ( LD : " The Spy Humongous ")

Riker could also play the piano and taught Amarie , a musician in a bar on Qualor II, some jazz routines when the Enterprise visited the planet in 2368. ( TNG : " Unification II ")

Data performed Irving Berlin 's " Blue Skies " at Riker's wedding to Deanna Troi because of his knowledge of Riker's fondness for "archaic musical forms." ( Star Trek Nemesis )

Riker first began playing poker as a junior officer aboard the Potemkin . ( TNG : " Lower Decks ") He became a notoriously good player aboard the Enterprise , participating in most of the ship's weekly poker games and even teaching master classes on the game. ( TNG : " The Measure Of A Man ", " The Price ") He also knew several card tricks, one of which was used in a failed attempt to fool Data in 2367. ( TNG : " Legacy ") His poker skills were noted by Captain Picard, and their connection to diplomatic skills was one of the reasons he was selected to replace Mendoza as the Federation representative in the Barzan wormhole negotiations. ( TNG : " The Price ")

In an alternate timeline , Dr. Crusher noted that Riker raised his left eyebrow slightly while bluffing, although she later claimed to be kidding. ( TNG : " Cause And Effect ") In 2369, Riker, La Forge, and Worf made an unconventional wager with Dr. Crusher: if any of the men won the hand, she would become a brunette, and if Crusher won, the men would shave their beards . However, the senior staff were called to the bridge before the hand was over. ( TNG : " The Quality of Life ")

Riker was skilled in other forms of gambling and won large sums of latinum at the dabo tables in Quark's during an Enterprise visit to Deep Space 9 . Quark claimed he was unable to pay Riker at the time, and later voided the winnings in exchange for information about the whereabouts of the Duras sisters Lursa and B'Etor . ( TNG : " Firstborn ") Riker met DS9 officer Jadzia Dax at Quark's about this time. ( DS9 : " Defiant ")

Riker had several sports-related hobbies. Anbo-jyutsu was one such interest, ( TNG : " The Icarus Factor ") as were Parrises squares ( TNG : " Future Imperfect ", " Timescape ") and handball . ( ENT : " These Are the Voyages... ") He had skills in the martial arts, tai chi chuan in particular and took Worf's mok'bara classes. ( TNG : " Second Chances ", " Clues ") He also enjoyed fishing . One of his favorite fishing spots was Curtis Creek , which he recreated in a holoprogram . ( TNG : " The Icarus Factor ", " Second Chances ", " Future Imperfect ")

Other interests [ ]

Riker was quite skilled at three-dimensional chess , as he used the Queen's Gambit coupled with the Aldabren Exchange to defeat the Ferengi Nibor during the closing reception of the biennial Trade Agreements Conference aboard the USS Enterprise -D. ( TNG : " Ménage à Troi ") Riker had an interest in cooking from when he had had to fend for himself as a child. ( TNG : " Time Squared ", " Remember Me ") He was a member of Beverly Crusher's theater troupe aboard the Enterprise -D and played the lead in two plays, Something for Breakfast ( TNG : " A Fistful of Datas ") and Frame of Mind . ( TNG : " Frame of Mind ") His favorite vacation spot was Risa . ( TNG : " Captain's Holiday ", " The Game ") Riker also enjoyed dabo, although the beckoning profits did not appear to be the motivating factor. At Quark's on Deep Space 9 , Lt. Jadzia Dax staked Riker three strips of gold-pressed latinum when his winning-streak ran dry. He later contacted Quark and traded his unclaimed winnings for information on the Duras sisters . ( TNG : " Firstborn "; DS9 : " Defiant ")

Personal relationships [ ]

Marriage [ ].

Wedding ceremony in Alaska

Will and Deanna were finally married in 2379 , shortly before their transfer to the USS Titan . Their wedding party in Alaska included Captain Picard as best man, Dr. Crusher as bridesmaid, and Data, La Forge, Worf, and Wesley Crusher as groomsmen. Guinan was also present. Another ceremony, a traditional Betazoid wedding , was planned on Betazed shortly following. However, that ceremony was delayed when the Enterprise was diverted to Romulus . ( Star Trek Nemesis )

Friendships [ ]

Because of his fair and decisive command style and his easy-going, affable personality, Riker was popular among the Enterprise -D crew and had friendships with senior staff members as well as junior officers. ( TNG : " Data's Day ") Some junior officers, such as Sam Lavelle , found him less easy to get along with. Riker was slightly annoyed with Lavelle, claiming he was too eager to please. Later, Counselor Troi suggested that his adversity actually stemmed from the fact that Lavelle was very much like Riker when he himself had been a junior officer. ( TNG : " Lower Decks ")

Riker flirts with Guinan

Riker had known Geordi La Forge longer than any of the crew, but they didn't become friends until they served on the Enterprise together. ( TNG : " The Next Phase ") He counseled La Forge following the loss of his mother in 2370, although La Forge did not heed his advice at the time. ( TNG : " Interface ")

While Dr. Beverly Crusher was head of Starfleet Medical in 2365, Riker was one of the Enterprise officers who made sure Wesley Crusher kept up with his studies and responsibilities aboard the ship. ( TNG : " The Child ") Riker and Guinan tried to advise Wesley on his relationship with Salia , but their assistance rapidly went off track from its original intention. ( TNG : " The Dauphin ")

Jean-Luc Picard [ ]

Riker and Captain Picard on the bridge of the late Enterprise -D

When choosing a first officer prior to the launch of the Enterprise in 2363 , Captain Picard nearly passed over Riker's record. He stopped when he saw the incident with Captain DeSoto and Riker's refusal to allow the captain to beam down. This was a major factor in Picard's selection of Riker as his first officer. He was impressed that a first officer would challenge a captain's authority out of regard for the safety of the captain and the crew. ( TNG : " The Pegasus ") The trust Picard held in his first officer almost certainly saved the Federation. When the Enterprise encountered the Borg cube after the massacre at Wolf 359, Locutus of Borg, being reminded of that trust by Riker, would, though he knew perfectly well it was a lie, at least listen and respond to Riker's attempt to negotiate the circumstances of assimilation, distracting the Borg long enough to locate Locutus on the cube and effect a rescue, eventually using Picard's link to the Collective to destroy the ship in Earth orbit. ( TNG : " The Best of Both Worlds ", " The Best of Both Worlds, Part II ")

Captain Picard was very cold towards Riker during their first meeting and ordered the manual docking as a test of Riker's abilities. When he performed the docking with great expertise and skill, Picard formally greeted Riker, and requested that his new first officer made sure that he didn't allow Picard to "make an ass of himself" in front of the many children aboard the ship. One year later, Picard felt as if he had not done a good job of congratulating Riker, so he did it once more, this time making his feelings clear. ( TNG : " Encounter at Farpoint ", " The Icarus Factor ")

Eventually, Riker and Picard became very good friends. With the best of intentions, Riker suggested that Picard vacation at Risa in 2366, asking him to return a horga'hn . Picard did not realize the history behind the statue and kept it with him after purchasing it for Riker, making it appear as if the captain was seeking jamaharon . ( TNG : " Captain's Holiday ")

The only time Riker and Picard ever verbally fought in front of the Enterprise crew was in 2366 while under the influence of emotions projected by Ambassador Sarek (whom Picard greatly respected), suffering from Bendii Syndrome . ( TNG : " Sarek ")

Picard tried to counsel Riker when he was offered command of the USS Melbourne in 2366, reminding him that the Enterprise would continue without his presence and that officers like Shelby were very much as he himself had been before he learned the lessons necessary for command of a starship. ( TNG : " The Best of Both Worlds ") Riker also came to Captain Picard for advice when Worf wanted his help with the hegh'bat and when he struggled with a decision involving Soren . ( TNG : " Ethics ", " The Outcast ")

In early 2369, members of the Enterprise crew, including Picard, were turned into twelve-year-olds by the effects of a molecular reversion field . Unfortunately, a group of Ferengi commandeered the Enterprise about that time. Believing Picard to be a child, they confined him to a classroom aboard the ship while Riker was held in the observation lounge . Picard threw a tantrum and demanded to see his "father," Riker. They pretended to be father and son for Picard to plant a suggestive message to Riker, requesting access to the Enterprise main computer from the classroom. Picard, along with the other affected Enterprise crew members, was able to design a plan to retake the Enterprise from the Ferengi. ( TNG : " Rascals ")

During the Pegasus incident of 2370, Picard tried to investigate the circumstances surrounding the ship's disappearance. He ran into many dead-ends, as most records had been sealed, and had to use many favors in Starfleet Command to even get a look at the findings of the board convened to investigate the loss of the Pegasus . Riker would not divulge further information under the orders of Admiral Erik Pressman, and Picard reluctantly continued the search. He made it clear to Riker that he hoped he still considered the safety of the Enterprise his top priority and said that if he found this to be untrue, he would re-evaluate his trust in Riker. After the crisis was resolved, Picard visited Riker in the brig and returned him to duty aboard the Enterprise , understanding Riker's mistake in the past and satisfied that he had made the correct decisions in the present. ( TNG : " The Pegasus ")

Picard served as Riker's best man during his wedding to Deanna Troi in 2379 . He gave a toast to Riker, calling him his "trusted right arm" for the previous fifteen years and lamenting his loss of a fine first officer. ( Star Trek Nemesis )

While aboard the Enterprise , Picard generally referred to Riker as " Number One ", a nickname he used for his first officer. ( TNG : " Disaster ") Chillingly, Locutus of Borg also called Riker "Number One" while dealing with the Enterprise crew. ( TNG : " The Best of Both Worlds ", " The Best of Both Worlds, Part II ")

Worf considered Riker one of his closest friends, despite their vastly different personalities. Riker was one of the only Humans who participated in Worf's brutally violent holodeck calisthenics program . ( TNG : " Where Silence Has Lease ") In 2365, Worf wanted to transfer to the USS Aries with Riker, concerned for his safety. ( TNG : " The Icarus Factor ") Riker also tried to convince Worf to donate his blood in order to save the Romulan Patahk , rescued from Galorndon Core in 2366. He tried to make Worf realize that this gesture of goodwill might be the first step toward healing the differences between their peoples. ( TNG : " The Enemy ")

Riker at Worf's side after his paralysis

Worf asked Riker to assist him in the hegh'bat , a Klingon ritual suicide, following his spinal cord injury in 2368. Riker was appalled by the request, feeling that Worf's life was still worth living and that suicide would be an insult to all their comrades who had struggled for life up until their death. He researched the tradition before coming to Worf with his decision. He found that the hegh'bat was generally practiced with the oldest son, and then left it up to Worf to ask his young son Alexander Rozhenko to help. Worf was unable to ask Alexander to participate in the ritual, and later decided to attempt a risky surgery involving the genetronic replicator . ( TNG : " Ethics ")

Despite his discomfort with the androgynous nature of the J'naii , Worf helped Riker during his mission to rescue Soren , realizing how important Soren was to Riker. ( TNG : " The Outcast ")

Riker also liked to good-naturedly rib Worf, who was notorious for his lack of a sense of humor. This was proven correct as Worf only glared or growled in response to Riker's antics. During the Iyaaran visit in 2370, Riker jokingly chastised Worf for thinking the dress uniform was too feminine and weak looking, later telling Worf he thought he looked good in a dress. ( TNG : " Liaisons ")

Riker encouraged Alexander's love of jazz music by giving him several recordings. Worf, however, was not a fan. ( TNG : " Phantasms ")

Riker wanted to give Worf a surprise party for his birthday in 2370, but Deanna Troi talked him out of it. ( TNG : " Parallels ")

Riker with Worf in 2371

In late 2370, Worf began dating Deanna Troi, which placed some strain on his relationship with Riker despite Worf's best efforts to prevent it. ( TNG : " Eye of the Beholder ", " All Good Things... ") Worf tried to ask Riker for his permission to date Troi, but the attempt came off as comic rather than serious. ( TNG : " Eye of the Beholder ")

Riker first met Data on the Enterprise holodeck in 2364. Data was trying to whistle " Pop Goes the Weasel ," but could not finish the last few notes. Riker helped him finish, later giving Data the nickname " Pinocchio " in reference to Data's wish to become Human. Riker later recalled this incident fondly during Data's wake, although he was unable to remember the song Data was whistling. ( Star Trek Nemesis ) At first Riker was skeptical about Data's abilities as a machine, he even assumed that his rank of lieutenant commander was merely honorary. ( TNG : " Encounter at Farpoint ")

In 2365, Data's status as a sentient individual came into question. A trial was set on Starbase 173 , but the base lacked a complete legal staff. As Enterprise first officer, Riker was forced to act as attorney for Bruce Maddox and was given the difficult task of convincing Judge Phillipa Louvois that as an android , Data was not sentient. He very nearly proved that Data was a simple machine by deactivating him, but Picard's defense later made Louvois grant Data complete rights as a sentient being. Riker was distressed over the incident and felt terrible that he nearly cost Data his rights. Data did not hold any ill will towards Riker, though, and was grateful that Riker participated, for if he had not, the ruling would have been a default in Maddox's favor. He assured Riker that he would not forget that the actions the commander found so upsetting had saved his life. ( TNG : " The Measure Of A Man ")

Riker with Data aboard the Cleponji in 2366

Riker was also aware of the fondness the rest of the crew felt for Data. In 2366, after Data's apparent death in a shuttlecraft explosion (while ferrying hytritium , a compound too unstable for transporter use), upon seeing La Forge's furious refusal to accept that Data himself might have been responsible for the accident, Riker told Picard that, for someone incapable of feeling emotions, he was quite capable of bringing them out in others. Soon afterward he accidentally brought about Data's recovery, as it was Riker's suspicions – that since the hytritium, needed to purge tricyanate from the water on Beta Agni II , did so in seconds rather than hours, the water must have been poisoned – which launched an investigation of Kivas Fajo , who had provided the hytritium (in exactly the amount needed). Upon learning of Fajo's status as a collector, the crew, deducing that their friend's death had been faked, quickly tracked down Fajo's ship and returned Data to the Enterprise . ( TNG : " The Most Toys ")

Data sought Riker's help and advice on several occasions. One instance was when he asked for Riker's advice on friendship and betrayal following a mission involving Ishara Yar in 2367. ( TNG : " Legacy ") Data also asked for Riker's help when Keiko Ishikawa temporarily called off her wedding to Miles O'Brien in 2367. ( TNG : " Data's Day ") He also came to Riker for advice when he started to date Jenna D'Sora . ( TNG : " In Theory ")

Years after Data's physical death in 2379 aboard the Scimitar , Riker continued to remember Data with great fondness. His daughter Kestra Troi-Riker learned a great deal about Data and his life through stories from the past. ( PIC : " Nepenthe ")

Carol Freeman [ ]

William T. Riker and Carol Freeman.

Riker was one of Captain Carol Freeman 's old friends, close enough for Riker to consider Freeman his cha'DIch and reminisce about the times they got into trouble together, although Freeman contended that Riker alone was responsible for starting incidents. Riker was also a mentor to Beckett Mariner , Freeman's daughter. He was also the source of many contrabands that Mariner collected. Seeing Riker was the source of Mariner's frequent insubordinate behavior, Freeman was slightly annoyed when they met again in 2380. ( LD : " No Small Parts ")

Beckett Mariner [ ]

William T. Riker and Beckett Mariner.

Riker was a mentor to Ensign Beckett Mariner and a source of Mariner's contrabands, such as Romulan ale. Riker owed Mariner a favor sometime prior to 2380, which he considered paid when his ship, the USS Titan , saved Mariner's ship, the USS Cerritos from being captured and destroyed by the Pakleds.( LD : " No Small Parts ")

Kyle Riker [ ]

Will saw his father Kyle Riker for the first time in fifteen years when he came aboard the Enterprise to brief him on the USS Aries command. The two remained adversarial, despite Kyle's wish to heal any wounds before Riker departed on his mission. Dr. Pulaski, an old flame of Kyle's, told Will about Kyle's bravery following the Tholian attack and suggested that the time had come to resolve their conflict. Will and Kyle decided to settle their differences with a match of anbo-jytsu, at which time Will discovered that Kyle had been cheating since Will was twelve. The activity allowed them to vent the tension and have an actual conversation about their true feelings, which they had never done. Kyle finally told Will that he loved him before returning to Starbase Montgomery . ( TNG : " The Icarus Factor ") After this incident, Will was finally able to put their past difficulties behind him. ( TNG : " Second Chances ")

Thomas Riker [ ]

Thomas and William

The Enterprise was sent to Nervala IV in late 2369, when the atmospheric disturbances began to subside. Riker led an away team to the surface, and discovered his duplicate, later known as Thomas Riker . The two quickly clashed over various issues, including Tom's resistance to direct orders and his attempts to rekindle a relationship with Deanna Troi. Tom felt that Will was the one who had benefited from his misery of being stuck on the planet for eight years. After working together to retrieve log files from the station computers and saving one another's lives, they began to accept one another. Thomas transferred to the USS Gandhi , and Will gave him their trombone as a parting gift. ( TNG : " Second Chances ")

By 2371, Tom had resigned his post to join the Maquis . He pretended to be Will Riker in order to gain access to the USS Defiant , which he then stole for use by the Maquis. ( DS9 : " Defiant ")

Romance [ ]

Riker spent the night with Mistress Beata during his mission to Angel I in 2364, presenting her with an Albeni meditation crystal . She was fascinated by his strength and power, traits which were not abundant in the males of her world. Riker donned the traditional clothing of the planet, drawing snickers from Counselor Troi and Lieutenant Natasha Yar . ( TNG : " Angel One ")

The Bynars created a holographic woman named Minuet to distract Riker while they hijacked the Enterprise -D in 2364. Riker found her convincingly real and was disappointed when her program was lost after the Bynars left the ship. ( TNG : " 11001001 ") Her image was used by Barash 's holosimulators to create a wife for Riker in the illusory future he experienced in 2367, making Riker realize the deception. ( TNG : " Future Imperfect ")

Lwaxana Troi [ ]

Ambassador Lwaxana Troi entered the Betazoid phase in 2365. When she visited the Enterprise , she set her sights on several male crewmembers as potential mates, including Riker. She announced their "wedding" on the bridge of the Enterprise shortly before moving on to Captain Picard. ( TNG : " Manhunt ")

Brenna Odell [ ]

Riker was romantically linked to the Bringloidi colonist Brenna Odell , but the relationship was limited to her brief stay aboard the ship in 2365. ( TNG : " Up The Long Ladder ")

The Enterprise worked to reunite the Gatherers with their Acamarian home in 2366. Riker became involved with one of Sovereign Marouk 's aides, Yuta . Yuta was actually a Tralesta who had been genetically altered to deliver a microvirus to members of another clan, the Lornak , which the Tralestas had fought centuries earlier. The last Lornak , Chorgan , was now leader of the Gatherers, and Yuta attempted to assassinate him. Data and Dr. Crusher later discovered Yuta's true nature, and Riker was forced to kill her in order to prevent Chorgan's death. ( TNG : " The Vengeance Factor ")

Riker returned from shore leave in late 2366 and saw Data's "daughter" Lal in Ten Forward . He did not realize that she was an android and flirted with her. Lal immediately picked Riker up and planted a kiss on his lips, copying behavior she had observed earlier. When Data asked Riker what his intentions were with his daughter, Riker hastily left, embarrassed and confused. ( TNG : " The Offspring ")

While Riker was held captive in the Malcorian hospital in 2367, a nurse named Lanel approached him and offered to help him escape if he made love to her, as it had long been her dream to do so with an alien. Riker tried to maneuver his way out of the situation by claiming there were differences between their cultures, but Lanel was persistent. It is unclear just how far the two went with their relationship, but Lanel eventually helped Riker try to escape. When asked if she would ever see him again, Riker somewhat sarcastically responded he would look her up next time he passed through her star system. ( TNG : " First Contact ")

Carmen Davila [ ]

Riker romanced Carmen Davila in early 2368 while some of the Enterprise crew helped establish a colony on Melona IV . However, Davila was killed when the Crystalline Entity ravaged that world. Riker wrote a brief letter to Davila's family when Starfleet informed them of her death. Riker believed that her death and the loss of countless other lives at the hands of the Entity were reason enough to destroy it rather than attempt communication. ( TNG : " Silicon Avatar ")

Etana Jol [ ]

Riker visited Risa later that year and met a Ktarian female named Etana . Jol was actually working for a Ktarian dissident movement which attempted to take over the Federation in 2368. She was able to get Riker addicted to the game they used in the mind control plot, which he then returned to the Enterprise . Fortunately, Data, Wesley Crusher and Robin Lefler were able to reverse the effects of the game and foil the Ktarian plot. ( TNG : " The Game ")

Ro Laren [ ]

When the Enterprise was affected by a Satarran memory weapon in 2368 , Riker and Ensign Ro Laren felt an attraction to one another. They spent several nights together before Dr. Crusher discovered a way to restore the memories of the entire crew. ( TNG : " Conundrum ") Later that year, Riker later wanted to say a few words about Ro at the funeral planned when it was believed she and La Forge were dead. Ro was frustrated because she and La Forge were rephased before Riker made his speech. ( TNG : " The Next Phase ")

In 2368 Riker helped the J'naii rescue the crew of one of their shuttlecraft trapped in a pocket of null space . During the planning stages of the mission, he became close to one of their pilots, Soren . The two were attracted to one another, a relationship forbidden by the oppressive government of the J'naii. Their relationship was discovered, and Soren was arrested. She was given psychological treatment to remove her inclinations to be female. With help from Worf, Riker mounted an illicit rescue mission, but it was too late. She refused to go along with him and did not wish to be returned to the way she was before treatment. ( TNG : " The Outcast ")

Kamala , a Kriosian empathic metamorph , tried to work her charms on Riker in 2368 . He was able to resist her but needed to visit the holodeck after the encounter. ( TNG : " The Perfect Mate ")

Amanda Rogers [ ]

Amanda Rogers came aboard the Enterprise in 2369. She had a somewhat obvious crush on Commander Riker, which he found flattering but did not reciprocate. Q used her interest in him to discern whether she had the abilities of the Q, causing several cargo barrels to fall from a ledge onto Riker. Amanda deflected the barrels to Riker's side. Later, after Q had begun to tempt Amanda with her new-found abilities, she abducted Riker and brought him to a romantic fantasy environment. Will still turned down her advances, but Amanda then used her powers to cause him to fall in love with her. Ultimately, Amanda realized that the encounter was devoid of meaning and sent him back to the Enterprise . ( TNG : " True Q ")

Rebecca Smith [ ]

Will dated a new tactical officer, Rebecca Smith , in 2370. They went for a walk in the arboretum and became intimate, but the mood was ruined when Riker rolled into Cypirion cactus and was stuck by several thorns. ( TNG : " Genesis ")

Deanna Troi [ ]

Will Riker with Deanna Troi in 2375

Deanna Troi and Will Riker began an intense and close relationship shortly following his posting to Betazed. They referred to each other as imzadi , a Betazoid word for "beloved". Troi apparently taught Riker how to communicate telepathically, but he seemed to have lost the ability by 2364. ( TNG : " Encounter at Farpoint ") Will later remarked that he knew Deanna better than anyone. ( TNG : " Man Of The People ") One of their favorite and most special locations was Janaran Falls . After Riker was transferred to the Potemkin , the two stayed in touch and planned to meet at Risa in 2361 , but Will was promoted shortly after the Nervala IV mission and forced to cancel their date. He made his career a priority over their relationship, and they gradually lost touch and did not see one another until they were both posted to the new USS Enterprise in 2364. ( TNG : " Second Chances ") It was difficult to see each other again, and Troi tried to speak to Riker alone during their mission to Farpoint Station . He maintained a distance, and she did not make another attempt. ( TNG : " Encounter at Farpoint ") They eventually decided to keep a professional yet friendly relationship. They stayed close friends and confidants, often approaching each other either to talk or for support in times of crisis. ( TNG : " Violations ", " Second Chances ") As first officer and counselor, they were required to manage crew evaluations every three months. ( TNG : " Man Of The People ", " Lower Decks ")

While under the influence of the polywater intoxication in 2364, Troi attempted to seduce Riker, but Riker maintained control and brought her to sickbay . ( TNG : " The Naked Now ")

Riker was dismayed to learn of Troi's betrothal to Wyatt Miller in 2364. Troi reassured him that he would always be a special part of her life and that she still cared for him greatly. Riker was delighted when Troi remained aboard the Enterprise after Miller left to help the Tarellians recover from a plague . ( TNG : " Haven ")

Riker and Troi attended the funeral service for Natasha Yar together after she was killed by Armus in 2364. Riker comforted Troi during and following the event. ( TNG : " Skin Of Evil ")

Troi was impregnated by an alien life form in early 2365. Riker had mixed feelings about the pregnancy and resultant child but was with Troi for the birth and supported her during the ordeal, especially after the child sacrificed himself to save the Enterprise . ( TNG : " The Child ")

Troi was visibly upset when Riker almost accepted assignment to the Aries in 2365. ( TNG : " The Icarus Factor ")

When Riker was affected by the predatory plant microbe picked up on Surata IV , Troi stayed with him through his convalescence. She was present during his treatment and relayed the emotions Will was experiencing to Dr. Pulaski, giving her indication of which memories to activate and which to suppress. ( TNG : " Shades of Gray ")

During the negotiations for the Barzan wormhole in 2366, Riker was challenged by the Chrysalian representative, Devinoni Ral , in more ways than one. Ral and Troi began a romantic relationship, and Ral used this to intimidate Riker. However, the Barzan wormhole was later determined to be worthless, and Riker gleefully withdrew the Federation bid in front of Ral, who had just secured rights for the Chrysalians through underhanded means. ( TNG : " The Price ")

Later that year, Troi backed off when Riker made his interest in Yuta known. ( TNG : " The Vengeance Factor ") She stood by him after he was accused of Dr. Nel Apgar 's murder, even when it seemed he must be guilty. After he was exonerated, she squeezed his hand in affection. ( TNG : " A Matter of Perspective ")

The couple tried to take a romantic holiday on Betazed in 2366 but were interrupted by Lwaxana Troi . A Ferengi DaiMon , Tog , later arrived to kidnap Lwaxana, taking Deanna and Riker with her. They later engineered an escape and were rescued by the Enterprise . ( TNG : " Ménage à Troi ")

The Enterprise became trapped by two-dimensional lifeforms in early 2367. They also suppressed Deanna's telepathic abilities and she found it difficult to deal with her loss. Will tried to help her cope with the trauma, but she resisted. He then called her "aristocratic" and thought she was upset because her empathic powers helped her feel superior to her shipmates. When the Enterprise was freed, her abilities were restored. She apologized to Will, but also made it clear that he was not to call her aristocratic again. ( TNG : " The Loss ")

Will and Deanna attended the wedding of Keiko and Miles O'Brien together. ( TNG : " Data's Day ")

Sometime prior to 2368 , Riker and Troi had a romantic encounter following a poker night. Troi was reluctant to continue a relationship at the time and the incident remained isolated. ( TNG : " Violations ")

Both Riker and Troi were affected by the Satarran energy weapon, but Troi still felt a connection to Will. Her suspicions were confirmed when Riker found a copy of Ode to Psyche given to him by Troi, with the inscription "To Will, all my love, Deanna". ( TNG : " Conundrum ")

When Riker expressed interest in Soren, he went to see Troi in order to gain her approval of the relationship. Once again, Troi assured him that they would always be special to one another, even if they saw other people. ( TNG : " The Outcast ")

Ambassador Ves Alkar telepathically linked with Troi in 2369, using her as a receptacle for his "psychic waste". Troi's behavior was drastically altered, and she began to rapidly age due to the stress. She appeared for a crew evaluation meeting with Riker in a seductive outfit, then revealing that she had just slept with a male junior officer. Riker claimed that he felt her love life was none of his business, but Troi continued to press the issue, causing Riker to leave. Troi later tried to kiss Riker, then scratched him for no apparent reason. Riker reported this behavior to Dr. Crusher, who uncovered Alkar's plan and broke his link with Troi. Troi thanked Riker for his support, and he promised to love her even when she became old and gray. ( TNG : " Man Of The People ")

The discovery of Riker's double on Nervala IV complicated his relationship with Troi. That Riker had spent eight years pining for Troi and was eager to resume their relationship. He tried to have her transferred to the Gandhi , but she refused, not wanting to give up the life she had spent so long building on the Enterprise . ( TNG : " Second Chances ")

Lwaxana Troi felt that Riker was partly the reason Deanna was still unmarried by 2370. While suffering from strain due to repeated telepathic contact with the Cairn , Lwaxana approached WRiker in Ten Forward and yelled at him, telling him to leave Deanna alone. She later had Deanna apologize for her behavior. ( TNG : " Dark Page ")

Troi attempted the Bridge Officer's test in 2370. Riker supervised the tests and did not show any favoritism towards her. After she attempted the engineering qualification several times without much luck, he came to tell her the tests were canceled. However, by insisting to her that, despite their relationship, his loyalty was to the Enterprise , he gave her a hint which told her what the test was really about – her ability to send a crewmember to their death. Knowing that she would never simply give up, he entered the holodeck just in time to congratulate her on passing the test. ( TNG : " Thine Own Self ")

Worf began courting Troi in 2370, thankful for all the help she had provided in Alexander's care over the prior two years. ( TNG : " Parallels ") Worf was concerned that Riker might feel betrayed by their relationship and wanted to discuss the issue with Riker late that year. ( TNG : " All Good Things... ")

Riker and Troi stayed friends into their early years aboard the Enterprise -E. He helped her through the outcome of an alcohol binge instigated by Zefram Cochrane while they were trying to convince him to conduct his warp flight in 2063 (though he made no attempt to hide his enjoyment of witnessing her drunken behavior). ( Star Trek: First Contact ) However, things changed when they encountered the radiation of the Ba'ku planet in 2375 . They began to playfully flirt with one another and ended up taking a bubble bath together. Their rekindled romance continued after the Enterprise left the Briar Patch . ( Star Trek: Insurrection )

The two were planning to vacation in 2377 . Troi arrived at the beach first; Riker was going to meet her a few days later. They later decided to spend the rest of their vacation in Tiburon instead. They invited Reg Barclay to accompany them, wanting to introduce him to a mutual friend, Maril . ( VOY : " Inside Man ")

Anything but canon scenarios [ ]

First contact with bragu's species [ ].

William T. Riker when he met Bragu

According to an anything but canon account, when the Enterprise-D arrived at a planet that was inhabited by a race that just achieved warp drive technology , three officers were assembled to make first contact with them, and Riker served as the commanding officer of the away team .

They beamed down to the building where the scientific breakthrough took place, and it's there that they met Bragu . Upon talking to them briefly, it took little time for them to learn about their fixation with boogers . They were extremely grossed out by this, especially when the scientists offered them some leftover fish cooked in a microwave . It only got worse when Bragu blew his nose on the fish, using his own snot as sauce . This was the last straw for Riker, who distracted them, telling them there was Gorn invaders behind them. They actually looked behind them, and he seized the moment to use his phaser to destroy their warp engine , and he tells them it must not be ready yet after all. The landing party then returned to the ship . ( VST : " Worst Contact ")

Malfunctioning holoprogram [ ]

Riker hologram 2

Riker hologram 1

In a malfunctioning holoprogram , two different holograms of William T. Riker showed up in this program . The first one seemed to be a holosuite program that Quark was showing to Garak in the holosuite at Quark's on Deep Space 9 to prove that he can make a fake worthy to trick the Romulans into entering the Dominion War . That too ended up actually being part of the simulation .

Another hologram of Riker shows up later in the program . This time, it seems that scene changes to the USS Voyager , where Neelix was watching a holonovel on his PADD . He decides to go to bed , and he lies down. Then Trip Tucker tells the computer to pause playback . But to his surprise, he's not the real Trip Tucker. In fact, he was part of a hologram that was a five- headed monster . The other heads were Nyota Uhura , T'Pol and Spock . Riker's head was also part of this five-headed holo- beast , in fact he was the head on the far right side of the monster's body , where the right arm was located.

At this point in the program, the computer voice begins speaking , saying that something is clearly wrong. The computer then says: "Computer, freeze program." The head of Tucker realizes that there must really be a malfunction, because it seemed as though the computer was talking to itself, and he said: "You are the computer! Who are you talk--" -- but he was cut off before he could finish his sentence , because he was frozen along with the rest of the program. ( VST : " Holograms All the Way Down ")

Jam session on the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) [ ]

Riker playing along with the rest of his band

In a very unusual setting , Riker was present on the Federation 's original starship Enterprise during the 50th aniversary of Star Trek: The Animated Series .

He and Hikaru Sulu step off of the turbolift and onto the bridge with their musical instruments in hand . Riker was carrying a trombone , while Sulu was carrying his keyboard . They then decide to start jamming to one of their songs , which Riker described as falling into the genre of Post Mainframe Acid-Cardassian Ten Forwardcore .

While they were playing their music , a fleet of Klingon D7 class battle cruisers unexpectedly attacked the Enterprise . D'Vana Tendi informed everyone that the alert wasn't part of the song , nevertheless they continued to play their instruments and finally there was a violent explosion on the bridge. ( VST : " Walk, Don't Run ")]]

Alternate realities and timelines [ ]

Riker from six hours in the future

In 2365, the USS Enterprise -D encountered the shuttlecraft El-Baz from six hours in the future, including a future version of Captain Jean-Luc Picard . Using a variable phase inverter , a future log entry was retrieved showing Riker having escorted Captain Picard to the shuttlebay and standing in the bay while Picard departed the ship. ( TNG : " Time Squared ")

Riker is killed in an alternate timeline

In 2366, the USS Enterprise -C emerged from a temporal rift . Its disappearance from the year 2344 caused an altered timeline, wherein the Federation was losing a war against the Klingons. Riker was still the ship's first officer, but he was much more toughened due to the horrors of war. He questioned the plan to send the Enterprise -C back to the past, especially after Captain Rachel Garrett was killed, but Captain Picard allowed Richard Castillo to assume command and return the Enterprise -C to 2344 . Riker later worked the tactical station following Tasha Yar's transfer to the Enterprise -C but was killed in a subsequent Klingon attack. ( TNG : " Yesterday's Enterprise ")

In 2367, Beverly Crusher became trapped in a warp bubble . Her thoughts created a universe where people and objects rapidly began disappearing. Riker was one of the last Enterprise crewmembers to vanish. ( TNG : " Remember Me ")

Captain Riker of a quantum reality where the Borg had decimated the Federation

Lieutenant Worf encountered a quantum fissure which caused him to begin shifting between quantum realities in 2370. In several universes, Riker was still Enterprise first officer and planned a surprise birthday party for Worf even though Worf had made it expressly clear he did not want one. In others, he had been promoted to captain. In the final universe in which Worf arrived, Riker was the captain, as Captain Picard had been lost in the Borg encounter of 2367. In another reality, the Borg had conquered the Federation and the Enterprise was one of the few ships left. Riker was in command of that ship as well and was desperate not to return to his universe once all the Enterprise s began spilling into a single universe. After attempting to get the attention of the present-reality Enterprise by firing lightly upon them, the Borg-damaged ship was destroyed by Capt. Riker with the alternate Riker on board to prevent further damage to his ship. The events following Worf's encounter were erased from the timeline once the fissure was sealed. ( TNG : " Parallels ")

In an alternate 2364 , Riker was left on Farpoint Station when the Enterprise was diverted to investigate a temporal anomaly in the Devron system . ( TNG : " All Good Things... ")

In an alternate 2370 , Riker became uncomfortable with the growing relationship between Worf and Deanna, but he refused to voice his concern. ( TNG : " All Good Things... ")

Admiral Riker in the anti-time future timeframe

In an unknown, alternate future timeframe , Riker had been promoted to admiral and was assigned to Starbase 247. The USS Enterprise -D, substantially refitted and upgraded, was his flagship . In this timeline, Deanna Troi had died twenty years previously, causing Worf and Riker to become estranged, as each blamed the other for preventing a relationship with her. Riker attempted to make amends at Deanna's funeral, but was rejected, possibly due to the bad timing.

Picard contacted him for help in investigating the anomaly, but Riker refused to allow him passage to the Neutral Zone, thinking Picard had been affected by Irumodic Syndrome and was delusional. Later Picard convinced his ex-wife, Beverly Picard , to take her medical ship, the USS Pasteur , to investigate the anomaly. The Pasteur was attacked and destroyed by Klingon attack cruisers , but the Enterprise arrived to rescue the crew and fight off the Klingons. Immediately Worf and Riker began to bicker. Picard once again pleaded with Riker to return to the Devron system, but he was then sedated and returned to quarters. Armed with new information gathered from the other two timeframes, Picard woke and went to talk to Riker and the other former Enterprise officers. He convinced them that the anomaly existed, and the Enterprise returned just in time to watch it form. Riker ordered the Enterprise into the anomaly, where it used a static warp shell in concert with the other Enterprise s to collapse it. During this time, Riker made an overture to Worf that was accepted, asking for his old friend's help on the bridge.

After the anomaly was sealed, the timelines were erased and only Captain Picard retained memory of those events. Picard told his staff of his experiences in the future, in hopes that things such as the conflict between Worf and Riker would never happen. ( TNG : " All Good Things... ")

Holograms [ ]

Riker seeing himself in Krag's holoprogram

William Riker was holographically duplicated on several occasions.

• In 2366, on Stardate 43610.4, a series of holographic simulations , Deposition Program Riker One , Hypothetical Krag One , Manua Simulation One , Tayna Simulation Three , and La Forge One , were used by Krag in his investigation into the murder of Nel Apgar , of which Riker was suspected. ( TNG : " A Matter of Perspective ")
• Later that year, on Stardate 43807.4, at least two holographic recreations of Riker were created by Lieutenant Reginald Barclay when he suffered from holoaddiction . One was on a recreation of the Enterprise -D; the other was part of The Three Musketeers and was considerably shorter than the real Riker. Troi believed that the latter's short stature was due to the fact that Barclay found Riker's height intimidating. ( TNG : " Hollow Pursuits ")
• In 2368 , on Stardate 45254.8, a hologram of Riker was used to fool Sela so Spock , Captain Picard , and Data could escape from Romulus . Picard told Data that he did not get the hair quite right. ( TNG : " Unification II ")
• In 2369, on stardate 46424.1, a hologram of Riker was used by James Moriarty to trick Picard into releasing his command codes. Another was used in turn by Picard to trick Moriarty into releasing his control over the Enterprise -D. ( TNG : " Ship In A Bottle ")

Miscellaneous information [ ]

The personnel files of Thomas and William T. Riker in 2371

Riker's quarters on the Enterprise -D were on Deck 8, room 0912. ( TNG : " The Best of Both Worlds ", " Night Terrors ", " Chain Of Command, Part II ")

By 2369, Riker had been decorated by Starfleet five times. ( TNG : " Chain Of Command, Part I ")

Riker replaced the trombone that he had given Thomas Riker with a King 3B 2103 "Legend" tenor trombone. ( TNG : " Thine Own Self ")

Riker spoke "a little" of the Klingon language ( TNG : " The Emissary ") and had a rudimentary knowledge of the Romulan language , specifically Romulan curses. ( TNG : " The Enemy ", " The Defector ")

By early 2365, Riker had permanently grown out his beard because he was tired of people always telling him how young he looked. ( TNG : " The Neutral Zone ", " The Child ", " The Pegasus ") He also felt the beard was a proud, ancient tradition and a symbol of strength. However, he did not see it as an affectation and was not opposed to shaving it; he had just gotten used to it. ( TNG : " The Quality of Life ") He briefly shaved it in 2375 after he resumed his relationship with Deanna Troi. ( Star Trek: Insurrection )

In Reg Barclay's holofantasies of the Enterprise crew programmed in 2366, Riker was a short toady fellow who followed The Three Musketeers : Picard, Data, and La Forge. Riker was incensed to discover his holosimulation, which Troi believed Reg made short on purpose because Riker's height may have been intimidating. Riker then deleted the character. ( TNG : " Hollow Pursuits ")

Riker pulled from the timeline for Q's trial

Q "called" Riker to testify during the trial held to determine whether the Q later known as Quinn should be allowed to die. The trial was held in 2372 aboard the USS Voyager while it was still lost in the Delta Quadrant, and Q plucked Riker from a time period between 2366 and 2370. Riker explained the significance of a portrait of his ancestor, Thaddius "Iron Boots" Riker , colonel of the 102nd New York Infantry Regiment during the American Civil War , and later realized that Quinn was standing next to Thaddius, as he had saved Thaddius from death during the Battle of Pine Mountain . Q concluded by saying that had Quinn never existed, Q would have lost at least a dozen good opportunities to insult Riker over the years. Riker was then returned to his timeframe without any knowledge of being aboard Voyager . ( VOY : " Death Wish ")

Chronology [ ]

Starfleet's personnel file on William T. Riker, circa 2401

Memorable quotes [ ]

" Riker, W.T. reporting as ordered, sir. "

" He calls that a little adventure? "

"Fate protects fools, little children, and ships named Enterprise ."

" Mr. Worf… fire. "

" So what did you wish for, Will? " " Music lessons. "

" I'm going to miss this ship. She went before her time. "

" Smooth as an android's bottom, eh, Data? "

" Serving with you has been an honor. " " The honor was mine... captain. "

" Carol! I guess those Cali -class ships can hold their own longer than people say. " " Thanks for the assist, Captain. " " No need to be so formal. You know, I was her mentor. " " Uh, yeah, well I remember it differently. " " You were sort of my cha'DIch ! We used to get in so much trouble! " " 'We'? "

" Hey, how about you buy me a drink? You know, since we're even? Remember? The thing with the aliens where I saved your ass? " " We are not even, and we don't use money. What happened to you, man? You used to be sharp. "

" I'm sorry I'm late, I was watching the first Enterprise NX-01 on the holodeck. You know, Archer and those guys ? What a story. Those guys had a long road getting from there to here . "

" Red alert! I'm starting to think this jam session's got too many licks and not enough comp! " " WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN?! "

" General, or commodore, or whatever you're calling yourself, right now I'm on the bridge of the toughest, fastest, most powerful starship Starfleet has ever put into service, and I've got a fleet of them at my back. We've got our phasers locked on your warp cores, and nothing would make me happier than you giving me an excuse to kick your treacherous Tal Shiar ass. But instead, I'm going to ask you one time to stand down. "

Appendices [ ]

See also [ ], appearances [ ].

• " Encounter at Farpoint "
• " The Naked Now "
• " Code of Honor "
• " The Last Outpost "
• " Where No One Has Gone Before "
• " Lonely Among Us "
• " Justice "
• " The Battle "
• " Hide And Q "
• " The Big Goodbye "
• " Datalore "
• " Angel One "
• " 11001001 "
• " Too Short A Season "
• " When The Bough Breaks "
• " Home Soil "
• " Coming of Age "
• " Heart of Glory "
• " The Arsenal of Freedom "
• " Symbiosis "
• " Skin Of Evil "
• " We'll Always Have Paris "
• " Conspiracy "
• " The Neutral Zone "
• " The Child "
• " Where Silence Has Lease "
• " Elementary, Dear Data "
• " The Outrageous Okona "
• " Loud As A Whisper "
• " The Schizoid Man "
• " Unnatural Selection "
• " A Matter Of Honor "
• " The Measure Of A Man "
• " The Dauphin "
• " Contagion "
• " The Royale "
• " Time Squared "
• " The Icarus Factor "
• " Pen Pals "
• " Samaritan Snare "
• " Up The Long Ladder "
• " Manhunt "
• " The Emissary "
• " Peak Performance "
• " Shades of Gray "
• " Evolution "
• " The Ensigns of Command "
• " The Survivors "
• " Who Watches The Watchers "
• " The Bonding "
• " Booby Trap "
• " The Enemy "
• " The Price "
• " The Vengeance Factor "
• " The Defector "
• " The Hunted "
• " The High Ground "
• " A Matter of Perspective "
• " Yesterday's Enterprise "
• " The Offspring "
• " Sins of The Father "
• " Allegiance "
• " Captain's Holiday "
• " Tin Man "
• " Hollow Pursuits "
• " The Most Toys "
• " Ménage à Troi "
• " Transfigurations "
• " The Best of Both Worlds "
• " The Best of Both Worlds, Part II "
• " Brothers "
• " Suddenly Human "
• " Remember Me "
• " Reunion "
• " Future Imperfect "
• " Final Mission "
• " The Loss "
• " Data's Day "
• " The Wounded "
• " Devil's Due "
• " First Contact "
• " Galaxy's Child "
• " Night Terrors "
• " Identity Crisis "
• " The Nth Degree "
• " The Drumhead "
• " Half a Life "
• " The Host "
• " The Mind's Eye "
• " In Theory "
• " Redemption "
• " Redemption II "
• " Ensign Ro "
• " Silicon Avatar "
• " Disaster "
• " The Game "
• " Unification I "
• " Unification II "
• " A Matter Of Time "
• " New Ground "
• " Hero Worship "
• " Violations "
• " The Masterpiece Society "
• " Conundrum "
• " Power Play "
• " The Outcast "
• " Cause And Effect "
• " The First Duty "
• " Cost Of Living "
• " The Perfect Mate "
• " Imaginary Friend "
• " The Next Phase "
• " The Inner Light "
• " Time's Arrow "
• " Time's Arrow, Part II "
• " Realm Of Fear "
• " Man Of The People "
• " Schisms "
• " Rascals "
• " A Fistful of Datas "
• " The Quality of Life "
• " Chain Of Command, Part I "
• " Chain Of Command, Part II "
• " Ship In A Bottle "
• " Face Of The Enemy "
• " Tapestry "
• " Birthright, Part I "
• " Birthright, Part II "
• " Starship Mine "
• " Lessons "
• " The Chase "
• " Frame of Mind "
• " Suspicions "
• " Rightful Heir "
• " Second Chances "
• " Timescape "
• " Descent "
• " Descent, Part II "
• " Liaisons "
• " Interface "
• " Gambit, Part I "
• " Gambit, Part II "
• " Phantasms "
• " Dark Page "
• " Attached "
• " Force of Nature "
• " Inheritance "
• " Parallels "
• " The Pegasus "
• " Homeward "
• " Sub Rosa "
• " Lower Decks "
• " Thine Own Self "
• " Eye of the Beholder "
• " Genesis "
• " Journey's End "
• " Firstborn "
• " Bloodlines "
• " Emergence "
• " Preemptive Strike "
• " All Good Things... "
• Star Trek Generations
• Star Trek: First Contact
• Star Trek: Insurrection
• Star Trek Nemesis
• DS9 : " Defiant " ( okudagram )
• VOY : " Death Wish "
• ENT : " These Are the Voyages... "
• " Nepenthe "
• " Et in Arcadia Ego, Part 2 "
• " The Next Generation "
• " Disengage "
• " Seventeen Seconds "
• " No Win Scenario "
• " Imposters "
• " The Bounty "
• " Surrender "
• " The Last Generation "
• " No Small Parts "
• " Strange Energies "
• " Kayshon, His Eyes Open "
• " Worst Contact "
• " Holograms All the Way Down " (hologram)
• " Walk, Don't Run "

Background information [ ]

Jonathan Frakes goes before the cameras as Riker

Riker was played by Jonathan Frakes in all the character's film and television appearances. The young Riker seen in photographs, in the episode " The Icarus Factor ", was portrayed by an unknown actor .

Character development [ ]

During the early production stages of Star Trek: The Next Generation , Riker's name was spelled "Ryker". According to Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion  (2nd ed., p. 13), his description in the original casting call was as follows:

" NUMBER ONE (AKA WILLIAM RYKER) – A 30-35 year old Caucasian born in Alaska. He is a pleasant looking man with sex appeal, of medium height, very agile and strong, a natural psychologist. Number One, as he is usually called, is second in command of the Enterprise and has a very strong, solid relationship with the Captain. "

Other background details which were eventually added to Riker's preproduction character bio claimed Riker "doesn't fully appreciate the female need to be needed" and that he is "privately called William by Picard and Bill by 'female friends'" (Troi does refer to him as "Bill" in " The Naked Now " and " Haven ", although this nickname was apparently dropped in favor of "Will". However, in the script for "Encounter at Farpoint", Picard refers to him as "Bill".) The preferred spelling of "Will" is not clear; scripts and closed captioning often alternate between "Wil" and "Will".

The original concept of Will Riker had much in common with the Willard Decker character intended for Star Trek: Phase II ; indeed, the background story of the love affair between Riker and Troi is somewhat similar to that of Decker and Ilia as seen in Star Trek: The Motion Picture . ( Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion  (2nd ed., p. 66))

Another source of inspiration when fleshing out the character was James T. Kirk . According to the writer's guide for the second season , " Like the legendary 23rd century Kirk (when in his early thirties), our Number One is very strong and agile and has a tendency toward 'derring-do'. Also like Captain Kirk, Riker has a healthy sex drive. " ( Star Trek: The Next Generation 365 , p. 007) Riker was also given the same middle initial T. as Kirk, although his middle name was not actually decided until " Second Chances " in the sixth season . According to Jeri Taylor , a variety of names including "Tecumseh" was considered before the writing staff settled on "Thomas" as the "simplest" choice. ( Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion  (2nd ed., pp. 13 & 250))

Among the actors who originally auditioned for the role of William T. Riker were James Horan [3] [4] , William O. Campbell , Jeffrey Combs , Christopher McDonald , Eric Pierpoint [5] , Erich Anderson , and Vaughn Armstrong (each of whom later played at least one Star Trek role). Campbell was Gene Roddenberry 's preference for the role. However, Jeffrey Combs, Ben Murphy , and Michael O'Gorman were also regarded as front runners for the part.

In a memo from John E. Ferraro to John Pike , dated 13 April 1987 , Frakes, Gregg Marx , Murphy and O'Gorman were named as being considered for the role, with O'Gorman described as a favorite and an atypical but good choice for the role. [6] Campbell was at one point even cast as Riker. " [John] Pike didn't like him, " recalled Rick Berman . " He didn't feel he had a sense of command. He wouldn't follow this guy into battle. I think it was really more that he didn't audition that well for the part, and that's when we went to our second choice, who was Jonathan Frakes. " Frakes himself reflected, " I auditioned seven times over six weeks for this part. Unlike anything I have ever had to fight for before. The last few auditions, I would be sent to Gene's office prior to going to whichever executive needed convincing on this particular audition. I kept going up the food chain. In Gene's office, Gene would give me a pep talk, and Corey Allen , the director of the pilot , was there [....] As a young actor, eager and willing, I really got caught up in [Roddenberry's] vision. " Berman concluded that Frakes "turned out to be a terrific choice." ( The Fifty-Year Mission: The Next 25 Years , p. 95)

Riker is one of four characters to appear in two series finales ( TNG : " All Good Things... " and ENT : " These Are the Voyages... "), the others being Deanna Troi , Worf , and Miles O'Brien .

One of Riker's costumes from the first season of TNG was added to the ScienceFictionArchives.com collection and was showcased at Paris science museum during a 2010-2011 exhibition, "Science (and) Fiction: Imagination Meets Reality". [7]

Riker was the inspiration for the custom Minecraft skin of Yogscast co-founder Lewis Brindley, better known as Xephos. Originally, the skin was Riker, but it evolved into its own character. [8]

Riker was the inspiration of the TV Tropes ideal of "Growing the Beard" – the concept of a series or franchise becoming markedly better than previous installments after a certain point – by the fact that, after actor Jonathan Frakes grew a beard for season two, TNG began to take a turn for the better in various ways. [9]

Riker narrated the commentary on the Star Trek: The Next Generation Interactive Technical Manual and also appeared in the original Star Trek: The Experience : Klingon Encounter ride at the Las Vegas Hilton.

According to StarTrek.com , William Riker was born on August 19 2335, in Valdez , Alaska, and his mother's middle initial was "C." [10] The Star Trek Encyclopedia  (3rd ed., p. 411), also, stated that Riker was born in Valdez.

Apocrypha [ ]

In the alternate future of the Pocket DS9 book series Millennium , Riker was made captain of the Enterprise -F after Jean-Luc Picard was promoted to admiral. Among his crew were Deanna Troi, Geordi La Forge, Tom Paris , and B'Elanna Torres . However, the Enterprise -F was lost with all hands during a bloody battle with the Grigari. This timeline was eventually erased.

Before Riker's middle name was established as "Thomas", it was given as "Thelonius" – perhaps after famous jazz musician Thelonious Monk , as a way to reflect Riker's love of that music style – in Peter David 's novel, Imzadi . That book also delved into the relationship between Riker and Troi.

The novel Q-Squared gives Riker's full name as "William Thomas Thelonius Riker".

In the Star Trek: Destiny trilogy, Riker and the crew of the USS Titan were one of three ships that were instrumental in the final conflict with the Borg , including connecting the Columbia NX-02 to the Borg and locating the Caeliar and Captain Hernandez . In the follow-ups, Riker and Troi have a child together and name it Natasha, after their old friend from the Enterprise -D.

Riker is promoted to admiral in the Star Trek: The Fall miniseries, as Fleet Admiral Leonard James Akaar suspected a conspiracy in the upper echelons of Starfleet Command and needed someone in the admiralty that he knew he could trust. Despite his new position, Riker retains the Titan as his flagship and attempts to go on missions on it whenever he can.

External links [ ]

• William T. Riker at StarTrek.com
• William T. Riker at Wikipedia
• William T. Riker at Memory Beta , the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
• William T. Riker at the Star Trek Online Wiki
• 2 ISS Enterprise (NCC-1701)

Picard's New Starship Took Inspiration From “Retro” Star Trek Canon

Picard’s showrunner and production designer break down the new USS Titan.

The best new starship in Star Trek canon isn’t the Enterprise ! In Star Trek: Picard Season 3, the bold new adventure will happen onboard a new starship even more retro than the Enterprise-D . Of all the new stars of Picard Season 3, the USS Titan is perhaps the most exciting for longtime fans.

But how does this ship fit into the Trek timeline? Is it an old ship? A new ship? A bit of both? Inverse got in touch with Picard showrunner Terry Matalas and production designer Dave Blass to get the details on the latest and greatest ship in Starfleet. Spoilers ahead for Picard Season 3, Episode 1, “The Next Generation.”

The USS Titan NCC-80102-A

In the Picard Season 3 premiere, “The Next Generation,” Will Riker and Jean-Luc Picard find themselves onboard a Neo-Constitution Class starship called the USS Titan . Picard refers to this as Will’s “old command,” which references the fact that after Nemesis , in 2379, Riker became captain of the USS Titan , NCC-80102. We never saw that version of the Titan in live-action, but that was a Luna-class ship, and it appeared in the Lower Decks Season 1 finale and the first two episodes of Lower Decks Season 2.

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But Picard Season 3 is way past that. We’re in 2402 now, and this isn’t Riker’s Titan . This is the next version of the Titan , which is why it has “A” after its registry. As explained by the official Instagram “Star Trek Logs” and Terry Matalas himself, this new Titan was built “using the original Titan spaceframe,” which is why Captain Shaw refers to having to purge all of Riker’s jazz music from the computer.

So is the new Titan a refit of Riker’s Titan or a brand-new ship? The answer from Matalas and Paramount is: yes. It’s both!

Is the Titan bigger than the Enterprise ?

The USS Titan -A in Picard Season 3.

Dave Blass, production designer on Picard Season 2 and 3, tells Inverse, “The USS Titan comes in at 1839 feet long compared to the 2250 feet Enterprise E and the 2108 feet Enterprise D. It’s designed as an exploratory vessel but not as a ‘family-friendly’ ship like the D.”

According to the 2021 Star Trek: Shipyards book , which covers ships from 2294 (the end of the classic movie era) all the way to the 3180s ( Discovery’s distant future), the USS Enterprise-C was 526 meters, which would make it about 1725 feet. So, because the new Titan is 1839 feet long, it’s about a hundred feet longer than the Enterprise-C, meaning it’s much closer to Catapin Rachel Garrett’s Enterprise (from “Yesterday’s Enterprise”) than either of Captain Jean-Luc Picard’s Enterprises .

Relative to other Titans , the new Titan-A is much bigger than Riker’s previous Titan , which — according to that same Shipyards book — was 1489 feet long.

The Titan’s classic Star Trek movie inspiration

The inspiration for the design of the Titan is the same in real life as it is in-universe. The official logs point out that the “Constitution III” class of the new Titan is inspired by the “retro” design of the Constitution refit. This means if you think the new Titan is evocative of the refit Enterprise from the classic films stretching from The Motion Picture (1979) to The Undiscovered Country (1991), you would be correct.

The refit version of the USS Enterprise in 1979’s Star Trek: The Motion Picture.

Trek fans, and even various Trek writers and producers, have long cited this as their favorite starship design in the entire canon. In the 2016 Star Trek oral history book The Fifty-Year Mission by Mark A. Altman and Edward Gross, former TNG, and DS9 producer Ronald D. Moore put it like this: “The Enterprise in The Motion Picture is the best of all the designs. It’s sleek and beautiful and everything is in proportion.”

Terry Matalas agrees, telling Inverse that his love for that movie-era Enterprise is strong.

“The refit Constitution-Class is the best starship design ever made. Perfectly clean, retro lines,” he says. “It’s forever baked into my psyche.”

Star Trek: Picard Season 3 is now streaming on Paramount+.

• Science Fiction

Star Trek: Picard ending explained —what's next for the series?

The Star Trek: Picard series finale was a goodbye... for now.

NOTE: this post contains spoilers for Star Trek: Picard season 3 episode 10, "The Last Generation"

Though Star Trek: Picard came to an end with the April 20 series finale, it actually looks like this is just the beginning for the newly christened U.S.S. Enterprise NCC 1701-G (formerly the U.S.S. Titan). 

There's a lot to unpack from the series finale, so let's jump into it. 

How does the Enterprise-D crew save the galaxy?

At the end of episode 9, the Borg Queen's ultimate plan of revenge was revealed. The Changelings and the Borg had been working together to add a hidden pattern in transporters that could connect all young people to the Collective. 

Using a signal to all of the ships in the fleet, the Queen could use Starfleet's new ship-link technology to put the entire fleet at her disposal. No more Borg assimilation, this was about evolution. Her goal was to destroy the space station that protected earth and then launch an attack. Once that was done, the Borg could control the galaxy. Jack (Ed Speleers) was the "voice" of the signal, so the only way to disconnect the signal was to disconnect Jack and destroy the ship. 

Picard (Patrick Stewart) and the original Star Trek: The Next Generation crew — Will Riker (Jonathan Frakes), Geordi LaForge (LeVar Burton), Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis), Worf (Michael Dorn), Data (Brent Spiner) and Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden) — are on the Enterprise-D, the only ship not connected with the rest of the fleet because of its antiquated technology. 

Picard, Riker and Worf beam aboard the Borg cube to find Jack and the source of the signal, but soon it looks like once the signal is disconnected, the ship will explode and they'll all die. Picard plugs into the Borg hive to get a message to Jack. Meanwhile, the young crew members aboard the rest of the ships in the fleet are killing anyone who hasn't been assimilated, and the space station eventually falls.

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Just when it looks like the end is nigh, the Enterprise-D team manages to blow up the source of the signal thanks to Data's fancy flying. Troi locates the away team and off they fly, escaping the Borg ship just in time. As soon as the signal stops, the young crew members return to normal and the fleet stands down. 

How does the Star Trek: Picard finale tease a spinoff?

After Picard (Patrick Stewart) and the crew of the Enterprise-D save the galaxy once again, all is well in the universe. The crew meet at Ten Forward and play a game of poker, the way they did back in the good old days. 

Raffi (Michelle Hurd) has been promoted to First Officer on board the Enterprise-G, with Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan) as the new captain and Jack Crusher (Ed Speleers) as an ensign and the captain's special counselor. Sidney LaForge (Ashlei Sharpe Chestnut) is still at the helm, too. 

It would have been possible to bring the show to an end after revealing that everyone has a happy ending, but that would have been too easy. Instead, the show leaves the door open — and by "open" we mean the finale blew the door off the hinges so there’s no closing it now — for more.

Every Star Trek captain has a catchphrase. From "engage" and "make it so" to "punch it," it has become a tradition among captains, especially new captains. Toward the end of the episode, Raffi reminds Seven that there's a very long history of every captain's first official act of command. "Writing the opening line to your legacy," Jack adds, adding pressure. The bridge eagerly awaits Seven's catchphrase, but the scene cuts away before she can say it. 

But that's not all. In a mid-credits scene, Q (John de Lancie) shows up. Evidently Q didn't die in Picard season 2; the powerful being decries the inability of humans to think beyond the confines of linear time. Q informs Jack that while his father’s trial has ended, Jack’s trial has just begun.

All this signals a grand new adventure. After all, Star Trek: The Next Generation began and ended with Q, so it's only fitting that he is there at the end of Picard to kick off something wholly new that features the "new" ship and the "new" crew.  

It's even more promising knowing that the Enterprise-D is intact and waiting for an adventure, and so too are the members of the crew. After reuniting in Picard season 3, the TNG cast seems all too willing to return to the fold and a potential new show featuring the Enterprise-G crew battling Q is the perfect way to integrate them into the story. 

With his many powers, it's entirely possible for Q to snap his immortal fingers and manifest any member of the TNG crew anywhere he pleases, which is a fantastically brilliant tool when it comes to telling stories. Q can send anyone backwards or forwards in time, and he can also summon anyone from anywhere — alive or dead.

Furthermore, we'll go out on a limb here and mention the one key absence from season 3: Jack's half brother, Wesley Crusher (Wil Wheaton), who made a brief cameo in season 2. Wesley became a mystical Traveler and hasn't been seen or heard from since he left three decades prior, so it would be very fitting to have Wesley arrive to help his brother combat Q’s merry mayhem.

We don't know what the future holds for the crew of the Enterprise-G, but it's safe to say that  Paramount Plus and showrunner Terry Matalas have something planned. Matalas told Entertainment Weekly after the finale aired that "Jack’s got a lot to do, let me tell you." So it looks like the continuing mission of the U.S.S. Enterprise will continue.

You can watch the entire Star Trek: Picard series right now on Paramount Plus .

Sarabeth joined the What to Watch team in May 2022. An avid TV and movie fan, her perennial favorites are The Walking Dead, American Horror Story , true crime documentaries on Netflix and anything from Passionflix. You’ve Got Mail , Ocean's Eleven and Signs are movies that she can watch all day long. She's also a huge baseball fan, and hockey is a new favorite.  

When she's not working, Sarabeth hosts the My Nights Are Booked Podcast and a blog dedicated to books and interviews with authors and actors. She also published her first novel, Once Upon an Interview , in 2022. 

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'Star Trek: Picard' Season 3: Riker and Troi's Relationship History, Explained

Their love conquered all in 'Picard's series finale, but these two have been one of Star Trek's most iconic power couples for decades.

Editor's Note: This article contains spoilers for Star Trek: Picard Season 3. Star Trek: Picard has officially come to a spectacular end, with its series finale delivering one last showdown against the Borg and an epic final adventure for the crew of The Next Generation . The final season kicked off with Beverly Crusher ( Gates McFadden ) sending out a distress call to Jean-Luc Picard ( Patrick Stewart ) before revealing that she'd secretly had his son, Jack Crusher ( Ed Speleers ). Slowly but surely, the whole found family of the Enterprise-D returned to rally around the Picard-Crusher family unit and take on the mystery threatening the entire galaxy.

At the beginning of the season, Will Riker ( Jonathan Frakes ) is naturally the first to join Picard on his mission; however, he reveals an unexpected rift between him and Deanna Troi ( Marina Sirtis ). As Season 3 showrunner Terry Matalas swiftly noted, the intention behind adding that bit of angst into their relationship would both allow them to explore some of the emotional foundation laid by Season 1 and to bring them back to the place where we fell in love with them—and Matalas did exactly that with the series finale.

In the final episode of Star Trek: Picard , the love between Riker and Troi was instrumental in bringing about the rescue of our heroes. When the interference with the Enterprise's instrumentation prevents Data from being able to get a lock on Riker, Picard, Jack, and Worf ( Michael Dorn ), Deanna is able to find them because of her connection to her Imzadi —a Betazoid word that means "my beloved." As Star Trek: Picard comes to a close, let's take a look back at these two soulmates whose relationship has transcended time and space, animation and live-action, and so much more.

RELATED: 'Star Trek': Picard and Crusher's Romantic History, Explained

"Do You Remember What I Taught You, Imzadi?"

From the very first moment that Will Riker and Deanna Troi set foot on the USS Enterprise, their relationship became a cornerstone of who each of them is, both together and separately. In the pilot episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation , when Captain Jean-Luc Picard introduces his new first officer (Riker) to the ship's counselor (Troi) he assumes that this is their first time meeting, but the audience is granted a sparkly music cue, a classic 90s zoom in, and the dramatic telepathic voiceover of Deanna, who happens to be half Betazoid, asking if Will can still sense her thoughts.

Over the course of the series, more details are slowly revealed about the deep romantic history between Will and Deanna. As Frakes has explained many times in the franchise's 30+ year history, the writers behind The Next Generation left Will and Deanna unattached so that they could both have episodic romantic dalliances with one-off characters. However, throughout the entire series, Frakes and Sirtis made a concerted effort to keep that relationship, and their soulmate connection, alive through lingering looks and meaningful stares, allowing fans to read between the lines of what was written into the series.

Later in the first season, during an episode in which Deanna is almost whisked into an arranged marriage, we learn that the Betazoid word Imzadi means "my beloved." It's a word that Will and Deanna only use for each other and something they refer to each other as even when they aren't explicitly in a romantic relationship. Prior to Riker's landing the coveted position as first officer of Starfleet's flagship, he was stationed on Deanna's home planet Betazed. It's revealed in bits and pieces throughout TNG that while he was stationed there he met Deanna while she was studying psychology, and they fell in love. They kept up a long-distance relationship for a while after he got his next assignment, but when they were set to meet on Risa—a tropical romance planet—Riker never arrived. Though he never intended to break her heart, and he could never "say goodbye," Riker prioritized his dream of being a starship captain over their relationship.

"We've Become Very Good Friends." "All the Better, You Certainly Wouldn't Want to Marry an Enemy."

While there were plenty of missed opportunities for The Next Generation to explore a deeper relationship between Will and Deanna during the show's seven seasons, their time serving on the Enterprise together ultimately served to enhance their romance in the TNG movies and later in Picard . The friends-to-lovers trope is so beloved because the best foundation for any long-lasting romantic relationship is a solid friendship. There's a passage from a short story titled The Long Run by Edith Wharton that perfectly encapsulates the relationship that Will and Deanna are able to build with each other during their time on the Enterprise:

"Love is deeper than friendship, but friendship is a good deal wider. The beauty of our relation was that it included both dimensions. Our thoughts met as naturally as our eyes: it was almost as if we loved each other because we liked each other. I'm inclined to think that the quality of a love may be tested by the amount of friendship it contains, and in our case, there was no dividing line between loving and liking, no disproportion between them, no barrier against which desire beat in vain or from which thought fell back unsatisfied."

While Will and Deanna are never explicitly in a relationship during The Next Generation , their friendship blossoms and grows allowing them to build a much stronger connection. And thanks to the valiant efforts of Frakes and Sirtis, the love that Riker and Troi had for each other never waned, despite rarely being explicitly written into the script. That being said, there are certainly a handful of episodes that lean into their romance. In Season 3's "Menagé a Troi," they take shore leave together on Betazed, sharing kisses and reminiscing about "all the good times they had" before the chaos of the rest of the episode breaks loose. It's later implied that they frequently take shore leave together in Season 4's "Family," when Deanna tells Beverly that she and Will have been "talking about going back to Angel Falls."

In Season 5, the episode "Conundrum" features the entire crew of the ship having their memories wiped—however, for Will and Deanna, their Imzadi connection remains. While they can't remember specifics, Deanna tells Will that he's the only thing that seems familiar to her—he later finds a book of poetry in his quarters, Ode to Psyche by John Keats , with an inscription that reads "To Will, all my love, Deanna." When a Season 6 episode titled "Second Chances," leads the Enterprise to find a duplicate Riker (thanks to a rogue transporter incident) Deanna's complicated feelings for Will are whirled into a fever pitch. Though her relationship with Thomas Riker ends as swiftly as it begins, the episode makes it clear that both Will and Deanna still hold those yearning feelings for each other, it's simply not the right time to let them out yet.

Throughout The Next Generation , their friendship allows them to grow individually and in turn, they make each other better. In "The Loss," Riker helps Deanna to become more accepting of her human side when her empathic gifts are temporarily impaired. When Riker must take command of the Enterprise during the crisis at Wolf 359 in "The Best of Both Worlds," Deanna gives him much-needed perspective on how he's grown since being assigned to the Enterprise. Later, in "Thine Own Self," Riker is the one who administers Deanna's bridge officers test, promoting her to the rank of Commander when she passes.

Their time on the Enterprise essentially allows them to slowly become everything that two people generally vow to be to each other when they get married. They stand by each other in times of sickness and health, each taking turns sitting vigil for the other when the ship falls prey to any number of alien incursions. They are each other's trusted confidants, they work well together as a team, and even when either of them would date other people there was still an ever-present tether between them. In "The Price," when one of Deanna's one-off romantic partners attempts to make Riker jealous, implying that she's a prize to be won, Riker shuts down the conversation with full confidence in his relationship with Deanna as well as her ability to make her own choices. Interestingly, one of the few times Riker appears to be genuinely jealous is when Deanna begins dating Worf ( Michael Dorn ). Because Worf means more to both of them than past romantic partners, it's the first time either of them actually stops to consider that they might end up with other people.

"Your Feelings for Her Have Not Changed Since the Day I Met You, Commander."

Thankfully, Worf and Deanna's relationship comes to an amicable end off-screen, after he moves on to Deep Space Nine . While the first two Star Trek: The Next Generation movies don't really dedicate much time to romance, Star Trek: Insurrection takes the Enterprise into a nebula with certain "anti-aging" properties, causing the crew to feel like their younger selves. For Riker and Troi, this manifests primarily in their attraction to each other. From flirtations in the library to kisses in her office, Will and Deanna rekindle their romance, ending the movie seemingly having gotten back together for good this time. As Worf points out, their feelings for each other have never changed, and at long last the timing is finally right for them to be together.

Though Star Trek: Nemesis is widely regarded as the worst Next Gen movie—and for good reason —its best redeeming quality is that it finally delivered the Riker/Troi endgame that fans had been rooting for since the pilot. The movie begins with the entire crew celebrating their wedding and preparing to move on from their time on the Enterprise to the next chapter of their lives as Riker becomes captain of the Titan. One of the major critiques of Nemesis is that the film made Deanna a victim of assault, something that unfortunately happened more than once during the run of Next Generation . The movie ends with Deanna and Will leaving for the Titan, and though they're on good terms with each other, they're definitely left reeling from the events of the mission, including Data's death.

Luckily, for fans of Riker and Troi, this is hardly the last time they're seen in the franchise. Both characters, make appearances in several other Star Trek shows before they return for Star Trek: Picard . Deanna appears in two episodes of Voyager , and though Will isn't there, their relationship is still used as a point of reference as they're planning to spend their shore leave together again. The Enterprise series finale uses the two of them as a framing device, as they use a holodeck program to explore the legacy of that very first crew. They also appear together in the Season 1 finale of Star Trek 's adult animated series, Lower Decks . In the comedy series, they arrive on the Titan to offer aid to the USS Cerritos, swooping in to save the day before heading off for a planet with a "little Risa," joking about bringing their "little Hor'gan," implying that they're open to getting a little freaky on vacation.

"I Love You, Imzadi."

The next time we see Riker and Troi, they've been through quite a bit over the course of nearly two decades, though the tie-in novel The Dark Veil by James Swallow fills in a bit of that gap. When we find them in the first season of Star Trek: Picard , they've seemingly retired to a peaceful planet called Nepenthe, and through the episode, we learn that they went there to spend as much time as possible with their dying son. The episode sees them play host to Picard when he's in need of a safe haven and gives us a glimpse into their lives, once again reeling from the trauma of loss. Though they're still working through the pain of losing their son, they have a bright, curious daughter and are instantly warm and welcoming to Picard and Soji (Data's daughter played by Isa Briones ).

When we catch up with them again in Picard Season 3, Will readily joins Jean-Luc on his mission to give Deanna and Kestra "a break from him." Earlier this year Collider's Maggie Lovitt spoke to Season 3 showrunner Matalas about the choice to plant a little bit of angst in their relationship. He told Collider, "We started to ask ourselves, what would that mean for Deanna who could feel everyone's grief, and how would they try and solve that?" Picard Season 3 gives Riker the push he needs to finally confront his own grief. After having lost his own son, he accompanies Picard on a journey to get to know the child he never knew he had. By the time he's reunited with Deanna—in the prison cell of an enemy ship—they're able to find themselves on even footing again. Will's grief had been all-consuming, and when Deanna tried to help him carry the weight of it, he shut her out, clinging to his own pain as though it might let him hang on to their child a little bit longer. His time with Picard and Jack gives him the perspective he needs to be able to come back to Deanna and move through to the next chapter of their lives with her.

The Picard series finale, "The Last Generation," brings their story full circle in the most beautiful way. Playing up those lingering looks, Riker and Troi are separated at the beginning of the episode as he heads into the ship to find the beacon they need to destroy and she stays on the ship to help serve as their eye in the sky. When complications arise from the destruction of the beacon, preventing Data from being able to get a lock on Picard and Jack, Riker goes deeper into the ship in hopes of bringing them into transporter range with complete confidence that he'll see Deanna again soon. But when it looks like they may not make it out after all, Riker opens himself up emotionally using their telepathic bond to send one last "I love you, Imzadi" to Deanna with the promise that he'd wait for her with their son in whatever comes next. It's that very vulnerability that allows her to sense exactly where he is and bring him home along with all of their friends. Picard gives each of its heroes a soft epilogue, with Will and Deanna planning "a whirlwind vacation," and proving that love really does conquer all.

You can go back through all of Riker and Troi's appearances in the Star Trek franchise right now on Paramount+.

Picard: Riker's Winning Move Is a Deep TNG Easter Egg

Will Riker saves the day with an innovative combat move in Season 3 of Star Trek: Picard. It calls back to a signature moment on The Next Generation.

The following contains spoilers for Star Trek: Picard Season 3, Episode 4, "No Win Scenario," now streaming on Paramount+ .

The last two episodes of Star Trek: Picard have focused on a classic franchise scenario: an extended game of cat-and-mouse between two ships in a nebula. Season 3, Episode 3, "Seventeen Seconds," finds the badly outgunned U.S.S. Titan trying to flee the sinister Shrike, whose sinister captain, Vadic is still largely a mystery. Episode 4, "No Win Scenario," brings the Titan back from the brink as Will Riker and the crew use a bit of ingenuity to outfox their foe.

It culminates with a fantastic Easter egg when the Titan uses its tractor beam to fling an asteroid at the enemy ship. True to Picard's nostalgic tone, the gag evokes one of Riker's best moments in Star Trek: The Next Generation. Season 2, Episode 11, "Contagion," features Riker asking for "some rocks" to throw at the villains. "No Win Scenario" finally gives him his wish.

RELATED: Picard: Worf's Title, Explained

Picard Sets Riker Against an Innovative Weapon

The Shrike is armed with a special distortion weapon that Vadic uses to prevent the Titan from escaping in "Seventeen Seconds." Vadic first deploys it in front of the Titan as it flees, creating a portal that teleports the ship back to where it started. It pulls a similar trick when the Titan opens fire on them, causing the photon torpedoes to reappear behind the Federation ship. The tactic sends them spiraling into the nebula's gravity well as power drops from the engines.

"No Win Scenario" finds the Titan roaring back in a classic Star Trek manner, as Beverly deduces the source of the nebula's periodic energy bursts, and the ship uses it to partially restore power. With weapons inactive and the Shrike bearing down on them, Riker orders the tractor beam to grab a nearby asteroid, then cuts the ship's engines at precisely the right point to fling it at the enemy ship. The results cripple the Shrike's systems, giving the Titan a window to escape. Afterward, Beverly pointedly asks if Riker actually did what he appeared to do.

RELATED: REVIEW: Star Trek: Picard Season 3 Episode 4 Escalates the Tension and Heartfelt Moments

Riker Once Asked for Rocks to Throw on The Next Generation

Beverly's comment is the tip-off that the producers knew what they were doing with the gag. "Contagion" features a mysterious virus that renders the Enterprise-D inoperable while facing off against a Romulan warbird in The Neutral Zone. (Luckily, the warbird suffers from the same malady.) His frustration grows as The Enterprise tries unsuccessfully to bring its weapons online. "If it should become necessary to fight," he grumbles. "Could you arrange to find me some rocks to throw at them?"

The joke involves technological advancement: the more sophisticated the weapon, the more easily it can malfunction, which "Contagion" uses to create its dramatic tension. "No Win Scenario" offers a wrinkle on the same theme, as the Shrike's weaponry outclasses the Titan's in every way. The asteroid is just a more low-tech way of approaching the problem. Riker deploys it with cunning and panache , but it boils down to simplifying his thinking and taking an unexpected approach.

The deep cut indicates how Picard calls back to the earlier series: using props and brief bits of dialogue to reference specific points in the characters' past. The asteroid gag takes it a step further, adding a new wrinkle to a three-decade-old joke and turning it into the episode's spectacular climax in the bargain. Expect that to continue as the season moves forward . Those kinds of references have been a key part of Picard's Season 3 success .

New episodes of Star Trek: Picard stream every Thursday on Paramount+.

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Follow-up series to Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987) and Star Trek: Nemesis (2002) that centers on Jean-Luc Picard in the next chapter of his life. Follow-up series to Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987) and Star Trek: Nemesis (2002) that centers on Jean-Luc Picard in the next chapter of his life. Follow-up series to Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987) and Star Trek: Nemesis (2002) that centers on Jean-Luc Picard in the next chapter of his life.

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• Trivia The Chateau Picard vineyard first appeared in Family (1990) . It was run by Jean-Luc Picard's brother Robert and his wife Marie, and their son René. Jean-Luc would learn in Star Trek: Generations (1994) that Robert and René had both burned to death in a fire, leaving Jean-Luc as the last in the Picard line.
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'Star Trek: Picard' soars by embracing the legacy of 'The Next Generation'

Eric Deggans

Jonathan Frakes as Will Riker and Patrick Stewart as Jean-Luc Picard. Trae Patton/Trae Patton/Paramount hide caption

Jonathan Frakes as Will Riker and Patrick Stewart as Jean-Luc Picard.

One of the central themes in Star Trek: Picard has been the importance of accepting every bit of your past, so you can move forward to a new future.

Which is why it's surprising that Paramount+'s new series — centered on Patrick Stewart's beloved, aging starship captain Jean-Luc Picard — has taken so long to learn that lesson for itself.

Gates McFadden as Dr. Beverly Crusher. Trae Patton/Trae Patton/Paramount+ hide caption

Gates McFadden as Dr. Beverly Crusher.

Fortunately, the third and supposedly final season of Star Trek: Picard practically forces the series to change course, pulling in more characters from Star Trek: The Next Generation to join their former captain, including Jonathan Frakes' William Riker, Michael Dorn's Worf, LeVar Burton's Geordi La Forge, Marina Sirtis' Deanna Troi and Gates McFadden's Dr. Beverly Crusher, among others.

The result: A program that finally brings the rollicking spirit and camaraderie of the '80s and '90s-era series into a modern context, reintroducing old characters in bold new ways — with contemporary special effects and cinematography — while leaning into all the things that made fans love The Next Generation series in the first place.

Jeri Ryan as Seven of Nine, Patrick Stewart as Picard, and Jonathan Frakes as Riker. Nicole Wilder/Nicole Wilder/Paramount hide caption

Jeri Ryan as Seven of Nine, Patrick Stewart as Picard, and Jonathan Frakes as Riker.

Old characters find new purpose

'First, Last And Always, I Am A Fan': Michael Chabon Steers Latest 'Star Trek'

Nowhere are the benefits of this new approach more apparent than in the arc of the very first character we meet in this new season: McFadden's Dr. Beverly Crusher.

Brent Spiner as Soong. Trae Patton/CBS hide caption

Brent Spiner as Soong.

Next Generation fans will remember that the series often couldn't figure out what to do with her. Yes, she was the starship Enterprise's more-than-capable chief medical officer. But she was also mother to a precocious ensign on the ship, widow to a man who was killed under Picard's command and a sometimes-but-not-quite love interest for the captain himself.

'Star Trek: Discovery' Is A Refreshing Triumph

McFadden told me in January — in response to a question I asked during a press conference — that she had pressed for Dr. Crusher to get more action scenes back in the day, to no avail. But she gets her wish on Star Trek: Picard , which opens with Dr. Crusher in a shootout with unknown villains who will become the biggest of bad guys for the show's expansive third season.

She also uncorks a huge personal secret of Picard's that threatens to redefine his legacy and change his life in harrowing new ways – something that blindsides the now Admiral Picard, just as he's thinking of slowing down and living a different life.

Pop Culture Happy Hour

'star trek: strange new worlds' goes there, boldly.

"I am not a man who needs a legacy," Picard says, in a line so weighted with foreshadowing, it falls out of his mouth like an anvil. "I want a new adventure."

Who's to say you can't have both?

Turning a painful legacy into a new adventure

Without giving too much away, the third season of Picard accomplishes exactly that, drawing together most of The Next Generation crew to face a new threat rooted in their long history together — with more than few nods to other Trek series, such as Voyager and Deep Space Nine . Along the way, Stewart's character must come to terms with decisions he made long ago, while learning how much his old compatriots have changed since they last shared an adventure together.

Those who have watched previous seasons of Picard , will recognize that this is the type of story the series has tried to tell before — Picard as a lion in winter, drawn out by a new threat, which he can only defeat by learning to accept the mistakes in his past (last season's episodes, which were particularly disappointing, even featured therapy sessions and flashbacks to his childhood, in case the symbolism was too obtuse.)

But each of those storylines felt unsatisfying and incomplete. Now, it's more obvious why — Picard can never reconcile conflicts from his past without engaging the other beloved characters from his swashbuckling history. Fans have spent decades consuming the adventures of The Next Generation crew — to suggest in this new series that Picard had a huge and damaging part of his background that mostly didn't involve them, felt unrealistic and unearned.

Previous seasons of the show spent too much time and effort building a new family of characters around Picard. Or they brought back familiar faces in different forms, having John de Lancie return in season two as a hugely diminished version of the extra-dimensional entity Q, or trotting out Brent Spiner — who played fan-favorite android Data in The Next Generation series — to play villainous geneticist Adam Soong.

In this third season, when we see Dr. Crusher and Picard talk about their past romance, those scenes are fortified by the weight of events in episodes from more than 30 years earlier. When we eventually see Dorn's Worf and Frakes' Riker trade playful insults, it continues a dynamic Trek fans first fell in love with decades ago.

Paramount+'s new Trek series have worked hard to establish their own identities — no mean feat for the latest iterations of a nearly 60-year-old franchise with loads of TV series, films, novels and merchandise preceding them. In particular, Star Trek: Discovery , the series built around Sonequa Martin-Green's previously unknown adopted sister to Mr. Spock, developed a new approach to Trek stories that bent and broke many of the rules developed in previous generations.

But the success last year of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds — a Discovery spin-off centered on the adventures of the Enterprise years before Captain James T. Kirk would take the helm — showed the value of returning to the classic rhythms of the original series, boosted by the thrill of seeing new origin stories for characters like Spock, Christine Chapel and Nyota Uhura.

So it makes sense Picard would stage a creative turnaround in its third season with a similar strategy (perhaps longtime Trek nerd Terry Matalas, who took over as sole showrunner for this season, had something to do with the narrative upgrades). It's about time the new Trek series stopped sidestepping the franchise's long legacy — instead, finding ways to embrace it again, while leaving room for new ideas, new characters and new challenges.

One other problem with Star Trek: Picard, that the new season addresses less skillfully, is the sense that the weakest link in the series is often Picard himself. At age 82, Stewart is hardly going to be jumping into physical fist fights in the same way colleagues 10 or 15 years younger might do (it's worth noting most of the Next Generation cast members who show up here are between 65 and 74 years old themselves, making this season of Picard a great argument against ageism in TV. )

But beyond the physicality of the role, a lot of Picard 's story points have turned on the character's regrets about how major decisions in his past have affected friends and family. It's meaty ground to cover for an actor, but it can have the unintended consequence of turning him into the most indecisive character onscreen. Which is not a great look for a legendary starship captain-turned-admiral.

Is this truly the end for Picard?

During the same press conference where McFadden spoke on her long struggle to develop Dr. Crusher, Stewart and executive producer Alex Kurtzman hinted that Picard could continue past this supposed final season, if there was enough interest from fans and Paramount in making it so.

"There is still enormous potential for narrative in what we've been doing," Stewart said then. "And there are (narrative) doors left open still...We didn't close all of them."

I'm predicting fans will love seeing The Next Generation crew together again and back in action they way Star Trek: Picard presents them.

The only question left — at least for me — is whether Paramount Global will have the good sense to keep a great Trek series going, just as it has finally found a thrilling new voice.

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Jonathan Frakes Sees Opportunities With Streaming Star Trek Movies, Weighs In On “Filler Episodes”

| April 25, 2024 | By: Laurie Ulster 69 comments so far

Earlier this week, TrekMovie’s All Access Star Trek podcast team spoke to director and Star Trek: The Next Generation (and Picard ) star Jonathan Frakes along with Deep Space Nine star Armin Shimerman, DS9 guest star Kitty Swink, and television writer/producer Juan Carlos Coto, brother of late  Enterprise  writer/producer Manny Coto. They had all gathered together to talk about the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network and their team Trek Against Pancreatic Cancer for the Purple Stride walk this Saturday, April 27th. During the wide-ranging chat, Frakes weighed in some some of the latest Star Trek news.

Frakes talks Lower Decks and 2-hour streaming movie format

Jonathan Frakes had some thoughts regarding the future of Lower Decks , reacting to the recent news that the upcoming fifth season of the animated series will be its last . He directed the Lower Decks / Strange New Worlds “Those Old Scientists” crossover, and when asked if he thought there could be another crossover episode, he saw it as a possibility:

“I think the show did so well. You know, [co-showrunner] Akiva [Goldsman] would would certainly take the swing like that. I think [co-showrunner] Henry Alonso Myers would too. I’m not sure how Paramount Plus or Alex [Kurtzman] would feel about it, but it worked.”

After some talk about whether or not Lower Decks could be revived like Prodigy was on Netflix, Frakes brought up that a new format could offer possibilities:

“I do know that there’s a lot of positive energy around the Michelle Yeoh Section 31 movie. So that 2-hour format is now on the table for Star Trek going forward.”

Frakes agreed that in addition to  Lower Decks , this format could also be a home for Terry Matalas’ Star Trek: Legacy pitch for a spin-off of the third season of Picard. When asked, Frakes said “of course” Matalas has spoken to him about Legacy . If Legacy did transform into a streaming movie, Frakes doesn’t expect he would direct, predicting Terry would “hire himself” to helm it as he did for the season 3 finale.

Jonathan Frakes in season 2 of  Lower Decks

Frakes weighs in on “filler episodes”

One of the recent hot topics around Star Trek centers around comments from executive producer Alex Kurtzman about how the modern streaming era of 10-episode seasons forces them to “really make sure that every story counts,” noting he has talked to writers who worked on earlier incarnations of Trek with 26-episode seasons who lamented having to do “filler episodes.” When the subject of filler episodes was brought up, Frakes said of TNG:

“The only filler I thought was real was when they clearly did a clip show [“Shades of Gray”]. That was a piece of shit.”

Frakes agreed with Juan Carlos Coto (a writer and showrunner on the ABC series 9-1-1 ) who said filler episodes were “never intentional.” They pointed out that budgets get spent at the beginning and end of seasons, so “in the middle, there’s a lot of talking.” As Frakes admitted, some of the best material had to be saved for the right time:

“We made 26 episodes a year, they had a set budget for the year and you split it up 26 ways or however they saw fit… and you got to save stuff for the cliffhanger… Like ‘Best of Both Worlds,’ Picard is Locutus and we’re about to fucking blow up the ship and kill him.”

Shelby (Elizabeth Dennehy) and Riker (Jonathan Frakes) in the final moments of “Best of Both Worlds” season 3 cliffhanger finale

If you can, please join Purple Stride, donate to the cause, or both. If you can’t, please spread the word via social media and word of mouth. For more info visit the Trek Against Pancreatic Cancer participation and donation page

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Imagine Deep Space Nine, with 10 episodes per season and how forced and unrealistic many of the storylines and character developments would look.

Cheers to the “filler” episodes !

“Duet”, probably the best episode of Season 1, was a filler episode.

I don’t really count that as “filler”, since it advanced the evolution of Kira’s character. Now, “Looking for Par’Mach…” is filler. Sure, we get to see more Klingon culture, but I could do without the BDSM implications of said culture.

But it the moment dax and word became a couple so not a ‘filler’ ep

I think “Duet” is a bottle episode, but not a filler episode. But we are having a hard time defining filler episodes here at TrekMovie for that reason! “Duet” was a really important episode for Kira’s character that changed her in some way, and was, I’m guessing, a story they really wanted to do. I love “Explorers,” but that strikes me as more of a DS9 filler than “Duet.”

Bottle shows are money savers. Filler shows go back to the writer’s room.

You have to cram 26 episodes into a season. Episodes are being broken while others are being written while others episodes are in pre-production while others are being filmed while others are in various stages of post production. It’s the I Love Lucy chocolate assembly line. You need ideas. At times, any ideas. Some will work well, some will fail, some will have done better if more time, but we can’t worry about that now because we need to keep moving.

If season 1 of DS9 were ten episodes, instead of eighteen, we probably would have lost Q-Less, Move Along Home, and Dramatis Personae off the bat. Duet would have been kept. There would have been more time for the writers to write and write well. We may have gotten other gems that there was never time to develop.

DS9 did an amazing job later in its run running a tight ship with 26 episodes, far more than the other shows, and shorter seasons would have been sad for us – I’d have preferred 52 episodes a season, but the producers would have died. It’s about balance.

Duet was one of my favourite episodes of DS9, filler or bottle or whateverI don’t care it was a high point of the show.

Absolutely. DS9 for me still the number 1 Star Trek show. And it is because of these long story arcs and filler episodes.

Every episode is so thoughtful. This is why my expectations are higher watching the new shows, specially Discovery and Picard.

Great script. Brilliant character development. Connections. Issues. Actors. Producers. The whole thing is truly a masterpiece.

Yes to both points. TBH I don’t mind a more serialized approach like Discovery and Picard, but the so-called “filler” episodes do add a lot to the characters and world-building they can do. Yes, some of them aren’t great, but I’d gladly take that along with the great episodes that can stem from the “filler.”

And I really do think Lower Decks could thrive with a movie format, or even just hour-long specials similar to South Park.

I like the idea of multi-episode streaming movies, viewed online. What are the current series long shows like Discovery, if not that? Multi-part shows, streamed online over 8-10 weeks, loosely or tightly inter-connected. SNW’s breaks that mold a little bit with more seeming stand-alone episodes, albeit connected by the underlying plot threads – Pikes knowledge of his demise, for example.

It’s frequently commented that many seasons of the current shows feel stretched. Movie format suits the kind of storytelling modern Trek wants to do (which is emulate modern action movies).

I love this man so much and hope to see him back as Riker again someday. I would love a Legacy TV movie.

And I agree with him, I don’t look as most shows making filler episodes. As long as they give us good stories and character development I will watch them all. It doesn’t mean every episode is great of course but every viewer will judge it on their own. What people consider filler to them will be an impactful episode to others.

All I know is while none of these shows are perfect I watch TNG, TOS and Enterprise religiously and those shows have way more solid episodes than bad ones in my book.

Everything he touches, turns out amazing.

Thunderbirds has entered the chat, LOL!

I was going to leave it as a snarky comment, but come on. Everyone loves Frakes.

Best episodes. First Contact. Hope Frakes and Ira Steven Behr could direct Berman era movies.

I would love for Behr to be involved again on some level with Star Trek. Still one of the best writers to ‘this day! He and Frakes teaming up to do a movie would be amazing!

If he comes back, will be for the Return of the Sisko! :D I am an optimist. Really hope Avery is just having fun just waiting for the right time and the right script.

Yes totally agree!!! That would be fantastic.

Yep fully agree. The way people view an episode is always different. And yeah there have been tons of ‘filler’ episodes that have become pretty iconic in their own right.

The classic shows have all generally aged well because there are so many episodes and you get such a wide range of stories and character driven episodes fans have gotten to appreciate that sadly the new shows rarely have time for and never get to focus on secondary characters.

People have been complaining about the extreme lack of character development of the Discovery bridge crew for five seasons now. With more episodes and not about the galaxy being in jeopardy every season maybe we could’ve gotten at least a few Detmer or Owo focused stories.

And it’s just fun to turn on a random TOS or VOY episode that is really harder to do with the new stuff.

And yes Frakes is amazing! He embodies the Star Trek spirit like no other!

Yes this is it exactly! The ‘filler’ episodes gave us a wide range of character development this new stuff just does a passing glance at because it’s too serialized and plot driven. In the golden era of Trek you got both. DS9 hello?

Those shows can really slow down and give us some great stuff. One of my favorite Enterprise episodes is Shuttlepod One. I adore it because you get real insight into Reed and Trip. It’s no way an episode like that could ever be made today because they don’t have the room and there isn’t enough shooting or explosions.

BTW, a little off topic but have you been watching this season of Discovery at all? Any thoughts? I don’t think I’ve seen a single post from you about any of the season or episodes so far.

I just watched the first episode of the season a week ago. It was OK but just not for me. I really only watched it because it connected to The Chase, one of my favorites.

I said I would try and watch the next episode but no motivation. Discovery just isn’t for me I guess. I still haven’t finished watching seasons 3 and 4 either lol.

But I hear others are really enjoying it though. Good for them. 😊

How about yourself dear? Maybe I might try it again later when it’s over and if I hear good things about the ending.If not, no bother. I haven’t looked in any of the threads on this board discussing the season.

I am enjoying it for the most part: certainly more than I thought I would lol.

But it’s still Discovery and there are still scenes of people discussing their feelings or just a lot of back and forth discussions that feel pretty aimless or just there to pad the episode. I really didn’t like the last episode at all but the one before that one was great and felt like the type of story you would get out of a Berman era show.

So it’s up and down but I do think a lot people are liking it overall including this board which says a lot lol.

I’m still a little nervous it may not stick to landing by the end but we only have 5 more episodes and then the show is done for good. Wow.

Good to know. I do know the show is trying to connect more to classic Star Trek like TNG and DS9. That’s a big positive at least and maybe why more people are excited about it right now. But are a lot of people watching it this season? No one I know online is really talking about it as much like before but maybe just where I lurk on social media.

Hopefully it will end well for its fans.

Yeah that seems to be a topic in a number of places and if a lot of people are watching the season since discussion over it seems to be generally down this season. The only answer real answer I have is I have no clue.

But it was cancelled for a reason, maybe a lot of people were already watching it less in season 4 like yourself. If that’s true not a shock less are watching it now. It’s going to take more than latching your season to a 30 year old TNG episode to get those people back if they already left

Well regardless who is watching I do hope they are enjoying it. I may try and give it another chance at some point.

Oh however I have started watching Prodigy for the first time and you were so right! That show is phenomenal!! I just thought I was too old for it but it’s so much fun and loving Janeway with the new characters!

I’m on episode 9 now but can’t wait to finish it. I’m really excited when the real Janeway shows up but Hologram Janeway is so much fun too. The new characters really feel fleshed out as well and loving the storyline. This feels like Star Trek of old again. I’m so happy you and others convinced me to watch it.

I really can’t wait for season 2 seeing how great season 1 is so far. 😊

Wow that’s amazing news! 😀

I’m so happy to hear that. Yeah Prodigy is great. It doesn’t mean everyone loves it and it obviously didn’t get that many viewers (but I think due to calling it a kids show and why people like you stayed away) but the show just has so much heart and why I love it.

This is the show I’m most excited to see again and can’t wait to see the kids on the Voyager A with Admiral Janeway and the Doctor.

And see there is something you like in NuTrek after all!

Haha indeed!

Prodigy does an amazing job with its characters and manage to tell fun and interesting stories. I thought I wasn’t going to like Dal or Gwynn much and they became very lovable once I realize everything they been through and becoming more of a team. Jangom Pog cracks me up and Rok is adorable.

I also love it has a strong connection to Voyager. I’m very excited to have the real Janeway back too. It’s proof I shouldn’t judge something until I see it but I never thought it was bad just not for me.

That’s great to hear, Legacy. I was similarly surprised upon first viewing of PRO, at the quality of the show’s writing, visuals and overall Trek ‘feel.’ It’s a rare example of modern Trek done Right.

So true Danpaine. There is so much of NuTrek I feel they either get wrong or too focused on action and big stakes instead of just telling a solid story which Prodigy really seems to do.

I don’t need another story about trying to destroy the galaxy. This show is more my speed and makes this old bird really appreciate the Star Trek I fell in love with again.

Get ready for the next 11 episodes. You will be surprised how great is Prodigy. Can’t wait to watch Season 2 on Netflix.

I’m going to watch the next few episodes this weekend. It’s only gotten stronger. And I peeped ahead with some of the surprises and happy Captain Jelico and the Xindi makes an appearance. I know just small cameos but still happy to see them back. I don’t know what happens next in the story so can’t wait!

Will season 2 come out this year? I really hope so now. We need more quality Trek like this show.

It’s been confirmed by Netflix it will debut this year at least but zero word on when.

So great to hear! Without a doubt this show has a new fan and I’ll be watching season 2 the day it drops!

I truly can’t wait now and nearly done with season 1. 🙂

Yes you are so right! I just finished episode 14 this weekend and it’s just so much fun. I was excited to see Admiral Janeway back and shrieked when the Xindi appeared lol. One of my favorite species in Star Trek.

The story just feels so well thought out and loving how they are handling all the characters in it. I’m going to try and finish the rest of it by this weekend.

I can’t believe I didn’t bother to watch this until now.

Great to see more Prodigy love. It’s my favorite of the new shows. I love how it walks the line of being a very unique take on the franchise, while capturing the heart and soul of the older shows. The serialized story works well as a connective tissue and giving their adventure long-term stakes, but having done a rewatch in a random order made me realize just how well a lot of the episodes work on their own (once you get past the initial part connecting to the main story).

Now I just need Netflix to hurry up and release it, lol.

Yes I really appreciate how the episodes still feel very episodic but the main story connects very well. That was the problem I had with Discovery and Picard. I felt the serialized story fell apart halfway through but there are not enough episodic stories to keep me invested.

Right now Prodigy is doing both. I’m very surprised how solid the story telling is here.

I watched the silver age of Star Trek as a kid. Now that I’m older, I appreciate the hard work that the great Rick Berman, Brannon Braga, Michael Piller, and others did. They worked tirelessly around the clock to bring the audiences the best stories and best productions they could with what they had. I don’t use or believe in “filler episodes. ”

If I was going to use that concept, I would use it to describe Disco, Picard, and SNW. These three shows have a beginning and end but nothing substantial in the middle….it’s like they are filling in stuff to get to the end.

I so agree with you dear. I really appreciate all the amazing shows we got in the 90s. It was such a great time to be a fan and I been watching Trek since the 60s. So many great stories and characters.

I think people like Berman, Piller, Moore, Braga etc gets more praise today to see how many quality stories they produced with half the time and money these new shows gets now (and still nowhere as compelling or thoughtful as we got back then).

I did really enjoy Picard season 3 but it’s still not nearly as good as TNG was but it at least tried to be.

Season 3 was more like an extended TNG movie to me and it was a lot better than 3 of the 4 TNG movies with a much better send off for every character than Nemesis.

Yeah I loved the send off they got in season 3. It’s just a much more and satisfying ending than what we got in Nemesis.

I just loved the last episode so much and will always feel special to me. It was a great Trek season overall even if it still wasn’t perfect.

Yes fully agree season 3 felt like a movie and gave us some great drama and twists. I actually like most of the TNG movies minus Generations (hated how it killed Kirk) but they are below the TOS movies but still far above the JJ reboot movies for me. I barely even count those as canon, but my opinion only of course.

Even though I liked it more than others, Nemesis was a real let down as well so it was nice to give them a better ending on this show.

Did Frakes threw some shade towards Kurtzman about crossover episodes? or am I misunderstanding his comments there. In any case I am also of the camp that apart from clip shows, which should never exist, fillers can be the best episodes of any series. I mean I rewatch the “filler” episodes much more, episodes like “Duet” from DS9, “Timeless” from Voyager, “The Inner Light” from TNG. Even in other series for example like Stargate or Farscape I usually prefer the excellent filler episodes rather than the ongoing serial ones. Or in the X-Files. I think that show had some phenomenal “filler” episodes.

I agree with pretty much everything except calling Timeless a filler episode. It was anything but because that was Voyager’s 100th episode and was supposedly one of the most expensive to shoot that year.

And you can’t bring Geordie on and call it that. 😉

Thanks for clearing that up actually, I knew Takei’s episode “Flashback” was an anniversary episode but didn’t realize till now that “Timeless” was actually the 100th episode.

If you go to a Star Trek Jeopardy special event, you will beat everyone. Totally forgot Timeless was the 100th episode, which by the way, it was one of my favorite VOY episodes.

“ If you go to a Star Trek Jeopardy special event, you will beat everyone.”

Unless it involves correctly spelling the given name of the D’s chief engineer.

Lol thanks but there are plenty of things I don’t remember and Timeless was a big deal at the time. And I listen to The Delta Flyers which did an amazing job going through the entire show and Timeless was one they really discussed in-depth.

I think Frakes did indeed throw Kurtzman under a bus there. “Those Old Scientists” is receiving a lot of accolades, so that tracks.

If Duet and (in particular) TIL are “filler” episodes, the term is meaningless.

“Filler” and “bottle episode” are getting used interchangeably lately. The Inner Light I’d say is neither. Duet is definitely a bottle episode.

YASSSS!!! Filler and bottle are getting bandied about nilly-willy.I said this when Battlestar started on SciFi and people griped about the short seasons. Even in the best of 22-26 episode seasons, I’ve always said there’s room to cut 12 hours of filler, whether it’s an entire episode or just meandering subplots.

Standalone EPs on ‘x files’ became more effective than the on the going alien invasion arc

DS9’s “Far Beyond the Stars” was a filler, and it’s still one of the best episodes of television ever. So don’t tell me that filler episodes can’t be great.

I disagree about “Far Beyond the Stars” was a filler. That was not cheap with the new sets and everything. I think a DS9 filler episode is more like “Rivals.” That one was very bad.

Sorry, friend, but “Far Beyond the Stars” was NOT a filler episode. That goddamn thing MEANT something. Filler episodes are just fluff… like the one where Quark gets the sex change.

“Far Beyond the Stars” was absolutely not filler but an AMAZING episode, unexpected, thought provoking, and considered by many to be one of the best episode of DS9.

I always welcome reading about an interview with Frakes, he’s a gem of the franchise. And I say let the films come. More opportunities to bring in variety (and hopefully quality) as to content, writers, directors. If one sucks they can move on to another in a different direction. Good interview.

It really depends on the episode in question. If the “filler” serves to advance the story or the evolution of the characters, then what could be seen as a “filler” isn’t really a “filler”, if that makes any sense. Ultimately, it all depends on the budget.

I’m glad that Frakes is basically the unofficial spokesman for all things ‘Trek, as far as the live aspects of the franchise. BTW, does LeVar Burton and any other ‘Trek alumni do work for the franchise, either in front of the camera or behind the scenes?

Not that I’m aware of. Robert Duncan McNeill was in talks to direct for “Discovery,” but the push for more diverse directors (women and POC) meant he wasn’t what they were looking for. He didn’t seem to have hard feelings about it from the interview I read over at Trekcore. A shame — I always thought he was a great director and it would’ve been interesting to see what he brought to the table. (Then again, I’m biased as I share a birthday with Robbie and saw great potential in the Tom Paris character before TPTB milk-toasted him.)

Roxann Dawson is another Trek actor/director whose name I see pop up on the odd TV drama from time to time, too. No idea why she hasn’t done any modern Trek or if she was even interested in doing so.

As for LeVar Burton I VAGUELY recall he was a bit vocal about where Star Trek was going during his “Enterprise” directing days and has been critical of the franchise’s direction since. Maybe he just wasn’t interested.

If Legacy gets green-lit, it will probably be a series of movies. I LOVED PICS3, but nostalgia can only get you so far. I don’t know if Par+ wants to pay the TNG cast the big bucks. I’d encourage everyone to watch the HECK out of the S31 movie. If Par+ sees good viewership, they’ll make more of them.

YES – back in 1990 I saw George Takei at a convention in Boston; we all agreed Star Trek V (released months earlier) was not very good but George asked us to keep going to see it and buy the VHS when it came out — it was a way to send a message to Paramount we wanted MORE Star Trek.

Respectfully of course, I don’t feel it’s the consumer’s job to ‘watch the heck’ out of something, hoping more product will be made as a result. If the Sec. 31 film is good enough to deserve another watch, then I will. If it’s bad or mediocre I’m not going to revisit it. Simple. It’s their job to properly entertain us, we’re the ones paying the bill every month.

No one does ‘filler’ EPs if they can help it. Mr frakes was right about “shades of grey’, knocked together to get TNG s2 over and done with.

LOVE Jonathan Frakes. Would love to meet him!

Fun discussion topic — not looking for arguments but suppose it’s inevitable here, LOL. There are many definitions of ‘filler episode.’

As a discussion point, regardless if an episode is considered good/great/bad, what are some examples (in any Trek series) that you consider to be a ‘filler’ episode and why?

Discussion topic :)

‘filler’ and ‘bottle episodes’ are two different things. Yes, a bottle episode CAN be filler but often is NOT. Filler is just filler — can be beloved, but still filler.

Star Trek’s Michael Dorn Wanted Worf To Kill A Popular Deep Space Nine Character In Picard Season 3, And I’m Glad This Didn’t Happen

I'm breathing a sigh of relief.

Although Star Trek: Picard Season 3 reunited most of the Star Trek: The Next Generation starring actors for the first time since 2002’s Star Trek: Nemesis , they didn’t all show up at once. In the case of Michael Dorn’s Worf , his first scene in the episode “Disengage” saw him rescuing Michelle Hurd’s Raffi Musiker from the crime lord Sneed, and he beheaded the Ferengi on his way out. But if Dorn had his way, he would have killed a different Ferengi instead: Quark, one of the other major characters from S tar Trek: Deep Space Nine , and I’m glad this didn’t happen.

Armin Shimerman, who played Quark for the entirety of Deep Space Nine ’s seven-season run, shared this tidbit of information while appearing on TrekMovie ’s All Access Star Trek podcast. Dorn came aboard Deep Space Nine at the beginning of Season 4 following The Next Generation’s conclusion, so he and Shimerman spent a lot of time together in the mid-late ‘90s, but decades later, the latter wasn’t particularly enthused about the former wanting to slice Quark’s head off. As he recalled:

Dorn called me up and said, ‘I’m doing an episode of Picard where I kill off a Ferengi. Wouldn’t it be great if it were you?’ I said, ‘Michael no, it would not be great.’ I told him just to forget about that idea altogether.

Jonathan Frakes , who was also a guest on this episode, speculated that Michael Dorn didn’t know Worf would be cutting Sneed’s head off, but Armin Shimerman told the William Riker actor and longtime Star Trek director that, at the very least, Dorn was aware Worf was going to kill a Ferengi. In the end though, it was Sneed who met this fate, with the character being played Aaron Stanford, who previously worked with showrunner Terry Matalas on the 12 Monkeys TV show.

Star Trek: Picard's Showrunner Reveals The True Purpose Of The Show's Ending, And It Actually Makes Me Optimistic About A Follow-Up

Star Trek: Picard Wrapped Up The Story For Patrick Stewart’s Character, But Now He May Be Getting A New Movie, And I Have Mixed Feelings

I am so relieved this Quark idea for Star Trek: Picard never came to fruition. Worf killing off a Ferengi criminal lord mere minutes after we meet this character is one thing, but for him to behead a character that not only is beloved by many Star Trek fans, but whom Worf had known for many years is another. Granted, as Dr. Julian Bashir once said, Quark was definitely not Worf’s “favorite person,” and he tried to steer clear of the bar owner whenever possible. But not only do I not believe that Quark would ever become a crime lord on Sneed’s level, I also don’t buy that Worf would have just killed his former… associate without blinking an eye.

If the day comes that Armin Shimerman reprises Quark in live-action, the character needs to be treated with the proper respect and not just be killed off for shock value. Star Trek: Lower Decks had the right idea, as Shimerman voiced Quark for a meaningful role in the Season 3 episode “Hear All, Trust Nothing.” The fan-proposed Star Trek: Legacy would be the best place for that to happen, though there’s still no word if that project stands a chance of becoming one of the upcoming Star Trek TV shows .

Picard , Deep Space Nine and all the other Star Trek shows (except for Prodigy , which is now at Netflix ) can be streamed with a Paramount+ subscription . Discovery is currently in the midst of its final season, and Lower Decks ’ final season will follow sometime afterwards on the 2024 TV schedule .

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Description

In the epic, thrilling conclusion of STAR TREK: PICARD, a desperate message from a long-lost friend draws Starfleet Admiral Jean-Luc Picard into the most daring mission of his life, forcing him to recruit allies spanning generations old and new.

Star Trek: Picard, The Complete Series

• Sci-Fi & Fantasy

Season 1, Episode 1: Remembrance

At the end of the 24th Century, Jean-Luc Picard is living a quiet life on his vineyard, Chateau Picard. When he is sought out by a mysterious young woman, Dahj, in need of his help, he soon realizes she may have personal connections to his own past.

• Jan 23, 2020

Season 1, Episode 2: Maps and Legends

Picard investigates the mystery of Dahj as well as what her very existence means to the Federation. Meanwhile, hidden enemies are also interested in Picard's investigation. Without Starfleet's support, Picard is left leaning on others for help.

• Jan 30, 2020

Season 1, Episode 3: The End Is the Beginning

Completely unaware of her special nature, Soji captures the attention of the Borg cube research project's executive director. After rehashing past events with a reluctant Raffi, Picard seeks others willing to join his search for Bruce Maddox.

• Feb 6, 2020

Season 1, Episode 4: Absolute Candor

The crew's journey to Freecloud takes a detour when Picard orders a stop at the planet Vashti where Picard reunites with Elnor, a young Romulan he befriended. Narek continues his attempts to learn more about Soji while Narissa's impatience grows.

• Feb 13, 2020

Season 1, Episode 5: Stardust City Rag

The La Sirena crew begin an unpredictable and lively expedition on Freecloud to search for Bruce Maddox. When they learn Maddox has found himself in a precarious situation, a familiar face offers her assistance.

• Feb 20, 2020

Season 1, Episode 6: The Impossible Box

Picard and the crew track Soji to the Borg cube in Romulan space, resurfacing haunting memories for Picard. Meanwhile, Narek believes he finally found a way to safely exploit Soji for information.

• Feb 27, 2020

Season 1, Episode 7: Nepenthe

Picard and Soji transport to the planet Nepenthe. As the rest of the La Sirena crew attempt to join them, Picard helps Soji make sense of her recently unlocked memories. Hugh and Elnor are left on the Borg cube and must face an angered Narissa.

• Mar 5, 2020

Season 1, Episode 8: Broken Pieces

When devastating truths behind the Mars attack are revealed, Picard realizes how far many will go to preserve secrets stretching back generations. Narissa directs her guards to capture Elnor, setting off an unexpected chain of events.

• Mar 12, 2020

Season 1, Episode 9: Et in Arcadia Ego, Part 1

Following an unconventional and dangerous transit, Picard and the crew finally arrive at Soji's home world, Coppelius. However, with Romulan warbirds on their tail, their arrival brings only greater danger.

• Mar 19, 2020

Season 1, Episode 10: Et in Arcadia Ego, Part 2

A final confrontation on the synthetics' homeworld, Coppelius, pits Picard and his team against the Romulans, as well as the synths who seek to safeguard their existence at all costs.

• Mar 26, 2020

Season 2, Episode 1: The Star Gazer

Season premiere. Starfleet must once again call on legendary Jean-Luc Picard after members of his former crew – Cristóbal Rios, Seven of Nine, Raffi Musiker, and Dr. Agnes Jurati – discover an anomaly in space that threatens the galaxy.

• Feb 28, 2022

Season 2, Episode 2: Penance

Picard finds himself transported to an alternate timeline in the year 2400 where his longtime nemesis, Q, has orchestrated one final "trial." Picard searches for his trusted crew as he attempts to find the cause of this dystopian future.

• Mar 7, 2022

Season 2, Episode 3: Assimilation

Picard and the crew travel back to 2024 Los Angeles in search of the "Watcher," who can help them identify the point at which time diverged. Seven, Raffi and Rios venture out into an unfamiliar world 400 years in their past.

• Mar 14, 2022

Season 2, Episode 4: Watcher

With time running out to save the future, Picard takes matters into his own hands and seeks out an old friend for help. Meanwhile, Rios ends up on the wrong side of the law and Jurati makes a deal with the Borg Queen.

• Mar 21, 2022

Season 2, Episode 5: Fly Me to the Moon

Picard discovers an important person from his past may be integral to the divergence in the timeline. Q continues his manipulation of the timeline, taking an interest in Dr. Adam Soong. Jurati faces the consequences of her deal with the Borg Queen.

• Mar 28, 2022

Season 2, Episode 6: Two of One

Picard and the crew infiltrate a gala on the eve of a joint space mission, to protect one of the astronauts they believe to be integral to the restoration of the timeline – Renee Picard. Kore makes a startling discovery about her father's work.

• Apr 4, 2022

Season 2, Episode 7: Monsters

Tallinn ventures inside Picard's subconscious mind to help wake him from a coma and face both his darkest secrets and deepest fears. Seven and Raffi go in search of Jurati. Rios struggles to hide the truth from Teresa.

• Apr 11, 2022

Season 2, Episode 8: Mercy

With time running out before the launch of the Europa Mission, Picard and Guinan must free themselves from FBI custody. Seven and Raffi come face-to-face with Jurati and the horror of what she's become.

• Apr 18, 2022

Season 2, Episode 9: Hide and Seek

Picard and his crew fight for their lives as they come under attack from a new incarnation of an old enemy. But to survive, Picard must first face the ghosts of his past. Seven and Raffi have a final showdown with Jurati.

• Apr 25, 2022

Season 2, Episode 10: Farewell

In the season two finale, with just hours until the Europa Launch, Picard and the crew find themselves in a race against time to save the future.

• May 2, 2022

Season 3, Episode 1: The Next Generation

After receiving a cryptic, urgent distress call from Dr. Beverly Crusher, Admiral Jean-Luc Picard enlists help from generations old and new to embark on one final adventure: a daring mission that will change Starfleet, and his old crew forever.

• Feb 17, 2023

Season 3, Episode 2: Disengage

Aided by Seven of Nine and the crew of the U.S.S. Titan, Picard makes a shocking discovery that will alter his life forever – and puts him on a collision course with the most cunning enemy he's ever encountered.

• Feb 24, 2023

Season 3, Episode 3: Seventeen Seconds

Picard grapples with an explosive, life-altering revelation, while the Titan and her crew try to outmaneuver a relentless Vadic in a lethal game of nautical cat and mouse.

• Mar 3, 2023

Season 3, Episode 4: No Win Scenario

With time running out, Picard, Riker and crew must confront the sins of their past and heal fresh wounds, while the Titan, dead in the water, drifts helplessly toward certain destruction within a mysterious space anomaly.

• Mar 10, 2023

Season 3, Episode 5: Imposters

Caught by Starfleet and facing court martial, paranoia grows as Picard struggles to uncover whether a prodigal crewman from his past has returned as an ally – or an enemy hellbent on destroying them all.

• Mar 17, 2023

Season 3, Episode 6: The Bounty

Now on the run, Picard and the skeleton crew of the U.S.S. Titan must break into Starfleet's most top-secret facility to expose a plot that could destroy the Federation. Picard must turn to the only soul in the galaxy who can help – an old friend.

• Mar 23, 2023

Season 3, Episode 7: Dominion

Crippled, cornered, and out of options, Picard stages a gambit to trap Vadic and reveal her true motive.

• Mar 31, 2023

Season 3, Episode 8: Surrender

Vadic forces Picard to make an impossible choice: deliver what he can never give… or watch his crew perish.

• Apr 7, 2023

Season 3, Episode 9: Vox

A devastating revelation about Jack alters the course of Picard's life forever – and uncovers a truth that threatens every soul in the Federation.

• Apr 14, 2023

Season 3, Episode 10: The Last Generation

In a desperate last stand, Jean-Luc Picard and generations of crews both old and new fight together to save the galaxy from the greatest threat they've ever faced as the saga of Star Trek: The Next Generation comes to a thrilling, epic conclusion.

• Apr 21, 2023
• 1 Hour 2 Minutes

The Gangs All Here

The producers and cast talk about reuniting The Next Generation cast for Season 3 of Picard and the journey of each of the characters.

• Sep 3, 2023

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Published Feb 14, 2023

Where Are They Now? Star Trek: Picard Edition

Get caught up before the final voyage begins on February 16!

StarTrek.com / Rob DeHart

As excitement ramps up for the premiere of Star Trek: Picard ’s third season, we’re preparing ourselves emotionally to see characters that haven’t been on our screens in a very long time. It’s a big deal to see so many favorites from Star Trek: The Next Generation again.

Some of these characters we’ve encountered very recently within the Star Trek world, but others we haven’t caught up with in decades. If you need a refresher on where these characters are now, we’re here to help. Welcome to Where Are They Now: Star Trek: Picard edition!

Official Trailer | Star Trek: Picard - Season 3

Jean-Luc Picard

StarTrek.com

We last saw Jean-Luc Picard in the Season 2 finale of Star Trek: Picard . Our intrepid captain (now retired admiral!) was the commandant of Starfleet Academy, and after going back in time and confronting the trauma of his past, he chose to settle down at his family estate in Labarre, France, with his now-girlfriend, Laris. Though he is an android in the artificial body intended for Alton Soong, Picard continues to age as he normally would have and will eventually die.

Beverly Crusher

We haven’t seen the good doctor since the events of Star Trek Nemesis , the final movie featuring The Next Generation cast. In fact, she’s the only regular cast member who hasn’t been seen or mentioned in Star Trek: Picard thus far. When we last saw her, she was still the ship’s doctor on the Enterprise-E . Her son Wesley Crusher appeared briefly in the second season of Star Trek: Picard as a Traveler.

William Riker

Thanks to Star Trek: Picard ’s first season, we know where Will Riker is — on Nepenthe with his wife Deanna Troi and daughter Kestra. The couple moved to Nepenthe after their son, Thaddeus, came down with a deadly virus because the soil had regenerative properties. Unfortunately, Thad died, but they chose to remain on Nepenthe and away from Starfleet to raise Kestra. Riker returned to the captain’s chair to come to the rescue of Picard in the first season finale.

Deanna Troi

Deanna Troi was reassigned to the U.S.S. Titan when her husband, Will Riker, became the ship’s captain. She served as the ship’s counselor, as seen on Star Trek: Lower Decks . Troi left Starfleet when her family settled on Nepenthe, where she currently lives with Riker and daughter Kestra. She still hasn’t recovered from the tragedy of losing her son, Thad. When Jean-Luc Picard arrived at Nepenthe to find safety, she expressed fear of the dangers that follow him.

After the destruction of the Enterprise-D , Worf went on to serve as Starfleet’s Strategic Operations Officer for Deep Space 9 . He fell in love with and married Jadzia Dax, who later died at the hands of Gul Dukat. Worf was instrumental in shaping the leadership of the Klingon High Council, defeating Chancellor Gowron in single combat and passing the chancellorship to Martok. After the Dominion War ended, Chancellor Martok asked that Worf become the Federation ambassador to the Klingon Empire. Worf, now a member of the House of Martok and ambassador to Qo'noS, was last seen suffering from the effects of too much Romulan ale after Troi and Riker's wedding...

Geordi La Forge

We last saw Geordi La Forge in the film Nemesis where he was serving as the Enterprise-E ’s chief engineer and mourning the death of his best friend, Data. Along with Worf, Zhaban mentions La Forge as someone loyal that Jean-Luc should turn to for help in the show’s first season, implying that they maintain a good relationship.

Raffi Musiker

Raffaela Musiker was the operations officer aboard the U.S.S. Excelsior the last time we saw her, but her path to that position wasn’t smooth. She lost her way after the destruction of Romulus, left Starfleet, and became consumed by her addictions. However, she found a way out of the darkness thanks to her colleagues and Seven of Nine. Raffi has a son, Gabriel, but he wants little to do with her.

Seven of Nine

Seven ended the second season of Star Trek: Picard with a field commission of Commander on the U.S.S. Stargazer , thanks to Admiral Picard. Seven, whose previous name was Annika Hansen, tried to join Starfleet after returning from the Delta Quadrant on the Starship Voyager , but she was unsuccessful because she was formerly Borg. She settled in as a Fenris Ranger, helping people wherever she could in a lawless part of space before settling uneasily into a role with Starfleet at the encouragement of Picard and Admiral Janeway.

Of all the people on this list, it’s been the longest since we’ve seen Lore . The identical brother of Data , he is unstable and considers himself superior to humans. The Enterprise crew last encountered the android during the events of The Next Generation two-parter “Descent, Parts I and II,” where Lore attempted to take over a group of Borg that had become disconnected from the rest of the Collective. Following these events, Lore was deactivated and dismantled.

Swapna Krishna (she/her) writes about space, technology, and pop culture at outlets such as Wired, NPR, Engadget, and more. You can find her on Twitter @skrishna.

In addition to streaming on Paramount+, Star Trek: Picard will also stream on Prime Video outside of the US and Canada, and in Canada can be seen on Bell Media's CTV Sci-Fi Channel and streams on Crave.

Stay tuned to StarTrek.com for more details! And be sure to follow @StarTrek on Facebook , Twitter , and Instagram .

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Screen Rant

Star trek: discovery's commander rayner is the new riker.

Star Trek: Discovery's new Number One, Commander Rayner, shares many similarities with TNG's Commander William T Riker that go beyond the beard.

WARNING: Contains SPOILERS for Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 5, "Mirrors "

• Rayner in Star Trek: Discovery shows reluctance to lead, akin to Riker in The Next Generation, emphasizing the importance of strong leadership dynamics.
• Similar to Riker on the USS Enterprise-D, Rayner's style proves valuable in solving critical issues in "Mirrors" episode.
• Burnham's mission and leadership choices parallel Picard and Riker dynamics, showcasing a balance of risk-taking and bold decision-making in Star Trek lore.

Star Trek: Discovery 's new Number One, Commander Rayner (Callum Keith Rennie) has a lot in common with Commander William T. Riker (Jonathan Frakes) from Star Trek: The Next Generation . In Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 5, "Mirrors", written by Johanna Lee & Carlos Cisco and directed by Jen McGowan , Rayner has to reluctantly take the center seat while Captain Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) is on an away mission. Rayner's reluctance to take the conn, and his insistence that he lead the away mission in Burnham's stead, draws similarities between him and Will Riker.

Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 5 , "Mirrors" reveals that Rayner, formerly the captain of the USS Antares, is unsure that his style will gel with his new crew. However, by bringing the Discovery's bridge crew together, Rayner is able to solve the problem of how to drag the ISS Enterprise out of interdimensional space . With Burnham back on board, Rayner is back to being the USS Discovery's Number One, but satisfied that he can lead from the center seat, much like Riker at the end of Star Trek: The Next Generation season 4, episode 1, "The Best of Both Worlds, Part II"

Jonathan Frakes Is In Star Trek: Discovery Even If You Don’t See Riker

Star trek: discovery's commander rayner is reluctant to be captain - like riker in tng.

In Star Trek: The Next Generation , Riker turned down several opportunities to become captain, preferring to stay aboard the USS Enterprise-D as second-in-command to Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart). However, Riker was often placed in charge of the starship Enterprise , most notably when Picard was assimilated by the Borg Collective. After rescuing Captain Picard from the Borg, and saving the Federation from the Collective, he was happy to step down from Captain to Commander Riker, satisfied that he'd proved his worth as a captain. For Riker, serving as Number One on the Federation flagship was just as huge an achievement as his own command .

Riker finally accepted a promotion to captain of the USS Titan in Star Trek: Nemesis .

Rayner in Star Trek: Discovery was demoted from Captain to Commander in season 5, episode 2, "Under the Twin Moons". The USS Discovery is Rayner's last chance, which is presumably why, like Riker in TNG , he's keen not to chase promotion. His reasoning is different to Riker's because Rayner had already been a captain for years before becoming Burnham's Number One . Rayner is reluctant to take charge in "Mirrors" because it's not his crew, and his command style is very different to Burnham's.

Commander Rayner Is The Riker To Burnham's Picard In Star Trek: Discovery

One of the reasons that Rayner gives for not wanting to take the conn is that Burnham's away mission is " too risky " for the captain of the USS Discovery . Riker leading the away missions in Star Trek: The Next Generation became such a trope that Picard jokes about it in his Star Trek: Nemesis wedding toast . Burnham explains why she and Cleveland Booker (David Ajala) are the best crew members to take on the mission, forcing Rayner to concede that she's right. Picard would do the same in later seasons of TNG as he took a more active role in away missions.

Discussing Riker's replacement aboard the Enterprise, Commander Data (Brent Spiner), Picard jokes: " I will be training my new first officer. You all know him. He's a tyrannical martinet who'll never, ever allow me to go on away missions! "

When Burnham offered Rayner the role of second-in-command in Star Trek: Discovery she made it clear that she didn't want a " yes man ". Picard didn't want Riker to be one either, which is why he was so impressed by his fierce opposition to Captain Robert DeSoto (Michael Cavanaugh) leading an away mission on Altair III. Riker risked court martial to convince DeSoto that his away mission was " too risky " for the captain of the USS Hood, something that ultimately led to him becoming the second-in-command of the USS Enterprise-D in Star Trek: The Next Generation .

Star Trek: Discovery streams Thursdays on Paramount+

All episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation are streaming now on Paramount+

Star Trek: Discovery

*Availability in US

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Star Trek: Discovery is an entry in the legendary Sci-Fi franchise, set ten years before the original Star Trek series events. The show centers around Commander Michael Burnham, assigned to the USS Discovery, where the crew attempts to prevent a Klingon war while traveling through the vast reaches of space.

Star Trek: The Next Generation

Star Trek: The Next Generation is the third installment in the sci-fi franchise and follows the adventures of Captain Jean-Luc Picard and the crew members of the USS Enterprise. Set around one hundred years after the original series, Picard and his crew travel through the galaxy in largely self-contained episodes exploring the crew dynamics and their own political discourse. The series also had several overarching plots that would develop over the course of the isolated episodes, with four films released in tandem with the series to further some of these story elements.

'Star Trek Picard's Michelle Hurd Discusses Saffi's Origins & Their Future

• At Calgary Expo, Michelle Hurd spoke in depth about the relationship between Seven and Raffi.
• Hurd confirms Raffi's enduring love for Seven, hinting at a potential future in Star Trek: Legacy if Paramount+ greenlights the series.
• The unexpected Seven and Raffi romance in Picard was sparked by the chemistry between the Hurd and Jeri Ryan at Comic-Con.

While many Star Trek: The Next Generation fans watched their dreams come true in the third and final season of Star Trek: Picard , Saffi fans were left wanting more. Having gotten together in the Season 1 finale and sharing a rocky, but ultimately happy relationship in Season 2, Saffi — or Seven and Raffi to those who may not know their 'ship moniker — went through an off-screen break-up ahead of the final season. While the split was never really directly addressed in the jam-packed season, it set both characters up to serve as the captain and first officer of the newly commissioned Enterprise-G in the series finale.

Speaking during a panel at Calgary Expo hosted by Collider's Maggie Lovitt , a fan asked Michelle Hurd about the break-up and the relationship's potential future in Star Trek: Legacy . Laughing, Hurd said, "[You say] break up and I've got my U-Haul." She went on to say that she and her co-star Jeri Ryan have discussed the relationship at length. "Jeri and I have also talked about this and I’ve said it to her many times. And I’m like, ‘You do understand that Raffi loves Seven, period. End of discussion.’ She will love Seven [until] the end of time. "

While that answer is about as straightforward as they come, Hurd went on to say, "The one thing that we also have to acknowledge is that Raffi loves Seven, that Fenris Ranger, that incredible creature, that amazing individual that stands in front of her. Raffi would never want to limit her or extinguish any of her beautiful flames . So, Raffi will always be happy with Seven in her vision." Even if the pair technically shouldn't be in a relationship while in command, "She wants Seven to be happy with Raffi in her eyesight, but she's perfectly happy to be in her space."

'Star Trek': Why the Captain/First Officer Ship Is So Irresistible

Hurd went on to say, "One of the things that we really wanted to tell [was] that story of two women of a certain age, who are stubborn, who are set in their patterns, who are living their lives as authentically as they can, who can't help but find each other. So with that, it's a beautiful thing, but it's a complicated thing. And so, I think that there's always going to be love there. " While we don't know if Legacy will get the green light yet at Paramount+ , if the spin-off does happen Hurd said:

"It would be an amazing thing to see that kind of dynamic, to see the respect that each other has to have for each other's space as well as, [some] jealousy[...] I think it would be a phenomenal story. So I can't say for sure whether there's going to be, you know, a white picket fence. But if you're asking Raffi, theres a white picket fence"

How Saffi Became Part of the 'Star Trek: Picard' Season 1 Finale

During the panel, another fan spoke about being surprised by the handhold between Seven and Raffi in the Picard Season 1 finale and asked Hurd if the relationship was planned from the beginning or if it was added in later. While their romance wasn't always planned, Hurd explained that when she looked back at the first season there was an "appreciation" between Seven and Raffi from their first scenes together. She said: "I think that in that season, that episode where they're getting ready to go down to the planet, and I'm helping Seven and Raffi’s giving her [the handcuffs], you could tell that she respects her. So there was already some kind of appreciation between the two of them that moment ."

Hurd went on to tell the story of how at SDCC ahead of the first season, co-star Jonathan Del Arco happened to snap a picture of Hurd and Ryan dressed to the nines and immediately showed it to their producers. She told the Calgary Expo crowd:

"I believe it was at the San Diego Comic-Con, that same event, which was huge and fantastic. And they had a green room, a space where all the actors and everybody goes to get ready for whatever. And Jeri was in this fantastic red dress. She was absolutely gorgeous, and I was wearing a white Helston jumpsuit, so I didn't look too bad myself. And were friends, I adore her, and we were standing together and I kind of put my arm around her waist and I kind of gave her a squeeze. And Jonathan Del Arco, Hugh, [and] Jeri's manager is Jonathan's husband. So we're all friends, with Kyle [Fritz]. So Jonathan was standing over there, and he was like, Oh my God, look at me. And so we both just looked at him and he took a picture. And then I swear to God, he took that camera, walked right over to our producers, Akiva Goldsman , Alex Kurtzman , [and] Michael Chabon . Were all sitting right there, and he said, You guys look at how big these two look together."

The rest was history as the producers immediately turned around and told Hurd and Ryan, "'Ladies, we have an idea,' and that’s how it started." While we wait to see if Hurd and Ryan will return on Star Trek: Legacy you can stream all three seasons of Picard on Paramount+.

Star Trek: Picard

Follow-up series toStar Trek: The Next Generation (1987)andStar Trek: Nemesis (2002)that centers on Jean-Luc Picard in the next chapter of his life.

Release Date January 23, 2020

Cast Patrick Stewart, Alison Pill, Santiago Cabrera, Michelle Hurd, Harry Treadaway

Genres Sci-Fi

Rating TV-MA

Watch on Paramount+