The character of Riker

nyarlothothep · 10-02-2010 9:16pm #1

I know hes a "failed kirk" but what I'd be interested in discussing is his late 80s/early 90s new man facade, his general air of smugness and aura of sleaziness? If he were to exist in any time period it would be 1993 as a cheesy executive, trying to seduce his secretary while listening to george michael in surround sound in a beigey apartment.

DublinWriter · 10-02-2010 9:18pm

I always thought that he had the acting range of a mediocre porn star.

Slice · 10-02-2010 9:55pm

He's brilliant. If you pay enough attention you'll see he's the biggest clown on the show. No other character on ST gets away with pulling the faces he does in the situations he does them in

Owen · 10-02-2010 9:58pm

How he pulled in his stomach for so long is beyond me.

Johnny Storm · 11-02-2010 10:17am

In the first series of TNG, before he grew the beard, he even facially resembled Shatner.
IMHO Riker was included as plan B, in case the idea of an older, more cerebral capitain did not go down well with the public and they could have reverted to a Kirk-style Riker driven action show.
Also he and Dianna are obviously the same characters as Decker and Baldy-girl from TMP.
Its kind of odd that he walks with a limp considering the advanced medical treatments available in the future. Obviously the treatment of STDs has advanced enormously.
I thought Riker's finest moment was in the Best of Both Worlds where his superfluousness was acknowledged and used as an effective plot device.

Cookie_Monster · 11-02-2010 11:09am

He was so cool they had to make a second Riker :pac::pac::pac:

He was actually a tool though

novarock · 11-02-2010 11:14am

I think he was a necessary balancing character. In my opinion in Spock to Kirk is Riker to Picard. One is a level headed rational thinker with years of wisdom, the other is a young action guy that you know in a few years would settle down...

nyarlothothep · 11-02-2010 2:28pm

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

He was so cool they had to make a second Riker :pac::pac::pac:

He was actually a tool though

two rikers, that was a weird episode. It was rikerania!

toiletduck · 11-02-2010 4:16pm

Johnny Storm wrote: »

Also he and Dianna are obviously the same characters as Decker and Baldy-girl from TMP.

Which were themselves supposed to be in the follow up to TOS - http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Star_Trek:_Phase_II

Ahh Riker... when he wasn't creating virtual whores on the holodeck, he was forcing the crew to listen to his saxophone and turning down his own ships because then he might actually have to do some work.

Johnny Storm · 11-02-2010 6:39pm

toiletduck wrote: »

....and turning down his own ships because then he might actually have to do some work.

You say that like its a bad thing

PeterIanStaker · 13-02-2010 11:24pm

DublinWriter wrote: »

I always thought that he had the acting range of a mediocre porn star.

:D:D:D:D:D:D

Right, ST:TNG double entendres anyone?

IvySlayer · 18-02-2010 4:27am

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

He was so cool they had to make a second Riker :pac::pac::pac:

He was actually a tool though

Well, interesting facts. The writers were thinking of killing Will Riker, bumping Data to First Officer and having Thomas Riker as Ops.

I never really liked Riker tbh. His eyes...I mean wtf. Everytime someone says something he has to give them the look. You know it :P

robby^5 · 18-02-2010 5:06pm

He was a bit of a jerk alright.

PeterIanStaker · 18-02-2010 11:01pm

:D:D:D:D

Women :rolleyes:

Klingon Hamlet · 20-02-2010 1:40am

I always thought he walked in half-baked from some other show. I mean, look at him...

This is Star Trek's equivalent of Quagmire! I mean, seriously...

Riker's looking at that cigar, contemplating the Clinton Maneuver. It doesn't stop there...

Troi-some!!!

Even in monochrome, that boy's eyes are colourful. The wily cad! And even in graphic novel form, he's always got one thing in mind...

...his trombone. Of course! Captaincy is a beautiful thing, but a trombone is for LIFE. And if anyone comes between him and his giant instrument, well...

NEXT WEEK: Worf, like you've never seen him before...

Klingon Hamlet · 20-02-2010 1:53pm

Riker stuck around on two Enterprises, refused every offer of captaincy...until he and Deanna got hitched. Then he was like, Captain of Trident? You betcha!

The wily cad.

Cookie_Monster · 20-02-2010 7:18pm

Klingon Hamlet wrote: »

Riker stuck around on two Enterprises, refused every offer of captaincy...until he and Deanna got hitched. Then he was like, Captain of Trident? You betcha!

The wily cad.

USS Titan

Klingon Hamlet · 20-02-2010 7:23pm

Sorry Titan

L31mr0d · 20-02-2010 7:29pm

He's an utterly redundant character. Even as cheese goes he's almost unbearable. He's your typical middle management moron. All he does is take recommendations from others, then bark them at the bridge crew (while hitching his leg up beside Data to give him a nice whiff of his crotch). I'm pretty sure his entire list of responsibilities could be replaced by a small bit of boolean logic in a shell script.

I've been watching through the seasons with the OH and Riker is close to being a good enough reason for her to stop watching it. Thankfully there is less and less of him as the seasons go on.

Klingon Hamlet · 20-02-2010 7:38pm

L31mr0d wrote: »

He's an utterly redundant character. Even as cheese goes he's almost unbearable. He's your typical middle management moron. All he does is take recommendations from others, then bark them at the bridge crew (while hitching his leg up beside Data to give him a nice whiff of his crotch). I'm pretty sure his entire list of responsibilities could be replaced by a small bit of boolean logic in a shell script.

I've been watching through the seasons with the OH and Riker is close to being a good enough reason for her to stop watching it. Thankfully there is less and less of him as the seasons go on.

Yikes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBSs5qzNq2Q

He likes the ladies. A lot.

kryogen · 21-03-2010 11:06am

i like him tbh

only character i couldnt stand is Whoopi Goldbergs charactrer

markw999 · 21-03-2010 5:30pm

DublinWriter wrote: »

I always thought that he had the acting range of a mediocre porn star.

I always thought he should've been a really bad porn star. In a lot of pain from the rough sex. Or was that just me?

IvySlayer · 22-03-2010 10:50am

kryogen wrote: »

i like him tbh

only character i couldnt stand is Whoopi Goldbergs charactrer

I liked Guinan!

Johnny Storm · 22-03-2010 1:27pm

L31mr0d wrote: »

..
(while hitching his leg up beside Data to give him a nice whiff of his crotch)...

Dude! I'm having my lunch! :pac:

Posy · 24-04-2010 12:31am

Ah, poor Riker.

He was a very 'Quagmire' character though!

Every episode where Captain Picard was kidnapped/presumed dead/turned into a Borg, Riker was probably like 'The Enterprise is mine, FINALLY.' Then 'Ah, crap, he's alive.'
(queue fake smile- "CAPTAIN! Thank God you're okay!!")

Posy · 24-04-2010 12:54am

Klingon Hamlet wrote: »

NEXT WEEK: Worf, like you've never seen him before...

Hahaha, I LOVE that pic. Old Worf, always good for the old comic value.

Pepe LeFrits · 25-04-2010 12:40pm

ha ha, that video is brilliant. I always knew he was a bit of a Kirk, but he really did get around. He got some absolute crackers too. Troi, Famke Janssen, the young Q bird, the Enterprise Vulcan, the list goes on.

Frakes' comic timing was very good though, even if the rest wasn't up to much...

The character of Riker

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