May 24th, 1993, "Second Chances"
I need to get this out of the way up front: They severely mishandled Tom Riker. I'll save the Maquis stuff for "Defiant", but I will say that they should've had a few episodes with Tom present and not Will. Decompress Troi's emotional turmoil (and ditch the Worf relationship entirely, duh). Maybe they temporarily transfer Will to another ship. Probably have him cameo on DS9 for a two-parter (that would certainly help with DS9's ratings!), a short-term mission possibly including the Klingons or Romulans. While he's gone Tom stays on as helmsman of the E-D trying to catch up on the last eight years. The relationship with Troi would have a better arc, where Deanna realizes that she's grown beyond the romanticism of her initial relationship with Riker (as told in the novel Imzadi) and really loves Will for who he is now. Love means more than physical attraction or shared danger. Furthermore Tom realizes that the Command track isn't what he thought it was. He wants to transfer to Security or Conn. He transfers away and does occasional cameos on DS9. Totally toss Eddington and have Tom build up to his Maquis membership, only do it for the right reason this time. In "Defiant" Tom's motivation seems to be "do something completely different than Tom" and nothing else. There should be more meaning to it than that. When the Dominion destroys the Maquis he can have one last episode where he chooses to go to prison and then rebuild his Starfleet career offscreen. Toss in a cameo at Will's wedding and some guest appearances on Lower Decks and we're good.
The Episode
(it's jazz night, and the quartet are in full swing, with Riker on 'bone playing 'Tell them I remember you')
It's actually called "I Remember You". [URL="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epWCk2mvq0g&t" Here's Tony Bennet's version[/URL]. Or maybe you prefer [[
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-HmciMDxt8 Nat King Cole]].
TROI: Night Bird.
(Troi is given a Look)
RIKER: Any request?
TROI: Night Bird!
RIKER: Ladies and gentlemen, Night Bird. One, two.
CRUSHER: What was that all about?
TROI: Will's been trying to get this piece right for ten years now. He's never made it through the solo.
This is a fictional song, and of course it made a cameo in Lower Decks. Personally, I think Troi's efforts to publicly humiliate Will is a little cruel. Funny, of course, but still cruel.
RIKER: Is the planet's distortion field re-phasing sooner than we predicted?
DATA: No, sir. Using the Potemkin's transport logs from the original evacuation, Commander La Forge and I were able to modify the transporters.
It would've been nice if Geordi mentioned that Scotty gave him some pointers on modifying the transporter in unusual situations.
DATA: The transporters are considerably more efficient than those used on the Potemkin eight years ago.
I don't think "efficient" is quite the word to use here. "Advanced" or "adaptable" would be better.
DATA: Commander, someone is approaching. A humanoid. Forty metres due east and closing.
"Humanoid"? There's no reason not to specify "human" here unless they're going to have to look around a bit for Tom.
PICARD: Jean-Luc Picard.
RIKER 2: Lieutenant Will Riker.
The Battle of Maxia was in 2355. The prior Nervala III mission was 2361. I'd think that both Rikers would've heard about Picard's court-martial and therefore have at least heard of Picard. I'll forgive Will not mentioning it back in "Encounter at Farpoint", he wanted to be professional. Tom would have no such motive for not mentioning having heard of Picard.
LAFORGE: Apparently there was a massive energy surge in the distortion field around the planet just at the moment you tried to beam out. The Transporter Chief tried to compensate by initiating a second containment beam.
DATA: An interesting approach. He must have been planning to reintegrate the two patterns in the transport buffer.
The containment beam holds the actual matter, it's a big part of the "it's the same atoms, so it's the same person!" argument for the transporter. You can't split the atoms into two halves then build a person from just one half. Data mentions "two patterns", so the transporter chief scanned Will twice intending to use the patterns as error checks for each other. But then where did the matter for Tom's reintegration come from? Drop a technobabble line about the storm entangling with the transporter beam to provide the matter!
I apologize for making your brains leak out of your ears.
(The Lieutenant is in a fresh gold uniform).
I think I've already mentioned this, but this whole "different color uniform to make it easier for the audience to tell the difference" thing always seemed stupid to me. A different beard and haircut would be enough to tell the difference. Plus, y'know, Frakes is giving a very different performance.
Or maybe put Tom in a DS9 uniform that has the red in a different location.
RIKER 2: Come in.
TROI: Hello, Will.
(He sweeps her off her feet, literally, and kisses her)
Tom has been obsessed with reliving his relationship with Deanna for eight years, you'd think he'd remember the "feeling" of her telepathic aura and be able to sense her coming.
TROI: We need to talk.
RIKER 2: You're on board because of him.
TROI: No. Commander Riker and I are friends. Close friends, but nothing more.
Technically this is two different issues. Troi took this job because it was the right move for her career. At first she saw Will's presence as a complication much like Picard saw Beverly.
TROI: Do you remember the last time we saw each other?
RIKER 2: Like yesterday. The Janaran Falls on Betazed.
TROI: It was the day before you started your tour on the Potemkin.
RIKER 2: And we were going to meet on Risa, six weeks later.
TROI: We never did.
The Imzadi version of these events are quite different. There was no final farewell at Janaran Falls. Lwaxana yelled at Riker for sleeping with Deanna when he had no intention of a serious relationship (his career was too important and his stay on Betazed was always temporary). Deanna was still going to stay with Will, leaving with him if necessary. Too bad Will got drunk and slept with Deanna's friend Wendy, driving Deanna away.
Which is better? Probably neither. I just can't see Will as ever considering throwing away his career for Deanna at that age. It was probably a mutual breakup with no idea of seeing each other again anytime soon.
TROI: No, what I mean is, Commander Riker and I never did. You see, he earned a promotion very quickly.
RIKER 2: I know that too. 'For exceptional valour during the evacuation of the research station on Nervala Four'.
I fail to see the connection. Does being promoted mean you can't take leave for awhile? That makes no sense.
TROI: He chose to make his career a priority. There wasn't much time for anything else.
It does make you wonder why he was on Betazed for that long to begin with. The novel makes it clear that the Betazed mission was just to keep Riker occupied while the Potemkin was undergoing refit.
RIKER 2: Deanna. I know it's been a long time since we've been together, and I know your feelings have changed. Mine haven't. I can't just give up. I'd like to be with you again.
This is an interesting question. Is the ship's counsellor allowed to have a relationship with a fellow officer? That sounds like a conflict of interest nightmare.
RIKER: You know, I've been thinking we should probably let Dad know what happened.
RIKER 2: I'm sure he'll be thrilled to know there are two of us now.
RIKER: Actually, he and I have been able to patch a few things up.
RIKER 2: I've been able to get by for a long time without seeing him. I'm not about to start now.
In the comics Kyle will visit the ship again in a couple years. One really does wonder how he'd react to having two sons. Kyle will die in a novel ten years from now.
RIKER: I didn't. He came on board the Enterprise to brief me when I was offered the Aries.
RIKER 2: What did he say when you turned down your own command?
RIKER: He couldn't understand why I did it.
RIKER 2: For once he and I agree on something.
I'm still curious on why he did it. Cue Riker's speech in Best of Both Worlds:
RIKER: What am I still doing here? Deanna, I pushed myself hard to get this far. I sacrificed a lot. I always said I wanted my own command, and yet something's holding me back. Is it wrong for me to want to stay?
TROI: What do you think?
RIKER: Maybe I'm just afraid of the big chair.
TROI: I don't think so.
...
RIKER: Maybe that's the problem. I'm too comfortable here.
TROI: I'm not sure I know what that means. You're happy here. Happier than I've ever known you to be. So, it comes down to a simple question. What do you want, Will Riker?
I don't think that he's afraid of command. I think I prefer the "too comfortable" argument. Plus Picard's opinion that Riker likes the "celebrity" that comes with the Enterprise gig.
(there's another note, tied with a pink flower and bow)
TROI: (reading) It pulses unendingly all through the night. Seek out the crystal that powers our flight.
A get the poetry, but dilithium does not "power" the flight, the matter/antimatter reaction does.
TROI: So, how does it feel being with people again?
RIKER 2: Great. Strange. For a long time I did whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted. It's been hard taking orders again.
TROI: I can imagine.
If this was supposed to be extrapolated into his Maquis career, I call shenanigans. One reason why the Maquis failed is that they didn't have the proper centralized command structure to do big things. To get anything done people will have to obey orders that they don't like.