Star Trek Articles (11)
                Taken from the Public Domain

    Profile of Jonathan Frakes/Commander William T. Riker

Right from the beginning of the series it is obvious that much
more thought has been given to the chain of command aboard a
starship than in the original Star Trek series.  It always seemed
a little ludicrous that the Captain of such a vessel, probably the
single most indispensable member of her crew, spent so much of his
time away from his ship on hazardous missions to unknown planets.

In The Next Generation, the role previously undertaken by Captain
Kirk has been neatly split into two logical elements; the captain,
who always remains in direct command of his ship during any
hostilities, and his first officer who is responsible for leading
the potentially hazardous 'Away team' missions.

While this situation might occasionally irk and frustrate Captain
Picard, who often refers to his first officer as 'Number One',
Commander William T. Riker positively revels in the danger and
excitement which the job entails.  Indeed, the scriptwriters
sometimes seem to go out of their way to provide Commander Riker
(and of course actor Jonathan Frakes) with some nauseating
situations.  If there's something diabolically disgusting and
messy in store for one of the characters, you could lay money on
Riker.  In various episodes he has been completely swallowed up by
a large pool of oily black gloop, required to sample Klingon
cuisine (and you thought the Klingons themselves looked
distasteful?), and in one episode Riker is even forced to eat live
maggots!

Certainly the danger-man of the team, Riker also holds the
position of being the 'middle-man' between the captain and the
rest of the crew of the Enterprise.  He takes this duty extremely
seriously, and it is his responsibility to manage the routine
running of the ship without troubling the captain unnecessarily.

He tends to be very much more approachable than Picard, and may
often be observed relaxing with his junior offices.  In
particular, he has a strong affinity with Wesley Crusher and
Geordi La Forge, often treating the former in much the same way as
he would a younger brother.  Riker initially does not understand
the ship's android crew member, Lieutenant Commander Data, but as
the series progresses he develops a greater appreciation of Data's
skills, and later even an understanding of the android's needs, as
an amicable friendship develops.

Another of Captain Kirk's traits which has been bestowed upon
Riker is his healthy interest in the opposite sex... This is
revealed almost as soon as Riker joins the Enterprise during the
pilot story Encounter at Farpoint, when we discover that he and
ship's counsellor Deanna Troi have met before, and under somewhat
less than formal circumstances!  This old relationship is very
much underplayed - after all, they are both professionals - but
just occasionally, reminders will come to the surface, most
notably in the playful jealously exhibited by Deanna on those
none-too-rare occasions when Will becomes involved with another
woman.
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