Follow TV Tropes

Following

Recap / Star Trek: The Next Generation S6E22 "Second Chances"

Go To

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tng_secondchances039.jpg
"I'm seeing double here! Four Rikers!"

Original air date: May 24, 1993

Riker is leading a jazz performance on trombone, and Troi teasingly demands that he play "Night Bird," a song he's been failing to master for a decade. Just before he can play a note, he's called to the bridge, which he happily accepts. The Enterprise is orbiting Nervala IV and preparing to retrieve some scientific data that was abandoned when the station got evacuated. Riker was the last one to leave eight years ago, back when he was still a lieutenant, and only narrowly beamed away. When Riker and the away team arrive at the station, however, they discover that it has been occupied for the last eight years... by Lieutenant Will Riker.

Lt. Riker claims that he never escaped from the station. His transport signal was blocked by the planet's local distortion field. After a quick study, Crusher confirms that Lt. Riker has the same genetics and brain waves as Cmdr. Riker. When Riker beamed away from the station, his pattern split into two people: one who made it back to the ship and one who was left behind. Lt. Riker is less than enthusiastic to discover that another version of himself has been living his life while he was trapped. Cmdr. Riker is equally unimpressed by his alternate self. Friction develops immediately.

Troi visits Lt. Riker, who passionately sweeps her off her feet and kisses her. From his perspective, their romance never cooled to friendship, and he wants to pick things up right where they left them eight years ago. Troi is hesitant. Riker burned her before by choosing his career over her, and she doesn't know if she can trust this other Riker not to do the same. Cmdr. Riker awkwardly tries to stay out of their way, but he's been having difficulty getting his other self to heed his commands. Lt. Riker isn't used to following orders anymore, and he's obviously jealous of the "better hand" that Cmdr. Riker was dealt.

Lt. Riker woos Troi with a romantic scavenger hunt and presents her with a picture of their last date together. He's giving her the full-court press to get back together. Meanwhile, he goes over Cmdr. Riker's head by meeting with Picard and pitching his idea to access the science station's computer from underground. Cmdr. Riker chews him out for insubordination but admits that Picard has accepted the plan. While making preparations for the final away mission, Lt. Riker gets offered a position on the USS Gandhi, a fantastic opportunity to jump-start his languished career. He eagerly tells Troi that all she needs to do is marry him so she can follow him aboard. Troi, however, is dismayed that history seems to be repeating itself.

During the away mission to the station, Riker and Riker head down to the subterranean passage where they can access the station's computers. The pair are sniping at each other the whole way, but when Lt. Riker loses his footing, it's up to Cmdr. Riker to save him. Lt. Riker tells Cmdr. Riker to give up and save himself, but there's no chance of that. Cmdr. Riker manages to save them both, and they complete the mission.

While Lt. Riker is preparing to leave for his new post, Troi visits him and lets him know that she's not ready to drop her life to follow him. Riker accepts her decision graciously. Cmdr. Riker stops by to give a parting gift to his double: their trombone. As Lt. Riker says his goodbyes, he gives Troi one last kiss and tells his other self, "Take good care of her."


Tropes:

  • Anti-Climax: In the teaser, Troi calls for Riker to play "Night Bird," a jazz song whose trombone solo Riker has spent years trying to get right but hasn't been able to. Fortunately, Riker is saved by a call from the bridge just before his solo starts. Riker happily accepts.
  • Artistic License – Biology: One of several times in which Trek misuses the term "genetic drift." Genetic drift refers to the random gain or loss of traits in isolated populations and has nothing to do with an individual's own genome.
  • Call-Back:
    • Riker reveals to his double that he reconciled with their father in "The Icarus Factor."
    • Thomas criticizes Will for "playing it safe" and staying in Picard's shadow. In "The Best Of Both Worlds: Part I", Shelby made the same criticisms. Also, in both stories, Will gets annoyed when he sees that Shelby/Thomas went behind his back talking about a plan of action with Picard.
  • The Cameo: Dr. Mae Jemison, the first female African-American astronaut, plays the transporter chief.
  • Chekhov's Gunman: Thomas Riker is brought back for the Deep Space Nine episode "Defiant".
  • Confronting Your Imposter: Played with when the two Rikers meet on the planet, since each think the other is somehow a fake.
    Will Riker: I'm Commander William Riker of the starship Enterprise.
    Thomas Riker: That's not possible. I'm Will Riker.
  • Continuity Nod: Having been stranded since before the series began, Thomas is introduced wearing (the tattered remains of) an older-style uniform from Seasons 1 and 2. He gets a new one once he's onboard the Enterprise.
  • Differently Dressed Duplicates: The most obvious difference between the two Rikers is that Thomas wears the uniform Riker wore at the time he was duplicated — a gold Ops uniform (instead of Riker's current red Command one) in an older style with a lieutenant's rank pips.
  • Double Vision: A few background plates showing the two Riker are used similar to the Lore episodes, along with a number of over-the-shoulder stand-ins. This was LeVar Burton's directorial debut and said it caused a lot of headaches.
  • Duplicate Divergence: Thomas, having been stranded for eight years alone on a badly damaged outpost, has some old injuries and scars Will lacks while still having the youthful arrogance Will matured out of.
  • Funny Background Event: If the look on Worf's face is anything to go by, during the poker game he gets dealt the worst hand of his life.
  • Future Me Scares Me: Lieutenant Riker sees in Commander Riker an older version of himself who never achieved his ambitions and settled for second best.
  • I Hate Past Me: Lieutenant Riker, having been stuck alone on an outpost for almost a decade, never matured in certain ways that Commander Riker did, which he finds difficult to face.
  • Leave the Two Lovebirds Alone: Troi and Crusher are practising their mok'bara moves and discussing Troi's romantic dilemma when Lt. Riker shows up. Crusher has a sudden urge to call it a day, and promptly leaves.
  • Married to the Job: The second Riker makes the same choice to follow his career before his love life, just as Troi feared.
  • The Missus and the Ex: Gender Flipped between Troi and the Rikers. Similar to season 4's "Galaxy's Child", both the Mister and the Ex are the same person; one is the Riker we've come to know over 6 seasons on TNG and had given up on his relationship with Troi to further his career. The other is the Riker who was stranded on Nervala VI for 8 years and still has strong feelings for Troi.
  • The One That Got Away: A complicated version of the trope, as the stranded "Thomas" Riker pined for Troi all those years assuming she might have moved on, but not expecting there was a version of him that caused their relationship to split because of his career. Troi, on the other hand, can't help but feel flustered at seeing the passion Thomas has for her compared to the Better as Friends relationship she currently has with Will.
  • Other Me Annoys Me: Riker is annoyed by the youthful ambitions and tendency to go your own way seen in someone else. The other Riker chafes at seeing the man who didn't accomplish any of his ambitions (captaincy of a ship, marriage to Troi) despite having multiple opportunities to do so. Data and Worf discuss this amongst themselves.
    Data: I have found that humans value their uniqueness, that sense that they are different from every one else. The existence of a double would preclude that feeling. Could that be the source of the friction?
    Worf: Or perhaps it is more a matter of seeing something in your double. Something you do not like in yourself.
  • The Reveal: We finally learn what Riker's middle initial "T" stands for: Thomas. It's what his duplicate chooses to go by. Incidentally, the name "Thomas" means "twin" in Aramaic.
  • Shout-Out: Troi's calling for Riker to play "Night Bird" is reminiscent of the joke/meme about concert goers yelling out requests for Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Freebird"... albeit in an entirely different genre.
  • Sounding It Out: As Troi finds the written notes left behind by "Thomas" Riker, she reads each one aloud to herself, just so the audience can hear what is written on the notes.
  • Status Quo Is God: While uniquely the episode doesn't kill off one of the Riker's to make things simpler, Thomas Riker is transferred off ship so he can remain out of sight and out of mind for the Enterprise. His reappearance in DS9 was deliberately staged as a shocking twist to avoid this, as Thomas impersonated Will to gain access to the Defiant.
  • Technobabble: How else could we explain the sudden existence of two Rikers? Long of the short, when Riker was getting beamed up, the Potemkin's transporter chief used two beams to bring him aboard, and when Riker successfully materialized on the ship, they shut down the second beam, which got reflected off the atmosphere and rematerialized on the planet's surface. Though this brings up some disturbing implications as to how the transporter works.
  • Time-Passage Beard: The justification that Lt. Riker also grew a beard. In addition to his parted hair, he's visually distinct from Cmdr. Riker by the fact that his beard is trimmed wider.
  • Troll: Riker thinks Troi is being this when she requests "Night Bird", which she knows he is having difficulty with.

Top