[NX Enterprise]

Was Riker First officer way to long? What do everyone think?


Well I think he was he could of been Captain of Enterprise D or E . Picard could of been promoted to Admiral and still been on the Enterprise. It was a Flag ship , show it could of had a Flag Officer on Board.

[Quark]

Well, remember it was his choice. He had been offered the opportunity to be captain of a starship many times, but he just prefered to be under the command of Picard on the Federation's flagship.

[NX Enterprise]

Originally Posted by Quark

Well, remember it was his choice. He had been offered the opportunity to be captain of a starship many times, but he just prefered to be under the command of Picard on the Federation's flagship.

yea But he was waiting to be in command of Enterprise thats why he did not take command of other ships intell later.

[celticarchie]

Not really. At first I think he became comfortable, and he was happy where he was, and I think there was something he was learning from Picard that he couldn't explain but sub-consciously he knew he had to stay.

[Quark]

Well, it eventually happens and even though it was sad for Picard, I think they both knew it was time to say good bye. 15 years was a long time...

[Commodore]

The thing about Riker was that prior to the Enterprise-D, he was simply rocketing up the chain of command at warp speed. Less than ten years out of the Academy and he was already being considered for a captaincy of his own. He declined when Starfleet initially offered him command of the Drake in order to serve as exec aboard the Enterprise with Captain Picard. A tour of duty aboard the Enterprise looks good in anybody's service record, and it wasn't an opportunity many people would turn down if it arose.

But perhaps what would have been only a two- or three-year stint turned into a 15-year assignment. Episodes like "The Icarus Factor" and "The Best of Both Worlds" indeed dealt with Riker wondering if he had become too comfortable on the Enterprise and had stayed too long. What happened to the ambitious young officer who was destined to become captain before he turned 33? That Riker would never have turned down not one, not two, but three opportunities to command his own ship.

In the end, though, I think it really is just a case that while aboard the Enterprise, Riker's priorities changed and he was content to be the ship's XO for as long as it suited him. When Starfleet approached him a fourth time with the Titan, I think Riker realized that he was ready to move on.

(In the novels, the Titan is a Luna-class starship with a mostly non-Human crew, and is more of a dedicated deep-space exploration vessel than the Enterprise...)

[Samuel]

Add to that... he gets promoted to captain in the field. As far as the admiral was concerned Picard was history and Riker wasnt just a temporary placeholder promotion. But uh oh... Picard is back. So Riker then gets demoted? Especially at a time when captains were in shorter supply? How does that work? I do wonder if it was thought up by Hollywood to fashion a plausible exit for one or the other to leave the show.

[kevin]

Yes, I think he just was happy on the Enterprise and maybe, for a time, lost the ambition that had gotten him that far.

He was obviously capable or he wouldn't have been given 3 offers by Starfleet. But he did it when he was ready to.

[Buckman]

he was told to take the titan or he wont get another offer

[Commodore]

Originally Posted by Samuel

Add to that... he gets promoted to captain in the field. As far as the admiral was concerned Picard was history and Riker wasnt just a temporary placeholder promotion. But uh oh... Picard is back. So Riker then gets demoted? Especially at a time when captains were in shorter supply? How does that work?

It's likely that Riker accepted a temporary demotion back to commander in order to remain aboard the Enterprise as Picard's XO. Given how Riker and his crew just saved Earth from assimilation, he could write his own check at that point as far what he wanted to do.

It kind of mirrored what happened in TMP when Admiral Kirk briefly went back to being a captain in order to command the recently refitted original Enterprise.

I do wonder if it was thought up by Hollywood to fashion a plausible exit for one or the other to leave the show.

There was an old rumor that Patrick Stewart could have left the series at the end of the third season and that the fourth season could have begun with the death of Locutus...