Star Trek: 10 Worst Things William T. Riker Has Ever Done 

Worst thing Riker ever did: he never played “Nightbird“ correctly. 😂

Worf going down to kidnap Soren with Riker shows how down he was with him. They really had respect for each other even risking his career for their friendship.

A worst things list for Barclay would be hilarious 😂

1:27 I’m thinking that Riker might have let Picard’s time-jump slide at this moment, because if Picard freezes in the middle of talking to Tomulak, and then Riker jumped in, it might have looked far worse. Giving Picard that moment to stare off gave Picard the opportunity to recover, which kept the Romulans in line.

How can you NOT include his cold blooded vaporizing his and Pulaski's clones in "Up the Long Ladder"? As Odo reminds us, killing your own clone is STILL murder!

There was no reason for Riker to reference Kestra (or, ahem, Alexander) in that moment in Picard Season 3. Sidney and Alandra had actually been assimilated and left on the Titan, and Jack was on the Borg cube. Stopping to say, "hey, also my daughter, who is not in any immediate danger and has nothing to do with what we are talking about now" would have bizarre.

You asked the question about the worst of others, and I thought about it. Sisko? Janeway? Paris? Checkov? Then my mind brought up Quark, and then I thought, "What are the 10 best things Quark has done?" As always, thank you all so very much for the videos.

I would say the Jellico incident deserves mention.

Wearing 'that' outfit on Angel One, certainly in his top 10 worst decisions!

Best thing Riker has done, is the Riker Maneuver.

Worst thing: there’s a fan edit on RU-vid where Riker sits on a console and the resulting jumble of inputs causes a warp core breach. “Riker’s Ass Destroys the Enterprise.”

The reason why he wasn't worried about Kestra in Picard season 3 was because in order to be infected by the Borg you would have needed to use one of the affected transporters in Starfleet. Kestra likely would not have done this and therefore would have been safe.

I'd probably add the early part of his relationship with Ro Laren. She had her problems, true, but those interactions always leave me feeling like he's on a power trip.

Correction: Riker's first attempt to stop the J'nai was not to say that he "forced Soren to believe she was female." Rather it was to say that he pursued a relationship with Soren, and Soren rejected him, implying that his pursuit gave a false impression that led to the proceeding. They even seemed willing to accept this, until Soren came out. As for Riker doing the deed with alien women, Starfleet had likely already given clearance for Humans with a wide variety of specific alien species (could you imagine the shore leave guide "Whom you can get freaky with while on Shore Leave - A Species Guide"), and there may have even been a biology lesson before he went undercover in "First Contact" (episode). Voyager, on the other hand, was interacting with species the Federation had never encountered, so each one would technically need approval from the ship's doctor before coupling.

We definitely need a "worst things Data ever did" including when he's taken over by Soong and hijacks the Enterprise. There's a lot of material for worst things Quark ever did.

If you can't blame Riker for the Pegasus...Then you can't blame him for "The Game". Riker was already brainwashed by the game before he brought it to the Enterprise.

His flat out insubordination to Jellico should have been on this list.

10. It would probably not have been the best idea to take command while the Romulans were watching, so I can understand Riker hesitating then. That said he could have diverted attention by asking a question or making a statement, giving Picard a moment to recover. 9. I don't think the Qs powers to time travel were established at this point. So it's perfectly reasonable within the lore that had been established up to that point. 4. To be fair Picard should not have been arguing with Riker on his bridge. "All Good Things" explicitly establishes this is something Picard himself would never tolerate, and at least one other TNG episode makes this point as well. But yes the timing of throwing Picard off does not fit. A much better flow would have Riker throw Picard off early on, only to change his mind and follow Picard's advice later... then when they reconcile, they both apologize to each other. Picard for doing something he'd never tolerate, Riker for throwing him off (though Picard would reject that apology as he has nothing to apologize for). 3. I don't think we can find a less experienced Riker at fault here. He was an idealist and couldn't fathom that a Captain would subvert the Federation, or that he'd have to choose sides in defending one or the other.

Shaving his beard... worse than almost giving up the Federation to alien invaders.

Riker: What is Boimler doing on MY ship?

So I gave a lot of thought to 17 seconds at the time; it stung me for some reason to see him throw Picard off the bridge. Then however, I had to think about the situation. Will was still an active duty member of Starfleet, he had been given command of Shaws ship which means all the lives are on him and the Shrike had been outwitting them the entire time. When the ship was crippled Riker realized that Picard had manipulated him into going on the offensive when his responsibility was to escape the Shrike if at all possible because Shaw told him to get them out of this mess, the mess he and Picard got them into. So he ordered his old friend off the bridge because he needed it to be very clear to the crew, himself, and his old friend that he was in command of the Titan. If you notice the rest of the time Riker was in command Picard showed more deference to the fact that Riker was Captain. Picard would have never let a retired Admiral or friend goad him into attacking someone and if they did he would have likely thrown them off his bridge as well when he was in command of the Enterprise. A Captains duty is first to the ship and the crew.

Re: Kestra The way the Borg were assimilating the Starfleet personnel in S3, was that they had embedded a code into the transporter system, so anyone under a certain age were effected. Given that Riker and Troi decided to go "wilderness" mode and live on Nepenthe, it's possible Kestra simply hasn't used the transporter as of yet. Yes, she would still be at-risk against a "Borg assimilated" galaxy, she wouldn't be assimilated at that time. In fact, we have NO idea where she was during the events of S3.

Did anyone else notice that a younger Frakes with the bandana looked a lot like a young John Ritter??? Wow, that one really surprised me for a minute!

What about Unnatural Selection? “Killing your own clone is still murder.” -Odo

Like Riker said the first duty of any officer is to the ship

He was at his worst as a jackass, a BAD executive officer for Captain Jellicoe. He failed to follow orders, he was disrespectful, and he did not work to carry out his captain's needs and instructions (sure he may think that 3 shifts a day is best, but he was ordered to prepare for 4 shifts and didn't; he should have done that and then he would have had some credibility to argue again, in private 1 more time, for 3).

What about when Riker and Dr. Pulaski were cloned against their wills? In Star Trek, we know that clones are sentient beings and Riker just MURDERED the innocent clones with a phaser while they slept.

Ten entries and nothing about his not being able to follow orders in "Chain of Command"? Plus, the shaving of the beard was a sign of how the planet's rejuvenating effects were affecting the crew.

I don't think you were too harsh. What really bothers me is when Riker and Picard argued on the bridge of the Titan. Bad writing. That NEVER would have happened. It was a disservice to the character's for the sake of drama. 🖖😁🤘🇨🇦

All things considered, I really wish Riker's out of character behaviour in _Picard_ S3 had been an indication that he was a Changeling.

It is utterly criminal that we never got a Riker as Captain series after TNG. Riker should have finally taken a ship of his own.

I remember a lot of people calling him Rekirk back on the day.

I would definitely enjoy more lists like this (you can also do the best things the characters have done). A fun one might be Bones (aka Dr. McCoy).

Riker was given orders NOT to discuss the events on the Pegasus....That is NOT on him for not talking about it and covering it up. That's called being in the military.

I never thought Riker kicking Picard off the bridge was a mistake

10. Nothingburger. The mental gymnastics you have to invent to call this a bad action or bad non-action on Riker's part is a massive overreach.

I love this channel so much, I'd watch a recap of every time Data used a contraction

How about a list of Tech Star fleet walked away from? STO: The Injection that gives humans amazing telekinetic powers. TNG: The transporter accident that made Picard a teenager. (This one really bothered me when I saw the Boku movie.) TNG S1 the Weapons system that could quickly build adaptive drones that had the potential to take out a star ship. STO: Tech to migrate a human mind into a robot body. DS9: The prison planet where people don't stay dead. Sure the tech needed to be tweaked but you would think immortality would have been worth the effort.

0:00 Intro 0:43 10: Not assuming command at the Neutral Zone 1:51 9: Going full god mode 3:06 8: Completely forgetting the existence of his daughter 4:15 7: Bringing a potential alien invasion to the Enterprise 5:05 6: Attempting to break the Prime Directive to rescue Soren 6:26 5: Shaving his beard 7:19 4: Throwing Jean-Luc off the bridge 8:25 3: That whole cover-up fiasco 9:29 2: Going out of his way to make Shelby's job harder 10:32 1: Running away from Deanna and Kestra 11:44 Outro

I think this described Riker's worst moments very well. Riker's my favourite character from Next Generations (Worf, Picard, La Forge and Data all coming in a close second), my brother and I both agree Riker looked really great with a beard and I was miffed when Riker shaved it off. (I mean come on, he didn't have to break all our hearts by shaving it off, there was so many other things going on and he decides to shave it. Was he feeling ill when he saved? 🤔)

I'm shocked that Riker and Pulaski killing their clones (not Thomas) in the season 2 episode Up the Long Ladder didn't make the list.

The worst thing about Riker for me is something that Shelby points out. For years Riker should have been captain of his own ship but instead he just stuck around as first officer to Picard because he was comfortable. That first officer position he's basically sitting on should be going to people who are trying to become captain and are able to learn something from Picard as a last stepping stone before jumping into their own ship.

I don't remember the name of the episode but he phasered Uta at full power when he could've stunned her.

I would have bet money that the first 9 entries would have been shaving the beard in an odd numbered movie. It's like they were asking for it.

3:38 I disagree with your analysis regarding Kestra. The Borg was taking over the youth of Starfleet that had reached a certain age. Kestra was not old enough to be affected by the Borg "disease" therefore she was not in danger of becoming a Borg.

I remember sitting in the movie theater, screaming in my mind, what are you doing, Riker?! as the shaving the beard scene played.

Well Done!! Thanks.

He accessed the manual steering column of the Enterprise-E, when the helm officer was right there, doing their job perfectly of listing lazily to the left in the Briar patch... :P

i cant blame riker for being like that to deanna, honestly id be the same. My grief is my grief, sometimes you need to feel bad to accept it and move on... she stole that from him

Nobody seems to be talking about the episode where Q gave picard a second chance after his artificial heart failed. When Picard was an underachieving Lieutenant That wanted to do more, riker was contemptuous, dismissive and arrogant toward him. IMO, this shows his true character when dealing with people that he considers to be less than his equal. Not good qualities in a manager.

One thing Riker did that, while not top of the list bad, it was at the very least a step over his disrespect of Shelby. In Chain of Command part 1 and 2, he was insubordinate many times under Captain Jellico. I usually would watch TNG episodes from the starting perspective of Captain Picard. in that episode series, it was from the perspective of Captain Jellico. He was a no nonsense captain, and Riker was insubordinate of him several times. If it were me in Jellico's position, his ass would have been in the brig awaiting court martial for some of it. And something I'm sure Riker never considered was, high actions were a reflection of Jean-Luc Picard. Was he able to run all over Picard in the same way he was trying to with Jellico?? Honestly, Jellico was my favorite Ronny Cox role. He does villains well. Probably too well. And I could perceive that, in these episodes, he was perceived to be the villain, but in actuality, Jellico did nothing wrong.

I really have a problem with Starfleet accepting a treaty that disallows it to have cloaking technology, but other can. Usually only a truly defeated nation (e.g. Nazi Germany or Imperial Japan) agree to such one-sided terms.

From a psychological perspective, the number one entry makes perfect sense. Every child develops a sense of what it means to be a parent by emulating their own. This is why there are generations of families out their who have encouraged their kids to excel at whatever they do, and why there are generations who are, sadly, extremely abusive towards their children. In Riker's case, his father shut down after his wife, Will's mother, died, forcing Will to learn all the basic life skills for himself. Unfortunately, this experience also taught him to follow his father's example when things got tough in his own family. He likely wasn't even aware he was doing so, and Deanna admitted her trying to force him to heal didn't help matters, but it brings into question how Riker would have reacted if his mother hadn't died, or if his father had been able to better cope with his loss. Either scenario would have resulted in a very different Riker, one which may not have led the same life, which could in turn have allowed the Borg to take over. So in the end, there is a real possibility humanity was saved by Riker's crappy childhood.

Federation laws and regulations are more like suggestions than actual rules.

The 10 worst Alien-designs. That's my suggestion.

The core behind the #1 thing is, Riker has ALWAYS chosen career over personal connections. It's why he and Deanna were not together at the start of the show, and when she gets a second chance with his transporter clone, the clone makes a nearly identical choice to leave her for a posting at the literal first opportunity he gets. It's easy for Riker to have a family while he's retired, but once he's heard the call of duty, his core personality drives him towards duty, which pulls him away from family. In Picard S3, he's old enough to realize the price for those types of choices and has much more regret. I think that's from leaving his daughter more so than leaving his wife.

Fun game to play is get someone who has never watched the show. Watch the entire series with them, but have them guess who will get "Riker'ed Up" in each episode

Yeah, Picard told Riker to take command during his jumps which were actually dimensional jumps rather than time jumps (Riker was on board during the launching of Enterprise D in the jumps, but in the very first episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation Encounter At Farpoint, Picard has to pick up Riker), so I just figured that Picard told the wrong William Thomas Riker aka "Number 1"or didn't tell all of them

I think in spite of his flaws, Riker has rightfully earned the respect of anyone he's ever served with. Definitely a firm yet fair commander

I feel regarding the relationship between Riker and Troi, and him considering leaving, was very reality based. Some people may say that their relationship in the beginning on up until they got married was a bit unrealistic but I say no because I've had that type of relationship and love before. It's real as crazy as it seems. Regarding him not wanting to leave the Enterprise for his own command simply fit his personality. He is a man all about comfort and ego. He is Kirk 2.0 without the title of Captain. I don't think he wanted the true responsibility until it was absolutely necessary and he did not want to leave Troi nor she him.

Okay-- we totally skipped "Conundrum" when everyone got memory wiped. He and Troi were getting back together because they remembered the feelings they had for each other. Ro arrives right as Troi tells Riker about the sentimental gift she found-- a psychology book with an inscription from Will. There's a weird atmosphere for all three of them. Troi then leaves and Riker immediately beds Ro, his subordinate, during a shipwide crisis. At the end of the episode Ro and Troi compare notes and his status as a absolute cad is confirmed. And Riker never even fuckin' apologizes for this, he just feels self pity. For the record I would have done the same thing.

I want to see one about the Dubious Decisions of Data

11. The Riker maneuver lol.

As a variant of this, a list of the best actions of otherwise despicable characters might be interesting. Imagine; Top Ten Best Things Kai Winn Has Done (though good luck finding that many).

I'd say being criminally incompetent in command of the Enterprise being attacked by the Duras Sister's BoP is the worst. The second they opened fire, nothing else should have come out of his mouth than "Worf, fire all weapons at that ship!" End of battle.

Please tell us what that clip of a young Frakes in short-shorts and bandanna was from!

Thank you for reminding me that one of the reasons why we like Riker is he's flawed. Very flawed. That might be one reason why he turned so many commands down. He knew he was flowed.

That kicking Picard of the bridge was a really weird blemish on what was for the most part an excellent series of Picard.

The Ktarian Sabotage Game is still legendary. I love that episode. 🤔 I wonder what was the UFP's diplomatic response to Ktaria for this insidious attack. Does anybody know? 🖖🏻

When Riker was not present, the Enterprise-D crew referred to him as "Stinknuts".

I still think Riker was right. Riker was in command, his number one openly contradicted him several times, and his choice was the wrong one.

Lower decks should not be used in this, its a cartoon and without the seriousness of the storyline. Its like the deferens between Team Titans and Team Titans Go. Its a ridiculous observation of a serious series

I think you forgot about the episode where he's put on trial because a woman accuses him of assaulting her and they prove she's not lying 💀 also in the measure of a man, he's supposed to present a solid argument against data having rights and instead of coming up with any legal reasons, just violates data (pulls off his arm) and knocks him out (uses his off switch but like... We all have off switches lol?)

Shelby was after his position, that is why he had issues with her.

Giving Mariner all that contraband is missing on that list.

yeah we definatelly need like 70% of the captains on the list for worst things done like archers sacking of the cargo ship in xindi arc

Sisko gets a list! He arranged the assassination of a Romulan senator and poisoned a whole planet.

Nah, we all know the worst thing he did, was not pulverize that damn 75 year old BoP, and let the Enterprise D get blown up. Dude owes Geordi for rebuilding her, and correcting that mistake.

@SteveShives I know it’s not your normal schtick but hoping you make a mock reaction video.

I never understood why he lost the combadge. They all have GPS tags and would be easy to recover.

Worst things Data did. There's some good ones in the early seasons of TNG.

Riker's Checklist we used to call it back in the day.

Shelby was insubordinate period.

Where do you buy your uniforms from please? 😊

For number ten, I always assumed Picard “skipped” those moments because Q was bringing Picard only to the moments he needed. The rest happened with no memory because they did t matter. And I totally agree his actions on the Titan, what he said was entirely out of character. It made no sense, most of the other character bits in this video I can say are good character building episodes, but that scene didn’t fit. It was a tantrum.

Sean has brought up the fact that Kestra was not named in that scene on the Enterprise bridge before, and continues to overlook the glaringly obvious reason why. Jack, Sidney, and Alandra were named because those three are the ones who are involved in the goings-on, and that is why they are specified as being "our family too." Because they, NOT Kestra, are the ones that the Enterprise crew are going to rescue; they, NOT Kestra, are the ones on whom the attention is being placed at the moment, because they, NOT Kestra, are the ones who need that attention. It's a disturbing parallel but it is 100% true: "What about Kestra?" stems from the same misguided school of thought from whence comes "all lives matter." Stop saying it, Sean.

00:10 Trombone, as it were. LOL! 😁 Nothing unforeseen by a bit of childishness.

Coverup is debatable; I would argue Riker gets a partial pass by dint of being a newbie at the time and having difficulty breaking away later on. As for number two, have to disagree. Shelby was in the wrong, showing an inexcusable disregard for the chain of command even by Star Trek standards.

You had me at 0:08

The argument between Picard and Riker in S3 was probably meant to be Shaw and Picard. It just never made sense for Picard and Riker.

Worst thing? Took out that f8cking trombone!

Thanks!

This needed more Ambojitsu and Minuet.

That lazytown thing ;)

Worst thing he did is screaming at Picard like a child in Season 3 of STP

Kestra not reappearing in Picard is everything that was wrong with Season 3. Nepenthe handed us a whole thirst for her. We only get her NAME twice in Season 3 & not when it mattered the most. We could have removed whole arcs in lieu of some time with her. And a bearded Riker is a sexy Riker.

How about Riker's behavior toward Captain Jellico? Yes, Jellico was rather arrogant and should have taken time to learn more about the Enterprise and her crew -- but he was there to prepare the ship and crew for what was likely to become a full-fledged war, and didn't have time to play nice with everyone. Riker was petty, childish, and downright insubordinate in his response to Jellico. Riker was darned lucky he wasn't court-martialed for his behavior.

Ryker generally asks for an opinion from his A-team members and just goes along with it by giving permission to go ahead. I swear his character hasnt got a clue what Data or Geordie are talking about most of the time. 😂

How about that time when he vaporized Yuta when he could have found some other way to incapacitate her, or have her beamed back to the ship? Or those times he sits on his hands and forgets how to command a starship for no other reason but to advance the plot?

Riker doesn’t sit, he mounts.