Star Trek 257: Second Chances

257. Second Chances

FORMULA: The Enemy Within + Tapestry

WHY WE LIKE IT: The bold ending.

WHY WE DON'T: Riker just can't help breaking Deanna's heart.

REVIEW: Riker meeting his transporter clone... Let's see, a chance to pull off some deft effects, and obviously, he has to die at the end to maintain the status quo, or perhaps we'll let the audience believe that "our" Riker is the one that died, but then, classic reset button, blablabla. Right? Wrong! The effects are, indeed, wonderful, but the story doesn't actually go where you think it will.

Second Chances manages to do for Riker what Tapestry did for Picard. It speculates on what would happen if your younger self met your present self and found it lacking. Lt. Riker basically spent 8 years in story stasis, so he has remained a risk-taker, ambitious and quite in love with Troi. Commander Riker, on the other hand, has grown comfortable, has refused a couple commands to stay aboard the flagship, and is "just friends" with Troi (despite some somewhat romantic interludes that we must've simply mischaracterized in the past two seasons). Neither likes what he sees in the other. I would probably feel the same. ("Loser." "Jerk.")

Jonathan Frakes does a good job of portraying two Rikers, the same yet different, but it's Marina Sirtis who really sells it for me. This has got to be one of her best episodes. Her reactions seem very real and effective, and we learn a great deal more about how their relationship ended. I also don't think she's ever looked prettier, the fairer hair possibly matching the blue uniform better than the jet black. The opening sequence has her looking a lot more like Marina Sirtis, and I don't think that's a bad look for her. At all.
It's one excellent scene after another (the romantic treasure hunt, the dead-on poker scene, the mention of Riker's father), but when you think it all has to end on a rickety bridge (of course), it doesn't. I can't commend the creators enough for allowing Lt. Riker to live. It's too bad Troi never gives him a second thought (though the romance ends believably, as in Lessons), but it's a bold subversion of audience expectations and the right thing to do. (He'll return in DS9.) Oh, and surprise cameo: Astronaut Mae Jamison as the transporter chief!

LESSON: The road not taken can make all the difference.

REWATCHABILITY - High: I didn't expect it to be this good. Effects, acting and plot all converge to make this one of the surprises of the season.