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Second Chances (TNG episode)
Encyclopedia
"Second Chances" is the 150th episode of the science fiction
television series Star Trek: The Next Generation
.
comes face to face with an exact duplicate of himself, created by a transporter phenomenon.
impossible most of the time and problematic at best.
Commander Riker heads the away team. When the previous research team was rescued, Riker was serving as a lieutenant on the USS Potemkin, the ship which carried out the rescue; in fact Riker had been the last person to leave the science station.
Deep in the base, Riker and the away team confront Riker's double—a man who believes he had been left behind eight years ago instead of being beamed up to the Potemkin. He has been alone ever since.
Back in sickbay, Dr. Crusher verifies that the man is an exact double of Riker down to the cellular
and genetic
level; even their brain patterns (which are formed by experience and can't be cloned) are a match.
After examining the Potemkin’s transport logs, Geordi
comes up with an explanation—years earlier, as the transporter officer of the Potemkin struggled to beam up Riker through the distortion field, he tried the novel approach of splitting the transport beam. Part of the transport beam was reflected by the distortion field back to the planet, materializing an exact living replica of Riker. Unaware of what had happened, and assuming they had successfully recovered Riker, the crew of the Potemkin went on to their next assignment leaving the duplicate trapped behind.
'Lieutenant' Riker volunteers to accompany a second away mission attempting to recover the important research data. The attempt fails and the two Rikers clash as their philosophical styles differ greatly. Finally Commander Riker orders Lt. Riker to cooperate; having a double who is a superior officer makes Lt. Riker very resentful and angry.
Returning to the ship, Commander Riker struggles to rationalize his instinctive resentment of the lieutenant; Data supposes that each man is unsettled and feels somewhat violated that the other has intruded upon his ‘uniqueness’ as a person. In addition, it appears that some of the Commander's dislike comes from dealing with another earlier version of his personality which he sees as less mature and settled; he doesn’t like being reminded that he was once much like Lt. Riker, a facet of himself which he had put aside years earlier.
Both men propose ideas to Captain Picard
for a third attempt at the retrieval of the missing data; Picard causes further discord between them when he chooses to pursue Lt. Riker’s plan.
Meanwhile, Lt. Riker has set about the business of moving on with his life and catching up on the last several years. Stranded on the station (unlike Commander Riker), he didn't choose to sacrifice his relationship with Counselor Troi
to concentrate on his career in Starfleet, and he attempts to pick up their love affair right where it left off when he was stranded on Nervala. Troi realizes that she is still regretful that things didn’t work out with Commander Riker in the past, and with Crusher's encouragement promotes Lt. Riker's advances, seeing this as a second chance at a relationship that failed once before. However, as Lt. Riker continues to chafe at the frustration of having to deal with a senior officer who is a double of himself, he proposes taking Troi away with him to a new posting on the starship Gandhi. Deanna is ambivalent at the prospect of leaving her life aboard the Enterprise, and tells him she will have to think about it.
Another attempt to gain the information goes badly. A walkway breaks, endangering the life of Lt. Riker. Despite him telling the Commander to 'let go', Riker saves his double.
Back on the ship, both Rikers are more accepting of each other as Lt. Riker prepares to leave for his new posting. The commander gives his double a cherished trombone. Lt. Riker decides to take their middle-name of Thomas
as his new given-name (a name he likes—unlike Commander Riker), to be unique. Deanna tells Thomas she has decided not to transfer with him.
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
television series Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry as part of the Star Trek franchise. Roddenberry, Rick Berman, and Michael Piller served as executive producers at different times throughout the production...
.
Overview
In this episode, Commander RikerWilliam Riker
William Thomas Riker, played by Jonathan Frakes, is a fictional character in the Star Trek universe primarily appearing as a main character in Star Trek: The Next Generation...
comes face to face with an exact duplicate of himself, created by a transporter phenomenon.
Plot
The Enterprise is assigned the mission of visiting planet Nervala IV to retrieve some important scientific data. The information had been lost when a previous research team was forced to abandon the post. A nearly impenetrable distortion field makes use of the transporterTransporter (Star Trek)
A transporter is a fictional teleportation machine used in the Star Trek universe. Transporters convert a person or object into an energy pattern , then "beam" it to a target, where it is reconverted into matter...
impossible most of the time and problematic at best.
Commander Riker heads the away team. When the previous research team was rescued, Riker was serving as a lieutenant on the USS Potemkin, the ship which carried out the rescue; in fact Riker had been the last person to leave the science station.
Deep in the base, Riker and the away team confront Riker's double—a man who believes he had been left behind eight years ago instead of being beamed up to the Potemkin. He has been alone ever since.
Back in sickbay, Dr. Crusher verifies that the man is an exact double of Riker down to the cellular
Cell (biology)
The cell is the basic structural and functional unit of all known living organisms. It is the smallest unit of life that is classified as a living thing, and is often called the building block of life. The Alberts text discusses how the "cellular building blocks" move to shape developing embryos....
and genetic
Genetics
Genetics , a discipline of biology, is the science of genes, heredity, and variation in living organisms....
level; even their brain patterns (which are formed by experience and can't be cloned) are a match.
After examining the Potemkin’s transport logs, Geordi
Geordi La Forge
Lieutenant Commander Geordi La Forge is a regular character in the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation and its feature films, played by LeVar Burton...
comes up with an explanation—years earlier, as the transporter officer of the Potemkin struggled to beam up Riker through the distortion field, he tried the novel approach of splitting the transport beam. Part of the transport beam was reflected by the distortion field back to the planet, materializing an exact living replica of Riker. Unaware of what had happened, and assuming they had successfully recovered Riker, the crew of the Potemkin went on to their next assignment leaving the duplicate trapped behind.
'Lieutenant' Riker volunteers to accompany a second away mission attempting to recover the important research data. The attempt fails and the two Rikers clash as their philosophical styles differ greatly. Finally Commander Riker orders Lt. Riker to cooperate; having a double who is a superior officer makes Lt. Riker very resentful and angry.
Returning to the ship, Commander Riker struggles to rationalize his instinctive resentment of the lieutenant; Data supposes that each man is unsettled and feels somewhat violated that the other has intruded upon his ‘uniqueness’ as a person. In addition, it appears that some of the Commander's dislike comes from dealing with another earlier version of his personality which he sees as less mature and settled; he doesn’t like being reminded that he was once much like Lt. Riker, a facet of himself which he had put aside years earlier.
Both men propose ideas to Captain Picard
Jean-Luc Picard
Captain Jean-Luc Picard is a Star Trek character portrayed by Patrick Stewart. He appears in the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation and the feature films Star Trek Generations, Star Trek: First Contact, Star Trek: Insurrection, and Star Trek Nemesis...
for a third attempt at the retrieval of the missing data; Picard causes further discord between them when he chooses to pursue Lt. Riker’s plan.
Meanwhile, Lt. Riker has set about the business of moving on with his life and catching up on the last several years. Stranded on the station (unlike Commander Riker), he didn't choose to sacrifice his relationship with Counselor Troi
Deanna Troi
Commander Deanna Troi is a main character in the science-fiction television series Star Trek: The Next Generation and related TV series and films, portrayed by actress Marina Sirtis. Troi is half-human, half-Betazoid and has the psionic ability to sense emotions. She serves as the ship's counselor...
to concentrate on his career in Starfleet, and he attempts to pick up their love affair right where it left off when he was stranded on Nervala. Troi realizes that she is still regretful that things didn’t work out with Commander Riker in the past, and with Crusher's encouragement promotes Lt. Riker's advances, seeing this as a second chance at a relationship that failed once before. However, as Lt. Riker continues to chafe at the frustration of having to deal with a senior officer who is a double of himself, he proposes taking Troi away with him to a new posting on the starship Gandhi. Deanna is ambivalent at the prospect of leaving her life aboard the Enterprise, and tells him she will have to think about it.
Another attempt to gain the information goes badly. A walkway breaks, endangering the life of Lt. Riker. Despite him telling the Commander to 'let go', Riker saves his double.
Back on the ship, both Rikers are more accepting of each other as Lt. Riker prepares to leave for his new posting. The commander gives his double a cherished trombone. Lt. Riker decides to take their middle-name of Thomas
Thomas Riker
William Thomas "Tom" Riker is a fictional character from the Star Trek universe, played by actor Jonathan Frakes. He is a duplicate of William Riker, a regular character on Star Trek: The Next Generation, also played by Frakes, who was created by a transporter accident when Riker served as second...
as his new given-name (a name he likes—unlike Commander Riker), to be unique. Deanna tells Thomas she has decided not to transfer with him.