#IDKKKKKK this might be like super obvious and boring to everyone else

[gar-trek]

OKAY i guess the reason im so obsessed with Second Chances is because it says something I was not expecting at all, which is that Riker literally hates himself. Or like, at least hates his past self. At first this is like so insane because Riker is this hyper confident self assured bastard and yet when he meets his clone he’s got so much open distain and disgust it’s like… damn what happened. I think it has a lot to do with what we learn about Riker in season 2 The Icarus Factor. Riker is set up from episode one to be extremely motivated by his career. Like totally committed to Starfleet and even willing to put his job over his personal relationships. But in Icarus Factor, this changes for Riker. He’s offered his own command and it’s pretty much assumed he’s gonna take it and leave the enterprise. But then we get to meet Riker's father, who it turns out he has a lot of issues with. See Riker's father is just as ambitious as him, probably more. This caused a rift between them as his dad constantly put his career above taking care of his own son. We also see that he once had a relationship with Pulaski which again was ruined due to his commitment to his job and constantly chasing after success. In this episode, Riker realizes how hollow his fathers life is, and that he’s pretty much following the same path. At the end of the episode, he does what no one expects and turns down his own command to instead stay aboard the enterprise. I think a very important scene in this episode is when he goes to tell Deanna he’s taking the command, and they both admit they are sad to be leaving each other once again. At the end of the episode, Riker tells Picard that he’s staying on the enterprise because it’s what’s right for him. In other words, for the first time, Riker chose to stay with the people he was quickly starting to consider his family over furthering his career.

So William Riker learned these lessons and had all these experiences that Thomas didn’t have. Effectively Thomas is William as he was 8 years before when he wasn’t on the Enterprise. Thomas is also the version of Riker who never got the chance to choose his career over Deanna. Now Riker is a guy who likes to sleep around a bit, sure, but you get the feeling from this episode that what him and Deanna shared was different. Thomas talks about how he only got through his 8 years stranded alone by thinking about her. It’s even revealed that Riker had asked Deanna to marry him so they could stay together. So Thomas has a choice, stay with Deanna or prioritize furthering his career. Deanna finds herself wondering if this time it’ll be different as she’s in the extremely strange position of being able to start over with Riker again. The saddest part is that William KNOWS it’s not gonna be different. Despite how much he regrets leaving Deanna, he knows he’s going to make the same decision again. And I think the ending scene, with Will having to save Thomas, is him coming to terms with the fact he can’t change his past.

And, not to mention all that’s revealed about his past in The Pegasus, and everything with losing his mom. I think Second Chances reveals that Riker isn't as confident and self-assured as he might appear, and is instead someone who is working very hard to try and get better.