Riker’s Best Star Trek Episode Is Trek’s Greatest Deep Space Nine/The Next Generation Crossover

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Commander William Riker is a beloved character from the world of Star Trek, and one of his most memorable appearances came in an unexpected place. Just a few months after Star Trek: The Next Generation ended, Jonathan Frakes made a guest appearance, but he wasn’t portraying the familiar Will Riker fans had come to know. This happened in the third season episode, “Defiant.”

The Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “Second Chances” featured the Enterprise revisiting Nervala IV and finding a duplicate of Will Riker, created by an unusual accident. This duplicate had been stranded there for eight years, eventually adopting the name Thomas and joining another ship. While that episode explored Riker’s story, it largely focused on him. In contrast, the episode “Defiant” is entirely centered around Thomas.

‘Defiant’ Is a Great Riker Episode, but It Also Illuminates the Maquis and Cardassian Empire

As The Next Generation moved into movies, producers developed Star Trek: Voyager to continue the series. This new show focused on a group of ex-Starfleet officers who formed a resistance movement, called “the Maquis,” to fight back against the Cardassians after they attacked Federation colonies. Inspired by a World War II resistance group, the Maquis resorted to tactics that were considered terrorism in their fight against the Cardassian Empire.

This action broke Starfleet’s agreement with the Cardassians, and it was discovered that Thomas Riker was involved.

The Defiant crew featured prominently in Deep Space Nine, but they did make appearances on The Next Generation, such as when Ro Laren became one of them – Riker even tried to dissuade her from joining. While the episode “Defiant” revealed details about Thomas Riker’s situation, it also shed light on the crew itself, highlighting that they weren’t always composed of Starfleet’s most highly regarded officers.

Although they had different personalities, Thomas was fundamentally very similar to Will Riker. Rather than engaging in pointless conflicts with the Cardassians, he strategically used his warship to collect information that would help win the larger conflict. As Kira Nerys observed, he approached situations as a Starfleet officer – focused on strategy and intelligence – rather than resorting to more extreme tactics.

Another unexpected turn in the story is the discovery of conflict brewing among the antagonists. Despite being an enemy of Starfleet, Gul Dukat proved to be far more principled than Korinas, a spy representing the Obsidian Order.

A secretive intelligence group within the Cardassian Empire operated independently of its leaders, breaking the law by secretly building a fleet of warships. Although Thomas Riker didn’t fully succeed in his mission, he revealed this deception to Dukat. Had he not done so, war between the Federation and Cardassia might have been avoided.

Thomas Riker Was a Wasted Character In The Next Generation Era

The writers initially thought about using Riker’s duplicate in place of him, but they ultimately decided against it. This led to Thomas being written off the show, which was unfortunate given how compelling his character was. It’s this situation that truly makes “Defiant” a standout episode focused on Riker.

When Thomas pretends to be his twin brother, Will, he gets a taste of what life is like for the popular and admired officer from Deep Space 9. The show suggests this is a typical experience for Will in Starfleet. The other officers clearly adore the heroic first officer of the Enterprise, and they’re understandably surprised to find out it’s actually Thomas.

After Michelle Forbes turned down the part of Ensign Ro, Kira Nerys took over as a regular character on Deep Space Nine. Kira was portrayed as a former resistance fighter who openly acknowledged her past sometimes involved acts of terrorism. During an encounter with Thomas aboard the Defiant, she observes that he lacks the mindset and behavior typically associated with someone like herself.

She realizes he’s trying to forge his own identity, distinct from the other Riker. If he can’t achieve fame and admiration, he’ll settle for being a notorious rebel who dies dramatically. The story hints that even though Thomas escaped Nervala IV, he never truly broke free from living in the original Riker’s shadow.

The episode concluded with Thomas Riker receiving a life sentence in a Cardassian prison. Though this resolved his storyline, it highlights how missed opportunities kept us from exploring his character further – a trend that continued even in recent seasons, as there was still potential to do much more with him.

It was probably best that The Next Generation didn’t kill off Thomas Riker, even though Voyager handled a similar situation with Harry Kim differently. Still, Thomas Riker felt like a wasted opportunity – a character who was essentially a darker version of a Star Trek icon and could have been the focus of really compelling storylines.

Deep Space Nine and The Next Generation Crossovers Were Far Too Rare

As a huge Star Trek fan, I always appreciated how Deep Space Nine really tried to forge its own identity after The Next Generation, much like TNG did with the original series. Because of that, seeing characters jump between shows was pretty unusual. Aside from this particular episode, the only other times we really saw major crossovers were in The Next Generation‘s ‘Birthright’ – and that quick appearance by Quark – plus the pilot episode where we got to see Sisko interact with Picard. It was special every time!

This doesn’t include the fact that Worf became a regular cast member on DS9 starting in Season 4. Therefore, Thomas Riker’s appearance in “Defiant” makes the episode stand out for yet another reason.

As a big Star Trek fan, I always felt Jonathan Frakes deserved more than just directing one episode. Considering the movies were still being made, it would have been amazing to see him play Thomas Riker again instead of Will. After seeing what “Defiant” showed us about that other Riker – how he felt and his issues with Starfleet – I really think there was so much potential for some fantastic stories with him as Thomas.

I guess since we never actually saw those years, it’s nice this one episode exists. It lets us fans fill in the gaps and imagine what his life was like for those two years before he ended up in Cardassian hands. It’s a satisfying thought, knowing we can create our own version of what happened.

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2026-06-15 13:39