Jonathan Frakes Calls Picard And Riker's Relationship In Star Trek: Picard Season 3 'Spicier' Than What We've Seen Before [Exclusive]
At the start of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" in 1987, Cmdr. William Riker (Jonathan Frakes) was defined by his ambition. He was the first officer on board the USS Enterprise but often talked about eventually attaining his own captaincy and commanding his own starship. Throughout the show's first three seasons, Riker was occasionally offered command but often turned it down, stating that he felt he wasn't quite ready. In "The Best of Both Worlds, Part I" (June 18, 1990), Riker was offered command of a starship called the USS Melbourne and had quietly planned on turning down the job without telling Capt. Picard (Patrick Stewart). When Picard catches wind of Riker's decision, he asks his first officer why he's still on board the Enterprise, saying that the ship will do just fine without him. After the second part of "The Best of Both Worlds," when Riker briefly got to serve as captain during Picard's short assimilation by the Borg, Riker's careerism arc is more or less at an end, having become content being a first officer.
It wouldn't be until "Star Trek: Nemesis" in 2002, 12 years later, that Riker would finally leave the Enterprise and take command of his own ship, the USS Titan. For the entire time audiences have known Riker, he has served under Picard, happy to leave command decisions to someone else. In the third season of "Star Trek: Picard," Riker is now a retired captain, and Picard is now a retired admiral. Jean-Luc still technically outranks Will, but the two are, for the first time, coming at one another as equals.
In a recent interview, /Film's own Vanessa Armstrong asked Frakes about that new peer-like dynamic between the characters, and Frakes said he was grateful for it.
The men as peers
Riker always respected Picard's orders and carried out commands to the utmost ability. There were very, very few scenes throughout "Next Generation" where Riker pulls rank or barks back at Picard. In the first episode of "Star Trek: Picard" season 3, the two characters will reunite at a bar, and plot to rescue the in-peril Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden) who is stranded at the edge of Federation space. This is a scheme they have to enact together, and with both men being elderly (Picard is over 100 in the chronology of the show, and Riker may be rounding 85), they require the aid of younger officers to pull it off. As such, there is no one person "in charge" of the rescue.
Indeed, later in the show, Riker will berate Picard for being impulsive and getting a starship in danger. Seeing Riker yell at Picard will be a surreal sight for many Trekkies.
Frakes likes that, in the span between "Nemesis" and "Picard" the two men's relationship changed, allowing each to see the other as more human. Frakes said:
"It was kind of a privilege to have Patrick in a peer position, if you will, and no longer my boss and no longer Captain Picard to my Commander Riker. And also to have 20 more years of experience as friends and appreciation of who he is. And I've directed him quite a bit without acting with him. And with Terry Matalas — again, we give kudos to Terry who created this whole third season arc for us."
Terry Matalas is an executive producer on "Picard" and the showrunner for its third season.
Spicier stories
Frakes, meanwhile, has directed more "Star Trek" episodes than any other actor from within the franchise, so he's extensively familiar with it from the other side of the camera. As a director, he and Stewart likely had opportunities to look at Picard together, developing the character as the two thespians developed their own off-camera working relationship. Frakes enjoyed having the characters, then, be a little spiky with each other, as each one is now more strong-willed, and, as the characters are retired, neither has to fall back on Starfleet propriety. Frakes said:
"The conflict between Riker and Picard and the conflict between Geordi and Picard makes for a spicier story, for more interesting acting, and for more depth for all of us, for the fans and for the actors."
Viewers will eventually learn that Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton), previously the chief engineer of the Enterprise, has also forged a career of his own, and is no longer beholden to Picard's authority ... or lack thereof. Indeed, one of the more interesting aspects of the new season of "Picard" is that the characters have reunited, but there is no longer a power dynamic between them.
Season 3 will allow audiences a first look at something rare; they will see how these people interact as friends, rather than co-workers. And as anyone with work friends might know, the two relationships don't always mesh well.