Out of all the TNG episodes that merit a sequel, how far down the list would you have to go to reach “Second Chances?” Quite a ways, I would think. But here we are. Ironically enough, “Defiant” sets up an obvious sequel in itself which never comes. Whether that is good or bad is up I the air.If you have forgotten “Second Chances,” good for you. Er…I mean, it is the one where the Enterprise discovers a transporter accident eight years ago created a duplicate Riker who is still I love with Troi. Dude, you have got to be hard up to dream about that woman for eight years. The duplicate calls himself Thomas Riker, using his middle name, and joins the crew of the Gandhi which I can only guess is the baddest warship in the fleet outside of the Defiant.
He returns here, but we do not realize he is not the real Riker until the end of the first act when he pulls off the sides of his fake beard to reveal a goatee. Remember, in Star Trek, goatees are evil.
Thomas comes to DS9 posing as Riker on his way to Risa for vacation. In reality, he plans to steal the Defiant and use it to expose a hidden military build up by the Cardassian Obsidian Order in the DMZ. He snuggles up to Kira in order to do so and has to take her along with him after he has stolen the ship. We are supposed to take it asa given Kira would fall for Riker since sice everything female is supposed to, so I will buy it, I guess.
The episode quickly becomes an homage to Failsafe, the Henry Fonda film in which the president has to help the Soviets stop an American plane from attacking the Soviet Union. It is classic, but I am more partial to the similarly plotted Dr. Strangelove, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb. In the case of “Defiant,” Sisko heads to Cardassia Prime to help Dukat stop Thomas.
There is an interesting exchange between the two about Dukat missing taking his son to an amusement park for his birtday because of this incident. Sisko tries to bond with him as a father with heavy duties. Jake has had to sacrifice because of his father’s oath to Starfleet and has done so well. Dukat responds that his son will grow up remembering that his birthday was ruined by a Federation attack on his home and be forever angry. The scene shows the difference between a freedom loving people and those who teach their children devotion to the state. Dukat’s son is not going to think about his ruined birthday first, but of Cardassia’s enemy attacking his home.
Thomas attacks various Cardassian targets on his way to his primary, Obsidian order target. Kira buys some time by disabling the cloaking device. She tries to talk Thomas out of his plans by convincing him he does not really care about the Maquis cause. He just wants to separate himself from the main riker by becoming a hero. Except terrorists do not get to become heroes.
I have always questioned whether Thomas, who is still Riker at heart, would do something like this. Being marooned for eight years is bound to change someone, particularly when he learns his other self became a hero who helped defeat the Borg invasion of Earth. When I first saw this episode fifteen years ago, I did not buy it. Now that I have gotten older and (relatively) wiser, I do. Riker was the one who was going to kidnap his androgynous lover from a lobotomy in ’The Outcast.” he is willing to let high emotions motivate him to do immoral acts to satisfy his own needs.
Sisko and Dukat arrange a trade. The Cardassians get Thomas as long as they do not execute him for his attack and they can have the Defiant logs that reveal the Obsidian Order’s build up in the DMZ. It is the best compromise to avoid awar. Much better than nuking New York, at any rate.
Kira promise to rescue Riker from prison at some point, but she never does even though that would make for a logical sequel. The addition of Worf to the cast makes it even odder. Certainly, his loyalty is more to the main Riker , but you would think he would feel some loyalty to Thomas as well. I suppose Thomas’ violation of Starfleet ideals offends his fellow officers enough they think he got what he deserved.
I appreciate “Defiant” more these days than I did years ago. I understand Thomas’ motivations more than I did then, at any rate. They seem more plausible now that I understand he is not a carbon copy of Riker, but a an whose different experiences have given him a different attitude. While I still find it strange “Second Chances” earned a sequel, “Defiant” improves upon the original
Rating: *** (out of 5)
