Everyone has seen those segments on SNL or other comedy shows where the announcer displays two celebrities who at some awkward moment look a bit like one another. A “trekian” spin was applied to the concept in Episode 150 of Star Trek: The Next Generation, "Second Chances", written by Mike Medlock and directed by LeVar Burton.
“Having already gone down the "evil twin" route (with Data and Lore) but still wishing to explore ideas of doubles and doubling, the writers of "Second Chances" involve Riker in a plot that would later be exploded into the Gwyneth Paltrow indie film Sliding Doors. Once upon a time, young Lieutenant Will Riker was the last crew member beamed off of a planet as its distortion field intensified. Eight years later he returns to the same planet as Commander Will Riker and learns that he both did and he didn't make it off the planet. The distortion field caused him to split into two, one of whom made it and one who didn't get away. Like bickering brothers, once the two Rikers meet, they don't get along. One thing that helped Lieutenant Riker get through his eight years as a castaway was thoughts of his main squeeze at the time, counselor Deanna Troi. When Lieutenant Riker finds out Commander Riker chose career over romance, he sees it as a chance to make things right. Then again, maybe it's just in his nature to choose career first. Jonathan Frakes hams it up in his dual role, while the true second chance belongs to Troi, who quickly falls back into a relationship with the Riker who didn't leave her on purpose. She's the true heart of the story, even though the twin Rikers get all the screen time.” --Andy Spletzer
When last we saw "Tom" Riker (Deep Space Nine episode 55: "The Defiant"), he was thrown into a Cardassian prison for the rest of his life - but that's apparently not the end of the story, as this recent Earth sighting shows:
“Having already gone down the "evil twin" route (with Data and Lore) but still wishing to explore ideas of doubles and doubling, the writers of "Second Chances" involve Riker in a plot that would later be exploded into the Gwyneth Paltrow indie film Sliding Doors. Once upon a time, young Lieutenant Will Riker was the last crew member beamed off of a planet as its distortion field intensified. Eight years later he returns to the same planet as Commander Will Riker and learns that he both did and he didn't make it off the planet. The distortion field caused him to split into two, one of whom made it and one who didn't get away. Like bickering brothers, once the two Rikers meet, they don't get along. One thing that helped Lieutenant Riker get through his eight years as a castaway was thoughts of his main squeeze at the time, counselor Deanna Troi. When Lieutenant Riker finds out Commander Riker chose career over romance, he sees it as a chance to make things right. Then again, maybe it's just in his nature to choose career first. Jonathan Frakes hams it up in his dual role, while the true second chance belongs to Troi, who quickly falls back into a relationship with the Riker who didn't leave her on purpose. She's the true heart of the story, even though the twin Rikers get all the screen time.” --Andy Spletzer
When last we saw "Tom" Riker (Deep Space Nine episode 55: "The Defiant"), he was thrown into a Cardassian prison for the rest of his life - but that's apparently not the end of the story, as this recent Earth sighting shows:
Will Riker, c. 2368 | Tom (Will?, Dave?, The Debil?) Riker, c. 2005 |
Time anomaly? Wormhole? Yet another transporter accident? The answer's sure to be revealed in a future movie or novel, but remember, you saw it here first!
4 comments:
I think this is an opportunity to take slash fiction to a whole new level.
I wasn't quite sure what slash fiction was, so if anyone else is unsure, please check this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slash_fiction
And it strikes me that "The Wormhole" would be the perfect title, but I'm not taking it past that.
No, The Black Hole was a 1979 Disney film, which is as far from slash fiction as you can get - or is it? When looking up the correct year, I came across these comments on the IMDB message board, which I reprint here (instead of linking) for those who aren't registered:
I just watched this for the first time with a friend & I was quite surprised by the amount of gay subtext:
* Reinhardt & Durant. Normally, it would be the female character who would get entranced with the dark, charismatic anti-hero and be torn between staying with her crew and going off with him. But here we have Durant with an OBVIOUS man crush on Reinhardt! "I've been waiting a long time for a man like you."
* Max kills Durant violently because he is is jealous of his "relationship" with Reinhardt.
* Of course, when there are no African American characters, it's the effeminate character who gets killed off in these sci-fi movies (reference Fright Night, It, etc. So Durant's death is especially cruel & violent.
* Normally the female crew member is the object of some sort of sexual tension with the captain or other crew member. But here Kate is notably NOT the love interest of ANYBODY. The hunky captain & his cute sidekick pay NO attention to her as a sexual character.
* The only "relationships" we see in this movie is Durant/Reinhardt, Max/Reinhardt, and Vincent/Old Bob.
Watch the scenes between Durant & Reinhardt and tell me there's no gay overtone.
It's the Brokeback Mountain of cheesy 80s sci-fi, I tell you!
Note the use of slashes above. It's so great to be vindicated!
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