WARNING: Contains SPOILERS for Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 5, “Mirrors“
Star Trek: Discovery‘s new Number One, Commander Rayner (Callum Keith Rennie) has a lot in common with Commander William T. Riker (Jonathan Frakes) from Star Trek: The Next Generation. In Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 5, “Mirrors”, written by Johanna Lee & Carlos Cisco and directed by Jen McGowan, Rayner has to reluctantly take the center seat while Captain Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) is on an away mission. Rayner’s reluctance to take the conn, and his insistence that he lead the away mission in Burnham’s stead, draws similarities between him and Will Riker.
Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 5, “Mirrors” reveals that Rayner, formerly the captain of the USS Antares, is unsure that his style will gel with his new crew. However, by bringing the Discovery’s bridge crew together, Rayner is able to solve the problem of how to drag the ISS Enterprise out of interdimensional space. With Burnham back on board, Rayner is back to being the USS Discovery’s Number One, but satisfied that he can lead from the center seat, much like Riker at the end of Star Trek: The Next Generation season 4, episode 1, “The Best of Both Worlds, Part II”
In Star Trek: The Next Generation, Riker turned down several opportunities to become captain, preferring to stay aboard the USS Enterprise-D as second-in-command to Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart). However, Riker was often placed in charge of the starship Enterprise, most notably when Picard was assimilated by the Borg Collective. After rescuing Captain Picard from the Borg, and saving the Federation from the Collective, he was happy to step down from Captain to Commander Riker, satisfied that he’d proved his worth as a captain. For Riker, serving as Number One on the Federation flagship was just as huge an achievement as his own command.
Rayner in Star Trek: Discovery was demoted from Captain to Commander in season 5, episode 2, “Under the Twin Moons”. The USS Discovery is Rayner’s last chance, which is presumably why, like Riker in TNG, he’s keen not to chase promotion. His reasoning is different to Riker’s because Rayner had already been a captain for years before becoming Burnham’s Number One. Rayner is reluctant to take charge in “Mirrors” because it’s not his crew, and his command style is very different to Burnham’s.
One of the reasons that Rayner gives for not wanting to take the conn is that Burnham’s away mission is “too risky” for the captain of the USS Discovery. Riker leading the away missions in Star Trek: The Next Generation became such a trope that Picard jokes about it in his Star Trek: Nemesis wedding toast. Burnham explains why she and Cleveland Booker (David Ajala) are the best crew members to take on the mission, forcing Rayner to concede that she’s right. Picard would do the same in later seasons of TNG as he took a more active role in away missions.
When Burnham offered Rayner the role of second-in-command in Star Trek: Discovery she made it clear that she didn’t want a “yes man“. Picard didn’t want Riker to be one either, which is why he was so impressed by his fierce opposition to Captain Robert DeSoto (Michael Cavanaugh) leading an away mission on Altair III. Riker risked court martial to convince DeSoto that his away mission was “too risky” for the captain of the USS Hood, something that ultimately led to him becoming the second-in-command of the USS Enterprise-D in Star Trek: The Next Generation.
Star Trek: Discovery streams Thursdays on Paramount+
All episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation are streaming now on Paramount+