"I've nothing to say to you O'Brien, I think you know why"????

[sariel2005]

From Defiant.
Tom Riker says this to O'Brien, who scuttles off sharpish.. As opposed to asking what the hell.

Is there any basis for Rikers animosity ( as in was there anything that happened between O'Brien and Riker to explain why our outspoken Chief was not confused about all this? )

 

[EnsignRedshirt]

I don't recall the episode, but in TNG Picard mentions playing with 'ships in bottles' as a boy.

O'Brien is the only one who also shared in that hobby.

Riker is pissed at O'Brien being a kiss-ass.

 

[HaplessCrewman]

Tom Riker is mad at O'Brien because of the crime of espionage he committed in the episode "Hard Time" - for which he received a 20 year sentence!

 

[BlueStuff]

It always amuses me thinking of O'Brien trying desperately to recall something he did which might have offended Riker. I bet (hope) he spent the rest of the episode going over it in his head, trying to come up with stuff.

 

[Tosk]

From Defiant.
Tom Riker says this to O'Brien, who scuttles off sharpish.. As opposed to asking what the hell.

Is there any basis for Rikers animosity ( as in was there anything that happened between O'Brien and Riker to explain why our outspoken Chief was not confused about all this? )

This comes up every few months.

The answer is that nothing at all happened. Tom knew he could be busted by someone likes Miles who knew Will well, so he threw him off guard with the hostility.

 

[Lance]

^ What Tosk said. Tom clearly knows that O'Brien could actually blow his cover/twig that he isn't the "real" Will Riker, and he only needs O'Brien to f**k off for five minutes while he steals Defiant. So although he probably thought Miles could come back and say "Hang on, watcho you talking 'bout Will?", Tom only needed Miles to step away for a few moments, and throwing this at him caught him off guard. O'Brien is clearly flustered by the exchange and didn't say anything that could have 'caught' Tom out.

Alternatively... Miles was the transporter operator back on the Enterprise, and Tom Riker REALLY hates transporter operators. For obvious reasons.

 

[Bad Thoughts]

Or, O'Brien is reknown throughout the Federation for his knowledge of novelty facial hair, and Tom feared that his fake sideburns would be noticed, jeopardizing the whole mission.

 

[Lance]

 

[Melakon]

The fact that the real Will was always a dick to people, made it easy for O'Brien to mistake Tom for him.

 

[Roboturner913]

Clearly, it was because O'Brien forgot to return his copy of Vulcan Love Slave II: The Revenge.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

No disrespect, but shouldn't this be in the FAQ?

 

[R. Star]

From Defiant.
Tom Riker says this to O'Brien, who scuttles off sharpish.. As opposed to asking what the hell.

Is there any basis for Rikers animosity ( as in was there anything that happened between O'Brien and Riker to explain why our outspoken Chief was not confused about all this? )

This comes up every few months.

The answer is that nothing at all happened. Tom knew he could be busted by someone likes Miles who knew Will well, so he threw him off guard with the hostility.

See I never got that. If someone I knew and liked was suddenly hostile towards me that would make me -more- likely to question and scrutinize them for something that's wrong, not less likely.

I get that he wanted to get rid of O'brien, so why not do something in character? Like say give Kira a meaningful look, wink at O'brien and flick his head towards the door when Kira's not looking. Meaning he wants some alone time with her... not out of character at all and gets rid of him without O'brien wondering what's wrong with this guy.

 

[DonIago]

Except that O'Brien and Riker were both in the Starfleet hierarchy, and it would have been tremendously awkward for O'Brien to confront Riker then and there, especially in front of Kira.

It's also possible that Tom wouldn't have known that the behavior you just suggested as an alternative would be within the norm for Will.

The best thing Tom could do was shut O'Brien up as quickly as possible in a way minimally likely to arouse suspicions...at least for ten minutes or so.

 

[Jono]

No disrespect, but shouldn't this be in the FAQ?

It is.

 

[MacLeod]

Yep, this one comes up so often it's made it's way into the FAQs. As others have said it's simply the fact that the one person onboard the station likely to expose that this wasn't Will Riker was O'Brien. It was simply to get rid of O'Brien. As others have said it would be inappropriate of O'Brien to query Riker infront of Kira.

 

[sariel2005]

Sorry guys, didn't realise it was a FAQ just watched the episode and was puzzled.
would of been fun if the story happened when Worf was aboard!

 

[jazzstick]

I love how this episode has an "Evil Mutton Chops™" reveal!
Cracks my ass up everytime!

 

[MacLeod]

Sorry guys, didn't realise it was a FAQ just watched the episode and was puzzled.
would of been fun if the story happened when Worf was aboard!

Don't worry about it. It can be fun to revisit things after.

 

[Bad Thoughts]

I love how this episode has an "Evil Mutton Chops™" reveal!
Cracks my ass up everytime!

One of Trek's best moments. I guess Tom was too petty about the Will thing that he coudn't stop shaving, not even for a day.

Imagine the fake hair sticking to Kira's jumja stick.

 

[Lance]

Watched the episode again. It's worth noting that the hints that this isn't really Will Riker are there right from the start. Tom ingratiates himself reasonably well with The Sisko and Major Kira, particularly with Kira. But he's briefly thrown when Dax reminds him they've met once before. I think he panics when he meets O'brien, because he knows this is a guy who (unlike Dax) knows Will Riker personally and is therefore far more likely to be able to blow Tom's cover. Tom has obviously got a timeline in place by which he wants to steal away Defiant, and he can't afford to waste any more time trying to keep up the pretence for O'brien. So put on the spot he panics and snaps at Miles instead. Luckily the chief gets thrown by this uncharacteristic reaction, so it serves Tom's purpose anyway.