Something that I spotted a while back but have started to notice a bit more often is how Riker occasionally makes some awkward poses & stances. There's the stiff slanted walk he is well known for, but one in particular I find very peculiar. It's this one:
So he takes up position next to the navigator, but rather than stand to the left where there is plenty of room, he decides to do this lunge or "lean-in" with his left foot placed on the navigator console and his right hand on the navigator's chair. It looks... weird. He has done this in a number of episodes. This screenshot is taken from "Cause and Effect" in Season 5, but I've also noticed him do it in "The Defector" from Season 3, plus a few others I can't recall off the top of my head.
It's a funny way to deal with the console design. And actually, I think the console looks absolutely ridiculous, like some kind of "ramp to nowhere." If the far aft display panels are meant for the officers to the rear of navigation and helm, wouldn't they be tilted to face them? If they are meant for the navigator and helmsman, they're in terribly awkward locations, requiring the personnel to completely pivot away from the main view screen (and they still won't be oriented properly to the display layout). Anyway, I'll bet the set designers weren't very pleased with the Riker stance, as it probably left sole marks behind that had to be cleaned up. Thankfully later vessel designs were a bit more intelligent and did away with this... nonsense!
So he takes up position next to the navigator, but rather than stand to the left where there is plenty of room, he decides to do this lunge or "lean-in" with his left foot placed on the navigator console and his right hand on the navigator's chair. It looks... weird. He has done this in a number of episodes. This screenshot is taken from "Cause and Effect" in Season 5, but I've also noticed him do it in "The Defector" from Season 3, plus a few others I can't recall off the top of my head.
It's a funny way to deal with the console design. And actually, I think the console looks absolutely ridiculous, like some kind of "ramp to nowhere." If the far aft display panels are meant for the officers to the rear of navigation and helm, wouldn't they be tilted to face them? If they are meant for the navigator and helmsman, they're in terribly awkward locations, requiring the personnel to completely pivot away from the main view screen (and they still won't be oriented properly to the display layout). Anyway, I'll bet the set designers weren't very pleased with the Riker stance, as it probably left sole marks behind that had to be cleaned up. Thankfully later vessel designs were a bit more intelligent and did away with this... nonsense!
The same is true of the stepping-over-chairs-to-sit-on-them thing, and the leaning-around-corners thing. They kind of work with the sense of confidence/bravado that Riker is meant to have.
