Star Trek Legend Jonathan Frakes Inserts The Ultimate Riker Joke Into Strange New Worlds Season 3
by Pauli Poisuo · /FilmThis article contains spoilers for "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" season 3, episode 4, "A Space Adventure Hour."
Never a show that hesitates on playing with the franchise's tropes, "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" is here to give fans ... a "Star Trek" parody. "A Space Adventure Hour" kicks off with a show within a show called "Last Frontier," where the in-universe actor Maxwell Saint (Paul Wesley, who also plays James T. Kirk on the show) gives a very ... William Shatner-esque animated performance as a starship captain. From cheesy effects to gleeful overacting, the show is an obvious homage to the lesser budgets of the "Star Trek: The Original Series" era, and ends up connecting with the episode's holodeck theme very well.
It's not all "TOS," either. At the end of the episode, the show treats us to a in-universe "Last Frontier" gag reel, which mostly focuses on malfunctioning set doors and Saint's suspicious tendency to hog lines from other actors — one of the alleged reasons why the real Shatner's co-stars couldn't stand him. Near the very end, however, the episode borrows a page from the "Star Trek: The Next Generation" playbook by having the captain trying and utterly failing to lift his leg over the captain's chair, breaking the chair in the process.
This failing attempt is a clear reference to Jonathan Frakes' Commander William Riker, who habitually uses this particular maneuver to sit down. Since this is the only nod at "The Next Generation" era and Frakes just so happened to direct this particular episode, it's pretty clear that he not only is aware of the "Riker Maneuver" chair meme, but actively endorses it.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds has referenced Riker's special move before
If we need further proof of how much Frakes enjoys this particular sitting style, this isn't even the first time the show references it. In "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" season 2, episode 7 ("Those Old Scientists"), the series offers a bona fide crossover with the animated series "Star Trek: Lower Decks." This episode is also directed by Frakes, and it's hardly a coincidence that it happens to feature a particularly prominent Riker Maneuver gag.
The reference comes courtesy of noted Riker appreciator and "Lower Decks" main character Ensign Brad Boimler (Jack Quaid). At one point, he sits down on a chair Riker-style, but isn't satisfied with just that. Instead, he proudly announces aloud: "Riker!"
"Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" is ending after season 5, but there's still time for Frakes to direct a few more episodes. Should this happen, it will be fun to see what kind of further Riker Maneuver references he can squeeze in before the series catches up to the events of "The Original Series."
New episodes of "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" premiere on Thursdays on Paramount+.