Thomas Riker, Season 7 - Part 1In the second part of our trilogy on the transporter-created character of Lieutenant Thomas Riker, we continue to explore how Thomas could have changed the course of The Next Generation. In the creation of the "Second Chances" story, some writers raised the possibility of killing off Commander William Riker, and - in essence - replacing him with Thomas Riker, allowing Data to become the new first officer of the Enterprise-D, and allowing new adventures to unfold. We examine the first half of season seven of TNG, exploring how the death of Cmdr Riker, the promotion of Data, and the integration of Thomas Riker would affect the rest of the episodes. How do Picard and Thomas relate to each other during the events of the two-parter "Gambit"? How does the surprise reappearance of Will Riker work in "Parallels"? Let us know if you prefer a Thomas or Will timeline during season seven.