Here’s a link to the photo: https://ibb.co/C7sshPL
It's a production mistake with no real in-universe explanation
Or… maybe it’s not. Gene Roddenberry was alive and on set for majority of TNG’s season one filming. He would have noticed such a mistake.
@QDidNothingWrong I suspect it's just a simple case of the actor getting it wrong and no one on set really noticed at the time. It's definitely not the standard form.
Another fascinating point is it’s not tradition to do the Vulcan salute to a non-Vulcan of which none of the characters on screen were so it’s strange he’d use that salute when not referencing anything Vulcan in the scene.
Are we going with no cop-out explanations? (i.e. The Enterprise doesn't have seatbelts because it wouldn't make for good TV without people flying across the bridge when they get hit.) If so I don't know.
I think the IRL explanation is that someone was trying to start that hand gesture as a thing related to the Vulcan salute but having to to do with the Federation, Starfleet, or the Enterprise specifically, and it didn't become a thing.
It is a Vulcan salute: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vulcan_salute
I don't recall why Riker would have been using one in that context, though, unless TNG was trying to establish the gesture had expanded in use across the Federation.
EDIT: also, this is in S01E15 "11001001", not E14.
The thing is.. the Vulcan salute is palm out. He has palm in, thumb in. It caught me off guard which was why I felt the need to come post as I couldn’t find it anywhere online.
That's a valid point about the thumb, but the pic does look palm out? The positioning is awkward since he's walking along in the same direction and talking over his shoulder.
Season 1 TNG was a bit rough - I'd agree with other posters here that it's either a mistake or Jonathan Frames having trouble making the gesture.
Nope. His palm is definitely out. He just doesn't have his thumb extended. Other than the thumb, it's a completely normal Vulcan salute. Perhaps Frakes had a bit of trouble with it early on and just hadn't got his thumb out properly yet?
No. It is not. I’ve watched the scene a dozen times. His palm is in.. facing him, and thumb is in. Even in the screenshot I posted his palm is in.
That's a Vulcan gesture that means "Live Long and Prosper". It's used both as a greeting and as a farewell
It’s not though. I’ve seen ALL Star Trek series and am pretty well versed so when I saw Riker make that hand sign and it’s the reverse of the Vulcan salute with the thumb tucked in it brought me to post. Even the wiki says the Vulcan salute is palm out, thumb extended.
I'm willing to bet on actor mistake then
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