Riley Flynn MBTI Personality Type
Personality
What personality type is Riley Flynn? Riley Flynn is an ISTP personality type in MBTI, 9w1 - sp/so - 964 in Enneagram, in Big 5, SLI in Socionics.
He's definitely an ISTP rather than an ISFP. He showed more signs of a Ti-Ni loop as well as a Fe grip during his episodes. Him trying to rationalize the car accident with Father Paul and how he didn't want to confront the reality that what he did to that girl was because of him and ultimately confessed in the end how he was jealous of Father Paul for not being guilty that he killed Joe Collie, implying that he wished he'd be able to act just as indifferent of his own guilt indicated a prominent inferior Fe for me. His inferior function also became prevalent when he encouraged Erin to move out of Crockett because deep down, he knows he wouldn't be able to leave that town without upsetting his mother and father and how it wouldn't be taken well either given the circumstances of how his family coped with him ending up in jail, plus how he had led Erin to go canoeing to tell her that he loved her and while she still could, leave the island before it's too late because he wants her to have the one thing he couldn't have, and how her happiness would've compensated for the things he's lost. He was always very focused on the group despite not being skilled with them, and his trauma became a catalyst to his inferior Fe putting him in a chokehold every now and again. His tert Ni became present whenever he interpreted his reoccurring dream of sailing on a boat in the middle of the ocean, saying how whenever he dreamed of it he felt like it was his mind's way of saying that there is no 'future' to be had now that he's back at Crockett even if he wants to. With his trauma adding up to the pressure and expectations his parents imposed on him, it's scarcely impossible to envision a future where he feels like he's ever going to move on because he's so burdened by the pain he's inflicted on his parents as well as the girl he had accidentally crashed cars with. He seems more prone to rationalizing the situation instead of letting the situation push him towards introspection. There never came a point where he thought about his problems and wondered how it was going to affect him, his choices and how it correlates to his own sense of morality. It was never about how the situation 'affected' him and his own way of living and how it was going to jeopardize his future and how others were going to perceive him. It was more about rationalizing the accident and making sense of what had happened. How he never meant to crash his car with another person's and ended up killing them in the end, how it doesn't have to be about how 'God' purposely put him through that accident, saying how it was 'ordinary' and that he was just drunk, that there weren't skid marks on his side of the road and how he was asleep when the accident took place, but also admitting that doesn't take away his guilt, despite not having meant to do it. He just has a tendency to walk around the issue with logistics instead of confronting how his actions consequently harmed other people without meaning to, as explained by Personality Growth about a Ti-Ni loop: "The ISTP spends all of their time thinking and analyzing and none of their time is spent actually doing anything about it. They can come up with ideas and ways to solve problems, but seem incapable of actually moving forward with them. Instead they become obsessive over the future, and sometimes take in past situations as well. Their minds are constantly running through things and want to analyze even the smallest of details which would not ordinarily be important to them." That seems to resonate more with Riley. If it was a Fi-Ni loop he was experiencing, he would've struggled more about how the accident defined him as a person and how that image didn't fit well with his own mental perception of himself, leading to a disregard of Te which some may argue is the reason why he doesn't want to leave Crockett, but those two things don't add up because insecurities of one's morals shouldn't stagnant him wanting to move on. It's not a matter of not 'wanting to move on because of what he feels' that he struggles with, but knowing that he isn't able to after everything he FELT like he had already put his parents through and knowing that the accident would haunt him no matter what side of the earth he's on. Which led to his death and the vision of the girl in the accident finally being at peace with him, saying how he had done his best to truly feel guilty of what he had done to her and making up to his parents, and that the only way he'll find closure is by meeting her halfway to make things 'even' between them as well as to not potentially hurt those around him anymore (inferior Fe) His character was so compelling and I wish he was given more screen time because what he went through was so hard not to mention real. He was an amazing person and very selfless too, one of the greatest ISTP representations I've seen, to be honest.
Biography
A former venture capitalist who returns to his hometown of Crockett Island after spending four years in prison for a drunk driving accident that resulted in a young woman's death.
Related Personalities
Father Paul Hill
Beverly Keane
Erin Greene
Sheriff Hassan Shabbaz
Dr. Sarah Gunning
Annie Flynn
Ed Flynn
Joe Collie
