By Chris Snellgrove | Published
I Star Trek: The Next Generation The episode “Parallels” is controversial for many reasons, including the fact that it brought the idea of diversity to this long-running sci-fi franchise. However, the most controversial thing about this episode is that it introduced the idea of love between Worf and Deanna Troi, and they entered into a relationship that lasted the rest of the series. This angered many fans, and they will likely be even more angry with this revelation: the Worf/Troi relationship started as an actual joke between the show’s writers.
In case you need other reasons to accept virtual media, i Star Trek: The Next Generation The Blu-rays are full of special features with a lot of amazing details on the show, including what the writers were thinking about the characters’ various romances. For example, the Season 7 set includes the commentary track “Parallels” where veteran showrunner Brannon Braga revealed that the very idea of making Worf and Troi a couple started as a joke in the writer’s room.
A joke that no one laughs at
He didn’t elaborate on how the joke started, but it may have had something to do with the stark differences between the two characters. After all, he’s a warm and gentle Betazoid healer who can read emotions, and he’s a brutal and angry Klingon security chief who solves all his problems with violence!
After all, the joke started a lot earlier than you might think. Even though the Worf/Troi romance (Troirf? It’s hard to give these two a celebrity couple name!) didn’t start until Season 7, Braga (as quoted in Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion) said that the writers started dropping hints that the two might get together as early as Season 5. This is very clear in the episode “Ethics,” when Worf asks Troi (the person he relied on for parenting advice) to be the guardian of his son, Alexander, in the event of Worf’s death.
Linking Indexes (Or Not)
If you didn’t catch those early hints about Worf and Troi’s romance, don’t be too hard on yourself. Branna Braga said that “a lot of people didn’t accept the relationship that we were trying to cultivate,” which she thought was “good.” He liked that many fans missed these clues because somewhere else in the universe in “Parallels” showed these characters as husband and wife, and he wanted “that surprise when we find out they’re married” to explode as much as possible.
It may start as a joke, but when Star Trek: The Next Generation are the writers starting to take the idea of a Worf/Troi romance seriously? According to Braga, it started when writers and production staff reviewed dailies (raw, unedited footage of scenes shot throughout the day) for various episodes. They began to realize that actors Michael Dorn and Marina Sirtis had an incredible amount of chemistry in their shared scenes, and began a long-term plan to turn Worf and Troi into the show’s most amazing couple.
Romance? Set your Phasers to perfection!
While this was undoubtedly a move, it did not please everyone. For example, executive producer Jeri Taylor (also quoted in Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion) said the “Worf-Troi thing” was “fun, but it pissed some people off.” According to him, the angriest fans were the ones who “were so upset that we didn’t put Riker and Troi together and we just ended it,” and their collective response to the show’s creative team ended up being “we dare to present this!”
Ironically, Riker actor Jonathan Frakes also disliked the relationship, because (as quoted in Star Trek: The Communicatormagazine 105) the very idea of ”just stupid!” He noted that “it makes for great stuff in the conventions, but in terms of actual character development, I think it’s ridiculous. Later, he had to make up for this bold plot twist: in Frakes’ Star Trek: Insurrection, he rekindled the romance between Riker and Troi, and the two ended up getting married. Star Trek: Nemesis.
Brannon Braga may have been tickled by the idea of hooking Worf and Troi up, but it wasn’t meant to be: not only did Troi go on to marry Riker, but Worf ended up marrying Jadzia Dax, a character who died tragically at the hands of Gul Dukat. To this day, Star Trek fans are still scratching their heads, asking questions like, “What were Worf and Troi talking about on dates?” Of course, after Adoption seems to have confirmed that the Klingons have two peeps, fans have more questions (and more fans) about this controversial couple than ever!
