February is here, and Valentine’s Day is just around the corner. The holiday is all about affairs of the heart. And fortunately, affairs of the heart is something from which Star Trek has never shied away. And we don’t mean cardiovascular medical scans. Throughout the history of the Franchise, romantic relationships have played an integral role.
For this week’s Trek Tuesday, we’re spotlighting seven Star Trek romances from across the Franchise. Did we include your favorite? Be sure and let us know in the comment section.
“Space Seed”
For obvious reasons, the Star Trek: The Original Series episode “Space Seed” is best remembered for introducing Khan Noonien Singh (Ricardo Montalbán). Khan, of course, would go on to be one of the most memorable antagonists of all time in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. However, some may overlook the fact that the vengeful Khan figuratively wears his heart on his sleeve when it comes to his romantic relationship. This is through the necklace he wears on his chest.
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The necklace is made from the Starfleet badge worn by his wife, Marla McGivers (Madlyn Rhue). After falling in love during the events of “Space Seed,” McGivers chose to leave the crew of the Enterprise and join Khan in exile on Seti Alpha V. However, she died shortly after the exile began. Khan wears her badge in The Wrath of Khan as a symbol of his vengeance for James T. Kirk (William Shatner), whom Khan holds responsible for their exile. While the story is tragic, it’s hard to deny Khan’s legitimate romantic feelings for McGivers.
“We’ll Always Have Paris”
In the Star Trek: The Next Generation season 1 episode “We’ll Always Have Paris,” we get a glimpse of the romantic history of Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart). The episode takes its name from the 1942 film Casablanca‘s most famous line. In addition, Picard mentions “the Blue Parrot Café” in dialogue, referencing the name of the café that serves as the film’s setting.
In “We’ll Always Have Paris,” Picard must deal with the return of his ex-lover Jenice (Michelle Phillips). Interestingly, Phillips was one-quarter of the group the Mamas and the Papas. But according to his memoir, Making It So, Stewart was ignorant of this fact until it was pointed out to him by Jonathan Frakes.
“Ferengi Love Songs”
In the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 5 episode “Ferengi Love Songs,” both the A-plot and the B-plot are centered on Ferengi romantic relationships. In the A-plot, Quark (Armin Shimerman) returns to Ferenginar. There, he discovers that his Moogie, Ishka (Cecily Adams), is in a relationship with Grand Nagus Zek (Wallace Shawn).
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In the meantime, the B-plot follows Rom (Max Grodénchik) as he and Leeta (Chase Masterson) have a romantic conflict back on Deep Space 9. Ultimately, both of these romantic relationships will have a hand in shaping the future of Ferenginar, as seen in Star Trek: Lower Decks season 4’s “Parth Ferengi’s Heart Place.”
“The Q and the Grey”
The Star Trek: Voyager season 3 episode “The Q and the Grey” sees Q (John De Lancie) visiting Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) as she and her crew are traveling back to Earth. Do you think Q visits every ship in Starfleet, or does he just know which ones have their own TV shows?
Anyway, in “The Q and the Grey,” Q attempts to convince Janeway to mate with him. But soon a female Q (Suzie Plakson) arrives on Voyager, as well. It seems the Q Continuum is involved in a Civil War. Fortunately, Janeway convinces the male Q to mate with the female Q, leading to a baby Q. While she declined the role of mother, Janeway accepts the title of “godmother.” The child would later return in the Voyager season 7 episode “Q2.”
“Such Sweet Sorrow Part 2”
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There are multiple ongoing romantic subplots on Star Trek: Discovery. Hopefully, we will get to see all of our favorite couples warp off into the sunset together when Discovery’s fifth and final season airs later this year. In the meantime, here’s an episode that provides a crucial moment for one of our favorite couples in all of the Franchise.
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Paul Stamets (Anthony Rapp) and Hugh Culber (Wilson Cruz) were already married to each other when their characters were introduced in Discovery season 1. But after Culber visited the Black Mountain, returning from the grave traumatized in Discovery season 2, his relationship with Stamets was on the rocks. Fortunately, in “Such Sweet Sorrow Part 2,” Culber returns from the Enterprise and tells an injured Stamets that Stamets is his home.
“Spock Amok”
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While it may be true that the course of true love never did run smooth, that seems to be especially true when it comes to Vulcans. In the Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 1 episode “Spock Amok,” Spock (Ethan Peck) and his betrothed, T’Pring (Gia Sandhu), become entangled in the kind of romantic hijinks that wouldn’t be out of place in A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
When a Vulcan ritual goes awry, Spock and T’Pring swap bodies. The situation is remedied by the episode’s end. However, you can imagine that the two displaced lovers find themselves in plenty of complicated conundrums before then. Plus, the B-plot follows Una Chin-Riley (Rebecca Romijn) and La’an Noonien-Singh (Christina Chong) as they take part in “Enterprise BINGO.” This is a great example of platonic love to compliment Spock and T’Pring’s romantic relationship.
“Cupid’s Errant Arrow”
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Finally, the many dangerous and ill-fated romances of Star Trek are paid loving homage by Lower Decks season 1’s “Cupid’s Errant Arrow.” In this episode, Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome) grows suspicious when Bradward Boimler (Jack Quaid) begins dating Barbara Brinson (Gillian Jacobs). Mariner is wounded from watching many of her friends succumb to various extraterrestrial threats posing as romantic partners. As such, she sets out to learn the truth about Brinson’s relationship with Boimler.
RELATED: Read all of our Star Trek: Lower Decks recaps here!
However, it turns out that while there was an alien involved in the relationship, it wasn’t where Mariner thought. It wasn’t Brinson but rather Boimler who had been overtaken by an alien parasite. After it’s been removed, Brinson states that the parasite wasn’t the sole reason for her attraction to Boimler. Nevertheless, Brinson still breaks up with Boimler, citing a need to more closely study the noisy alien creature.
All of the episodes listed above are currently available for streaming on Paramount+.
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