Worf and Deanna almost got together, but..

Actually, I'd say that the primary thing that drove the relationship, was that in all the time Worf was featured past the death of K'ehleyr, Deanna was the absolute best person to be a mother to his half-human son, being half human herself, & being an expert in psychology & behavioral studies.

In fact, in Parallels, we find out that the alt-universe relationship began around the time of Ethics, when Worf legitimized her status as a post-mortem guardian for Alexander. Even in our prime universe, there's a little growth between them from that point onward, about once per season, in Cost of Living, & Fistful of Datas, & then the actual relationship seeming to develop after the events of Parallels.

Personally, I feel like Worf's relationship with Jadzia was something of a step backward in his evolution as a father... not that it was the only one. Deanna was a much better choice of partner for a family man imho

It not only felt forced, but it felt like a lame concession, & maybe the second weakest character based plot point of the TNG film series, second only to Picard's brother & nephew dying in a fire. Both done for the same reason... it gave them a quick something to be on about. It really was the paltriest of bones to toss us & them imho. I'd say it did more to undermine the long developing individual growth of both characters (Especially Troi) than it did to improve or validate it. It's another step backwards, as a cheap attempt at fan service, & unnecessary, because personally, until that shit reared it's dumb head, I'd mostly forgotten that Will & Deanna were a thing. We'd all moved on, much to the betterment of us all imho. Then when it happened, I was like Aww man... Are you kidding me? Who needed that shit?

 

I would have been fairly impressed if it had been written such that Will and Deanna had acknowledged that their amorous activities in INS were a result of the rings and that they really had moved beyond each other as potential partners.

Put another way, just because you can have fun with someone doesn't mean they're good for you.

I've known couples who I thought worked fine as boyfriend and girlfriend but would be terrible as husband and wife.

 

It one thing to see a person for a cinq-a-sept once in a while and quite another to live with them permanently.

 

& an even bigger leap to suddenly upend your whole life & follow the guy to another post, when the vast majority of time you've known him, you weren't a couple, but had moved on past that relationship, into something else

 

It’s been a long time but I think my main reaction to the romance in Season 7 was that it was OK but I’d have preferred Riker/Troi (having been a big fan of Peter David’s Imzadi). Since then I’ve come to like the relationship less and less, mostly because it was completely ignored and went nowhere and was a fairly pointless addition to the final season.

As I understand it, Sirtis and Dorn are very good friends so I think maybe the writers saw this and thought a relationship would be a good way to give them more screen time together.

I never quite understood how the relationship anyway, I always thought the bits in Eye of the Beholder where they got together were during an hallucination so I was surprised when the relationship continued in a subsequent episode. I really don’t like most of season 7...

 

Sure it's at least in part fan service but I don't think that makes it cheap. I think a lot of fans had wished there would have been some further a reconnection some time later in the television series and the only reason it didn't was the producers' fear of commitment and so romance with guest stars (and in-universe it felt like it was also the characters being afraid, of commitment and/or the difficulty of being so close while still serving in their roles on the same ship).

 

Has there been a poll with regards to whether folks here wanted Riker and Troi to be together at the end of TNG? If not, perhaps there should be...

It could even be broken out between together at the end of AGT (when Troi-Worf were a thing) versus together at the end of the films...

 

Out of Universe: The audience didn't like it. And as we all know, the audience is king!

 

You gotta admit, Worf and Deanna were kinda cute together. Sort of a unique, slightly mismatched couple. And since Worf was my favorite of TNG, I'm glad that he had moments with a lady as sexy as Deanna.

 

Plus Worf bit her face in Genesis. In Klingon lore, it's as good as an engagement.

 

Riker was Troi's Imzadi. The Worf and Troi romance was a clear demonstration that the TNG writing staff had burned itself out creatively and had resorted to soapy cliches.

 

We know they got married and had two kids in one parallel reality.

 

When a show gets tired it hooks everybody up just for the heck of it. Even Zack Morris and Lisa Turtle got together during their final season of Saved by The Bell. The writers would have hooked up Geordi and Troi if they thought it would have worked.

 

Still, they didn't dare to create a same-sex couple...

 

^Not in 1993.

 

1977: The TV show Soap becomes the first sitcom to feature an openly gay character, Jodie Dallas played by Billy Crystal.

 

I'm still upset we didn't get more mileage out of a Worf/Troi romance. I liked that Will and Deanna had a past and a strong bond, but I thought it was more realistic that they DIDN'T end up together. I also thought that it made sense for Troi to be attracted to someone like Worf. Worf seemed to get much three-dimensional as time went on, and I enjoyed the relationship he had with Troi via Alexander. So there was already a bond developing prior to them dating. I think the opposites attract rule would have worked in Worf and Troi's favor. I think it would have been far more interesting to see both of them trying to fit into the other's culture. It would be a little difficult but 1) they both care for Alexander so that would be one reason to make it work and 2) I think deep down Worf did appreciate a more sensitive woman because although he was a true Klingon warrior in the most noble sense, he was raised among humans and served with them, so you can tell that he was part human in that respect. Deanna on the other hand maybe saw Worf as a little more rugged than Will. And she probably saw his rough exterior/warrior side intriguing and yet also a challenge, like you said, to "tame" him. But also she saw deep down he did have a bit of a sensitive side for being a Klingon. I think Will came across as too full of himself, too cool for school, whereas Worf was a tragic hero at times.

I understand there's a lot of Riker/Troi shippers out there, so I can see why they dislike the Worf/Troi pairing. But I think, had Ro stuck around, that could have been a better romance for Will. And you could easily hint at a possible love triangle. Worf and Troi are having problems. Troi goes to Riker for advice. Will something happen? What about Ro? Or maybe Worf or Ro gets jealous that they still talk to each when one of them is having problems. This could have easily been a successful on-going thing for Season 8 had they not sent Ro off with the Maquis, although that was a great episode.

 

Well, for one thing, Worf can't be in a long term relationship where he can't break a bone or two once in a while.

 

Lol...when was this revealed?

 

In a Discovery episode ( can't remember which one)...

Spoiler: Klingon anatomy

...on Qo'noS we see a Klingon urinating at an angle away from the camera, and there are two distinct streams. This would of course be a manifestation of "brak'lul," the redundancy of many Klingon body functions.

Kor