Who Are Actually Star Trek's Best and Worst Couples? 

No Mention of Janeway and Paris - a love so strong it brought a whole new species into existence?!

Scotty and the Enterprise is the ultimate Star Trek love affair.

Dr. Crusher has to be the first woman to get excited about getting ghosted. I'll show myself out.

Star Trek's ultimate Power Couple is easily Zek and Ishka. Their temporary breakup nearly brought down the entire Ferengi Alliance. Their relationship also gives us both Iggy Pop and Keevan bumping into the walls of Empok Nor for eternity so I'd call that a win.

I honestly believe that out of all the times Lwaxana appeared in Star Trek, the DS9 episode where she is stuck in the elevator with Odo is the best. She shows a vulnerability that explains her character the rest of the series. I am not saying it is a good episode, or she is a good character, but it is the most character development she gets as a character for most of the series.

I think Sarek and Amanda Grayson (Spock's parents) are the best couple from TOS. I can see how they complement each other.

Can confirm: I never noticed Ziyal was played by three different actors

Dukat and Wynn; a match made in the Fire Caves

Best: George & Gracie from the Voyage Home... 🐋

Why the Alexander hate? Poor kid got it worse than Wesley from a father who did not want him and a mother who was murdered. What kid wouldn't get messed up from that. Justice for Alexander!

Before watching: THIS better be the video that at least mentions Garak & Bashir. After watching: I’ll take the cheeky/pity mention…for now.

The EMH and the Vidiian woman Denara Pel from VGR's season 2 episode "Lifesigns". It's a innocent, simple, gentle romance and the episode featuring them is, at least for me, the greatest single love story episode in the history of the franchise. The final scene when The Doctor is slow dancing at Sandrine's with Denara in her true scarred Vidiian form is truly a tearjerker.

Shout out to Shax and T'ana, one of the most violent Star Trek relationships of all time in a franchise that includes Klingons.

I agree with SF Debris' theory on how Seven/Chakotay happened; the writers saw that the three biggest shipping communities in the VOY fandom were Janeway/Chaktoay, Janeway/Seven, and Seven/The EMH and went "What can we do to piss all three of them off at the same time?" In that sense, they went with the best option really. Janeway and the Doctor would've been like watching your Aunt & Uncle f*cking.

It's funny to me that you made a point of highlighting Culber+Stamets and Raffi+Seven being the limited LGBT representation, but then completely neglected Jadzia+Lenara, a paring which predated the other two by more than a decade. Yes, they pulled the "we were a hetero couple in a previous life" card, but what was shown on screen was two women romantically involved; that should count for something.

I think Ziyal and Jake would have made a better pairing. It would have made for a Romeo and Juliet dynamic, it would have thrown Sisko and Dukat for a loop and when Ziyal died, it would have created a parallel for Jake for the loss of his mother.

"A woman only 20 years younger than Patrick Stewart" as opposed to Stewart's actual wife, who is nearly 40 years younger than he is.

So glad that you mentioned Quark and Grilka. ❤

Don't think we didn't notice the omission of Shaxs and Dr T'ana

Chaotica and Arachnia seem like a pretty Black & White couple.

Some DS9 examples that could have been there: -Quark and that one Ferengi girl from season 2, they seem cute, too bad she never comes back -Quark and that one Cardassian woman from season 3 I think, goddamn Quark was actually a ladies' man because the writers kept giving him love interests and then not bringing them back, though still not as good as Grilka -Grand Nagus Zek and Moooooogie, absolute power couple, they're so cute for overthrowing the patriarchy together -Jadzia Dax and her ex-wife, oh well, that was a fun one-episode fling, but politics never would have let that stick around long-term -Jadzia Dax and that one guy from the planet that phases in and out of existence, ew gross they forgot to give him a personality -Odo and that one woman lm the station one time someone reccomends he gets a date, barely a thing but she does seem into him -Odo and the female changeling, uhhhh does this count? How does this get counted? -Odo and the one sleeper agent spy lady, the writers really just felt like making Odo suffer that day, and honestly it's kinda sad cause I think they have chemistry and the writers wanted to show Odo losing his virginity. "A woman? That's nice." -Dr. Bashir and Kira, Bashir kinda flirts a little, and sometimes they have cute interactions, but it's not really a thing. They just included little moments because the actors were dating and married during the show' run. -Kira and O'Brien, hot take but they handled it really well. They kinda have a moment together, but then they both realize nope, too weird, maybe in another life but this ain't it chief. And I respect that. -Mirror universe Ezri and her girlfriend, oh hey what if Ezri was gay in the main universe too? Cause this is kinda nice. -Martok and his wife, boy howdy he really loves that woman in a very Klingon way. Get someone who looks at you like that. -O'Brien and that one Cardassian lady, obviously not a real fling but sources say that she is quite fertile -Garak and Bashir, was never going to happen, but I appreciate that Andrew Robinson wanted to play it like it was real, and also looked mega-uncomfortable with every advance Zeyal ever made on him -Jadzia and everyone, "sometimes your taste in men frightens me" but in a hot way -Everyone and everyone, if we're honest with ourselves, everyone on that space station was swapping spit, and there's nothing wrong with being grown ups about it -Everyone and everyone (under the influence) that one episode we Luxana Troi makes everybody horny is such a trip, and I kind of have to respect it -Morn and Morn's partner, what a beautiful on-screen romance, truly the peak of fiction writing because no real world couple has ever had a romance as beautiful or singular as Morn did in DS9

"The first on-screen same-sex couple in Star Trek!" My young friend, DS9 is on the phone from 1995.

The Worf and Troi thing seemed like a Beauty and The Beast riff, and it was a huge mess. Worf and Dax, though - that was a lot of fun and helped to make both characters even better.

Martok and Sirella, hands down best couple

All time worst has to be Dr. Crushers fling with Grandma's old flame. He waxes romantic, dips his wick, and she snuffs him. Classic! The all-time best is little Geordi and his right hand.

Spock and T'Pring being such a bad couple is honestly brilliant, since it's what fuels the entire story of one of TOS's most iconic stories. It's very cleverly done.

I wouldn’t have minded tbh if they had just gone with Picard/Laris/Zhaban as a throuple. Their dynamic and obvious care with each other shown in the early episodes of Picard Season 1 was actually quite touching and wholesome to watch. A blossoming old throuple romance coming out of that foundation would have been so much better than randomly killing off one of them offscreen so they can stick the other two together.

Worst: Trip and Ah'len, the Xyrillian who accidentally gets him pregnant.

Data and Spot. He really loved that cat, and it's one of the healthiest relationships on TNG.

I think Tasha cared about Data. They were good friends and close confidantes in both timelines. For example - In 11001001 (Minuet episode) - When Data blames himself for abandoning ship, she is the one who console him. In Yesterday's Enterprise - Tasha tells Data about her feelings for the Enterprise C Lieutenant and Data gives her useful advice.

I know you're not a big fan if Lower Decks but T'ana and Shaxs are awesome together. Good jokes with a sweet relationship is the ideal for a more comedic series.

Dr. Phlox and his wife/wives and their husbands. Not a lot of on screen time but you feel they care for each other. Also through the show it helped a friend of mine get together with his girlfriend and be in a polyamorous relationship and they are great together. So their relationship sparked a rl relationship.

Unpopular opinion: I actually kinda liked Worf and Troi together. It was far from perfect and yes seemed a little forced but it kinda made sense since Troi was acting as a substitute mother for Alexander from time to time which would explain how she and Worf got closer.

I honestly think Worf/Troi was fine, and could've worked if they'd had more time and not just shunted them to the side as soon as the movies started.

"Dr. Crusher and Ronan the Sex Ghost" kills me the way Steve says it 😂

I always felt horrible for Worf after they killed off Jadxia. I felt ok for Julian, because he clearly had held a candle for Jadxia and was all-in on Ezri the moment he met her (sorry Garak). But Worf just can't catch a break. Duras murdered his first love, the mother of his child. And then Dukat murders the only other woman he ever loves. I mean...it's very Klingon, but very tragic.

I was touched by Picard and the empathic metamorph, although it was very brief.

I'm citing this based on something I am not SUPER familiar with so I may be wrong, just putting the disclaimer up front: but I believe Andy Robinson has spoken out to say the Ziyal relationship was a mandate by "The producers", IE: Rick Berman. Berman was very firmly against any sort of LGBT representation in Star Trek, basically blocking any attempt to have LGBT characters in the show all the way back from the start of TNG, and it seems like the shoehorned relationship with Ziyal (and presumably Ezri) basically only happened cuz he was worried the show was getting a bit too inclusive and welcoming. My suspicion is that at some point after the success of TNG, Rick Berman heard someone say "You know, the show got much better after the beard" and decided he could improve DS9 by giving Garak and Bashir beards too.

That dig on Stephen Collins was masterful.

Best: Jadzia Dax and Lenara Kahn. If there was an award for best single-episode romance, this would get my vote. This is the only time I've ever seen an obviously doomed one-off romance and actually found it compelling. Don't get on that shuttle, Lenara!

The Geordi/Dr. Brahms romance is made even worse not because they reasonably portray real Dr. Brahms's legitimate revulsion at that history in the later episode, but because "All Good Things..." implies they actually get together when future Picard asks Geori about "Leah and the kids" when Geordi shows up on his vineyard.

The doctor/ space ghost episode was clearly written by someone who started reading the Anne Rice’s Mayfair Witches books. It comes very close to being a copyright infringement… it’s one of the most cringe moments in all of Star Trek

Thank you for Seven and Raffi! My god, that couple had SO MUCH potential and yet, they were treated as an afterthought at BEST

I'm glad you snuck La'an and Kirk in there at the end.

Ezri and Julian would have worked if they wrote it as a point of CONTRAST between her and Jadzia, and not pulled that bs about it “always being Julian”.

The reason the producers demanded Garak have a female love interest was because he was gay. Being gay was not allowed in Star Trek, so they forced the Ziyal storyline. It's the same reason that that stupid episode where Malcolm and Trip get lost and Malcolm spends the whole time sending letters to every woman he ever had a date with. They were undoing the choice the actors had originally made to make those characters gay.

Phlox, his three wives, and their six other husbands deserve a mention. Firstly because it's rare to see polyamory portrayed positively in popular culture now, let alone in the early 2000s. Secondly, it's also rare for aliens to simply behave outside the American norm on Star Trek without it being some sort of parable.

The edit on the Riker portrait at 45:10 was sublime

Oh my god the Tasha/Data section damn near killed me laughing and this whole episode just making me chuckle, I love your sense of humour Steve

We all know damn well they put poor Zi'yal with Garak for the 'not gay'

Garak’s love interest was Julian

I totally forgot about the Uhura/Scotty thing… probably because it was overshadowed by all the other ridiculous shit in that movie.

I was surprised to see no Mariner and Jennifer

Ryker and Minuet from the episode of the Binars! He even went looking for her in the Holodeck archives. And then in a later episode, an abandoned alien child takes the memory of her from his brain and attempts to create an alternative reality for Ryker, in order to keep him happy with all his favorite people! That was an amazing episode! Or the episode when Ryker was the pointman on a planet where everyone is the same, genderless, no male or female, just uniformity across the board! And he tries to "rescue" Her from her predicament but she's scooped up the Powers That Be and subjected to involuntary treatment. All this to return Her to uniformity, lockstepping with the rest of the herd.

Korby and Chapel definitely have a place in the Worst Couple column. She pivots a hard won research career to find him after he goes missing. He pays her back by kidnapping her and her captain while telegraphing plans to turn them (and everyone else) into automatons.

With Chakotay & Seven, I think what happened is they were getting to the end of the show & decided they needed to wrap up every character's arc. They realized they had never given Chakotay one so had to come up with something fast & this is what they landed on. They don't even bother mentioning him when Seven shows up without him in Picard.

T'Pol and Crewman Cutler. Cutler was 100% flirting with T'Pol in their first scene together, and their last episode together they share what can only be described as "married couple looks" when having to deal with sleep deprived Phlox. Yeah, it's not canon, but who cares?

I liked Spock with Zarabeth in All Our Yesterdays. Possibly because I had a huge crush on Mariette Hartley.

That little turn of the Riker portrait to smile at Steve just about killed me. 😆

I'm getting into laughing fits trying to fit Picard's turbo-solemn "we have no law to fit your crime" with "where I come from we call that love".

Picard/Kamin and Eline in The Inner Light. Best!

You left out Spock and the Romulan Commander from "The Enterprise Incident." When he tells her at the end "I hope that you and I exchanged something more permanent" it was clear he was as drawn to her as she was to him, and it wasn't all an act on his part to get the cloaking device. It was subtle sex appeal on low simmer, reminiscent of a couple from an old movie.

I feel like you taking the high road with the Decker analysis joke kind of made it even funnier.

Justice for Seven and the Doctor. Mostly saying bc my first ex cosplayed as Seven, and I was pre-med for my undergrad before going the research route. Plus similar witty senses of humor, appreciation for the arts, all that stuff

Insane how Spock and Tpring are in both best and worst list 😂

Since you conveniently forgot Lower Decks (and nearly all of animated Trek, but lets focus on LD) * T'ana & Shax -- Best, the big tough Security Guard is the one who wants to talk about his emotions, while the Doctor well, she wants to ******** and **********. * Mariner & Jennifer -- I want to say best, but worst. If their breakup was handled better (i.e. Mariner acknowledges why their relationship won;y work) it would be best. * Tendi & Rutherford -- they're not together, but come one we want them to be together. * Commander Jack Ransom and Fitness -- He is literally in love with working out and if the salt Vampire can be included on your list ... * Commander Jack Ransom & that Cinnamon Churro Bear thing - terrible, but if the salt Vampire can be included on your list ...

What? No Katharine Hepburn-like Janeway and Captain John Smith-like Chakotay from “Resolutions?” They were totally getting it on! I’m sure they even let the monkey watch.

Carol and Kirk having that familiarity of old love is one of my favorite things. I’ve had that feeling with an ex of mine, where time healed the pain but left an easy companionship behind. We’ll never date again, but it’s truly a delight when we get to spend an evening catching up with each other.

The way Seven and Raffi bickered, you knew they loved each other.

Captains Archer and Hernandez were a good couple on Enterprise. Overlooked.

The edit with the slight change to the Riker picture is a wonderful and subtly comedic touch. You are an artist in the truest sense Steve. Please never change.

That Riker photo change in the lightning round. A+

Steve and Stuffy are the best Star Trek couple, of course.

Garak and Bashir is the most palpable...I don't think I've ever seen such a convincing romance portrayed on television. When Bashir was away for awhile, Garak was absolutelyly fawning upon his return (been there, done that, have the broken heart). Maybe the showrunners prefered it to remain inuendo, but the characters, and the actors portraying them, could not contain it. Garak and Bashir were not the best romance on Star Trek, they were the most concincing romance on television. Period. The worst is easy...Keiko and Miles. Zero chemistry. I was never once convinced that even the actors liked each other. Every scene together was cringe to watch. I think their daughter was a test tube baby, because I can't imagine them going through the motions to make her. I've never felt comfortable with Star Trek relationships. They always feel tacked on and less than sincere. It's what made Garak and Bashir so wonderful, it was organic and real. OK, now I'll watch your video...

24:10 As they said in Lower Decks: "It was Voyager. Sh*t got freaky"

One that comes to mind for me is Picard and Eline in The Inner Light. It's a weird sort of romance where they start out married and then get to know each other, and it didn't get much actual screen time, but I think it's worth an honorable mention.

The gold medal for best couple in star trek is riker and troi. They are the Ross and Rachel or zack and Kelly. They get together then they break up then they get back together. It's a tail as old as time. Plus we all know when the question come what is the best...? The answer is always Riker

The actual best Star Trek Couple is actually Garak and Dr. Bashir. But Rick Berman cracked down on that. Heck you, Rick Berman . . .

Even worse about Beverly in The Host: okay, I get that it’s weird to suddenly have the one you love in the body of a platonic friend but to her credit she gets past that pretty quickly. Then the symbiont is put into a female host and she can’t even be in the same room with this person. Was it ever really love or just lust?

Well. Now I have to know just how far you are through Doctor Who.

Oh boy they really should have made Neelix and Kes into a parent/child relationship. Or maybe changed her species so it grew up normally before aging and dying between 20 and 30. Now I am very worried for Naomi Wildman.

i just love the term "beep chair"

Your third Jack in the Geordi joke was just sitting there for ya. "Like Jack Crusher and Geordi's daughters."

I just caught the Riker picture changing out of the corner of my eye, and died! Nicely played, sir.

I adore Adira and Grey, and I really, *really* hope we get to see more of them in season five, and that it doesn't get downplayed pointlessly or something.

Sarek and Amanda: Best

The bit where the picture of Riker in the backround grins for a brief sec really made my day, next to the great video of course.

Hearing you talk about Picard makes me realise that I barely remember anything that happened in Picard. I think I purged it from my memory.

*edit-Wrote this comment after TNG, but didn't realize there was a lightning round! Glad to see Steve and I agree! - Best: Kevin and Rishon Uxbridge from TNG's "the survivors" What spells forever more than an immortal being choosing a life of solitude with a re-creation of his beloved wife?

“Sar-goo-sso Sea” 😂 🖖

Mention of Voyager without any of the Doctor's pursuits? Opportunity missed

Great video, Steve! That really made me laugh. I do so appreciate your humor. When you went into lightning rounds, the first two couples that popped into my head were Kahn and Lt MacGyvers from Space Seed and Ishka and Grand Nagus Zek from DS9. I was happy you got to the first couple, but I do hope you talk about the second couple in a fan response video. Oh! What about Odo and the female changeling from DS9? Thanks for a great video, and Happy Valentine's day.

I did a pretty much back to back watch of TNG when I introduced my wife to Star Trek years ago and we always liked the Troi/Worf romantic dynamic and felt it was a good contrast of romantic partners for Troi with the devoted, and passionate romantic Worf vs, at the time, the career minded tail chaser that was Riker during the original run. Worf was often hinted at being attracted to Troi, such as the episode where everyone devolved and Rhino Worf marked Fish Troi as his mate (love ST) meaning they could use her scent as bait to trap him. We thought it worked well as a potential love triangle and fight between the two men as seen in the future scenes of the finally (and hilariously later, in Picard, when still expresses how he missed Troi when rescuing her...with Riker right there!) So yes, bad couple (too many eventual cultural clashes for a long term, but a viable romantic attraction), so we didn't feel there was nothing there or it was totally out of left field when we watched it.

There are a couple fixes I would do to Neelix, and the first one is, make Neelix a protective father figure to Kes rather than a paramour. Contrive a backstory where he encountered a very young Kes and took care of her, and he's now a father who's having trouble accepting that his girl may be making bad decisions, such as taking an interest in that guy who had plastic surgery so he'd look like Nick Locarno. That possessive vibe that Neelix showed towards Kes would suddenly be a lot less off-putting, although it would still need to relax over time. (There is a late-seasons episode of Voyager where Neelix is talking about Janeway's crew to some aliens; he describes them as far too grim and full of themselves, but also genuinely committed to helping people. I could imagine Neelix first arriving aboard Voyager, seeing all the surface-level good intentions, and wondering when the masks would slip and he'd discover that they're selfish assholes like everyone else. Eventually he realized they were sincere after all. But, that initial distrust might have been part of why father-figure Neelix didn't trust Tom.) The other fix I'd do to Neelix is, one of his skills is, he's quick at reading other people and adapting his manner to best deal with them. That would be the exact opposite of the Neelix who annoyed people and didn't know when to dial it back. In my head canon, Neelix figured out pretty quick that Tuvok likes to keep things professional, and treated him exactly that way because "a good host knows what his guests want". I have this image of Tuvok hanging out in the mess hall when nobody else is there but Neelix, both of them going about their business, quietly glad the other one's there but not getting in each other's way.

The 7 Chakotay relationship, I remember watching the original airing and just saying wtf? to myself

Garak and Bashir The rare ST couple that didn’t happen onscreen but which I really wish could have. And Spirk, of course.

I think Garak- Bashire actually had the healthiest relationship. Reading each other’s books and discussing them. Allowing the other to be themselves. ❤❤❤

My personal favourites are Trip and T'Pol. It's a classic workplace relationship where you start hating the other one and ends up being such a supportive duo

Worf and Jadzia's wedding and the speech about 2 hearts beating as one loud enough to terrify the gods, it gets me every time. Thats the love i want.

When you mentioned travis mayweather I had to look up that episode, it clearly left no mark on my memory, I really couldnt even begin to recall what that episode was.