Valentine’s Day: 3 Star Trek couples we wished we would’ve got

Star Trek: Voyager – Kathryn Janeway and Chakotay

While these are in no particular order, this one specifically hurts me. The two of them were so perfect for each other. They were both calm, compassionate, smart leaders who believed in what was right so much that they’d be willing to fight and die for it.

For Chakotay, it was him taking up allegiance against the Federation by joining the Maquis and for Janeway, it was, well a number of things. Destroying the Caretaker’s Array, fighting another Starfleet captain for his use of aliens as fuel sources, her quest to reset the timeline on like a dozen different occurrences.

They were both dedicated to doing the right thing. It didn’t help that both were constantly the subject of dropped romantic subplots. Maybe, the most obvious was in the 25th episode of the second season episode “Resolutions”, where Chakotay and Janeway get infected with an illness, and the only way they can survive is if they go to a specific planet that, for some reason, doesn’t trigger the illness.

They’ll live long lives, but only as long as they don’t leave the planet. During this episode, we see Chakotay turn into Sam from Holes, only without the “I can fix that” catchphrase. The two are so clearly in love during their time on the planet but that dang Tuvok is able to find a cure for their deadly disease, ending their time together in isolation. Drat.

Despite being rescued, the “will they, won’t they” never truly goes away. Yes, Janeway had a boyfriend at the start of the mission, by this point he’s long-accepted her dead and has moved on. It’s like Castaway. No one blames Helen Hunt’s character for getting married. She thought Tom Hanks was dead after all.

So why not let Janeway find love in the Delta Quadrant with the one man who has literally sworn his loyalty and fidelity to her?