Michael Dorn says producers wimped out on Deanna and Worf romance

Not everyone was in favor of the Deanna and Worf romance on Star Trek: The Next Generation, but Michael Dorn was.

Marina Sirtis (Counselor Deanna Troi) has spoken before about how she disliked the relationship the writers created between her character and Michael Dorn’s (Worf). She had a strong romantic tie to Commander William Riker (Jonathan Frakes), even going as far as dating his doppelganger, and that connection was what the fans were rooting for. Instead, producers decided to move forward with a very brief relationship between the Klingon and the half-Betazoid.

The romance didn’t last very long as shortly after it began, the seventh season ended, and Worf was off to Deep Space Nine. There was no mention of the relationship again, although, in an interview with IGN, Dorn says the controversial pairing might get a reference in the third season of Star Trek: Picard.

Michael Dorn expressed his views on the pairing, saying it was like Beauty and the Beast to him.

As much as Sirtis hated the relationship, Dorn liked it, but he didn’t feel like it was given a chance, saying “they wimped out a little bit because they didn’t continue [it].”

"“Nobody liked it. But I think they wimped out a little bit on it because they didn’t continue [it]. It’s like, there was a movie where, right after the show was over, where we were in a relationship, and then the second movie, it was just like, eh. And they were like… I’m calling down to her. ‘Is Riker there?’ They could have done something but they kind of wimped out on it.”"

According to Screenrant, executive producer Brannon Braga told the Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion that the writers had been planting seeds for a romance since the season five episode “Ethics.” While exeuctive producer Rene Echevarria told The Fifty-Year MIssion: The Next 25 Years, that the writers were considering marrying Riker and Troi at the end of the series, Rick Berman was against it, and he wanted to see where the Worf-Troi relationship would go.

Sirtis always held out for a relationship with Riker because she felt he had been established as her Imzadi. On top of that, she felt the relationhip with Worf changed him. Still, Dorn defended the romance,

"“They are a really cute couple. They are beauty and the beast… Worf is interested in Troi because of the way she handled his son… and he’s grown to admire and respect her, and of course, respect is a big thing with Klingons.”"

It wasn’t that fans didn’t want Worf in a romance; they just wanted Troi with Riker. For a brief time, Worf got the perfect love with Jadzia on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Unfortunately, that, like the relationship with Troi, didn’t last. It’s a shame witers can’t find someone Worf can connect with again. They’ve finally managed to find someone for Geordi La Forge so there’s still hope that they won’t leave Worf alone.