Jonathan Frakes can’t understand why Deanna Troi dated this specific character in Star Trek: The Next Generation

Jonathan Frakes can’t understand why Deanna Troi dated another crew member on Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Star Trek: The Next Generation wasn’t a show that shied away from romance. They just didn’t want anyone in a long-term relationship. That’s why they wouldn’t just let William Riker and Deanna Troi be together. There was a desire to not see them together at all, and another desire to keep the “will they, won’t they” trope going.

Eventually, during the show, the two characters started dating other people, something Riker’s actor, Jonathan Frakes, seemed to support in a new interview released by Paramount+.  He likens that Riker had some romances similar to that of James Kirk, but not to the same degree.

He was apparently fine with Riker and Troi dating other people while their story played out, but one person that Troi dated still perplexes Frakes to this day.

Jonathan Frakes doesn’t understand why Deanna Troi dated Worf

Frakes doesn’t get why Troi dated Worf. After all, she’s a Betazoid, an empath, and someone who’s in touch with her emotions. Unlike Worf, who doesn’t mind much how others feel, and keeps his emotions tightly restrained so he can be a better officer. Worf also didn’t express himself much and when he did, it wasn’t always received well. So it’s understandable why Frakes, a long-time Star Trek actor, and director, would be befuddled by the two species being romantically interwoven. As Frakes said in the above video;

"Riker had relationships with other people, Troi had relationships with other people. Including for some reason Worf, which I never can imagine."

It’s not surprising at all that Frakes didn’t like the pairing, as the entire above interview is about how both Sirtis and Frakes kept the Riker/Troi relationship alive in part because the fans liked it. So why would the show go in a different direction from what the fans wanted?

To this date, the Worf and Deanna Troi pairing remains one of the worst things Star Trek has ever done, as far as coupling goes. Worf would find someone much more his equal in Jadzia Dax during their stint on Deep Space Nine together.