For too long, Tom Paris (Robert Duncan McNeill) and B’Elanna Torres (Roxann Dawson) were Star Trek’s only successful romance, but I’m glad that’s no longer the case. As a long-time Star Trek fan, I’m well-versed in both the franchise’s older and newer shows and the differences between them. I began my obsession with Star Trek: The Original Series and quickly moved on to Star Trek: The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, and Voyager after I had devoured TOS. What draws me to all Star Trek TV shows is the excellent characters and the relationships between them, whether that’s friendship or romance.
Although primarily a science fiction franchise, Star Trek is no stranger to romantic subplots. Captain Kirk (William Shatner) was notorious for his flings during TOS’s run, but as the series got longer and more complex, more in-depth exploration of character relationships began to take place. Every Star Trek TV show from the 1990s and early 2000s explored some epic romances during their run, from Will Riker (Jonathan Frakes) and Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis) on TNG to Trip Tucker (Connor Trinneer) and T’Pol (Jolene Blalock) on Enterprise. However, aside from Voyager, almost all these relationships had one thing in common.
Voyager’s Tom And B’Elanna Used To Be The Only Star Trek Romance That Didn’t End Tragically
Voyager’s Star Trek contemporaries had a terrible romance track record
Except for Tom and B’Elanna, I can’t think of a single Star Trek romance from the franchise’s classic era that wasn’t either unrequited or didn’t end tragically. DS9 was the worst offender in this regard, with essentially all of DS9’s love stories and romances dissolving in the series finale. However, TNG and Enterprise fell victim to it too. You may think that Riker and Troi would be another exception to this rule given how their relationship turned out later in the franchise, but during TNG’s run itself, the couple were as on-again-off-again as any pairing in the series.
I love Tom and B’Elanna as a couple, but despite how satisfying their story arc was, it used to make me genuinely sad that they weren’t in better company with Star Trek ‘s other great romances.
Although Voyager didn’t have success with other romances, Tom and B’Elanna were the only exceptions to Star Trek’s aversion to happy endings during this era. Their romance was chronicled very realistically and satisfactorily during Voyager’s run, showing their evolution from being at odds with each other to realizing their feelings, and culminating in them getting married and having a baby by Voyager’s seventh season. I love Tom and B’Elanna as a couple, but despite how satisfying their story arc was, it used to make me genuinely sad that they weren’t in better company with Star Trek’s other great romances.
Modern Star Trek Has Made Successful Romance More Important
Love is on full display in the recent Star Trek series
Luckily, the modern Star Trek era has put more emphasis on successful relationships in general, creating some wonderfully stable couples in recent projects. As I mentioned already, Riker and Troi are a great example of this, as thanks to Star Trek: Picard, the franchise has established that their relationship is stronger than ever, even after enduring the death of a child. Likewise, Star Trek: Discovery has given us several beautiful, stable romantic relationships, including Paul Stamets (Anthony Rapp) and Hugh Culber (Wilson Cruz), Michale Burham (Sonequa Martin-Green) and Cleveland Booker (David Ajala), and Saru (Doug Jones) and T’Rina (Tara Rosling).
It’s been interesting to see Star Trek’s shift towards more fulfilling depictions of romance. My theory is that it may have something to do with new Star Trek’s more serialized form of storytelling versus older Trek’s episodic style. In serialized stories, character and romantic arcs are more prioritized, leading to a complete picture of a character’s life and relationships. Episodic storytelling doesn’t allow for this, which leads to a lot more one-off storylines or certain aspects of a character getting dropped from episode to episode. Whatever the reason, I think the romantic changes have been nice to see.