TNG love stories and it doesn’t make sense

Commander William T. Riker (Jonathan Frakes) killed one of his lovers on Star Trek: The Next Generation and her death seemed unnecessary and uncharacteristic of her. Through TNG, Riker gained a reputation as a womanizer and followed Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) on Star Trek: The Original Series. As first officer on the USS Enterprise-D, Commander Riker was often away on missions and commanded the Enterprise when Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) was otherwise occupied. Riker was level-headed and not inclined to violence. He usually made his decisions carefully and in a TNG Episode particularly surprising.

In Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 3, Episode 9, “The Vengeance Factor,” the starship Enterprise seeks out the Acamarians after some of their people loot a Federation outpost. The Acamarian leader, Sovereign Marouk (Nancy Parsons), comes aboard the ship and Captain Picard convinces her to try to make peace with the group of pirate-like Acamarians known as the Gatherers. Marouk is accompanied by her servant Yuta (Lisa Wilcox) and Commander Riker immediately begins to flirt with her. However, Yuta remains distant, as if she is afraid of getting too close to Riker.

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All Riker love stories in Star Trek: TNG (including Troi)

Captain Kirk may have been Star Trek’s original ladies’ man, but Commander Riker may have been even more deserving of that title in Star Trek: TNG.

Riker killed his lover in “The Vengeance Factor” from Star Trek: TNG

The brief romance between Riker and Yuta ends violently in Season 3, Episode 9, “The Vengeance Factor.”

While Commander Riker tries to get to know Yuta, she remains withdrawn and speaks cryptically about her past. Picard facilitates a meeting between Sovereign Marouk and the Collectors, and things go well until one of the Collectors is found dead.. During the ensuing investigation, Dr. Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden) discovers that someone killed the Gatherer with a man-made virus whose goal was to kill members of a specific Acamarian clan called the Lornak. Searching through past records, the Enterprise crew members find evidence that Yuta was behind the attack.

When confronted, Yuta reveals that most of her clan was wiped out by the Lornak years ago and she was tasked with killing the surviving members of the opposing clan. Yuta now seeks to kill the Collectors’ leader, Chorgan (Stephen Lee), the last surviving Lornak. As Yuta approaches Chorgan, Riker fires a phaser at her. Despite a direct hit, she continues to move toward Chorgan. While Captain Picard sits motionless in the background, Riker shoots Yuta twice more and finally vaporizes her.

Yuta’s violent death in Star Trek: TNG was unnecessary

Yuta’s death seems overly dramatic and inappropriate for Star Trek.

Given Commander Riker’s obvious interest in Yuta and Yuta’s evasive maneuvers, Star Trek: The Next Generations’ “The Vengeance Factor” is building to a dramatic climax, but the final confrontation is oddly staged. For one thing, Captain Picard sits motionless in the background of the scene and doesn’t react when Riker shoots Yuta multiple times. Yuta is so far from her target, Chorgan, that anyone could have stopped her simply by holding on. She has no weapon other than a virus specifically designed to harm only Chorgan, meaning anyone could have intervened to stop her.

It’s never made clear how Yuta can remain standing after two powerful phaser shots, but regardless, there would have been several other, less violent ways to apprehend her. Picard or Riker could have ordered the Enterprise to beam them directly to prisonfor example. Yuta’s death not only seems unnecessary, but also out of character for Riker. Star Trek: The Next Generation Such dramatic violence is not often seen in films, which is why the ending of “The Vengeance Factor” seems shockingly out of place.

Star Trek: The Next Generation

Star Trek: The Next Generation is the third installment in the science fiction series and follows the adventures of Captain Jean-Luc Picard and the crew of the USS Enterprise. Set around a hundred years after the original series, Picard and his crew travel the galaxy in largely self-contained episodes, exploring crew dynamics and their own political discourse. The series also had several overarching storylines that developed over the course of each episode, and four films were released alongside the series to further develop some of these plot elements.

Release date

28 September 1987

Seasons

7

Showrunner

Rick Berman, Michael Piller, Jeri Taylor