Star Trek Generations‘ funniest moment is Commander Will Riker (Jonathan Frakes) dunking Lt. Commander Worf (Michael Dorn) into the ocean, and I believe it’s Riker’s revenge for the Klingon dating Counselor Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis) in Star Trek: The Next Generation. Released in 1994, Star Trek Generations was the Star Trek: The Next Generation cast’s jump to the big screen, and the film centered on the historic team-up of Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) and Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner), culminating in Kirk’s death.

In a novel way to introduce Star Trek: The Next Generation‘s crew to general movie audiences, Star Trek Generations fades into the USS Enterprise-D’s holodeck. There, Captain Picard and Commander Riker preside over Worf’s promotion to Lieutenant Commander by staging it on a 19th-century British naval vessel, the HMS Enterprise. Worf’s rise up the ranks involved the Klingon ‘walking the plank’ and balancing on the wood. Riker then makes an ‘innocent’ mistake that doesn’t seem so innocent when one considers the recent history between Will, Worf, and Deanna Troi.

Riker’s Funniest Star Trek Generations Moment Is His Revenge For Worf Dating Troi

Riker Knew It Was “Retract” The Plank, Not “Remove”

Commander Riker ‘mistakenly’ ordering the holodeck to “remove the plank,” sending the newly-minted Lt. Commander Worf plummeting into the ocean, is the biggest laugh in Star Trek Generations. Riker feigned innocence when Captain Picard reminded his First Officer that the correct command was “retract the plank.” But come on, Riker knew what he was doing. The First Officer of the USS Enterprise-D did it on purpose, even if he’d never admit it.

In Star Trek: The Next Generation season 7, Lieutenant Worf and Counselor Troi began dating. Commander Riker, Troi’s “Imzadi,” wasn’t pleased by this development, but he could do nothing about it – until Star Trek Generations. After Star Trek: The Next Generation ended, the Star Trek movies dropped Worf and Troi’s romance. But Riker, who bided his time, got his revenge during Worf’s promotion, and it was hilarious.

In Star Trek: First Contact, Riker took another humorous sH๏τ at Worf, asking the Klingon if he remembered how to fire phasers after he was beamed aboard the USS Enterprise-E. By that point, Worf had moved on to a new role as Strategic Operations Officer on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Still, Riker couldn’t resist one more dig at his Klingon rival for Counselor Troi’s affections.

Why Star Trek: TNG Season 7 Made Worf & Troi A Couple

Marina Sirtis & Jonathan Frakes Were Against It

Star Trek: The Next Generation‘s producers considered making Counselor Troi and Lt. Worf a couple in season 5, though they waited another two years to pull the trigger. Star Trek executive producer Rick Berman and TNG‘s showrunner, Jeri Taylor, liked the unusual “Beauty and the Beast” repartee between Worf and Troi, as did Michael Dorn. Seeds for Troi and Worf’s TNG season 7 romance were planted by Worf asking Deanna to help him parent his son, Alexander (Brian Bonsall).

However, Marina Sirtis and Jonathan Frakes did not like Deanna and Worf as a couple, and both maintained Riker and Troi were “Imzadi” and destined to be together. Star Trek: The Next Generation fans also were not enamored with the Betazoid Counselor and the Klingon Security Chief’s romance. Although Worf and Troi were still dating at the end of Star Trek: The Next Generation, their relationship was quietly dropped and never referenced in the Star Trek: The Next Generation movies.

Riker Married Troi & Worf Also Got Married In Star Trek

Worf Found Love On Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

After Worf (and Michael Dorn) were shifted to Star Trek: Deep Space Nine to help boost the spinoff’s ratings, the Klingon quickly found a new love interest in Lt. Commander Jadzia Dax (Terry Farrell). Worf and Dax were a better match than Worf and Troi on Star Trek: The Next Generation, and audiences agreed. Worf and Dax’s romance led to their wedding in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 6, but by the end of the season, Dax was killed off when Farrell exited DS9, leaving Worf heartbroken at the death of his beloved wife, Jadzia.

After seven seasons and one movie of Star Trek: The Next Generation not pursuing Commander Riker and Counselor Troi as a full-blown couple, Star Trek: Insurrection finally pulled the trigger on Will and Deanna. Riker and Troi then married, at last, at the start of Star Trek: Nemesis, and they remain married in Star Trek: Picard. Will and Deanna suffered the heartbreak of losing their young son, Thad, but they reconciled their marital troubles in Star Trek: Picard season 3. Riker and Troi remain Star Trek‘s First Couple.

Riker Was Still Annoyed That Worf Wants Troi In Star Trek: Picard

“Is This A Rescue Mission Or A Continuation Of The Torture?”

Star Trek: Picard season 3 takes place thirty years after Lt. Worf and Counselor Troi were a couple in Star Trek: The Next Generation season 7, but Captain Worf still pines for Commander Troi, to Captain Riker’s chagrin. After Will and Deanna were captured and tortured by Changelings led by Vadic (Amanda Plummer), they were rescued by Worf and Commander Raffi Musiker (Michelle Hurd). The Klingon could not resist once more declaring his feelings for Deanna:

“Deanna, I have counted the days since I last saw you. Like waves in the ocean: constant and unending. I have thought of your empathic gifts during my self-evaluation… The work that I have done on myself. The level of sensitivity that I have achieved have been in more ways than one…”

Riker was right that Worf saying this to his wife was “inappropriate,” and it was amusing that the Klingon still has romantic feelings for Troi, a happily married woman and mother. Captain Worf embraced “pacifism” after intense self-evaluation, and he remains fixated on Counselor Troi. The Klingon Captain doesn’t seem to have closure about his feelings for Deanna. If Captain Riker could dunk Worf in a holodeck ocean again like he did in Star Trek Generations, he probably would.