I was watching a few DS9 episodes yesterday and one of the episodes I watched was Doctor Bashir, I presume and really enjoyed how Miles tried to cheer up Julian that his career will be alright right after they knew he was going to be exposed. Just had me thinking about how well Star Trek did with friendships (obviously the old season episode counts gave them a lot of room for development).
I think my favorite friendship is Geordi/Data (man who didn't tear up when Data came back on Picard with Geordi there), but Miles and Julian is a very close 2nd.
There are so many great friendships so just curious which ones really meant something to you all?
geordi and data
Data: I never knew what a friend was until I met Geordi. He spoke to me as though I were human. He treated me no differently from anyone else. He accepted me for what I am. And that, I have learned, is friendship.
Is that in the TNG episode where they think Geordi has died?
I think what I liked about Geordi is that because he was technically minded and a bit socially awkward and "different" due to the visor, he had good empathy for Data and helped explain a lot of Datas social misunderstanding.
Something that say Riker couldn't do as well
I did love the scene at the end of Measure of a Man, when Riker is feeling like he harmed their friendship by taking the case against Data. "If you had not, I would have lost by summary judgement. You took an action that harmed yourself to help me, and I will not forget it."
Indeed, Data showed just how wise he was becoming, he figured out the deeper meaning and then successfully handled emotions that he did not have or even fully understand.
Fr Geordi and data is so iconic man like that friendship hits different every time
Yeah, growing up with next gen this is my gut reaction as well. Data’s naïveté, geordis earnestness trying to explain all the strange eccentricities of humanity, that “damn” from Geordi in Picard season three when they think they lost data kinda caps it.
But as I eat older and rewatch tos and especially the movies, Spock and McCoy have something special. The grumpy old men kinda thing works for them and I find their interactions endearing.
First runner up would be a tie between O’Brien and bashir and Garak. Bashir, it seems makes for a good plutonic companion. Even him and jadzia (after the schoolboy crush plot of course) had an ideal friendship.
Kirk and Spock the OG’s
Everyone will point to the end of Amok Time, when Spock turns and sees Kirk alive, and breaks out that shit eating grin, as a sign of their true friendship.
But I would to point to the end of Reqiuem for Methuselah, as a quiet but strong sign of their friendship. Kirk is embarrassed for having fought Flint over Rayna and basically being a love struck heel. It’s a powerful moment when Kirk says "A very old and lonely man. And a young and lonely man. We put on a pretty poor show, didn't we?" , referring to himself being lonely. And the scene ends with Spock doing a mind meld to the sleeping Kirk, saying ‘Forget’ .
Yes! And it was made clear that Vulcans really dislike doing mind melds and prefer to find other ways in several episodes so the fact he did this for his friend says a lot.
I actually really disliked that Spock did that. Kirk basically had no chance to learn from the incident. Spock should have let Kirk to sit with his conscience, so Kirk could have grown as a person. I don't think that episode aged well.
Two men fighting for a woman and no one bothers to ask her what she wants. Then they overwhelm her to the point she dies. Ugghh.
Kirk "I owe him my life a dozen times over. Isn't that worth a career?"
Or, just watch this scene. Their interplay is unlike any other in Star Trek.
I that line from Search for Spock or Voyage Home?
Spock and McCoy! Kirk and Spock have an upfront, straightforward friendship. Spock and McCoy's dynamic makes the moments they are forced to express their concern for each other powerful.
And the rest of the time we get jibes such as "You green-blooded hobgoblin!"
Odo and Quark. They drive each other crazy, but deep down there's a certain admiration.
I just watched the episode where Jake was following Quark around to learn and his life as a *business man" and Odo was celebrating his anniversary with Kira, and it was nice how Odo let Quark slide so he got his one victory.
Jake and Nog should be on the list of great ST friendships.
Tom and Harry.
Love their podcast too!
What do they talk about on it?
It’s a rewatch thing
They are doing DS9 with terry Farrell and armin shimmerman now.
It is sooooooo good
Check out the delta flyers
They also have a patreon with extras
https://www.thedeltaflyers.org/
To expound on the above comment they started as a rewatch of voyager and once they finished that they moved onto ds9.
I think it’s a rewatch thing.
It’s a self improvement podcast that leans heavily successful methods of rank promotions. What works and doesn’t for fresh faced plucky young ensigns. All the way to a convict taking a mission in exchange for parole, gets his rank back, disobeys orders, losing rank, and then getting a rank bump because the show is almost over.
I assume, this is the first I’m even hearing of a podcast.
It really is great. All four of them have great aspects to their personalities that makes it a very enjoyable listen. I always enjoyed Armin’s acting and loved Quark but listening to him and the care and effort he put into the character has elevated Quark to me to epic status.
they never let dick come between them
Tendi & Rutherford are so incredibly wholesome, I can't pick anything else.
The moment where they kick their little feet while working on the shuttle is so great
I completely agree. They are adorable.
Seven and Naomi Wildman
Seeing those 2 names together made me immediately think of "subunit of Ensign Samantha Wildman."
100% the best friendship in Trek, can't believe I had to scroll this far
I always liked Neelix and Tuvok, the original odd couple.
Honourable mention to Odo and Quark.
This one for me too. I love that they both find the other one endlessly frustrating for opposite reasons.
I like this one. I didn't know that Neelix was disliked by some people, but I enjoyed that he was friendly with everyone and tried to get to know them.
I always liked Neelix, he was no Einstein but he always gave 100%. I liked how Janeway understood his reasoning in Fair Trade even though she had to discipline him for what he did. That look of hers at the end of the episode really sold it.
Oh and i always laugh at Janeway staring through him when he said he always left before the Numiri intimidation began.
I was just thinking about this quote yesterday:
It bums me out that people shit on Neelix because while I can understand why, I think Ethan Phillips did an INCREDIBLE job with what he was given. And I say this as someone who is not super into Voyager.
Jake and Nog.
Needs more votes!!!!!!
The doctor and 7of9
Bashir and O’Brian
Bashir and Garrak.
Especially the lies!
Mariner and Boimler.
Data/Geordi, Bashir/O’Brien, Kirk/Spock, Kirk/McCoy, Spock/McCoy, Tom/Harry, in that order.
Archer and Shran.
Definitely one which had Enterprise run its full seven seasons would have become more important and relevant to the general direction of the series.
Yup I had the same answer.
Scotty and his bottle.
It's green.
Janeway and Tuvok by far
Tuvok was her rock for sure. I don't know if they explored it as much as they could have though.
Like many character elements and other elements that require long-term story vision, DS9 takes the cake. Bashir/O'Brien is the standout of course, but Bashir/Garak, Jake/Nog, and Sisko/Dax (crossing three lifetimes) are all special.
Geordi/Data (I assume that's what you meant, not Geordi/LaForge?), McCoy/Spock, and Kim/Paris are the other standouts to me. (I'm not exactly digging deep with any of those three!)
Edit: and that’s not mentioning the two well-developed romantic relationships in Sisko/Cassidy and Jadzia/Worf, plus the O’Briens.
Word
Bashir and Garak
Seven and Naomi Wildman.
Ha, that's a left field choice but yeah Seven learnt a lot through Naomi!
Neelix and Leola root.
Trip and Reed, Trip and Archer, La’an and Una
I like La'an & Una. They get each other, which is nice.
Kirk and McCoy
Data and Spot!
It’s clearly Kirk Spock and Mcoy the Big three OGs nothing even comes close to that bond of friendship that’s the essence of trek and what the other shows lack
La'an and Una
It's unfortunate that it's "pair of friends," since that rules out the TOS trio.
For pair, it depends on what type of favorite. I guest the most intriguing were Sisko and Dax, Sisko and Kira (eventually), and Bashir and Garak. For the most entertaining, I'd say Jake and Nog. For most likeable, probably Data and Geordi, and Tendi and Rutherford. I would also include Burnham and Saru, though I can't really say in what way.
So I guess I don't really have a favorite.
Worf and Yar was developing into a great one.
Picard and Q.
Q and Q
O’Brien and Bashir
All day every day.
So many to choose from. But Seven and the Doctor might be my favorite.
I would say Bashir and Garak are my favorite sparing pair. (Is that the right term?)
The doctor and Seven is a brilliant friendship. Two completely different people and yet they bond over their similarities.
Honestly T’Pol and Archer. Because she is so wholesome, loyal and has put herself out there and been vulnerable to be his friend. It’s obvious that he is her best friend, even if she is not his. But they both would fight for and protect each other in a way that somehow seems real.
I mean that obviously Kirk, Spock and Bones are ride or die but their relationship is so legendary and superhero-ish. T’Pol is just kind of quietly real when she looks at Jonathan.
You remember that alternate timeline episode where the Xindi won, but T'Pol now all the time cares for the sick and forgetting Archer?
Tom and Harry.
Trip and Archer. The chronologically original best buds tearing up space and time together.
Kirk abd Spock
Kirk and Bones
Bones and Spock
Tuvok and Neelix!
It was a very slow burn as Neelix always irritated Tuvok but by the end Tuvok respected Neelix.
Definitely Data & Geordi! Which is why I couldn't understand why Geordi didn't tear up like Deanna did when Data died in the movies....
2 years ago I buried my daughter. I didn’t cry. I didn’t know how. Still don’t.
Make it sound like he choked on a popcorn…dude sacrificed his life…for his friend.
DS9 is packed with these Julian/Miles, Quark/Odo, Sisko/Dax, Dax/Quark, Nog/Jake…
Oh that one's hard, I don't think I can select just one.
I'd say one I always liked because of the very unusual dynamic is Garak / Bashir - it's just fun to see these two do their thing.
I also like the whole quintuplet in Lower Decks (if you explicitly want a pair, Rutherford/Tendi)
Kirk/Spock.
I'm more into the menageatrois Kirk, Spock, Bones.
Kirk and Spock. "I have been, and always shall be, your friend."
Tilly and Michael Burnham.
Yes! Started out as bunkmates
Worf and Riker, second only to Data and Geordi. ⚔️✨
Worf and Riker is criminally underrated.
Ezri anc Worf.
Q and Q
Garak and Bashir
Sisko and Dax
Bashir and O’Brien
Michael and Tilly
T'Lyn and the rest of the Lower Deckers absorbing her into the group.
Mariner and Boilmer. They started out as Mariner and Boilmer being two people who know eachother and barely tolerate eachother because they both work the same shift, but Mariner taught Boilmer you have to be able to improvise because StarTrek is about crazy convoluted space nonsense happening all the time and Boilmer is a basic ass bitch who Kirk would defeat by pretending to kill Scotty, handing Mudd imaginary explosives, saying Mudd is exclusively a liar and then let Mudd declare he is lying and Mariner needed to get her shit together before she died saying "What are you gonna do? Stab me?"
Kirk/Spock, but Quark/Odo as a very close second..
Quark and Brunt - though I wouldn't call them friends, those two do match really well together. When they're together it's always comedy gold.
Geordi and Data are the best, but also Miles and Julian are the best. It’s impossible to choose.
Tom and Harry is great too of course. Trip and Malcolm is ok as well, even when he gets his hate crush on Major Hayes.
New Star Trek needs more subplots that are just, “two guys arsing about.”
Picard and Guinan.
Okay, maybe not my FAVORITE favorite, but it deserves honorable mention.
Guinen did describe their relationship as something that goes beyond friendship, beyond family. That’s pretty intense shit right there!
They boned.
Tom Paris and Harry Kim. I feel like they had a great big brother-little brother thing going on.
Trip and Malcom
Tja. Die wären zusammen fast gestorben. Das verbindet.
Cmon.. Kirk and Spock. "Like you've always been at his side and always will."
Miles and Julian is easily my favourite Star Trek bromance.
Tuvok and Seven of Nine. Just respect and efficiency all around.
Odo and Quark by far, even their final fairwell is just glorious television. Quark knows Odo loves him and will never admit it, and the idea of it makes him uncomfortable, and leans into it all the time. It's magical.
Seven and the Doctor
Miles and Bashir are near tops for me, but shout outs to Kirk and Spock, Doctor and Seven, and liking Scotty and Kirk in SNW
I dont know if they count as they are colleagues but I always thought Bones and Chapel TOS would be capable of a good snark session during down time in medical
While Kirk and Spock are the obvious choice for me, i actually quite like Sulu and Chevok as a duo too
I vote for Miles and Julian...primarily cause they couldn't stand each other in the beginning (well, more Miles than Julian), and instead of being forced (by scripts) of being friends (which is how I personally feel Data and Geordi were), they became friends over time...over the course of several episodes/seasons. Feels more natural than the beginnings of Data and Geordi.
Perhaps a bit niche, but Gomtuu and Elbrun.
I liked Data and LaForge. Just two people who bonded over their awkwardness as they tried to understand social interactions and what it meant to be human.
Odo and Quark, they deny it but they were friends
Adira and Stamets. I guess that becomes sort of more of an adopted child relationship, but I still love it.
Julian and Garak - friends with benefits (probably). Second favourite - Sisko and Dax, given the odd nature of their relationship as Dax was a mentor in the past, in a different body to the one they currently occupy.
Quark and Odo 😂
Seven and the Doctor!