Picard And Riker Share A Secret Star Trek Girlfriend?
On Star Trek: The Next Generation, Picard, and Riker seemed to have very different love lives: Picard arguably only had two significant relationships throughout the duration of the series, and Riker…well, he tried to seduce every pretty alien he met quicker than you can say “make it so.” However, observant fans know that we have some interesting circumstantial evidence that each of them shared a secret girlfriend. That woman is Jae, an uncredited Star Trek extra who seemed especially close to these two men throughout the show.
Jae Is Part Of A Star Trek Tradition
At this point, we wouldn’t be surprised if you were asking who Jae was and what role she played in Star Trek: The Next Generation. In short, this spinoff continued The Original Series tradition of reusing minor guest actors to play the same background characters whenever they appear. Jae, played by Tracee Lee Cocco, is perhaps the most memorable example of such a character, and she appeared in 63 episodes and the first three TNG films.
Named By Jonathan Frakes
How do we know Jae’s name, though, if she is never named throughout her many Star Trek appearances and doesn’t appear in the credits? According to Cocco, this was a name that Jonathan Frakes came up with on set, and it just ended up sticking. The Jae name has been used in merchandise like the Star Trek: Customizable Card Game and is also used on the actor’s official website.
Jae is never really given an official role in Star Trek: The Next Generation, and it’s a little hard to figure out what it is because she takes on a number of different responsibilities around the ship. She has served at Ops, appeared in engineering, worked on the shuttles, and more. She clearly gets around the ship, and we have some circumstantial evidence that she also gets around the ship’s bridge crew dating pool.
Always Say Plus One On The Invitation
In the episode “Schisms,” we can see Jae sitting close to Picard (like, leaning into each other close) during Data’s awful poetry reading. And in “Inheritance,” Riker has his arm around her chair while they listen to Data’s concert. While it’s possible that Data’s poetry and music are just that bad, the clear implication of these scenes is that Jae has quietly (quite literally, as she never speaks) dated both of these famous Star Trek characters.
Picard And Riker Have Competed Before
At first, it seems surprising that Picard and Riker dated Jae considering that they have very different love lives and preferences about women. However, the Season 1 episode “11001001” had Riker using ship upgrades to create his own fantasy woman on the holodeck, and Picard seemed weirdly competitive about winning over the holographic Minuet. Maybe that romantic rivalry never went away and Picard was always quietly chasing the same women as Riker, which might explain why things never worked out with Dr. Crusher.
Spot Jae Is A Fun TNG Game To Play
Once you start looking for Jae, you might be surprised at just how many Star Trek: The Next Generation episodes she appears in and how important she is to the operation of the ship. Going by the scenes where she’s snuggly with Picard and Riker, she’s also deeply important to the top two officers on the ship. Forget those tales of Picard never finding romance…when he has his sights set on someone, he can “make it so” just as easily as Riker.
