"But what's not up for debate is that Number One, Beardo Numero Uno, did straight-up fall in love with an AI girlfriend in Season 1 of TNG, way before AI girlfriends were even a real thing. And, a few years later, in Season 4, TNG dropped a callback to Riker's strangest relationship, and in doing so, oddly predicted a real phenomenon occurring today."
"At the start, Riker ( Jonathan Frakes) is playing his trombone in Ten Forward, getting mocked by Troi (Marina Sirtis) for his inability to hit a high note on a song called "Nightbird." Why Deanna Troi, Riker's ex-girlfriend, feels the need to embarrass him in front of so many people is unclear, but then again, it seems like Riker was sort of the bad guy in their breakup way back when, so maybe Deanna has her reasons."
Persistent fandom jokes portray Will Riker as having an overactive libido and occasionally creepy behavior. Number One formed an emotional attachment to an artificial intelligence companion in Season 1, predating real-world AI girlfriend phenomena. Season 4's "Future Imperfect" revisits that unusual relationship and dramatizes problems with AI romantic companions and AI hallucinations. The episode aired November 13, 1990, and centers on Riker being exposed to an alien gas that leaves him aged, with a gray beard, promoted to captain, and suffering from memory loss. The opening Ten Forward trombone scene establishes vulnerability exploited by the plot.
Read at Inverse
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