Star Trek: 10 Riker Romances That Were A TOTAL Security Risk
1. Music To His Ears
What screams security risk more than a first officer being sent a personalised phishing attack and clicking 'yes please'?
When the Enterprise docks for maintenance in the episode 11001001, the hyper-efficient Bynars get to work. But their innocent chattering is hiding an ulterior motive...a plot to hijack the ship.
There's a slight problem with their plan. Riker is prowling the ship like a kid on spring break who has no one to play with. So the Bynars devise the perfect distraction. A hologram named Minuet. Sultry, enchanting, and introduced by the camera via her legs. Real subtle. She even gives his trombone solo her undivided attention.
Some dancing and flirting later, Picard arrives and inexplicably decides to join them as a third wheel, despite Minuet being quite literally draped over Riker at the time.
Riker even admits to Picard:
It's as though she's been plugged into my subconscious. She already knows what I want her to say before I'm aware of it myself.
With Riker, and now Picard, safely distracted by the sexy AI chatbot, the Bynars make their move, stealing the Enterprise. And it actually works.
As it happens, the Bynars only went to such extreme measures to save their homeworld. If their motive had been nefarious, well...seeing Riker explain himself would have been interesting.
Minuet also has the honour of featuring in another trap during Future Imperfect, this time as Riker's supposed late wife in an elaborate illusion. In fact, it's her appearance that foils the ruse. But when he 'awakes' and discovers he's apparently been captured by Romulans, he's kind enough to explain exactly how and why the fiction didn't fool him. Lucky for Riker, it was yet another illusion, and he hadn't actually given the Romulans free tips on improving their interrogation techniques.
But let this be a warning to all aspiring Rikers out there. If your dream girl appears and seems too good to be true? Make sure she's not a bespoke hologram before getting involved.