10 Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Episodes That Were Almost Completely Different

1. Rejoined (Season 4 Episode 6)

Of all the things Star Trek is famous for, one of its most well known accomplishments was the 1968 kiss between Captain Kirk and Lt. Uhura, being a very early example of an interracial kiss on television when such things were still seen as controversial. Nearly 30 years later, Star Trek would go on to break the mould again.

Centring around the Trill Lt Jadzia Dax, the fourth season episode ‘Rejoined’ was one of many examining the society of the Trill, a race who include those ‘joined’ with a sentient symbiont, allowing them to share the memories and experiences of generations of their kind. The episode sees Dax meet Lenara Khan, a fellow joined Trill, whose host had previously been married to a former host of the Dax symbiont. Whilst there is a strict taboo within Trill society of forming relationships with the partners of previous hosts, Dax and Khan find themselves instinctively drawn to one another.

Not satisfied with just upsetting the taboos of Trill society, the episode marked an early example of a lesbian kiss on national television. Originally written as a man, the decision to cast Khan as a woman was a controversial move at the time.

Despite a predictable backlash, Rejoined has gone on to become on of Star Trek’s most well regarded episodes, with many members of the LGBTQ community later thanking actress Terry Farrell for making them feel less alone. Many late game rewrites may have saved storylines, but it’s not beyond the realms of possibility that this change may have saved lives.