10 Times Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Went Woke
4. Rejoined
Rejoined has now reached levels of infamy in Star Trek, but in the mid-90s, it was a risky move for the franchise to make. Depicting a lesbian kiss on television, however, had become part of a trend, beginning with 1991's He's A Crowd, an episode of L.A. Law. This trend depicted characters, who were previously understood to be heterosexual, engaging in a same-sex kiss, specifically women in this context.
The episode was a collaboration between Ronald D. Moore and René Echevarria. The script was originally intended to feature a male ex-lover, but Khan was changed to female when the focus of the story changed. Where once the idea of preventing a Trill aristocracy barred the latest hosts of their symbionts from rekindling old flames, the simple gender switch made the story about homosexuality and homophobia. Once it was cleared by Ira Steven Behr, Rick Berman, and the studio executives, the episode was given to Avery Brooks to direct.
Brooks refused to allow the kiss to become a salacious piece of marketing. As per the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion, he said:
People want to hype stuff like that, but I wasn't going to have it.
Susanna Thompson, who played Khan, recalled her comfort acting in the episode, thanks to her co-star Terry Farrell and Brooks' direction. On the season 4 DVD special feature, she said:
...[h]e also knew that this episode was going to be a little controversial because there was a same sex kiss. He was so good at keeping us safe and protected, but also giving us such a great space to be brave.
Unsurprisingly, the episode drew criticism from conservative elements. There was a split in the correspondence; however, the phone calls the studio received were mostly positive, while the letters they received were mostly negative.
Ultimately, the episode never comments on Jadzia and Lenara presenting as female. Rather, the story focuses on the taboo of former spouses rekindling romance. For his part, Brooks considered the episode a story about love.
It was an extraordinary story. I thought it was important that we tell this story honestly and truthfully about love, and so it's not about sex, or same gender or any of the above, even though, obviously, in our world, that's what people started to look at, but I mean it was so important for me to tell that story honestly and truthfully, especially for the people who have suffered, you know, in our world, needlessly, because of love.