TV Review – Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Season 4, Episode 76: Rejoined
Original air date: 30 October 1995
Overall 4.5 / 5.0 (a great episode)
Gay Content 3.0 / 5.0 (a major same-sex relationship)
Gay Positivity 4.5 / 5.0 (perhaps the most gay positive Star Trek TV episode)
The Trill are apparently the most sexually open-minded species in the Star Trek universe (see my review of “The Host” from The Next Generation). Still, they have their own taboos.
The trill are a race of humanoids who host symbionts, or sentient symbiotic organisms, in their bodies. The symbionts live for hundreds of years; after one host dies, the symbiont is transplanted into a new one. It is strictly verboten for a joined Trill to rekindle a relationship with someone involved with a former host. The penalty is severe: exile, without the symbiont being allowed to join with a new host when the current host dies.
Trill scientist Lenara Kahn (Susanna Thompson) comes to Deep Space Nine to experiment with artificial wormholes. As the Science Officer, Jadzia Dax (Terry Farrell) assists her. Dax and Kahn (the symbionts) were husband-and-wife under different hosts. As they work together, Jadzia and Lenara fight a growing attraction toward one another. Are they willing to risk exile for their love?
“Rejoined” is an engaging episode that encapsulates the best of Star Trek: the exploration of ideas and cultures through deeply realized characters in whom the viewer is invested. Farrell and Thompson enjoy great on-screen chemistry, and a thoughtful and dramatic script explores their relationship in an organic and suspenseful way.
Neither Jadzia nor Lenara blink at the prospect of falling in love with someone of the same sex, even though the original pairing between their symbionts was heterosexual. Additionally, neither Sisko (Avery Brooks) nor Doctor Bashir (Alexander Siddig) indicate any aversion to a same-sex relationship. The conflict arises because of the Trill taboo against “re-association.”
Of course, I’m sad that the relationship doesn’t work out. I suppose it vaguely endorses the negative cliché that gay relationships never work out. And yes, I wish it weren’t just an anomaly, a one-off situation. It’s a cop out to do a “gay episode” and then never show another open, accepted, well-adjusted gay relationship. In some ways, having a great episode like this just highlights the other disappointments.
But “Rejoined” is still a big step forward. I’m thrilled to see a same-sex romance as a central feature of an episode of Star Trek, wherein the gender of the participants is a complete non-issue, and which leads to Star Trek’s first ever on-screen gay kiss!
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For more posts on all things gay in the Star Trek universe, check out my Gay Star Trek Main Page.
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Tags: Deep Space Nine, Gay Star Trek, Star Trek, Terry Farrell
