In the sixth episode of the fourth season of\u00c2\u00a0Deep Space Nine<\/i>, IT ACTUALLY HAPPENED AND NO ONE DIED AND YOU CAN\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T TAKE THIS BACK AND I still have a lot of thoughts. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch\u00c2\u00a0Star Trek<\/i>.<\/p>\n
Trigger Warning: For extensive talk of homophobia and queerbaiting.<\/b><\/p>\n
Let me start this way: this is a\u00c2\u00a0monumental<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0episode, and I enjoyed it. I am going to drift into the ether while thinking about Jadzia and Lenara. I WILL BECOME A SPIRIT AND HAUNT THE WORLD, FLOATING UP TO EVERY\u00c2\u00a0TREK<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0FAN FOREVER AND WHISPERING IN THEIR EAR, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Jadzia and Lenara belong together<\/i>.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d\u00c2\u00a0<\/i>I am fine with this being my legacy. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Rejoined\u00e2\u20ac\u009d is like a beautiful sequel to \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Host\u00e2\u20ac\u009d on\u00c2\u00a0The Next Generation<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0in that it gives us CANONICAL BISEXUALITY in both of these characters. Canonical. You can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t take the kiss away. You can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t sanitize the fact that two women professed their love for each other and then KISSED, and\u00c2\u00a0my heart is going to explode.<\/i><\/p>\n
And yet, NO ONE SHOULD BE SURPRISED THAT I HAVE COMPLICATED FEELINGS ABOUT THIS EPISODE. I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t sit here and deny what a huge deal this is either! This episode aired just a week after my twelfth birthday. What sort of representation did I have at that point? I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d seen the news about Rock Hudson years earlier, and I remember my mother deciding to stop watching\u00c2\u00a0Roseanne<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0because of that one episode where Mariel Hemingway kissed Roseanne. Ellen didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t come out until less than two years later, and THAT was a huge, huge moment in pop culture. In the midst of a small assortment of gay\/queer characters on television,\u00c2\u00a0Deep Space Nine<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0aired a kiss between two women, never once had a single character express their disgust with two women falling in love with each other, and COMMITTED TO THE FACT THAT JADZIA LOVED LENARA.<\/p>\n
That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a big fucking deal, and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m saying that nearly twenty-one years later. I know that part of the challenge in doing what I do comes from viewing things from a future standpoint, too! Not everything I know now or believe is something people had access to, and I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t expect perfection from the past either. So I wanted to open this review by being honest about the meaning of this story. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a huge part of me that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s thankful that it happened and that I get to watch it\u00c2\u00a0now<\/i>. (COULD YOU IMAGINE IF I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122D SEEN THIS SHOW WHEN IT AIRED. It would have destroyed me.) At the same time, critical analysis involves picking apart stories to find meaning in them, whether that meaning is intended or not. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s super obvious to me that there are two stories unfolding here. Jadzia must deal with the Trill taboo concerning re-association with someone a past symbiont had a relationship with. The subtext, though, is about the taboo of homosexual relationships.<\/p>\n
At times, the dialogue is like a brick. Kira\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s conversation with Julian felt like a giant neon sign with a flickering arrow pointing to her that said, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153THIS IS ABOUT GAY PEOPLE, JUST SO YOU KNOW.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Still, I appreciate that more in hindsight, knowing that the show commits to this relationship\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 somewhat. I worried that\u00c2\u00a0Deep Space Nine<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0would do what the past two\u00c2\u00a0Trek<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0shows had done: include a metaphor for this kind of stigma, but then never show it. ALAS, THIS DOES NOT HAPPEN. But it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s easy to see how much all the talk of the Trill taboo works as a real-world metaphor! That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s intentional, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s admirable.<\/p>\n
Where it falls apart for me is in the details and the ultimate execution. For example: if this is all a metaphor for being gay\/queer, then Sisko\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s angry outburst towards Jadzia feels excessively uncomfortable. Additionally, the reason the Trill have this taboo is based on a philosophy that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s pretty sound, which is not to suggest that it should be accepted. But the Trill want one of their own to move on from each symbiont instead of obsessing over previous engagements or relationships. That kind of makes sense, even as an outsider to their culture, so it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not that direct of a comparison with the real-world issue.<\/p>\n
I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want to come off as greedy, either, when talking about what I\u00c2\u00a0wish<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0this show would have done. I imagine that the writers and producers did what they could to get the kiss on the air, and I appreciate that. However, this episode still falls in line with a longstanding trope where LGBT or queer characters don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t get happiness. The ending to \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Rejoined\u00e2\u20ac\u009d is frustrating because the tragedy is all that the story becomes. And if\u00c2\u00a0Deep Space Nine<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0never returns to Lenara, then this feels like a one-off, an unconnected story that has no real long-term meaning. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a pervasive myth\/stereotype that LGBT\/queer folks cannot maintain relationships, that our lives are fraught with conflict and drama, and that we don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t deserve happiness.<\/p>\n
Did the show intend to spread this message? Of course not.\u00c2\u00a0DS9\u00c2\u00a0<\/i>is clearly trying to make a point about \u00e2\u20ac\u0153taboo\u00e2\u20ac\u009d relationships in relation to our own world, yet the format of the show and the limitations of time allow \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Rejoined\u00e2\u20ac\u009d to fall into a stereotype in the end. Plus, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just plain frustrating. It feels like the writers crafted this awesome relationship, Terry Farrell and Susanna Thompson absolutely kill it in these roles, and then WHOOPS WE CAN\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T ACTUALLY KEEP THIS UP, so the whole thing is rapidly \u00e2\u20ac\u0153resolved\u00e2\u20ac\u009d so that everything can move on.<\/p>\n
What I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m trying to say is this: I enjoyed this episode. I recognize its importance. And I know\u00c2\u00a0Star Trek<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0can do better, given that it took them 358 aired episodes of its canon to finally give us a scene like this. (Oh, I counted.)<\/p>\n
The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Rejoined\u00e2\u20ac\u009d can be downloaded\u00c2\u00a0here for $0.99<\/a>.<\/p>\n Mark Links Stuff<\/b><\/p>\n – I am now on Patreon<\/a>! There are various levels of support, from $1 up to whatever you want! You’ll get to read a private blog, extra reviews, and other such rewards.<\/b> In the sixth episode of the fourth season of\u00c2\u00a0Deep Space Nine, IT ACTUALLY HAPPENED AND NO ONE DIED AND YOU CAN\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T TAKE THIS BACK AND I still have a lot of thoughts. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch\u00c2\u00a0Star … Continue reading
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