Rejoined
"Rejoined" | |
---|---|
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode | |
Episode no. | Season 4 Episode 5 |
Directed by | Avery Brooks |
Story by | René Echevarria |
Teleplay by | |
Featured music | Jay Chattaway |
Production code | 478 |
Original air date | October 30, 1995 |
Guest appearances | |
| |
"Rejoined" is the 78th episode of the American science fiction television series
Set in the 24th century, the series follows the adventures on
The episode was the first that writers
Plot
Captain
At the welcome party for the visiting scientists, Dax and Kahn warm to one another's company once more. Afterward, they begin to socialize as they work together on Kahn's wormhole experiment aboard USS Defiant. They agree to have dinner, but to also bring Bashir along as a chaperone. At dinner, Bashir is effectively ignored by the two Trills as they reminisce about their past hosts. Later, back on the Defiant, Kahn successfully creates an artificial wormhole and Dax hugs her in celebration. Kahn's brother Bejal (Tim Ryan), who is on the science team, speaks to her separately and highlights his concerns regarding her contact with Dax. Despite this, Kahn goes to Dax's quarters and a discussion between the two leads to a kiss; Kahn leaves before it goes any further.
Dax confides in Sisko that she knows she is in love with her former wife. He reminds her that Trill customs mean that if they resumed their relationship, then they would be exiled from their homeworld and their symbionts would never be joined with a new host, but says that she will have his support either way. Kahn and Dax continue to work on the experiment, but it goes wrong and Defiant is severely damaged. Kahn is injured in the explosion, but Dax rigs a
Production
Writing and directing
"Rejoined" marked the first time that longtime Star Trek writers Ronald D. Moore and René Echevarria wrote a script together. They had been hired by executive producer Michael Piller following separate unsolicited manuscripts submitted during the third season of Star Trek: The Next Generation, and had remained on the staff of the franchise since.[2] In Echevarria's first draft of the story, there was no lesbian element as Dax's former lover was male. The Trill taboo against reuniting relationships from past hosts was suggested by Piller early on in the creation of Deep Space Nine, in order for the society to prevent an "aristocracy of the joined", where joined hosts never met anyone that they did not already know.[3]
It was Moore's suggestion to make Dax's former partner a woman in order to tackle the taboo against homosexuality by way of the on-screen taboo against re-association. At that stage, they intended to make no reference in the script to any characters having a concern about Dax's relationship with a woman so as to focus the story.[3] Clearance was sought for the plot, first from showrunner Ira Steven Behr, then executive producer Rick Berman, and finally from the studio executives. Moore later explained that they agreed to the idea, saying that Star Trek stood for making statements like those in "Rejoined".[4]
Terry Farrell was happy with the story line, saying that it made sense for Dax to have this issue because the symbiont had been in both male and female hosts, adding that "Gender wasn't the issue. For the worm/symbiont, it was a matter of the being it was embodied in."[1] She was pleased to be able to "stand up" for the LGBT community.[1] A similar story had been approached during the first appearance of the Trill in The Next Generation episode "The Host". In this story, however, when the symbiont is transferred from a male to a female host, the Trill is rejected by the character who was the Trill's female partner, Beverly Crusher. The subplot featuring Kahn's artificial wormhole was described as a "MacGuffin" by Moore, and simply a way to get the character into "Rejoined".[4] This was not the first subplot to be considered for the episode, with the main plot from "Bar Association" originally thought of as being suitable to appear in either "Rejoined" or "Crossfire". Instead, the plot, which involved Rom forming a trade union, was expanded into the main plot of its own episode.[5]
The episode was directed by main cast member Avery Brooks, who played Benjamin Sisko in the series, who later said that "Rejoined" was his favorite of the episodes he directed.
Visual effects and guest stars
Visual effect supervisors Gary Hutzel and Glenn Neufeld were busy completing post-production work on the opening episode of the fourth season, "The Way of the Warrior". In their place, visual effects coordinator David Takemura led on the visual effects work on both "Rejoined" and "The Visitor". For this episode, his two main tasks were the creation of the artificial wormhole and the sequence where Dax uses a forcefield as a walkway to reach a trapped Kahn. Takemura was relieved that the wormhole was intended to be artificial in nature, as it meant that he did not have to attempt to re-create the detail already seen in the Bajoran wormhole on the series. Once he came up with the basic design, visual effects company VisionArt completed it.[4]
For the forcefield scene, Farrell was shot "skating" down a board painted blue against a blue screen. A mixture of liquid nitrogen and hot water was used to create a fog around the ground. VisionArt combined these shots with the force field and footage of the engineering set on board the Defiant, while a staff animator added a "plasma glow" around her feet as she made contact with the field.[4]
Before appearing in "Rejoined", Susanna Thompson had previously appeared in two The Next Generation episodes; "
Themes
Writers on Deep Space Nine had previously hinted at a potential same-sex relationship in the
During that 1995/96 television season there had been an increase in the number of homosexual characters appearing in major television series, and so the same-sex kiss in "Rejoined" was reviewed in this context. An article published by the Associated Press suggested that the kiss in Deep Space Nine was not truly a same-sex kiss due to "extenuating circumstances"; namely, one of the characters was an "alien who used to be a man".[14] A similar opinion was offered by Jan Johnson-Smith, author of American Science Fiction TV, who said that the situation was "ambiguous" as, despite presenting a same-sex kiss, the episode was clear that Jadzia was "actually kissing the symbiont who has the memories of the former host, her male lover, not the current female host".[15]
For film studies scholar Jean Bruce, the ambiguity of the kiss is foreshadowed in an early scene revolving around a magic trick. On the one hand, the magic trick produces a "pleasurable surprise", while, on the other, this mirrors the deception necessary, due to Trill norms, in the reacquaintance of the characters. At the same time, the juxtaposition of very different shots serves to "convey physical distance and the desire to bridge it", which mirrors the fact that the Trills' love for one another transcends gender, identity and death. Though the kiss is "informed by the fact that Dax was a man in her past life", once it occurs, it can "never be taken back", and remains the queer image of two women kissing.[16]
Nonetheless, "Rejoined" was still considered controversial because of its subject matter, which depicts two women who engage in a same-sex romantic relationship, and included one of the first[vague] televised lesbian kisses.[3][17] During the course of the episode, no characters register concern about Dax being involved with a woman, only that she was an ex-spouse.[3] David Greven, literary critic and author of Gender and Sexuality in Star Trek, said that "Rejoined" was one of the better-received episodes of Star Trek that dealt with homosexuality as a theme, but that the franchise overall had typically avoided LGBT issues.[18] Bryan Fuller, who also wrote for Deep Space Nine, said that the franchise had usually avoided those story lines because of the paranoia of the studio regarding homosexuality.[19] Dale Palmer, in an essay on gender and sexual politics, suggested that the choice was made to have a female same-sex kiss on screen because a male one would have alienated the main viewer demographic for the series: heterosexual men.[20]
Reception and legacy
Broadcast
"Rejoined" was first broadcast on October 30, 1995, in
Fan, cast and crew response
When the episode was originally broadcast, there was a strong negative reaction from some viewers. As Deep Space Nine was shown in syndication, one channel in the Southern United States took the step of editing out the kiss from the initial broadcast. The mother of script writer René Echevarria told him that they should have issued a parental guidance warning before broadcasting it. More responses were received at the production office from viewers than for any other episode of the series, resulting in several staff members having to take turns on the phones in order to cover the load. The staff found that although the majority of the phone calls were negative about "Rejoined", the letters were mostly positive.[3] Terry Farrell said in a 2015 interview that "Rejoined" was her favorite episode of all time and that she still had people thanking her for the episode, because "it gave them strength, and that it made them feel like they weren't alone, it inspired them to be themselves—all the things I was hoping it would do."[1]
Critical response
Zack Handlen reviewed the episode for The A.V. Club in 2013, praising the natural manner in which the romance was progressed, saying that this was "refreshing" to see.[22] He felt that the relationship did not appear to be manipulative for the sake of male viewers, but added that the ending was expected and that the episode never communicated to the audience the need to care about the duo.[22] Handlen wrote that the overall story itself was "shallow", as the episode suffered from an "enervating lack of fun" which was only saved from "complete tedium" through "strong acting and an admirable lack of stigma".[22]
In 2018, SyFy included this episode on their binge-watching guide for episodes featuring Jadzia Dax.[25]
alien kisses
Dara Gellman, an independent Canadian
Home media release
The first home media release of "Rejoined" was on a
On August 5, 1998, "Rejoined" was released on LaserDisc format in Japan, as part of the 4th Season vol.1 box set.[32]
Notes
- ^ a b c d e Krug, Kurt Anthony (May 27, 2015). "Terry Farrell Reflects on Her Career and 'Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'". Showbiz Junkies. Archived from the original on October 11, 2015. Retrieved June 4, 2015.
- ^ Tor.com. Archivedfrom the original on December 22, 2015. Retrieved June 3, 2015.
- ^ a b c d e f Erdmann & Block (2000): p. 279
- ^ a b c d Erdmann & Block (2000): p. 280
- ^ Erdmann & Block (2000): pp. 314 – 315
- ^ Ian Spelling (1996). "AVERY BROOKS BEAMS ONTO 'THE ARK OF THE SPIRIT'". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on 2021-10-30. Retrieved 2021-01-01.
On the "Trek" front, he has directed several well-regarded episodes of "DS9," pointing to "Rejoined" as his personal favorite.
- ^ Spelling, Ian (September 1998). "The Death of Dax". Starlog. 1 (254): 19–23. Retrieved June 3, 2015.
- ^ Erdmann & Block (2000): p. 592
- ^ Erdmann & Block (2000): p. 604
- ^ Nemecek (2003): p. 370
- ^ "First Contact's Borg Queen – Alice Krige". StarTrek.com. November 22, 2010. Archived from the original on November 24, 2010. Retrieved June 3, 2015.
- ^ Erdmann & Block (2000): p. 33
- ^ Kwan (2007): p. 63
- ^ Johnson-Smith (2005): p. 90
- ^ a b c Bruce (2010): p. 117
- ^ Ramsey, Nick (February 10, 2013). "Superheroes and sci-fi: Is there really a lack of diversity in science fiction?". MSNBC. Archived from the original on June 26, 2015. Retrieved June 3, 2015.
- ^ Greven (2009): p. 93
- ^ Epstein, Jeffrey (July 2003). "Dead Like He". Out. 12 (1): 23–24. Archived from the original on October 30, 2021. Retrieved June 3, 2015.
- ^ Palmer (2014): p. 107
- ^ "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Season 4 Ratings". TrekNation. Archived from the original on October 3, 2000. Retrieved June 3, 2015.
- ^ a b c Handlen, Zack (January 10, 2013). "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: "Rejoined"/"Starship Down"". The A.V. Club. The Onion, Inc. Archived from the original on June 23, 2015. Retrieved June 3, 2021.
- ^ Hoffman, Jordan (August 30, 2008). "Rejoined, DS9 4". JordanHoffman.com. Archived from the original on December 22, 2015. Retrieved August 16, 2021.
- Playboy.com. Archived from the originalon 2014-12-12.
- ^ Lane, Carly (2018-02-05). "A binge-watching guide to Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's Jadzia Dax". SYFY WIRE. Archived from the original on 2019-07-23. Retrieved 2019-07-23.
- ^ Bruce (2010): pp. 117–8
- ^ a b c Guertin (2012): pp. 156–7
- ^ Bruce (2010): p. 118
- ^ "On Screen". Star Trek Monthly. 1 (13): 57–58. March 1996.
- ^ "Star Trek – Deep Space Nine, Episode 78: Rejoined [VHS]". Amazon. August 2000. Archived from the original on June 26, 2007. Retrieved June 3, 2015.
- ^ Ordway, Holly E. (August 12, 2003). "Star Trek Deep Space Nine – Season 4". DVD Talk. Archived from the original on October 10, 2015. Retrieved June 3, 2015.
- ^ "LaserDisc Database - Star Trek Deep Space 9: 4th Season vol.1 [PILF-2442]". www.lddb.com. Archived from the original on 2021-01-20. Retrieved 2021-02-18.
References
- Bruce, Jean (2010). "The Art of Making Do: Queer Canadian Girls Make Movies". In Austin-Smith, Brenda; Melnyk, George (eds.). The Gendered Screen: Canadian Women Filmmakers. Waterloo, Ontario: Wilfrid Laurier University Press. pp. 115–125. ISBN 978-1-55458-195-5.
- Erdmann, Terry J.; Block, Paula M. (2000). Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion. New York: Pocket Books. ISBN 978-0-671-50106-8.
- Greven, David (2009). Gender and Sexuality in Star Trek. Jefferson, NC and London: McFarland & Company, Inc. ISBN 978-0-7864-4413-7.
- Guertin, Carolyn (2012). Digital Prohibition: Piracy and Authorship in New Media Art. New York and London: Continuum. ISBN 978-1-4411-5058-5.
- Johnson-Smith, Jan (2005). American Science Fiction TV. London: I.B. Taurus. ISBN 978-1-4175-8364-5.
- Kwan, Allen (February 2007). "Seeking New Civilizations: Race Normativity in the Star Trek Franchise" (PDF). (PDF) from the original on 2015-09-26. Retrieved 2015-08-07.
- Nemecek, Larry (2003). Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion (3rd ed.). New York: Pocket Books. ISBN 0-7434-5798-6.
- Palmer, Dale (2014). "Redefining the Masculine Hegemony: Gender and Sexual Politics in Star Trek". In Eiss, Harry Edwin (ed.). Electric Sheep Slouching Towards Bethlehem. Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4438-5862-5. Archivedfrom the original on 2021-10-28. Retrieved 2020-11-19.
See also
- Kirk and Uhura's kiss, another notable Star Trek kiss
- Star Trek: Discovery, a later series in the franchise which included openly homosexual characters in the main cast
External links
- "Rejoined" at IMDb
- "Rejoined" at Memory Alpha
- "Rejoined" at Wayback Machine (archived from the original at StarTrek.com)