Better that Michelle Forbes wasn't in DS9?

[Orphalesion]

One interesting version that I'd like to see is them bringing in Ro in season 4 instead of Worf. Worf already has seven seasons of TNG and was there for the movies. And yes, the interactions between Kira and Ro would have been very interesting. To top it all off, they could write a romantic relationship between Jadzia and Ro...

 

[kkt]

One interesting version that I'd like to see is them bringing in Ro in season 4 instead of Worf. Worf already has seven seasons of TNG and was there for the movies. And yes, the interactions between Kira and Ro would have been very interesting. To top it all off, they could write a romantic relationship between Jadzia and Ro...

Not in the 1990s for network television, they couldn't...

 

[HugeLobes]

Kira, a Bajoran who fought on Bajor during the Occupation, and is a devout religious believer.
Ro, a Bajoran who fled the homeland, stayed safe in Starfleet during the Occupation with no spiritual beliefs.

But then Kira eventually took on both roles, disregarding the spiritual beliefs. During the 2nd occupation she was the one who stayed safe, at least for a while, and over the series that conflict over working for both Starfleet and Bajor was one of the most interesting things happening with Kira.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

Kira didn't really play safe, and it was a different situation. In the 2nd Occupation, there was always an end in sight, and an expectation of Federation intervention. And Kira knew the only way to keep troops off the surface was to play nice with the Dominion.

 

[HugeLobes]

Kira didn't really play safe, and it was a different situation. In the 2nd Occupation, there was always an end in sight, and an expectation of Federation intervention. And Kira knew the only way to keep troops off the surface was to play nice with the Dominion.

Well, didn't she play it safe specifically because of those other points you made? That's why it was such an interesting conflict for Kira.

Of course it's certainly a different situation that wouldn't pan out in exactly the same way for each character. Not saying Ro wouldn't handle things slightly differently, just that a lot of the conflicts she would face could be explored equally effectively with Kira. They are essentially very similar characters who were designed to fill very similar roles on the show, so while having Ro for the odd episode might lead to some interesting interactions it just feels kinda redundant to see her on DS9 more than once or twice.

 

[HugeLobes]

Not in the 1990s for network television, they couldn't...

I was reading the other day that freakin' Gilmore Girls wasn't allowed a gay main character. No way it would fly on Trek in the 90s.

 

[Guy Gardener]

Ro and Kira are redundant, because they are both ex bajoran terrorists.

Ro and Jadzia are redunt because they are both tall brunettes.

 

[suarezguy]

Ro in the Maquis could have been a fine recurring role, an additional, more reasonable take on the Maquis than Eddington.

 

[Captain pl1ngpl0ng]

Not in the 1990s for network television, they couldn't...

I was reading the other day that freakin' Gilmore Girls wasn't allowed a gay main character. No way it would fly on Trek in the 90s.

 

[HugeLobes]

Unfortunately there's a difference between a kiss and a relationship.

 

[Captain pl1ngpl0ng]

yeah sure but they where poking around with it in the 90s, mirror kira is another one, just saying...

 

[HugeLobes]

yeah sure but they where poking around with it in the 90s, mirror kira is another one, just saying...

Sure, but even that one kiss caused a lot of issues, and mirror Kira's sexuality was played more as a joke. They were poking around the issue, but a full-on romance between two leads of the same gender would have been unlikely. Just look at Garak.

 

[Captain pl1ngpl0ng]

yea thats true, i heard on the documentary that they where sorry they didnt have tha balls to go all the way with Garak

 

[HugeLobes]

Apparently the network wouldn't let them, and tbh it probably would have ended up being a huge problem. Given how conservative viewers were at the time and how poor ratings were at first, it's conceivable that bringing Garak out of the closet could have tanked the show.

Personally I prefer all Garak's personal desires to be left implied. His relationship with Ziyal is one of my least favourite parts of the show.

 

[kkt]

You didn't see Dr. Kahn becoming a regular or even recurring character, did you?

 

[kkt]

Apparently the network wouldn't let them, and tbh it probably would have ended up being a huge problem. Given how conservative viewers were at the time and how poor ratings were at first, it's conceivable that bringing Garak out of the closet could have tanked the show.

Personally I prefer all Garak's personal desires to be left implied. His relationship with Ziyal is one of my least favourite parts of the show.

I see Garak's sexuality as flexible, to be determined by the mission. The mission calls for seducing a man, he'll be gay. The mission calls for seducing a woman, he'll be straight. Personal preference depends more on the partner than their sex. His relationship with Ziyal was partly real, as a charming young person who (for lack of other potential partners) found him interesting, and partly based on taking pleasure in annoying Dukat.

 

[dupersuper]

Ro and Kira are redundant, because they are both ex bajoran terrorists.

Was Ro a terrorist before the Maquis though?

yeah sure but they were poking around with it in the 90s, mirror kira is another one, just saying...

Northern Exposure and Friends both had gay weddings in the 90s.

You didn't see Dr. Kahn becoming a regular or even recurring character, did you?

No, but Jadzia was...

 

[Guy Gardener]

On Voyager Susanna's character was totally into Janeway and Seven, happy bedtime exercise bound, but the only person she made a pass at was Harry Kim.

What an excellent beard.

 

[ThreeEdgedSword]

One interesting version that I'd like to see is them bringing in Ro in season 4 instead of Worf. Worf already has seven seasons of TNG and was there for the movies. And yes, the interactions between Kira and Ro would have been very interesting. To top it all off, they could write a romantic relationship between Jadzia and Ro...

While I agree that the romance would not have been possible at this place and time, I would have loved Ro instead of Worf joining the cast, balancing the m/f ratio a bit, but most of all because of the interesting dynamics.

Also, we have never seen an intense, interesting, deep friendship between two women on Trek. Like, say, Bashir and Miles, Garak and Bashir (never mind what else it could have been), Spock and Kirk etc. (Burnham and Prime Giorgiou might have had the potential.) I would have loved to see that. Either between Ro and Jadzia or - despite their possible conflicts - Ro and Kira. Of course none of them was redundant just because they were both Bajoran ex-terrorists.

Behr recently mentioned that they dropped the ball by not exploring a deeper friendship between Kira and Jadzia, and I agree. But with 3 female characters to choose from, maybe one of the other combinations would have worked better anyway. Just because Kira and Dax were the only women on the main cast, doesn't mean they are automatically soul sisters.

Unfortunately there's a difference between a kiss and a relationship.

And it can be argued that it wasn't even a kiss between two women, primarily, but rather between a married man and woman who now happen to be in different bodies. They played it safe, and probably had to.

On my rewatch I discovered that "Rejoined" isn't half bad, particularly considering Trek's track record with romance, but at the time I thought it was a horrible, lame cop-out.

 

[Orphalesion]

What an excellent beard.

They could have been each other's beard, what with Harry constantly suppressing his romantic feelings for Tom.

Also, we have never seen an intense, interesting, deep friendship between two women on Trek. Like, say, Bashir and Miles, Garak and Bashir (never mind what else it could have been), Spock and Kirk etc. (Burnham and Prime Giorgiou might have had the potential.) I would have loved to see that. Either between Ro and Jadzia or - despite their possible conflicts - Ro and Kira. Of course none of them was redundant just because they were both Bajoran ex-terrorists.

Behr recently mentioned that they dropped the ball by not exploring a deeper friendship between Kira and Jadzia, and I agree. But with 3 female characters to choose from, maybe one of the other combinations would have worked better anyway. Just because Kira and Dax were the only women on the main cast, doesn't mean they are automatically soul sisters.

Yeah the problem with TNG and DS9 was really that they each only had 2 female main characters who became "sort of friends" by default.
That being said Voyager had three female characters (still not a lot) and never really explored friendships between them either all that much.