Rejoined

*** (3 stars out of 5)

Think back. WAY back. To the first Trill episode, 'The Host'. Back in the year 1991 before bigotry and intolerance vanished forever. If you'll recall, Dr. Crusher was O.K. with loving up a Trill in different host bodies, but only to a point. Well, TWO points. The ones under the tunic. Boobs is what I'm saying. Crusher wasn't into girls.

That's not as much a problem for Dax.

Today we learn that in Trill society 'Re-association' (specifically romance with people you romanced in a former body) is a HUGE No-No. Breaking this taboo means permanent exile from Trill and no more host bodies. It's a death sentence for the symbiont. Somehow, this didn't deter Crusher's chum Odan. Weird guy. Didn't look like any Trill we've seen since, convinced a transporter would kill him, and really blasé about getting caught smooching with an old flame. Which in his society WOULD kill him.

The B-story brings lady scientist Lenara Kahn to DS9 to make the first (intentional) artificial wormhole in the Federation. The Kahn symbiont, in a former host, was the wife of Torias Dax back in the day. Kahn's relatives are not too keen on her hanging out with Dax. Dax's friends are O.K. with it, except the death sentence part.

In secret, Dax and Kahn kiss, and Dax invites more. Kahn chickens out, and probably for the best. I'm not one to stand in the way of love. But DEATH SENTENCE!

Oh, if only the Trill were more tolerant! One day, they will look beyond the physical body! One day, they'll be as open-minded as humans and grudgingly allow same-race, same-sex kissing on TV without fear of their children going blind, and eventually, to hell.

"Rejoined" gets a lot of credit for "Star Trek's First SAME SEX KISS" which I'm not so sure it deserves. It's a good story, but I seem to recall Uhura and Chapel kissing in 1966's 'What Are Little Girls Made of?' Oh, fine, here's a reminder for you: