Star Trek: Deep Space Nine‘s Terry Farrell, calls out the sexism in her character Jadzia Dax’s friendship with Major Kira Nerys (Nana Visitor). In the third part of Star Trek: DS9 season 2’s 3-part opener, “The Siege”, Lt. Dax and Major Kira unearth an old Bajoran resistance sub-impulse raider and fight their way off of the lunar base where the resistance hid the raider a decade earlier. After Kira and Dax work together to get the raider operational and flying like an off-kilter fighter jet, Kira flies “by the seat of her pants”, and Dax targets enemies without sensors in the ensuing dogfight. It’s action-heavy. It’s exciting. It’s also rare.

Dax and Kira’s escape from the old resistance base is nothing like the types of scenes that Farrell and Visitor usually have together on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. More often than not, Kira and Dax trade friendly banter in DS9’s Ops, or meet over a raktajino in the replimat to discuss their personal lives. While quiet moments between Deep Space Nine’s characters do offer insight into their lives, Dax and Kira’s discussions about which station residents they find attractive are pretty frivolous, especially compared to the intrigue of replimat lunches shared by Dr. Julian Bashir (Alexander Siddig) and totally-not-a-spy Elim Garak (Andrew Robinson).

Terry Farrell Wanted “More Scenes In Battle” With Nana Visitor’s Major Kira On Star Trek: DS9

Less Gossip, More Swashbuckling

On The Delta Flyers podcast discussing Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 2, episode 4, “Invasive Procedures”, Terry Farrell points out the dearth of action-oriented scenes with herself and Nana Visitor in DS9. It’s rare that Dax and Kira are action heroines together, as they were in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 2, episode 3, “The Siege”. Read Farrell’s quotes below and listen to The Delta Flyers, starting at the 1:25:00 timestamp.

Terry Farrell: “It was shocking to me, we had little [scenes when] Dax is being gossipy, asking about [Kira] dating. It used to just make me crazy. Why don’t we have more scenes in battle together, rather than talking about dating and dresses? … We were two of the first Star Trek women to be seriously strong, engaged women, who also had a very healthy sex life. We were sexy and we were strong. They had a missed opportunity to have us swashbuckle together, instead of dumbing it down to girl sh*t.”

Kira Nerys & Jadzia Dax’s Star Trek: DS9 Friendship Should Have Had More Variety

There Was A Reason For “Gossipy” Scenes With Kira and Dax

There should have been more variety in the scenes between Kira Nerys and Jadzia Dax in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. More scenes of Kira and Dax “swashbuckling”, as Terry Farrell suggests, would have shown that Dax and Kira’s friendship didn’t have to be superficial. Dax and Kira rarely have the strong emotional beats or friction between them that tightens their friendship, like the story arcs for Julian Bashir and Chief Miles O’Brien (Colm Meaney). There are no differences to overcome, like Jake Sisko (Cirroc Lofton) and Nog (Aron Eisenberg). Star Trek: DS9 doesn’t spend time exploring the depth or nuance of Dax and Kira’s friendship, and it’s a shame.

Still, there’s a point to the “gossipy” scenes between Kira and Dax, as part of Kira Nerys’ character arc. Kira comes to DS9 fresh off the Occupation, a former Bajoran resistance fighter who had few opportunities to relax or indulge in stereotypically feminine activities. Dax has fewer inhibitions overall, so Jadzia is able to tease some joy out of Nerys by talking about lighter topics. Dax’s breezy friendship eases the weight of Kira’s anger, which is no small feat, but it’s not enough. If their scenes weren’t subject to sexist stereotypes, the friendship between Major Kira Nerys and Lt. Jadzia Dax on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine could have been so much more.

Source: The Delta Flyers, season 10, episode 4, “Invasive Procedures”