Work Text:
POOB HAS IT FOR YOU: Fully remastered episode includes controversial ‘deleted scene’
This episode of Star Trek: Eridani sparked outrage in 1995
By: POOB editorial staff
After an action-packed 40 minutes, the intrepid crew of the USS Eridani has saved the galaxy once again. (Must be Tuesday!)
In the final scene, things have suddenly gone quiet. We find ourselves in the darkened quarters of CMO Joanna McCoy (Susan Gibney), who is looking pensive after witnessing the brutality of the crew’s mirror counterparts. Or perhaps she is thinking of something entirely different…
The door chimes and Captain Saavik (Robin Curtis) enters the scene. Joanna quickly composes herself and stands to greet her captain.
“Please sit,” Saavik says, in her usual overly formal manner. “I was merely…checking on you, as the saying goes.”
Joanna smiles, though the mood lighting suggests it isn't entirely sincere. “Oh, I'm just fine, sweet pea,” she says with a trace of a southern accent.
Saavik hesitates a moment. “That is gratifying to hear,” she says finally. “Goodnight.”
She leaves without waiting for a response. The camera lingers on Joanna, who says, “Goodnight,” to her captain's retreating back and then stands staring at the door for several seconds before the scene fades to black.
What is the significance of this final scene? You can watch the digitally remastered version on POOB and decide for yourself.
Personally, we here at POOB think there are clear thematic parallels between the final scene and the passionate, last minute kiss between Mirror Saavik, captain of the dimly lit ISS Eridani, and Joanna before the latter was swept back into the prime universe.
A lot of people don't agree with us. That's fair, considering a lot of people never even saw that scene.
While the kiss was included in the original broadcast, many stations edited the episode to exclude it. In later syndication, the kiss was removed entirely and initially thought lost until a Paramount archivist rediscovered an original cut of the episode.
POOB obtained an exclusive interview with scriptwriter Violet Baum, who said, “Star Trek is not just about broadening our horizons via space travel. It's about asking yourself, what if we became the best versions of ourselves? What would that look like? Star Trek has been pushing boundaries since The Original Series – for example, the famous interracial kiss between Kirk (William Shatner) and Uhura (Nichelle Nichols). Anyone who thinks that Star Trek has suddenly become woke hasn't been paying attention.”
Others thought the kiss didn't go far enough.
“It's an easy way to pay lip service to diversity without actually having to grapple with a lesbian relationship,” said Lorem Ipsum in a 1995 article. “What happens in the mirrorverse stays in the mirrorverse, and next week we can go back to normal.”
Meanwhile, Temperance Barebones, author of the bestselling book Everything You Like Is Problematic, took issue with the fact that setting the episode in the mirrorverse “encourages viewers to consign homosexual attraction and homosexual relationships to the realm of the evil and perverse. It does nothing to destigmatize homosexuality if it is a trait reserved for a beloved character’s villainous counterpart.”
Baum had a different take on this: “The idea of women as sexual agents has always been seen as transgressive. This applies especially to any portrayal that centers female pleasure (...) A visit to the mirror universe allows both the viewers and the characters themselves to explore a more transgressive side of their true personalities – and opens the door to additional exploration in future episodes.”