Star Trek TNG Movie Ties Into Deep Space Nine
Star Trek fans will be the first to tell you that movies based on The Next Generation were a decidedly mixed bag: Generations was disappointing, Insurrection was a long episode, First Contact was an action movie, and Nemesis was a tepid farewell. However, late Trek screenwriter Michael Piller revealed in his unpublished book Fade In: From Idea to Final Draft that he had plans for Insurrection that would have made fans happy by incorporating elements from Deep Space Nine. Most specifically, there would have been a scene between Worf and Picard that acknowledged the Klingon was mourning his deceased wife, Jadzia Dax.
Jadzia Dax Was A Major Part Of Deep Space Nine
If you only know Star Trek characters based on their big-screen adventures, you may not know who Jadzia Dax was. On Deep Space Nine, she was a Trill character (host to a symbiotic lifeform that lives for generations via different hosts) who met and fell in love with Worf. The two characters got married in the fan-favorite episode “You Are Cordially Invited,” but a superpowered Gul Duakit casually and cruelly killed Dax in the episode “Tears of the Prophets.”
Fans Wanted Insurrection To Acknowledge Dax
Those Star Trek episodes came out before the movie Insurrection, and like First Contact before it, that film brought Worf back into the mix for misadventures with his former crew. Because the film took place after Jadzia Dax died, many expected her to at least get a brief mention. But that never happened, and the only acknowledgment of Deep Space Nine in the movie is a brief line explaining why the Enterprise E hasn’t been fighting in the Dominion War.
On The Cutting Room Floor
Had Michael Piller had his way, this third Star Trek movie would have had a scene where Captain Picard tells Worf, “I’ve thought so much about you since we heard the terrible news about your wife.” The Klingon warrior would have thanked Picard for his condolences and told him that Jadzia was “a remarkable woman” who “died an honorable death.” This is about as brief as a Deep Space Nine reference can get, so you may wonder why it got cut from the film.
Different Reasons For The Cut Mention
The answer to why we didn’t get a Dax mention in this Star Trek movie is that producer Rick Berman didn’t want it included. Berman gave an unsatisfactory reason for nixing the line, claiming that its inclusion would have confused fans who hadn’t watched Deep Space Nine. However, considering that Dax actor Terry Farrell explicitly left the show because she found Berman “very misogynistic” and creepily focused on her appearance, many think this dialogue may have been cut from Insurrection as a way for Berman to punish an actor who pushed back against him.
Jadzia Dax Deserved Better
As major Deep Space Nine fans, we’re happy that Michael Piller worked so hard to reference Worf’s relationship and one of the show’s most beloved characters. Piller wanted to go further and show the Enterprise E fighting in the Dominion War, but Starfleet getting the upper hand in that war by the time Insurrection came out meant he had to drop the idea. Either of these changes would have been an improvement, but let’s be honest…almost any change made to Star Trek: Insurrection would be an improvement.
