Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is considered one of the best entries in the Star Trek franchise, and part of that is due to how well the series has held up in the years since its finale. Fans have celebrated the show's more progressive ideals and characters in ways they weren’t celebrated when the show first aired, and actress Nana Visitor can speak to that personally. Thanks to Netflix and likely Paramount+ subscriptions, people are now seeing Kira Nerys in a new light.
Nana Visitor appeared alongside Chase Masterson and Alexander Siddig at the convention Star Trek: Mission Chicago, and during a conversation about how well the show has aged, Visitor shared an interesting tidbit about how audiences viewed Kira during the show versus how she’s viewed now. Visitor explained she first saw the shift around the same time Deep Space Nine was first made available to stream on Netflix, and a young fan came to talk to her at a convention. Said Visitor:
The attitude towards me, my character, has certainly changed. Where I was [once] viewed as, ‘Oh, why is she always angry?’ Now, I remember when it happened, it was just when the show went on Netflix. I went to a convention, and there was a 15-year-old boy, and that is telling. He was like, ‘I have a big crush on you.’ I was like, ‘Wait, what? Wait, wait, let’s talk about this. I’m not too angry? I’m not threatening you in any way? He’s like, ‘Oh, I think it’s great.’ So that has changed.
Kira was once seen as “too angry” or brash back during the first run of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, but decades later, when strong women who take charge are one of the more celebrated archetypes of modern pop culture, she’s viewed differently (similar to Jeri Ryan's return to the franchise as Seven of Nine). It’s always cool to see a show’s characters age well or when they’re brought in and given character growth that deepens their character’s meaning, like what Picard recently did with revelations about the titular captain's parents.
While some of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine’s actors might be surprised at how their characters are seen in these modern times, Chase Masterson revealed one person on the show saw it coming. Masterson explained showrunner Ira Steven Behr told the cast deep into the series' run that he saw it becoming more popular over time compared to when it first aired. She said:
In the Fifth Season, Ira [Steven Behr] told us that he saw the show becoming more popular and more appreciated in these ways. Because he could see the onset of streaming coming in the future. That is such a good point. People are able to absorb the show at their leisure, and also not at two o’clock in the morning like it was in first run. Those are the things that help you really grasp the arcs, the stories, the depth, the intricacies of the show.
Ira Steven Behr had some awesome foresight, and perhaps that’s why all the cast present at Star Trek: Mission Chicago said they would require his involvement if they appeared in one of the current shows. Hopefully that happens, as it’d be a shame not to see these characters in the new shows –even if they can’t do another one of their classic Bond homage episodes.
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is available to stream on Paramount+. Head on over to the streamer to see some of the show’s best episodes, and hold onto that subscription to see all the new Star Trek shows arriving in 2022 and beyond.
