concern about Dax being involved with a woman, only that she was an ex-spouse. David Greven, literary critic and author of Gender and Sexuality in Star Trek, said that "Rejoined" was one of the better-received episodes of Star Trek that dealt with homosexuality as a theme, but that the franchise overall had typically avoided LGBT issues. Bryan Fuller, who also wrote for Deep Space Nine, said that the franchise had usually avoided those story lines because of the paranoia of the studio regarding homosexuality. Dale Palmer, in an essay on gender and sexual politics, suggested that the choice was made to have a female same-sex kiss on screen because a male one would have alienated the main viewer demographic for the series: heterosexual men. Reception and legacy Broadcast "Rejoined" was first broadcast on October 30, 1995, in broadcast syndication. It received Nielsen ratings of 7 percent, placing it in eighth place in its timeslot. This was lower than the share received by "Indiscretion", broadcast in the week prior with a 7.2 percent share and "Little Green Men" in the week afterward with 7.7 percent. Fan, cast and crew response When the episode was originally broadcast, there was a strong negative reaction from some viewers. As Deep Space Nine was shown in syndication, one channel in the Southern United States took the step of editing out the kiss from the initial broadcast. The mother of script writer René Echevarria told him that they should have issued a parental guidance warning before broadcasting it. More responses were received at the production office from viewers than for any other episode of the series, resulting in several staff members having to take turns on the phones in order to cover the load. The staff found that although the majority of the phone calls were negative about "Rejoined", the letters were mostly positive. Terry Farrell said in a 2015 interview that "Rejoined" was her favorite episode of all time and that she still had people thanking her for the episode, because "it gave them strength, and that it made them feel like they weren't alone, it inspired them to be themselves—all the things I was hoping it would do." Critical response Zack Handlen reviewed the episode for The A.V. Club in 2013, praising the natural manner in which the romance was progressed, saying that this was "refreshing" to see. He felt that the relationship did