I can’t for the life of me find the article now, but when doing dissertation research I found this one paper about Julian and Miles’s homoeroticism, and about how DS9 presents heterosexual marriage as the only ending, and I’ve been rotating thoughts about it for too long not to share. Partial credit to that one academic – I’d credit you properly if I was still allowed to access university resources (graduating is rough, lads).
So. Sisko’s story begins with his wife dying, and although most of the show centers his relationship with his son, by the end his marriage to Kasidy is So Important she’s the only person he says goodbye to. We have marriage as a satisfying (your opinion may differ) ending for Leeta and Rom, and Jadzia and Worf. Keiko and Miles are steady throughout – they argue realistically but their marriage is never framed as changeable. Conversely, the final villain (Dukat) is divorced, and the main villainous group (the Dominion species) is a mix of clones (fundamentally asexual) and beings without enough individuality to have marriage as a concept. Even Odo, despite not actually being married to Kira, needs romantic love to “redeem” him from the other Changelings – canonically it’s the only reason he doesn’t go join the fascists.
All of that makes Julian really interesting, because he refuses to stick with a woman. He has chemistry with some (him and Dax have some great moments imo) but it’s primarily friendly relationships rather than romantic ones (going by very strict 90s definitions of Friend, Lover, and Partner). We’re told he Was engaged, once, but called it off before marriage. Prior to the augment reveal, his main relationships are with Garak (another single man – dangerous because we have to be hetero here), Jadzia (married woman, can’t give him the ending the narrative demands), and Miles (married man). I think part of why Julian and Garak have fewer interactions is Because of the augment reveal. Before that, one of Julian’s biggest character traits was that he was painfully Federation – here read Good and Conforming, not always successfully, but not poorly enough to matter, he was always going to settle down and marry a woman. But after we find out he’s augmented? That he’s been lying this whole time? That he’s not supposed to be here? That’s dangerous, that opens up possibilities. If Julian is Different from everyone else in an Illegal and Immoral way… you can see how, consciously or not, 90s writers would have issues continuing to pair him with a queer coded single man.
In comes Miles. I mean, he was already there, they’ve been friends for ages before season 5, but more so. Marriage in DS9 ends in two ways – death if you’re Starfleet, divorce if you’re not. And Miles is Starfleet (possibly the most Starfleet, since he’s from TNG and 100% human). Pairing Julian primarily with Miles is safe, because when they leave the bar Miles will always go home to his wife. Married men are allowed to be as homoerotic as they like in this story – divorce doesn’t happen to the good guys, and Keiko is rarely enough in the line of fire that an end to this marriage is unlikely. If Miles felt trapped in this marriage – and narratively speaking he totally is – he has a safe out for it now.
Julian and Ezri don’t need to marry to prove that he’s Good and Straight Enough – she’s already been married as Jadzia, and he is safely with the good guys with his homoerotic married friend. But ending with them as a couple solidifies it. The writers (according to the documentary) think they’ll stay together, and within the rules of this story they’re right. If Julian and Ezri are truly good, they don’t get a choice.
@waingate thank you!! Yes that looks right. Article by Lincoln Geraghty
