Winner of the Universe Reader's Choice Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Genre TV Series, actress Nana Visitor played the beloved Major and later Colonel Kira Nerys for seven seasons on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Visitor recently granted a large interview to ScreenRant about her time on the show, her character's impact, and why Gul Dukat, the former Cardassian prefect of Bajor, is a sociopath and not a sympathetic character.
While this is probably true, let's take a deeper look into Visitor's comment and why she and Dukat would have never gotten romantically involved. There's no doubt that Dukat is still a popular character. Marc Alaimo, who played the character for all seven seasons, gave the Cardassian a multifaceted personality, but Visitor claims that he's not a redeemable character, nor datable, saying:
"Yeah, I think the writers thought, 'Well, that makes it interesting.' And also, I think a lot of people found Dukat [to be] not only a great character, but romantically, almost interesting. He had this thing. There were a lot of women who liked him, but I believe that would be jumping the shark."
Visitor continued by saying:
"Yeah, 'he's a bad boy, but he means well.' No, he's a sociopath, you cannot fix that. You can't. Narcissists are good at convincing you of the person that you want to see reflected back at you. He's just so good at that."
Did the writers want to pair Dukat with Kira Nerys?
At one point later on in Deep Space Nine's history, the writers of the show considered a Kira/Dukat romance. This was likely for shock value or as a commentary about love crossing boundaries.
However, Visitor was strongly against the idea. The writers respected her wishes, so no storyline between them ever developed. I, for one, loved her relationship with Odo, so I'm glad they went in that direction instead.
Visitor's takes on Gul Dukat are both interesting and valid. A romantic partnership between these two wouldn't have been sustainable or, as a certain Vulcan would say, logical. Was Dukat a true sociopath?
So, do you agree with Nana Visitor's assessment of Gul Dukat, who was portrayed brilliantly by Marc Alaimo on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine? And what are your thoughts on a relationship between Kira Nerys and perhaps the most wonderfully infamous Cardassian of all time?
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