Entertainment
The Star Trek Episode That Secretly Explored The ‘90s Most Controversial Issue
By Chris Snellgrove
| Updated
From the very beginning, Star Trek embraced progressive ideals that risked angering the more conservative audiences of the time. The Original Series, for example, made a Black woman a main character at the height of the Civil Rights era. It also featured a prominent Japanese character when post-World War II racism was still in full swing and added a Russian character at the height of the Cold War. Later, shows like Deep Space Nine took bigger swings by making a Black man the captain, and Voyager did the same thing by putting a woman in charge, nearly 30 years after TOS insisted there could be no female Starfleet captains.
However, there was one final frontier that the Golden Age of Star Trek didn’t dare explore, and that was featuring openly gay characters. There are multiple people responsible for this decision. Historically, franchise creator Gene Roddenberry was opposed to including gay characters because he worried about offending the network and the fandom. After his death, new Trek guru Rick Berman reportedly did his best to quash multiple gay characters and stories. However, that didn’t keep the writers from occasionally sneaking coded moments past the goalie. For example, the Deep Space Nine episode “Rules of Acquistion” features Dax being fully accepting of a Ferengi who loves Quark, even when she thinks that the Ferengi is a man!
Star Trek‘s Sneaky Sexuality
For this weird tale to make sense, we’re gonna have to slingshot around the sun and visit different Star Trek eras. In an interview with PBS, gay franchise icon George Takei said that he spoke to Roddenberry about including any openly homosexual characters. He claims that Roddenberry really wanted to do it but worried he was “walking a tightrope” with viewers, pointing out that Kirk and Uhura’s interracial kiss “was very controversial.” When The Next Generation came out, there were unconfirmed accounts that Roddenberry promised various groups that he would include gay characters, but that never happened.
After Roddenberry died, Rick Berman became the final word on Star Trek. Unfortunately, he allegedly did everything he could to quash gay representation in the franchise. This included reportedly killing a David Gerrold TNG script which featured gay characters and a clear AIDs allegory. Berman also killed the Bashir/Garak relationship on DS9 despite the actors being into it. Later, he even put out a press release to kill rumors that First Contact’s Lieutenant Hawke was gay. Eventually, prolific TNG and DS9 writer Ronald Moore seemingly alluded to Berman, telling Fandom the only reason there were no gay characters in the franchise is that “people in charge don’t want gay characters in Star Trek, period.”
The Latinum That Dare Not Speak Its Name
So, what does all of this have to do with “Rules of Acquisition,” a largely forgotten Deep Space Nine episode? This episode features a female employee of Quark’s, Pel, who has the hots for her boss. However, thanks to synthetic lobes, she presents herself to the galaxy as a male. She’s passing as a dude when she confesses her love for Quark to Dax. The science officer was perfectly fine with Pel expressing his love for a man, a simple action that helped normalize same-sex relationships in the 24th century. It’s not as loud and proud as it could have been, but getting this moment past Rick Berman was a small miracle.
After this, Deep Space Nine got more progressive in terms of gay representation. Dax kisses another woman in “Rejoined,” for example. In “Chimera,” Quark cracks a meta joke about a “Changeling Pride” demonstration. Meanwhile, the DS9 Mirror Universe is filled with queer versions of characters, including Kira, Ezri Dax, Garak, and even Worf, most of whom dress like they’re headed to the local sex dungeon. Is all of this campy and mostly catering to straight dudes who like to see women making out? Sure. But DS9 still had better gay representation than any Star Trek show until Discovery, and it all started with Dax quietly normalizing gay relationships, right under Rick Berman’s nose!
Entertainment
How to watch Japan vs. Ireland in the 2026 Nations Championship online for free
TL;DR: Watch Japan vs. Ireland in the 2026 Nations Championship for free on ITVX. Access this free live stream from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.
It’s week two of the 2026 Nations Championship, and we’re getting another stack of northern vs. southern hemisphere fixtures.
Both Japan and Ireland scored wins last week and will enter this weekend’s contest with some momentum. Japan scored the bigger win last week, beating Italy 27-10, but arguably had easier competition. Ireland finished with a two-point lead over the formidable Australia. But which team will keep the momentum going?
If you’re interested in watching the 2026 Nations Championship from anywhere in the world, we’ve got all the information you need.
When is Japan vs. Ireland?
Japan vs. Ireland in the 2026 Nations Championship kicks off at 11:10 a.m. BST on July 11. This fixture takes place at the McDonald Jones Stadium, Australia.
How to watch Japan vs. Ireland for free
Japan vs. Ireland in the 2026 Nations Championship is available to live stream for free on ITVX.
Mashable Top Stories
ITVX is geo-restricted to the UK, but anyone can secure access with a VPN. These tools can hide your real IP address (digital location) and connect you to a secure server in the UK, meaning you can livestream the 2026 Nations Championship for free from anywhere in the world.
Livestream Japan vs. Ireland in the 2026 Nations Championship for free by following these simple steps:
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Sign up for a streaming-friendly VPN (we recommend ExpressVPN)
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Download the app to your device of choice
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Open up the app and connect to a server in the UK
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Visit ITVX
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Watch Japan vs. Ireland for free from anywhere in the world
$12.99 only at ExpressVPN
The best VPNs for streaming are not free, but they do tend to offer generous money-back guarantees. By leveraging these offers, you can watch the 2026 Nations Championship without committing your cash. This is obviously not a long-term strategy, but it gives you enough time to stream multiple weekends before recovering your investment.
ExpressVPN’s regular 30-day money-back guarantee is not available for any subscriptions purchased during the FIFA World Cup between June 10 and July 11. ExpressVPN remains our top pick for sport, but you will need to pay the monthly rate until that offer comes back into play. Alternatively, Proton VPN still offers that all-important money-back guarantee.
What is the best VPN for ITVX?
ExpressVPN is the best choice for bypassing geo-restrictions to stream live sport on ITVX, for a number of reasons:
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Servers in 105 countries
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Easy-to-use app available on all major devices including iPhone, Android, Windows, Mac, and more
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Strict no-logging policy so your data is secure
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Fast connection speeds free from throttling
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Up to 10 simultaneous connections
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30-day money-back guarantee (after FIFA World Cup)
A two-year subscription to ExpressVPN is on sale for $68.40 and includes an extra four months for free — 81% off for a limited time. This plan includes a year of free unlimited cloud backup and usually offers a generous 30-day money-back guarantee. Alternatively, you can get a one-month plan for just $12.99.
Live stream the 2026 Nations Championship for free with ExpressVPN.
Entertainment
The Very Adult Space Sci-Fi Killed By Hollywood And Buried By Its Own Name
By Jonathan Klotz
| Published
Modern sci-fi owes a lot to the 1967 one-season wonder, The Prisoner, a surreal masterpiece that left the viewer wondering what the hero did to be trapped in such a bizarre seaside village, why he was trapped, and how he’d get out. Referring to its hero as only Number Six, The Prisoner’s influence can be felt in countless other series, but one of the best to pull from it aired on the SyFy channel for three seasons, from 2015 through 2017: Dark Matter.
Six strangers wake up on a spaceship with no memory of who they are or how they got there. They use the order they woke up in for names and start working together to solve the mystery. Unlike The Prisoner, they eventually figure everything out, but once they have all the answers, the questions are changed.
Dark Matter Opens With A Twist
Dark Matter opens up with a dark, beat-up ship as one by one, the six passengers, four men, one woman (The Rookie’s Melissa O’Neil), and a teenage girl, wake up, each with no memory of who they are. On the ship designated Raza, they find a cache of weapons and an android, and learn that the last destination was a mining colony where the workers need protection from the Ferrous Corporation. On any other sci-fi series, this would be a no-brainer, except the first big twist of the series is revealed at the end of the pilot: the passengers are the bad guys.
Learning from the android that all of them are wanted criminals, except for Number Five, puts the recovered cache in a new light. They stole it from the group contracted to help the miners, and it’s up to them to kill the miners. It’s the first of many, many twists that Dark Matter throws at viewers during its three seasons, and as far as even the Season 1 reveals go, it’s fairly tame.
The question remains: who wiped their memories, and why? For as long as that goes unanswered, the crew is left wondering, who can they trust? Who knows more than they are letting on?
The Prisoner Influence Goes Beyond The Pilot
The universe of Dark Matter is small, as far as sci-fi universes go, with the story placing more emphasis on the characters themselves than any universe-shattering conflict. It has that too, but watching the group of bad guys grapple with their past actions, develop into better people, or fail to become better and embrace being the villain of someone else’s story, drives the story forward more than a hunt for a technological MacGuffin.
The Prisoner was significantly smaller in scale, while Dark Matter lets the passengers out into the world, and yet, they can’t escape their past. From the pilot to the final episode, who they were will always define them.
Had the Patrick McGoohan classic series been allowed to continue, that was what was going to come next. Number Six would journey across the world but always remain under close watch, control, and unable to escape his fate as a prisoner.
Dark Matter And Stargate Share The Same Creative DNA
Dark Matter is heavily influenced by another sci-fi series: Stargate. The series was created by Joseph Mallozzi, one of the most prolific writers for the other Star franchise, contributing to SG-1, Atlantis, Universe, and the upcoming Amazon series. If you’ve seen the back half of SG-1, you’ll feel right at home in the world of Dark Matter.
Like Stargate, Dark Matter was also treated unfairly by SyFy, which picked up the series but didn’t develop it, relegating it to the network’s lower-priority original programming in terms of budgets and marketing.
There’s a good chance you haven’t ever watched the series, or even heard about it. Those who have given it a chance, though, have fallen in love with the ragtag crew.
A Sleeper Hit Streaming For Free
Finding Dark Matter is both easy and surprisingly difficult. It’s streaming for free on the CW website, but try to find anything about it, and you’ll wander into the 2024 Apple TV series, Dark Matter.
It’s such a common problem that even the Reddit for the SyFy series has been overtaken by fans of the new series. Like “Redemption” or “Rise of,” it’s time for the words “Dark Matter” to be retired from Hollywood for a few decades.
Once you find it, you’ll enjoy Dark Matter. Yes, there are a lot of plot holes explained away by the memory wipe, but there are also a lot of expertly crafted character development and further twists to the story. For better or for worse, this is the type of sci-fi we always need more of: a crew, a spaceship, and morally dubious missions that may or may not save the day.
Entertainment
Get a free month of streaming on Fox One with this BOGO deal
BUY ONE GET ONE FREE: Through July 19, when you sign up for a month of Fox One for $19.99, you’ll get a second month for free. That means you’ll keep $20 in your pocket and get two full months of streaming live sports and beyond.
$19.99 for 2 months (save $19.99)
Watching live sports is one of the most frustrating things about the streaming era. Well, that and how often we see price increases. But Fox One, the direct to consumer streaming service Fox launched last year, has made things a bit easier for sports fans.
For a limited time, you can get a month of the streaming service for free.
Through July 19, when you sign up for a month of Fox One for its usual $19.99 per month, you’ll get a second month for free. That’s two months of streaming for the price of one, saving you $19.99.
If you want to tune into the final matches of the FIFA World Cup 2026, this is the best way to do so in the U.S.
Mashable Deals
Fox is America’s home for the World Cup, so if you haven’t signed up yet, there’s still time. Previously, the only way to watch live Fox channels without cable was through a pay TV provider like YouTube TV or Fubo, which cost upwards of $90 per month. Now, Fox One is the one-stop shop for the entire Fox TV portfolio, allowing you to tune into live local Fox stations, Fox Sports, FS1, and FS2. And $19.99 certainly beats paying $90.
Once the World Cup has wrapped up, you’ll have access to select NFL games (including preseason), live Fox TV shows, Big Ten college football games, local news and weather, and so much more. If you don’t want to stick around after the two-month promo period, be sure to cancel before your subscription auto-renews for the following month.
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