Didn’t B5 do it first, by years? Kira/Odo didn’t become an item until B5 was off the air.
my mistake. it still made me stop watching.
Didn't rewatch it for decades. But isn't this romance a very background narrative arc until the very latest season?
It ruined it for me. I just can't care about two creatures who wouldn't care about each other in a biological sense irl kiss on tv.
The "making one of the unique alien main characters look more human to be a better sell as a love interest to the audience" part is unfortunately ever present though. Then again, they already went in that direction between the pilot and the first episode.