Ziyal

[Sparkle Fabulosa]

So I literally (as in 5 minutes ago) just finished “Sacrifice Of Angels” and I need to vent because FEELINGS!

That was such a dramatic emotional moment between father and daughter, and then... Why!? Ziyal was so kind and sweet. It was heart-wrenching to watch Dukat break down. I felt bad for him even though he’s a horrible man. His love for his daughter is the one thing that humanizes him. Then there’s Garak, he came back to her like he promised.

It’s all just very sad.

 

[Bry_Sinclair]

Indeed.

Ziyal was a great character, she helped flesh Dukat out even more, so he wasn't just a moustache twirling villain. She also brought out another aspect of Kira, the protective big sister, and was another loss for her to bear as well.

As much as I wish she'd been spared, her death brought with it some interesting developments further down the line.

 

[Armus]

I really liked the second Ziyal, who we saw in "For The Cause". Her early scenes with Garak, where she asked him out and they enjoyed the holosuite together, were very sweet. The third and final Ziyal, the one murdered by Demar, will always be remembered for "Shrinkage" in Seinfeld.

 

[Sparkle Fabulosa]

Why were there so many actors portraying her?

 

[Kilana2]

http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Tora_Ziyal

It was Ira Steven Behr's idea of playing with the audience mind.... whatever. And they thought nobody would see the difference under all the prothestics. I saw a more petite Ziyal in her first appearance.......

 

[Armus]

The first actress was too young for Garak. I'm not sure why the second, the actress from "For The Cause", was replaced in season 5 by another.

 

[Discofan]

The second Ziyal was way hotter than the other two, maybe that was the problem. The third one seemed older, a little more "mature" so to speak.

 

[Bry_Sinclair]

The first actress was too young for Garak. I'm not sure why the second, the actress from "For The Cause", was replaced in season 5 by another.

She was replaced because the actress had a bad reaction to the prosthetics/makeup.

 

[Discofan]

She was replaced because the actress had a bad reaction to the prosthetics/makeup.

That problem will be solved with the generalization of CGI makeup.

 

[Leviathan]

Why were there so many actors portraying her?

Phaser mishaps.

 

[Guy Gardener]

Seems like we could have had a time travel episode that used all three actresses.

 

[Discofan]

Seems like we could have had a time travel episode that used all three actresses.

In-universe there is only ONE person. You don't see Garak say things like: "Hey, you're not the same person you were a couple of months ago!"

 

[Guy Gardener]

Each is a little older than the next, which is why they look exactly the same, baring diet....

10 years in a concentration camp, did not leave this girl as unmalnourished as a princess with random abandom in a replimat.

The size change between the first two actresses is explainable, even though in the real world it was an age change.

 

[Bad Thoughts]

Seems like we could have had a time travel episode that used all three actresses.

I don't think there is enough payoff to justify bringing back Tracy Middendorf.

I think it would have made more sense to bring back Cyia Batten for an Orb experience, preferably one shorter than Wrong Darker Than .. .

 

[Guy Gardener]

There were two actresses that sequentionally played the sister on the 90s sitcom Boy Meets World...

More recently both actresses resumed the same role simultaneously on the spin off Girl Meets World.

They were speaking in stereo.

Hilarious.

 

[Discofan]

I don't think there is enough payoff to justify bringing back Tracy Middendorf.

I think it would have made more sense to bring back Cyia Batten for an Orb experience, preferably one shorter than Wrong Darker Than .. .

Well, she was the leading Orion girl on ENT.

 

[Sakonna]

I always thought it was obvious that they replaced the first actress because she was bad, then came up with ridiculous public explanations for the fans because it's not cool to say "we fired her because she sucked." I totally believe that Middendorf then didn't take to the makeup.

All the recasting really is a shame, though. None of them feel at all like the same character to me, so no arc coheres out of it. Melanie Smith was the best actress, but her version is basically just "saintly princess", and they really don't connect the dots as to how we got there from her past as a slave and resistance fighter. Maybe it would have worked better if Ziyal's backstory had been that Dukat kept her locked up somewhere in gilded isolation, a la a proper fairy tale princess.

All that being said, I do still find her death scene very upsetting and effective -- all the more remarkable given all the fumbles in the setup!

 

[Bad Thoughts]

All that being said, I do still find her death scene very upsetting and effective -- all the more remarkable given all the fumbles in the setup!

Apparently the feelings were real. Casey Biggs remarks that he would read his scripts while getting his makeup with the rest of the cast. Once, he blurted out that Damar was about to kill a particular character. The actress overheard him, and ran out, crying. I can't think it could have been anyone else than Smith who was upset.

 

[Discofan]

Apparently the feelings were real. Casey Biggs remarks that he would read his scripts while getting his makeup with the rest of the cast. Once, he blurted out that Damar was about to kill a particular character. The actress overheard him, and ran out, crying. I can't think it could have been anyone else than Smith who was upset.

You mean up until then she thought they would keep her character for a few more episodes?

 

[Bad Thoughts]

You mean up until then she thought they would keep her character for a few more episodes?

That would appear to be the case. It was part of a larger point that Biggs was making, which was that the guest actors seldom received more than the pages to be filmed that day.