I like this. And I look forward to season 7 so I can reassess Ezri. A couple of folk here have rated her highly whereas I really didn’t like that character the first time through. (I’m only on my third pass, and it’s been a couple of years since the second.) How much of that was because I was upset they had killed Jadzia (and given Worf that rotten situation to cope with), I will soon find out.
Oh, Jadzia!
- Thread starter CaseyW
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There's a balance to be drawn, somewhat like your best weapons... if you put them out there too early they may get damaged or destroyed in a minor engagement. On the other hand, if you keep them safe at a starbase or secure planet, there's not much for them to do and it's as if you didn't have them at all. The trick is to keep them safe until you really need them to turn the balance in something major.
We did get Ezri very obviously using her previous host's engineering skill in The Siege of AR-558, though she didn't change voices, which I think is just as well. A voice seems like it's largely formed in the host before they are ever joined. And there was the Rite of Emergence used in Field of Fire, to allow the audience and Ezri to actually see the previous host with the joined symbiont as they existed at the time. (By season 7 the writers seemed to have better ideas about how to use a joined trill.)
Jadzia was a poorly-conceived character from the jump. While some of the ideas about her sound good on paper, the writers really didn't know what to do with her in those early seasons.
Farrell has talked a lot about how she wasn't given really good direction early on and had trouble keying into the character. I blame performance issues on the writing first and foremost.
Eventually, they fixed things, not really by figuring out the character, but simply by adjusting the character to Farrell's strengths.
Still, throughout the show, she is fairly under utilized and barely ever gets any episodes to herself. And there are Dax-centric episodes, Jadzia herself is very often not the focus (as has been pointed out.) See "Facets" for a great example. Or she's given total crap like Meridian. And, once she was paired with Worf, most of her episodes centered on that relationship instead of her as her own person.
It's a shame, as the character had a lot of untapped potential and Ezri gets more signature episodes in one season than Jadzia got in three.
Farrell could rise to the occasion when she was given good stuff to work with. Sadly, that was rarely the case.
Farrell has talked a lot about how she wasn't given really good direction early on and had trouble keying into the character. I blame performance issues on the writing first and foremost.
Eventually, they fixed things, not really by figuring out the character, but simply by adjusting the character to Farrell's strengths.
Still, throughout the show, she is fairly under utilized and barely ever gets any episodes to herself. And there are Dax-centric episodes, Jadzia herself is very often not the focus (as has been pointed out.) See "Facets" for a great example. Or she's given total crap like Meridian. And, once she was paired with Worf, most of her episodes centered on that relationship instead of her as her own person.
It's a shame, as the character had a lot of untapped potential and Ezri gets more signature episodes in one season than Jadzia got in three.
Farrell could rise to the occasion when she was given good stuff to work with. Sadly, that was rarely the case.
O'Brien is mid-tier for me. My favourite character out of the main cast is actually Kira. And prior to the releases of LD and SNW Kira was actually my favourite Star Trek character for quite a while (quite strange because as a child I couldn't stand her).
If I had to rank the DS9 main cast It'd be something like: Kira - Sisko - Ezri - Quark - O'Brien - Odo - Worf - Bashir - Jadzia.
But I'm curious now. If O'Brien is your least favourite, who's your favourite?
When you go to war, you go where they think you'll be useful. Maybe you're on your belly crawling through mud with a rifle on your back. Maybe you're in relative comfort in Bletchley Park or Arlington breaking codes. The war effort needed both.
I love both Daxes, and it always stunned me to learn that Jadzia's death wasn't planned from the beginning. It just seems like the obvious thing to do with a joined species character like her.
What annoys me about how they handled Jadzia Dax was that we never really got to know Jadzia. All of her episodes were about Dax, or about the Trill in general. We never met Jadzia's family, and barely learned anything about her pre-joining, or what she brought to Dax. The biggest opportunity for this was in "Invasive Procedures," and she's kept unconscious for most of the episode! It's like the writers just never wanted to deal with Jadzia. They only wanted her for her worm.
Contrast to Ezri, who had a lot of her own character to balance out the Dax part. We met Ezri's family, and saw some clear conflicts and personality traits that set her apart from the previous Dax hosts.
What annoys me about how they handled Jadzia Dax was that we never really got to know Jadzia. All of her episodes were about Dax, or about the Trill in general. We never met Jadzia's family, and barely learned anything about her pre-joining, or what she brought to Dax. The biggest opportunity for this was in "Invasive Procedures," and she's kept unconscious for most of the episode! It's like the writers just never wanted to deal with Jadzia. They only wanted her for her worm.
Contrast to Ezri, who had a lot of her own character to balance out the Dax part. We met Ezri's family, and saw some clear conflicts and personality traits that set her apart from the previous Dax hosts.
As I’m working my way through season 7, I am seeing the strength of the Ezri character and actor, but of course we won’t be together long enough for her to worm her way too deeply into my affections. (Worm her way? See what I did there??)
I also like Kira, but I’m not very good at favourites. They shift around depending on the episode, my mood, etc, I suspect. But tonight’s favourites would be…
Garak, Jadzia, Quark, Rom, Nog, Kira, Odo, Gul Dukat (early seasons), Worf, Martok, Julian+O’Brien (they make a great pair), Ezri, Jake Sisko, Ben Sisko… I am particularly fond of the ones that have great soliloquies (or one-liners) like Garak and all-round fabulous performances like Quark, or who I just plain like, like Jadzia. And I have to admit that I hated Kai Winn beautifully. She was very good at what she did, and a complex character. I think she and Dukat were really let down by the SL in the final season.
Thank you for this.
And also: yes, yes, and yes.Thank you for this.
This is in order, by the way, from favourite to least. I notice neither Julian or Miles made it as singular organisms. Oops.
There's a subtle change with Jadzia after "INVASIVE PROCEDURES", and you see it as early as 3 episodes after it.
Up to "INVASIVE PROCEDURES", she was more somewhat withdrawn and less open when in conversations with other characters and in actions. After that, she seemed to be more open and free with her expression and demeanor... for example, take her conversation with Pel in "RULES OF ACQUISITION". She was very relaxed, laid back... more open. (I'd even say her conversations with Melora on the runabout in "MELORA", the episode right before, also point to this change in her demeanor.) Then, a bit later in the season in "PLAYING GOD", we see her doing stuff that made her more fun... giving O'Brien the flute (despite it being from Bashir, she probably was in on the joke or even suggested it), wrestling in the morning, eating Klingon food, etc. She was living.
I think the experience of having the Dax symbiote taken out changed her, because she said she felt so alone and empty after it was gone. Once Dax was rejoined with Jadzia, I think she took a hard look at herself and thought, "I'm going to truly live now... I've got all these memories and experiences, I should also be adding to Dax as well." Which makes sense... some people after having a near death experience change and start doing things that they never did before because they held themselves back for whatever reason.
From that point on (for the most part), she was more carefree, fun, and more importantly... alive.
Up to "INVASIVE PROCEDURES", she was more somewhat withdrawn and less open when in conversations with other characters and in actions. After that, she seemed to be more open and free with her expression and demeanor... for example, take her conversation with Pel in "RULES OF ACQUISITION". She was very relaxed, laid back... more open. (I'd even say her conversations with Melora on the runabout in "MELORA", the episode right before, also point to this change in her demeanor.) Then, a bit later in the season in "PLAYING GOD", we see her doing stuff that made her more fun... giving O'Brien the flute (despite it being from Bashir, she probably was in on the joke or even suggested it), wrestling in the morning, eating Klingon food, etc. She was living.
I think the experience of having the Dax symbiote taken out changed her, because she said she felt so alone and empty after it was gone. Once Dax was rejoined with Jadzia, I think she took a hard look at herself and thought, "I'm going to truly live now... I've got all these memories and experiences, I should also be adding to Dax as well." Which makes sense... some people after having a near death experience change and start doing things that they never did before because they held themselves back for whatever reason.
From that point on (for the most part), she was more carefree, fun, and more importantly... alive.
That's a fair way to "in-universe it" but the new approach to writing Jadzia had already started in the Circle three-parter which opened the season. She was looser and jokier.
That's a good point and observation, particularly her exchange with Kira in the sub-impulse raider.
Nice.
You take a character that’s inherently schizophrenic and expect consistency?
I think that it wasn’t until Ezri arrived that the character got the attention and focus that she needed to explain just how disorienting “the joining”must be.
TBH I never liked Farrell’s performance,she never seemed invested to me.
I think that it wasn’t until Ezri arrived that the character got the attention and focus that she needed to explain just how disorienting “the joining”must be.
TBH I never liked Farrell’s performance,she never seemed invested to me.
She was a B-list actor who happened to land a part in a Star Trek show, granting her the fame she never would have had otherwise.
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