I also didn't see anything wrong with Farrell's portrayal of Jadzia, at least since the writers figured out what to do with her (they had problems throughout season 1 and half of season 2). But I can see that she's a limited actress compared to some of her colleagues. Bear in mind that, on a TV show, actors' talent and strengths play a big part in the development of a character and the type of stories the writers decide to write for them. I think that one of the producers or directors from DS9 once said something like, There is a good reason why Odo and Kira had so many dramatic, angst-filled storylines, while Jadzia had funny quips and Klingon missions and Bashir had holodeck and spy business... Which was a nice way of saying that Auberjonois and Visitor were stronger actors who could do angst exceptionally well and carry those highly dramatic episodes. Odo was first meant to be a Clint Eastwood type of character, but after Auberjonois was cast, the character was developed as a lot more emotional and soul-searching, because that's what the actor is so good at conveying. Watching early DS9, it seems that Kira was envisioned as a classic 'tough girl', but since Visitor is so good at conveying vulnerability without sacrificing the character's strength, they kept giving her a lot of gut-wrenching material. I'm pretty sure that's one of the reasons for the 'torture O'Brien' episodes, not only is his character the likable everyman, but Meaney is a very good at playing drama and torment. Also keep in mind that the character of Dukat, meant to be a rather straightforward bad guy, became a lot more developed and complex than anyone had planned. With Jadzia however, I think that they realized that Farrell was best at being funny and playing a witty commentator on the events, but that she wasn't really a great dramatic actress, and this shaped the character and her storylines.
That's interesting. I read through the Ron Moore AOL chats recently, for it was insightful to read his and fans' views as the series unfolded. It was clear they didn't plan a lot of things in advance (such as the Dukat arc), so it makes sense that upon seeing Marc Aliamo's abilities, they gave a much bigger and more complex role than they'd initially anticipated.
And if the reverse is true, then maybe that
is why, say Troi never developed too much in TNG but Worf/Dorn did. Michael Piller, who I understand from Moore's comments came in to TNG in season three with the notion of developing characters, and perhaps he, eg, saw the chance for a Michael Dorn character to develop more readily than a Marina Sirtis character. And likewise for Jadzia/Farrel vs Kira/Visitor, except for even bigger developments given Behr & Friends' explicit priority of writing character-based stories.
Now that I think about it, characters such as Odo and Kira *did* evolve far more and acted in more complex scenarios than, say Jadzia. And that might be a reason for some fans' complaints of the comparatively "stiff" or lower-dimensional actions of Jadzia: it could be the writers just realized it was harder to get her to portray a broad spectrum of emotions.
As for the "O'Brien suffering" theme that you attribute both to the character as well as Meaney's talents, what about Harry Kim/Garret Wang? He was almost cut from the show, and quite a few VOY fans think he is a poor actor (btw, I like Harry and Wang's portrayal). Yet he was VOY's version of O'Brien in the sense that
he was the guy who had the mandatory "suffering" episodes. If he's not that good, then why'd the VOY writers choose *him* for the sufferring shows? I suppose one response could be that he
wasn't very good at conveying sufferring, and the VOY writers were not as discerning as those of DS9 (I know many will say that regardless!). *OR* maybe people would he was singularly good at doing suffering but not much else.
I certainly didn't see him as a poor actor, but some of his stories I thought were poor (eg, "The Thaw" or "The Disease"), and it's true that it does seem a little odd that (a) after several years in the dangerous Delta Quadrant, he still seemed fairly "green" and (b) that there is some sort of restrictions on the number of lieutenants who can recurve filed commissions so Janeway kept him a permanent ensign (despite him being a senior bridge officer in charge of Ops
and the number of casualties among lieutenants — you'd think there be room for one more lieutenant!).
So:
Do you think he was kept "green" and an ensign *because* of Wang's acting abilities were best suited to playing only that kind of raw, eager, rather naïve character instead of maturing and becoming a little more jaded? (Though he seemed to pull off jaded pretty well in "Timeless", IMO.)
thanks for the feedback! I hope to hear more answers/suggestions!
