Did fandom know ahead of time that Jadzia Dax would die?

[Steve Zodiac]

Or did it come as a shock? Was it know that Terry Farrell was leaving the show?

 

[Dukhat]

I remember hearing about it before it happened.

 

[Bad Thoughts]

I didn't pay a lot of attention to the online chatter at the time, so I was not aware that Terry Farrell would be leaving the show. However, I do remember that the trailers advertised that someone on the crew would die.

 

[Sakonna]

Maybe my memory is off, but I recall the news circulating online way ahead of time. I feel like I went to a convention right in the middle of season 6 where her eventual departure was already being openly discussed by the speakers.

 

[AresB]

There were a number of threads in rec.arts.startrek.current in Spring 1998 about rumors on Terry Farrell's departure and death of Dax.

 

[Noname Given]

Like Denise Crosby - yes, it was announced/known before the episode aired.

 

[arch101]

If you read The Great Link, you knew it was coming. There was lots of speculation on wether Dax would even be back for S7.

 

[BillJ]

There was lots of speculation on wether Dax would even be back for S7.

Really with Dax hadn't come back.

 

[amp]

Here's a contemporaneous report from February 1998.

Terry Farrell Leaving DS9?

Terry Farrell, the actress who plays Jadzia Dax on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, said she declined a take-it-or-leave-it offer from Paramount to return for DS9's next season, and she does not expect to be back in the show's lineup. Speaking to dismayed fans at Creation Con in Manhattan, N.Y., on Saturday, Feb. 21, Farrell said she hoped that DS9's producers would not kill off her character, although she admitted that having Dax killed would present a great deal of dramatic potential.

A Paramount spokesperson confirmed that Farrell had not signed a contract for the next season of DS9 but added that she had until approximately mid-April to do so. The spokesperson added that as far as Paramount is concerned, there will not be a definitive decision on the situation until the current season of DS9 completes shooting in April.

ftp://asavage.dyndns.org/Literature/scifi.com/www.scifi.com/sfw/issue65/news.html

Back then though the internet was rather less ubiquitous so even though it was reported in the media it's questionable how many fans were actually aware of Terry Farrell's departure. I believe I had heard the reports that she was leaving, but I'm not sure if I knew that they were actually going to kill off Jadzia.

 

[Starbreaker]

I remember her landing a job on Becker pretty quickly which ended the speculation.

 

[Iamnotspock]

I remember reading about it on Teletext; "Dax is to be permanently killed off", and later reading an interview with Nicole de Boer in one of the UK SF magazines about her joining the show, so I certainly knew that Jadzia would be leaving ahead of time but I don't recall whether I knew that Dax would be replaced with a new host before I saw "Tears of the Prophets".

 

[JirinPanthosa]

I think it’s a missed opportunity that Exri never did the Facets ritual and talked to Jadzia.

 

[kkt]

I think it’s a missed opportunity that Exri never did the Facets ritual and talked to Jadzia.

Unfortunately, by the time Farrell left, relations between her and Star Trek were such that she wouldn't be coming back, even for a one-shot episode.

 

[Paul755]

They didn’t even include Jadzia in the series finale cast montage.

 

[Mage]

They didn’t even include Jadzia in the series finale cast montage.

I believe when something like this is done, the producers/studios need to pay the actor in question for using material with that character they portrayed. I am, however, not 100% sure about that.

 

[F. King Daniel]

I remember seeing a photo of Nicole with "THE NEW DAX!" written across it in a magazine or somesuch. But in England we were way behind the US back then.

 

[amp]

I believe when something like this is done, the producers/studios need to pay the actor in question for using material with that character they portrayed. I am, however, not 100% sure about that.

Here's what Ron Moore said in his AOL chat:

Q: Why was Jadzia excluded from Worf’s Memories of DS9? Is there some animosity between Terry Farrel and the ST Execs?

A: In order to use a clip of someone from a previous episode, you first have to obtain permission from the actor in question. Usually permission is routinely granted and a nominal fee is paid (unlike writers and directors, who receive a flat fee and don’t get the option of saying yes or no). In this case, we were unable to obtain permission. And no, we weren’t real happy about it.

 

[Mage]

Here's what Ron Moore said in his AOL chat:

Considering Terry not being happy how she was treated at points, this could easily be a matter of he said/she said and we'll never know the truth.

 

[StalwartUK]

Didn't they get into trouble over using a clip of her voice in a earlier Season 7 episode without permission?

 

[Therin of Andor]

Didn't they get into trouble over using a clip of her voice in a earlier Season 7 episode without permission?

Yes. Because that case went to arbitration, and had not yet been resolved, Terry's character was not able to appear in the finale's flashback sequence. But... she did attend the Season Seven wrap party.

I certainly knew that Jadzia would be leaving ahead of time but I don't recall whether I knew that Dax would be replaced with a new host before I saw "Tears of the Prophets".

There was a rumour the new Dax would be male, which would have made things interesting for Michael Dorn and Worf.