Terry Farrell and DS9 Season 7

[Kobayshi Maru]

Exactly. I mean, once you've set up the whole Trill thing, how do you not pull that trigger eventually? It's like Chekov's Symbiote. And with Farrell wanting to leave anyway? That's a gift from the storytelling gods.

Heck, I would've been tempted to kill off Jadzia well before then, just so you could finally play the Trill card and show us how the rest of the cast reacts to a new Dax. The whole idea of replacing Jadzia was practically built into the show's DNA from Day One.

I'm glad they got a chance to milk that idea before the show wrapped up.

(And, yes, I liked Ezri better, too.)

I still think they should have changed Dax's gender. That would have been much more of a shock to the crew. Imagine Worf's embarrassment alone.

Priceless!

That could have been fun, too. Although, as noted earlier, that would have made for a very male-heavy cast of regulars.

They could have added another semi-regular female. After all it was only for one season.

On TNG, they had quite a few of these, like Nurse Ogawa for example.

 

[Orphalesion]

\
I still think they should have changed Dax's gender. That would have been much more of a shock to the crew. Imagine Worf's embarrassment alone.

Priceless!

I approve. They should have so done that! Ezri was an improvement over Jadzia, but she was still very similar: female, same coloration, same division color... much too safe!

It would have been more fun, and the bolder choice to make Jadzia's successor a dude.

Also I would even say it was not just Terry Farrel who was a less than stellar actress, but the character was also a bit weakly written. She was ladylike and ethereal....but also fought blood oaths with Klingons...and was snarky....and gambled with Ferengi...and was reserved...and was adamant about not being her predecessor....but also didn't mind Sisko calling her "Old Man".
Really. was there anything Jadzia Dax wasn't or couldn't do?

Of course part of it was her having the experience of multiple lifetimes, but it does sometimes make her seem a bit Sue-ish. Not to mention that Ezri seemed like the more consistent character despite having the same multiple lifetimes as Jadzia.

 

[Tosk]

A character with varied tastes who changes their mind about things...what are the odds?

 

[Bad Thoughts]

A character that evolves? Strange concept.

 

[Orphalesion]

Except she didn't evolve. She was everything at once, it was largely because of the symbiont I understand, but it still seemed like Dax was good at everything, could do everything and could have random character traits as the episode demanded.
Of course Dax's previous lives gave the writers the perfect excuse to do so and Jadzia still beats a lot of other female Trek characters.

However, compare her to Kira, a character who actually evolved and changed over the course of the serie, but who was still consistent.

 

[Kobayshi Maru]

In spite of his evilness, Dukat felt sorry for having to kill Jadzia. It seems there was a little humanity left in him, or should I say cardassianity?

 

[kkt]

I still think they should have changed Dax's gender. That would have been much more of a shock to the crew. Imagine Worf's embarrassment alone.

Priceless!

That could have been fun, too. Although, as noted earlier, that would have made for a very male-heavy cast of regulars.

They could have added another semi-regular female. After all it was only for one season.

On TNG, they had quite a few of these, like Nurse Ogawa for example.

They could, but there were a lot of threads to wrap up in Season 7 anyway. How much screen time would we have for introducing both a new Dax and another new character, and really using them? And Season 7 was expensive anyway, with all the space battles, and Vic, and the location shots. Although it would have been fun to have the next Dax be male, I think in the context of the show as a whole they made the right choice.

And with a male, Worf and Dax wouldn't have had the interesting post-relationship dysfunctional sex that they had, and that would have been a loss I think.

 

[Bad Thoughts]

Except she didn't evolve. She was everything at once, it was largely because of the symbiont I understand, but it still seemed like Dax was good at everything, could do everything and could have random character traits as the episode demanded.
Of course Dax's previous lives gave the writers the perfect excuse to do so and Jadzia still beats a lot of other female Trek characters.

However, compare her to Kira, a character who actually evolved and changed over the course of the serie, but who was still consistent.

That might be a fine critique, except that those shifts in characterization were not a reflection of the uncertainty of the writers. They reflected the efforts both of writers and producers to find a character that Terry Farrell could adequately play. Listen to the Delta Quadrant podcast interview. She admits that her skills were not up to par and numerous accommodations had to be made for her.

 

[Kobayshi Maru]

Except she didn't evolve. She was everything at once, it was largely because of the symbiont I understand, but it still seemed like Dax was good at everything, could do everything and could have random character traits as the episode demanded.
Of course Dax's previous lives gave the writers the perfect excuse to do so and Jadzia still beats a lot of other female Trek characters.

However, compare her to Kira, a character who actually evolved and changed over the course of the serie, but who was still consistent.

That might be a fine critique, except that those shifts in characterization were not a reflection of the uncertainty of the writers. They reflected the efforts both of writers and producers to find a character that Terry Farrell could adequately play. Listen to the Delta Quadrant podcast interview. She admits that her skills were not up to par and numerous accommodations had to be made for her.

I don't know. I didn't think she was that bad.

 

[STEPhon IT]

She wasn't bad at all. There was never a sign she was lacking in chemistry or performances; I thought Farrell and Brooks had great chemistry. I wish he and her fell in love in the series.

 

[Kobayshi Maru]

She wasn't bad at all. There was never a sign she was lacking in chemistry or performances; I thought Farrell and Brooks had great chemistry. I wish he and her fell in love in the series.

I hear Brooks only wanted Black women, which seems to be the case, even the ones he sees only in one episode like in Second Sight, they're all black. It can't just be a coincidence, can it?

 

[Bad Thoughts]

Except she didn't evolve. She was everything at once, it was largely because of the symbiont I understand, but it still seemed like Dax was good at everything, could do everything and could have random character traits as the episode demanded.
Of course Dax's previous lives gave the writers the perfect excuse to do so and Jadzia still beats a lot of other female Trek characters.

However, compare her to Kira, a character who actually evolved and changed over the course of the serie, but who was still consistent.

That might be a fine critique, except that those shifts in characterization were not a reflection of the uncertainty of the writers. They reflected the efforts both of writers and producers to find a character that Terry Farrell could adequately play. Listen to the Delta Quadrant podcast interview. She admits that her skills were not up to par and numerous accommodations had to be made for her.

I don't know. I didn't think she was that bad.

Go. Listen. Farrell does not outrightly say she is a bad actress. However, she admits that (1) she was incapable of playing a person of stature, and leaned on Brooks for support; (2) other (unnamed) members of the cast made her feel that she lacked sufficient talent; (3) she often held up production, causing exasperation among the cast; (4) she should have been actively assigned an acting coach as part of her contract. She makes other arguments in order to say that the part was too difficult for her--arguments that I think make little sense. Actors are often required to imitate people who are bigger than them. Science fiction actors are required to display uncommon combinations of qualities. She claims that she was a Trekkie since childhood: she should have known what to expect.

 

[STEPhon IT]

I hear Brooks only wanted Black women, which seems to be the case, even the ones he sees only in one episode like in Second Sight, they're all black. It can't just be a coincidence, can it?

I think the writers had trouble writing for him in the later seasons. Too much Leeta, Rom, Martok, Vic, Worf, and THE WAR to focus on. I don't know if Brooks wanted that, but I thought his chemistry with Penny Johnson was so odd. Comparing to her chemistry with Dennis Haysbert from 24, her role on DS9 didn't make any sense. She was so boring the writers made her a Maquis smuggler, ANYTHING to up that character's game which was a dud.

I thought the writers blundered by killing everyone from the mirror universe. Redundancy FROM THE DEPT. OF REDUNDANCY! Desperate to find ideas to cling on and to pamper their fan-wankery they kept catering to cliche' and very boring story telling. Jennifer should've lived.

To me Dax felt right and I thought she was Jake's surrogate mother.

 

[Kobayshi Maru]

I hear Brooks only wanted Black women, which seems to be the case, even the ones he sees only in one episode like in Second Sight, they're all black. It can't just be a coincidence, can it?

I think the writers had trouble writing for him in the later seasons. Too much Leeta, Rom, Martok, Vic, Worf, and THE WAR to focus on. I don't know if Brooks wanted that, but I thought his chemistry with Penny Johnson was so odd. Comparing to her chemistry with Dennis Haysbert from 24, her role on DS9 didn't make any sense. She was so boring the writers made her a Maquis smuggler, ANYTHING to up that character's game which was a dud.

I thought the writers blundered by killing everyone from the mirror universe. Redundancy FROM THE DEPT. OF REDUNDANCY! Desperate to find ideas to cling on and to pamper their fan-wankery they kept catering to cliche' and very boring story telling. Jennifer should've lived.

To me Dax felt right and I thought she was Jake's surrogate mother.

Jadzia most likely, especially in light of episodes like The Visitor but Ezri? Not so much.

 

[STEPhon IT]

It's what fumes me about the soulless writing from the 4th through the 7th season of DS9; the first three seasons were developing character traits which could go to it's ultimate conclusion. Jake becoming a teacher, Sisko making Bajor members of the Federation, and marrying Jadzia Dax. I mean, come on, does anyone really believe she was saving herself for Worf???

I would have rather her be with Kai Winn than that dumb lug of a character who happened to be a Lt. Commander??? Wow. Star Fleet just throws promotions whenever a character is popular. Worf has the lowest I.Q. for a commanding officer; he simply should NOT be in command of ANYTHING. How in the world the writers could even think it's acceptable for a sophisticated character like Jadzia would be with an idiot like Worf???

Also the same imbecile RONALD D.MOORE, who architect the romance between Troi and Worf, never thought these things are not necessary for that character. Worf has a long track record of awkwardness with sophisticated women and it just doesn't work. Not even for a comedy angle. I don't hate Worf but I did on DS9, he was irrelevant on the station. Just like Ezri Dax.

 

[Kobayshi Maru]

IMO, Jadzia was slightly better than Ezri but definitely not by much.

 

[Bad Thoughts]

IMO, Jadzia was slightly better than Ezri but definitely not by much.

I agree. Much of my criticism of Farrell has to do with her inability to portray her character. By mid-series, Jadzia Dax was a good sounding board and contrast to the other characters on the show. Farrell's scenes with Dorn and Brooks are quite good, but they almost always have nothing to do with the character, especially not her "Trillness" or compossibility. On the To The Journey podcast, they speculated that Tery Farrell would have been an excellent addition to Voyager. I would agree: she would fit in better if the show were focused more on the alien encounter of the week.

 

[Kobayshi Maru]

IMO, Jadzia was slightly better than Ezri but definitely not by much.

I agree. Much of my criticism of Farrell has to do with her inability to portray her character. By mid-series, Jadzia Dax was a good sounding board and contrast to the other characters on the show. Farrell's scenes with Dorn and Brooks are quite good, but they almost always have nothing to do with the character, especially not her "Trillness" or compossibility. On the To The Journey podcast, they speculated that Tery Farrell would have been an excellent addition to Voyager. I would agree: she would fit in better if the show were focused more on the alien encounter of the week.

What's too bad is that in order to be a new addition to Voyager you have to be from the Delta quadrant, assimilated by the Borg... OR you encountered a weird anomaly on your way back to DS9 that put you right in Voyager's way... That seems a bit too convenient though , doesn't it?

 

[Timewalker]

IMO, Jadzia was slightly better than Ezri but definitely not by much.

I agree. Much of my criticism of Farrell has to do with her inability to portray her character. By mid-series, Jadzia Dax was a good sounding board and contrast to the other characters on the show. Farrell's scenes with Dorn and Brooks are quite good, but they almost always have nothing to do with the character, especially not her "Trillness" or compossibility. On the To The Journey podcast, they speculated that Tery Farrell would have been an excellent addition to Voyager. I would agree: she would fit in better if the show were focused more on the alien encounter of the week.

It's a good thing she wasn't on Voyager. They might not have had the excellent Jeri Ryan as a cast member, and she could act rings around most of the others. She's definitely better than Terry Farrell.

 

[Kobayshi Maru]

IMO, Jadzia was slightly better than Ezri but definitely not by much.

I agree. Much of my criticism of Farrell has to do with her inability to portray her character. By mid-series, Jadzia Dax was a good sounding board and contrast to the other characters on the show. Farrell's scenes with Dorn and Brooks are quite good, but they almost always have nothing to do with the character, especially not her "Trillness" or compossibility. On the To The Journey podcast, they speculated that Tery Farrell would have been an excellent addition to Voyager. I would agree: she would fit in better if the show were focused more on the alien encounter of the week.

It's a good thing she wasn't on Voyager. They might not have had the excellent Jeri Ryan as a cast member, and she could act rings around most of the others. She's definitely better than Terry Farrell.

Would you like it better if she replaced Harry Kim?