4-6. Rejoined.

Out of the past: Dax is reunited
with the wife of a previous host.

THE PLOT

A team of Trill scientists come to Deep Space 9 to conduct experiments on the wormhole. They hope to find a way to produce artificial wormholes. Their team leader is Dr. Lenara Kahn (Susannah Thompson), a brilliant Trill scientist - and, in a former life, Dax's wife!

Trill society holds association with spouses and family from past lives to be strictly taboo. Those Trill who have chosen to "re-associate" have been exiled from society, with the symbiont never again able to join with a new host. Effectively, the symbiont is sentenced to die at the end of the current host's life - a horrifying prospect for a joined Trill.

But despite all the time that has past and despite their new hosts, Jadzia and Lenara find their old feelings far from dead. Which leads Jadzia to the brink of an unthinkable choice...


CHARACTERS

Capt. Sisko: Offers Jadzia and extended leave so that she can avoid dealing with Lenara's appearance on the station.  She turns down the offer, but he repeats it when it becomes clear how hard this is for her. Later, when she goes to him for advice, he gives it bluntly.  He does not allow her to shut him down as he reminds her just how much the continuity of the symbiont means both to her culture and to her. Still, he adds that no matter what choice she makes, he will back her decision completely.

Dax: Terry Farrell's performance has always been best when the script gives her a strong nonverbal element to play. Ronald D. Moore and Rene Echevarria have crafted a script tailored very well to that strength. Dax's torn emotions on hearing of Lenara's arrival, and the re-growth of her bond with Lenara, are largely seen through Farrell's expressions and body language, rather than voiced through dialogue. This makes her feelings much more real, too, as that is the way most people bond with partners: With as little spoken as possible, at least until it's clear that those feelings are returned.

Worf: During small talk at a reception, Kira asks Worf what it is that Klingons dream about. "Things that would send cold chills down your spine, and wake you in the middle of the night... It is better that you do not know." When Worf excuses himself and walks away, Kira confesses that she isn't certain whether he was serious or joking.

Hot Alien Space Babe of the Week: As Dax observes with amusement, she and Lenara (Susannah Thompson) have far more in common now than when they were actually married. Lenara is a scientist, like Jadzia, which helps them to work in concert on her experiments. She is the first to broach the subject of their former relationship, expressing her continued hurt over the previous Dax's death in a shuttle accident. But once their feelings for each other are clear, Dax is the one who aggressively pursues a renewed relationship, with Lenara more hesitant.


THOUGHTS

Each season, we get one or two episodes looking at Trill society. Over the course of the series, that society has gradually evolved into one that's both complex and a bit dysfunctional. Rejoined adds another layer onto what we know about the Trill, by crafting a script around the idea of intolerance and taboos.

Obviously, the script works as a parallel for the treatment of gays by society, a parallel made all the more clear by making the relationship one involving two women. It's much stronger in this respect than TNG's more heavy-handed The Outcast was, in part because both lovers are of the same gender (whereas Riker's love interest in that episode was very clearly female), and in part because of the reactions of the other characters. Lenara's brother is concerned, but he clearly wants to protect his sister, even telling the other Trill to say nothing. Sisko assures Dax that he will back her choice, but pushes her to consider what she's willing to give up. The conflict is left as primarily an internal one, Jadzia wrestling with her own feelings and how much she will give up for them even as Lenara does the same.

Though Avery Brooks' previous episode as director was the misfire Fascination, he has otherwise been a very reliable director. This episode sees him return to his strengths - particularly in his patience, allowing scenes to play out uninterrupted, complete with pauses and even occasional repetition. This probably shows Brooks' experience with stage directing, but it's been evident in all of his episodes and has heightened three out of four of them. This trait, along with his sensitivity to his actors, suits this script, making the relationship between Jadzia and Lenara feel like something genuine, rather than simply something to titillate the male fanbase ("Two hot chicks, dude!").

Overall, Rejoined is another in a long line of good Deep Space 9 episodes. A good script by two of the series' best writers combines with good performances and good directing. The series is firing on all cylinders at this point, and honestly has been for some time.

So a really bad one must be coming down the pipe anytime now...


Overall Rating: 7/10.

Previous Episode: Indiscretion

Next Episode: Starship Down

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3-25. Facets.

Odo is possessed by Curzon,
Dax's previous host.

THE PLOT

The time has come for Dax's zhian'tara, a ritual that allows a new Trill host to interact with his or her previous incarnations. Dax has put off returning to Trill for the ritual, so now a Guardian has come to bring the ritual to her. Dax has asked her each of her closest friends to participate, each one giving up his or her body for a few hours while a prior version of Dax inhabits it.

Meanwhile, Nog prepares for his own rite of passage: An entrance exam for Starfleet Academy. The young Ferengi has been spending practically every free waking second preparing for it. But his uncle Quark remains far from happy about Nog's chosen career path, and may just take steps of his own to sabotage it!


CHARACTERS

Commander Sisko/Joran: Sisko volunteers to take on the most challenging of Jadzia's hosts, the insane musician Joran. This allows Avery Brooks to do his best Hannibal Lecter impersonation - and he's pretty good, raising his voice a pitch to eerie effect. Once back to himself, Sisko continues to provide support to Jadzia, pushing her to confront her fears about her own worth by confronting Curzon.

Dax: The Joran scene not only gives the episode a dramatic jolt at the midpoint, it also crystallizes Jadzia's internal conflict for the episode. Though she has persuaded herself that Curzon washed her out of the initiate program in order to push her to re-apply and try harder, the experience has left her with lingering doubts. These doubts are only amplified by meeting her previous hosts: a famous legislator, a brilliant engineer, an Olympic gymnast. Even the unstable Joran was a great musician! Dax fears she doesn't measure up to them, fears Joran all-too-happily feeds as he dismisses her as being "a pretty girl," and nothing more. Terry Farrell remains an excellent nonverbal actress, and her physical reactions to Jadzia's encounters with her the earlier versions of Dax are fully convincing.

Odo/Curzon: For all the build-up given to Joran, the major external conflict of the episode is provided by Curzon, Sisko's friend and the man who has loomed over Jadzia as a larger-than-life figure from the very first episode. Finally seen in the flesh, the initial impression Curzon makes... really live up to all the mentions of him over the first three seasons. Like Avery Brooks, Rene Auberjonois takes the opportunity of playing a new character to go a bit over-the-top - which, combined with writing that makes Curzon into a boorish heavy drinker, results in a character who comes across as distressingly obnoxious. Fortunately, the last Curzon scene sees both Auberjonois and the script paring back, allowing some genuine emotion and thoughfulness to come through - which serves both actor and character far better.

Quark/Rom: Quark is not amused at the host Jadzia has chosen for him - the warm and maternal Audra, who spends her time chatting with Jadzia about motherhood while brushing the young woman's hair. He might have taken that parent's feelings about her children to heart before tampering with Nog's entrance exams. Then he might have been less startled by Rom's ferocity at his tinkering with Nog's entrance exams. "I will burn the bar to the ground!" he threatens, if Quark ever again tries to interfere with Nog's ambitions - and he means it, something Quark is smart enough to recognize.


THOUGHTS

Facets acts as a follow-up to two episodes: this season's Equilibrium, which introduced us to the Guardians and to Joran, and last season's Playing God, which dealt with Jadzia's past difficulties with Curzon. Cues from both of these stories are picked up here, with the incident in which Curzon washed Jadzia out of the Trill academy forming the central conflict of this story.

Thankfully, writer Rene Echevarria recognizes that meeting all the previous incarnations of Dax, with Jadzia wrestling her own feelings of inadequacy, is enough to propel the story.  This episode is entirely a character piece, with no attempt to shoehorn in some external threat. There is the plot complication of having Curzon try to remain in Odo's body. But it's presented as something Odo also wants, and is resolved in large part by Jadzia - and Curzon - overcoming their own character flaws, rather than through any kind of "action." This is the joy of watching a series that has confidence in both its characters and its audience: Not every episode has to have jeopardy; the characters themselves provide enough to keep us interested.

Facets is a good episode, and provides another opportunity for Terry Farrell (frequently sidelined this season) to show her steadily-growing range as an actress. Plus, it's always enjoyable to see the regulars getting to act out of character, something Avery Brooks particularly seems to relish.

I am left with a few questions, though. One thing I wondered about right away: What about Verad? He was a Dax host, however briefly. Shouldn't he be included? I'd have at least liked some mention as to why he didn't qualify. Also, I wondered why Curzon's revelation was such a surprise to Jadzia. Doesn't she have access to all of Curzon's memories? She certainly talks about events from her past lives often enough. Shouldn't that information be readily available to her at any time? The scene itself was good, with both Farrell and Auberjonois giving wonderful performances - but I couldn't escape the sense that everything Curzon was saying should have been information she already knew.

This is still a good episode, though. A fine character piece, with several good scenes and some fine performances. A worthy effort all around.


Overall Rating: 7/10

Previous Episode: Shakaar

Next Episode: The Adversary

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3-04. Equilibrium.

Jadzia's hallucination.

THE PLOT

After hearing a snatch of music, Jadzia finds herself distracted, unable to think of anything except the song that she can't quite place. After snapping at both Sisko and Kira, then suffering a hallucination, she goes to Dr. Bashir. He diagnoses a drop in her isoboramine levels, which keep the host and the symbiote in balance. He and Sisko insist on taking her to the Trill homeworld for treatment.

As the Trill doctor (Lisa Banes) focuses purely on the isoboramine levels, Sisko and Bashir follow other avenues of investigation. A Trill guardian, one of those who devotes his life to watching over the unjoined symbiotes, speculates that one of Dax's previous hosts was the issue. When Sisko and Bashir identify the composer of the music that was troubling Jadzia, Sisko begins to understand what is happening... even as the Trill doctor prepares to remove the symbiote from Jadzia's body - killing her in the process!


CHARACTERS

Commander Sisko: The teaser shows him cooking with evident skill and joy, and reveals that his grandfather ran a restaurant in New Orleans. Though he's developed a bond with Jadzia, he confesses that he still misses Curzon. When Jadzia is in danger, Sisko is relentless in his investigation and ruthless when he bargains for Jadzia's life. "I have no interest in revealing your secret," he tells the Trill doctor, bluntly adding: "You know my terms." There's no heavy-handed moralizing ala Picard here. Sisko wants to save the life of his friend and officer, and is coldly pragmatic in making that happen.

Dax: After her blowups at her friends and her first hallucination, she doesn't try to pretend she's fine. Instead, she does the smart thing and goes directly to Dr. Bashir to find out what's wrong with her. Terry Farrell is very good, playing Dax's fear, her confusion, and even her desire to go into denial about what is happening when she talks about wanting to show Sisko and Bashir the sights at one point. She also is not simply the "damsel-in-distress" here, actively participating in the investigation by guiding Sisko and Bashir to the guardians. By integrating yet another new personality into the composite that is Dax, the groundwork is laid for potential changes to her sometimes too-calm personality, though I have doubts as to whether the writers will actually make use of this.

Dr. Bashir: Became a doctor in order to have the knowledge that the seemingly all-knowing doctors had. As he went through his studies, he decided what he really wanted most was simply to help people. That he genuinely cares about Jadzia has been shown many times in the past. Freed of the boorish behavior of Season One Julian, he is far more likable simply acting as a good friend here.


THOUGHTS

Season Two of Deep Space 9 ended with a run of very good to excellent shows. Season Three has thus far extended that winning streak, with all four of the Season Four episodes I've reviewed thus far being good ones.

Equilibrium mixes a science fiction medical mystery with a conspiracy thriller, to very good effect. The made up science surrounding Jadzia's condition feels convincing, with just enough information imparted to make the Technobabble (Medobabble?) fit what we already know about the host/symbiote relationship. There is sufficient development of the medical scenes to sell that both Bashir and the Trill doctor genuinely want to stabilize Jadzia to keep the current joining viable. What we already know about Trill society also makes it believable that, when it comes to a choice, the symbiote is ultimately more valued than the host - a chilling thought, one that could make for a genuinely scary story if the show is ever interested in exploring that further.

The investigation into the past of the Dax symbiote also expands on the relationship between these two living beings, as we see Dax's past impacting Jadzia. Even in personality, as Dax's distress first manifests through uncharacteristically aggressive behavior by Jadzia. The secret at the heart of the mystery makes sense, and would be something worth revisiting in my opinion, along with the notion that past hosts' secrets can impact the current host.

The episode is well-directed by Cliff Bole, who draws a fair amount of atmosphere out of Jadzia's hallucinations and out of a scene late in the episode in which Jadzia literally embraces Dax's past. It's a shame the show's first visit to the Trill homeworld shows us so little of the planet, but given the need to get through the story and the limitations of the budget, that's hardly a major gripe.

Another good episode. I'd say Deep Space 9 has improved every bit as much between its first season and here as TNG improved between Seasons One and Three - and given how much a better a start Deep Space 9 had, that says something about how good a show it is by this point.


Overall Rating: 7/10

Previous Episode: The House of Quark

Next Episode: Second Skin

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2-19. Blood Oath.

A final mission for some old friends.

THE PLOT

80 years ago, a pirate known only as The Albino was conducting raids against the Klingon Empire. The Empire assigned three of its best captains to destroy his operation: Kang (Michael Ansara), the strategist; Koloth (William Campbell), the icy killer; and Kor (John Colicos), the full-blooded warrior. The captains succeeded, but the Albino escaped and took revenge, arranging to fatally infect each of the three Klingons' first-born sons. Kang's son was also the godson of Curzon Dax, who along with the three captains swore a blood oath to hunt down The Albino and take revenge.

Now the three old Klingon warriors have come to Deep Space 9. Dax realizes instantly what this must mean. She privately doubts that she can murder anyone in cold blood, even the assassin of her godson. But when Kang refuses to acknolwedge her as the Dax he knew and releases her from Curzon's oath, Dax becomes determined to make him change his mind and see it through - even when Kang indicates that this will be a one-way mission!


CHARACTERS

Commander Sisko: Attempts to stop Dax from pursuing Curzon's blood oath. He takes an authoritarian stance, ordering her to stay on the station. When it is clear that this won't work, he tries to reason with her. The one thing he doesn't attempt to do is to forcibly restrain her, which perhaps demonstrates the level of respect Sisko has for Dax. Under similar circumstances, I would fully expect Sisko to call security on his other officers, but he allows Dax to leave.

Major Kira: She also attempts to talk Dax out of the blood oath. She uses Dax's own words about each Trill life being separate and individual - that Jadzia is not bound by any of Curzon's obligations. She also speaks as the voice of experience when it comes to killing, advising Dax of the personal cost of what she proposes to do.

Dax: This is an excellent episode for Terry Farrell. The Trill/host divide has been an interesting area to explore in previous episodes, which have mostly fallen on the side of the personality being more Jadzia than Dax. Here, we see the other side. Jadzia may be very different than Curzon, but she still carries all of his memories and the emotions that go with them. The Albino's murder of Curzon's godson weighs on her just as it did on him. The Blood Oath Curzon swore may not technically bind her, but she insists on upholding it, even if she has to fight Koloth, Kang, and Sisko to be allowed to play her part. Farrell does a splendid job throughout this episode, and does some particularly good nonverbal acting in her final scene, a wordless tag that is flawlessly played not only by Farrell, but also by Avery Brooks and Nana Visitor.

Klingons: This episode reunites TOS viewers with the three most memorable Klingons from the 1960's series: Kor (John Colicos), Kang (Michael Ansara), and Koloth (William Campbell). It's not surprising that Kang and Kor come across more strongly than Koloth, given that they were stronger characters to begin with. It is interesting the way in which the characters have been developed. The coolly diplomatic Koloth is now referred to by Kor as a "stone face" who "feels too little." Kor, the most outright warrior-like of the TOS Klingons, has become a creature of appetites for - well, basically for "wine, women, and song" - while ruminating on his days as a warrior, and clearly regretting that those days are now behind him. Kang is the leader, stubborn and fatalistic, and the most inclined of the three to dismiss Jadzia as not being the same person as Curzon. In his own way, he is also trying to protect Dax, believing that their mission is a strictly one-way affair.


THOUGHTS

Blood Oath is an irresistibly entertaining episode. Its main drawing point may be "episode with the TOS Klingons," but writer Peter Allen Fields has crafted a story that uses those three characters for something other than just a big TOS reunion.

In fact, other than building on their 1960's characterizations, this episode has no real connection with TOS. The words "Kirk" and "Enterprise" are never uttered. Nor are the words "Tribble," "quadrotriticale," or "Organian." Instead, the three Klingon warriors are united with Dax on a quest, in a story that owes more to Akira Kurosawa's samurai pictures than to 1960's Trek, and I think the episode is much the better for it. This is a good story first, and features the three TOS Klingons mainly as a bonus for fans. You could watch this episode without having seen a second of 1960's Trek and not feel as if you were missing anything.

This is a tightly-paced episode, one which effortlessly mixes thoughtful moments into a genuinely exciting storyline. The final action scene, as Dax and the Klingons infiltrate The Albino's lair, is unusually well-executed for 1990's television. All of the performances are good, with the scenes between Michael Ansara and Terry Farrell particular high points.

In short: A good one.


Overall Rating: 8/10.

Previous Episode: Profit and Loss
Next Episode: The Maquis

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2-17. Playing God

A close encounter in the wormhole.

THE PLOT

A guest comes to the station: Arjin (Geoffrey Blake), a young Trill initiate who is to be mentored and evaluated by Dax. She will supervise him for two weeks, and make a recommendation as to whether or not Arjin is ready to serve as host to a symbiote. It's not an experience Arjin looks forward to: As Curzon, Dax was notorious for washing out initiates. Jadzia is just as nervous, because she was one of the initiates Curzon attempted to eliminate, and she is determined not to be as harsh as her predecessor.

While flying a routine mission through the wormhole, Dax and Arjin encounter an anomaly. When they bring it back to the station for study, they discover that it is a "proto-universe," a newly-born universe that is going to steadily expand into a full universe of its own. Initially, Sisko favors containing it so that it will collapse back into nothingness. But when Dax discovers evidence of life in the proto-universe, a new solution must be found. And it must be found quickly - before the proto-universe expands and, in so doing, destroys the station!


CHARACTERS

Commander Sisko: His friendship with Jadzia Dax has grown to a point at which he clearly trusts her as much as he did Curzon, albeit in a different way. It seems clear enough that Curzon, the "old man," was a mentor to him - a favor he seems to be repaying now to Jadzia, the young woman. When he sees Jadzia being too soft on her initiate, when confronting the young man's inadequacies would actually make him more likely to reach his potential, he speaks up. When Jadzia protests that Sisko doesn't know "what Curzon did to (her)," Sisko challenges her assumption that Curzon was her enemy, pointing out that she toughened up under Curzon's abuses and made it through a program where most initiates fail.

Dax: One thing I love about Deep Space 9 is that almost all the regulars are interesting. Dax has the built-in complexity of being essentially two distinct beings in one: Jadzia and Dax, with the line separating the two always interesting to explore. Here, we see Jadzia determined not to put her new initiate through the same hell through which Curzon put her. Jadzia bears a lot of lingering resentment toward Curzon, whose treatment was evidently not so much strict as downright abusive.

We also continue to see Jadzia's delight in unusual experiences, from her love of Klingon cuisine to her collection of lost composers. When she hears that O'Brien is trying to root out Cardassian voles on the station, she gets instantly excited, chirping that she's "never seen a Cardassian vole," and getting down on hands and knees to crawl into a duct for the pleasure of coming face-to-face with one. Jadzia's entire personality seems to be dominated by a near-obsession with experiencing as much of life as she can.

Quark: Seeing a downcast Arjin trying his hand at drowning his sorrows, Quark shows his compassionate side and asks the young man to tell him what's wrong. When Arjin says he believes he's thrown his chance at becoming a joined Trill away for a pointless outburst at Jadzia, Quark "reassures" him by telling him about his own past indiscretion, which cost him a lucrative future. When asked how he recovered, Quark responds that he never did. He's now "tending bar at Wormhole Central," he tells Arjin, adding that "You only get one chance at the Latinum Ladder. Miss it, and it's gone." What really makes this anti-pep talk funny is Armin Shimerman's delivery. This isn't Quark being snide - This is Quark genuinely trying to be helpful, without even the tiniest awareness that he's actually making the young man feel much, much worse.


THOUGHTS

Playing God is an entertaining episode, which gets a lot of mileage out of Terry Farrell's energetic performance as Dax. The identity issues surrounding such a composite character add extra levels to her character, which lends the episode more interest than it otherwise might have. It's also well-paced, with a scattering of genuinely amusing scenes, notably the one with Quark giving his reverse pep-talk to the hapless Arjin.

For all its virtues, there are two problems limiting this episode's success. One is minor bit of sloppiness. The subplot with the Cardassian voles is clearly there to provide an excuse for the release of the "proto-universe." Fair enough, and the voles are a passable way to show the ongoing issues with inheriting a space station from the Cardassians. But once they've fulfilled their role in the plot, they vanish - never to be mentioned again. There's no indication that the voles will be a continuing issue for O'Brien, and no indication that the problem's been solved. Having done their job as a plot device, they are just forgotten about. A minor annoyance, but still an annoyance.

A bigger problem is the acting of Geoffrey Blake as Arjin. His wooden performance fails to convince at any point in the episode. This is particularly true of the climax, in which Dax and Arjin pilot a runabout through the wormhole and have to avoid nodes (think a videogame level and you'd not be too far off). The scene has some rather nice-for-the-time CGI, and Terry Farrell is good throughout. But Blake remains wooden in a climax that largely focuses on his struggle to pilot the ship through what is effectively a minefield. Because he doesn't show the emotion, it all comes off much flatter than it would have with a stronger actor.

Lest I come across as too harsh, let me restate that this is entertaining. It's briskly-paced, with a terrific performance by Terry Farrell. It's a perfectly adequate script, minus the sloppiness with the voles. But a weak guest performance and a general contentment of the episode to be average when it certainly could have been better combine to keep this as just OK, and highly expendable.


Overall Rating: 5/10.

Previous Episode: Shadowplay

Next Episode: Profit and Loss

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2-4. Invasive Procedures

"So alone..."  Jadzia, without her symbiote.

THE PLOT

A plasma storm has led to an evacuation on Deep Space 9, leaving Sisko to run the station with only a skeleton crew. While the storm is raging, the station receives a distress call from a ship requesting emergency docking clearance. But the emergency is a ruse.  When O'Brien and Odo go to greet their guests, they find themselves victims of an ambush by two Klingon mercenaries and their employer, a Trill named Verad (John Glover).

The Klingons quickly gain control of the station, thanks to inside information provided by Quark. Once everyone has been taken hostage, the Trill reveals what he is there for. He has come to take what he sees as something rightfully his: Jadzia's symbiote!


CHARACTERS

Commander Sisko: Remains calm as he tries to find a way to return the symbiote to Jadzia before it is too late. When the procedure has been done and Verad comes back to Ops, Sisko plays on his friendship with Dax to try to convince him to voluntarily return to Jadzia. When that fails, he plants doubts in the mind of Verad's girlfriend (Megan Gallagher), which proves effective in making her doubt her relationship with this changed Verad. He also displays an icy anger when Verad/Dax disappoints him. Avery Brooks plays the scene in which he promises that he will see Verad again with steel. Watching, you know that you do not want to be Sisko's enemy. It would be... unhealthy.

Dax: Resigns herself to Verad's procedure in order to prevent her friends and colleagues from being harmed, and urges Julian to accede to his demands as well. Once the symbiote is removed, Jadzia is left more vulnerable than we have ever seen her, weakly crying to Bashir that she has "never felt so alone" and that she's "empty inside." Verad Dax's refusal to risk returning to Jadzia after the procedure again raises the question of how much of the personality we see is Jadzia and how much is Dax. Certainly, Dax without Jadzia seems to lack the courage and self-sacrifice that we have seen, which gravely disappoints Sisko.

Dr. Bashir: Though he performs the procedure, under protest, he does everything in his considerable powers to stabilize Jadzia afterwards. When his Klingon guard sneers at him for wasting his time on someone who "will be dead in a few hours," Bashir snaps back, earning a modicum of respect from the warrior for his display of will.

Quark: I'm not sure I entirely believe that Quark wouldn't be prepared for the Klingon mercenaries to try to take his "merchandise" by force. With the unsavory types Quark deals with almost daily, he would surely be ready for those who would prefer to rob him than pay him. It would make the scene in which Quark is captured more interesting if some attempt to defend himself is thwarted, rather than having him simply mewl about his poor treatment. He fares better in the second half of the episode, in which he feigns an escape attempt in order to be taken to the infirmary, where his quick thinking helps to turn the tables - and redeem him enough for him not to be blown out an airlock for his part in getting Verad and the Klingons aboard!


THOUGHTS

Invasive Procedures falls well short of the 3-parter that opened the season, and also of the last Trill-focused episode, but it's still a solid and enjoyable piece.

As with Season One's Dax, the episode takes a well-worn story type and uses it to develop the intriguing Trill/symbiote relationship. The Season One episode was a courtroom drama. This episode is the requisite hostage episode. Dax was a well-executed courtroom episode, and this is a reasonably well-executed hostage story. But once again, the real interest comes from the development of Trill society, of the thin line that separates Jadzia from Dax, and of the friendship between Sisko and Dax.

The earlier episode dealt with Sisko's uncertainty at maintaining a friendship with a Dax so different than the one he knew. Since then, he has formed a friendship with Jadzia that is very much its own relationship. A lot of that comes from Jadzia's own qualities, including a strong amount of empathy and a quality of self-sacrifice. "Verad Dax" is still Dax, but lacks the traits Sisko valued in Curzon and in Jadzia. He lacks empathy, and it is probably as much the Dax symbiote as Verad speaking when he says, "What is the life of one girl to the knowledge of eight lifetimes?" Sisko has a typically direct, almost wordless response that recalls what he said to Q when he announced: "I'm not Picard."

I do wish we had seen more of Jadzia without Dax, to get some sense of her unique personality. To me, it's a missed opportunity not to have a big scene or two in which we see her interacting with the others as just her, a chance to see how Jadzia alone is different than Jadzia Dax.

A good episode in any case. Season Two is off to an excellent start so far!


Overall Rating: 7/10

Previous Episode: The Siege

Next Episode: Cardassians

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1-8. Dax

THE PLOT

When Dax is the target of an attempted kidnapping, Sisko, Odo, and the Ops crew pull out all the stops to prevent the kidnappers from getting her off the station. They only barely succeed. But as Sisko prepares for a hostage situation, he is thrown a sudden curveball. Ilon Tandro (Gregory Itzin), the leader of the kidnappers, hands Sisko an extradition order. Dax is wanted on his home planet, to face charges of treason and murder from 30 years ago.

Sisko is determined to protect his old friend. But when he asks Dax what is going on, she refuses to even speak about the charges. Sisko goes into crisis mode, arranging for a Bajoran extradition hearing to stall Tandro while dispatching Odo to investigate the original crime. He skillfully arguest hat the charges - directed against the now dead Curzon Dax - have no validity against Jadzia, who is an entirely different person. But with Tandro prepared for that line of attack, it becomes clear that if Dax will not speak in her own defense, then the entire proceedings are just a stall whose conclusion will be inevitable...


CHARACTERS

Commander Sisko: One of Sisko's better episodes, in that this episode actually seems to be making an effort to write for Sisko as an independent character, rather than simply as a generic commander. Sisko's temper is specifically referenced in the script, tying in with the many flares of temper we have seen in previous episodes. Sisko's friendship with the earlier Dax is also further explored. We get a glimpse of just how much Dax was to Sisko - not just a mentor, but practically a second father to him. We also see that Sisko is still not absolutely sure of his friendship with this new Dax, though that friendship gets further cemented in a lovely scene between the two characters about 2/3 of the way in.

Dax: The series' first Dax-centric episode, and also Terry Farrell's best performance in the series thus far. There really aren't any of the clunky line readings that have marred some of her earlier performances. She is particularly good in her scenes with Avery Brooks. A scene in which Sisko tries to badger Dax into telling all, and Dax deflects him by recalling moments from their earlier friendship, is perfectly played by Farrell. There's this lovely, half-haunted tone in her voice as she recalls trying on a ring as Jadzia that had played a part in a moment in their friendship as Curzon, only to find that the ring slid "right off" her finger.

From the very first episode, the consistent strength of Farrell's performance has been her nonverbal acting, which is capitalized on here. There are a lot of scenes where Dax doesn't speak, but simply sits and occasionally reacts. Farrell plays these nonverbal beats beautifully, whether in a movement of her eyes or a quick expression that flicks across her face, or even in a moment in which she carefully shows no expression. It's a very good performance matched by strong writing, which together take a character who was already promising and turn her into a character who this viewer now wants to see much more of.

Odo: Unlike Sisko, he does not automatically assume Dax's innocence. He almost seems to be working from the opposite assumption - that Dax's silence probably points to guilt. He does act to secure Dax's position until after the hearing by using just the right mix of duress and finesse to get Quark to give up his bar so that the hearing can be held on-station. When he goes to investigate the original crime, he is both thorough and tenacious, perfectly willing to pursue a lead that might implicate Dax (the very same lead that ultimately exonerates her).

Dr. Bashir: In what has been sadly typical form for the character, he starts out the episode sexually harrassing (for comedy relief) a mercifully oblivious Dax. When he observes her being kidnapped, he leaps into action... getting himself promptly knocked out, when taking 5 seconds to contact Ops (as he does when he comes around) before leaping into the fray would have been immeasurably more helpful. Then again, had he behaved sensibly, the entire "exciting first Act" could not have happened.

As has also been typical, both actor and character fare much better when treated more seriously. The Julian Bashir who testifies on Dax's behalf only to be trapped by the opposition is a very well-played character.  In this scene, he is knowledgeable but honest, even when he would wish not to be. I would like to see more of that Bashir, and less of the sex-starved, bumbling idiot from the teaser.


THOUGHTS

This is the obligatory courtroom episode. Every Trek series gives us one or two of these. TOS had Court Martial and The Menagerie in the first season alone; Enterprise offered up Judgment (and, arguably, Stigma) in its second season. TNG certainly had its share of courtroom episodes, too. It's a standard device. Of course, it's standard for a reason - the strict structural guidelines of courtroom drama tend to make for an at least entertaining episode.

But Dax is better than most of the titles I've mentioned (it's not better than The Menagerie, but that would be asking too much). The script, co-written by Trek favorite D. C. Fontana, uses the courtroom structure both to tell a solid standalone story and to develop two of the series' main characters. The standalone story works, with the revelation at the end a suitable sting with which to close out the piece. It moves along nicely, and is well-structured. It's... at the very least awfully convenient that Odo can reach the planet on which the crime took place and return with a witness all within the relatively short time in which the hearing lasts. But it works dramatically, with the backstory parcelled out at a sufficient pace that we have a reasonable picture of this past civil war by the end.

If it simply worked on that plot level, this would be a pretty good episode. But where it really impresses is as a character piece. D. C. Fontana's TOS episodes always stood out to me as ones that were very good at revealing character. This script offers some excellent character development for Sisko and Jadzia both. It also advances what we know about the Trill society. The quiet scenes between these two characters show us the friendship that previous episodes have largely been content just to talk about, and also underline the fragility of that friendship as Sisko tries to form a bond with this new Dax. The courtroom scenes provide an ideal setting to deliver exposition about the relationship between the Trill and the host, and about Jadzia's pre-Trill background, in such a way that it doesn't come across as exposition. Indeed, for a large portion of the episode, that exposition is Sisko's defense. We come out having learned a lot about these characters, a lot more about the Trill, and the information is given in a way that feels dramatic because it is part of the conflict of the story.

Overall, this might be the best Deep Space 9 episode yet. More to the point, by making a couple of the main characters feel more convincing and three-dimensional than they have before this point, this episode does an important job of laying groundwork for even better and more dramatic stories in the future.


Rating: 8/10.

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