Fontana successfully fleshes out Trill

Jim’s Take on Episode 7: “Dax”

Finally! An episode where the focus is on my beloved Jadzia Dax! Or is this actually about Curzon Dax? Or is this all about Dax, the slug-like symbiont? The title certainly is cleverly ambiguous on this point, which is perfect for the episode that follows, where many important aspects of Trill culture are discussed for the first time, while leaving viewers with no easy answers.

But first, we need to talk about D.C. Fontana. For those of you who don’t know, D.C. Fontana is the only woman who was allowed to write for the original Star Trek. In those distant days of the ‘60s, it was so unheard of for a woman to write for television, especially science-fiction television, that she had to obscure her gender behind initials rather than her first name. Not only did she write some of the best episodes of the original series, her rewrites were instrumental in making many stories by other writers actually work for the show. After that, she went on to be one of the women who helped create Star Trek fandom, she basically ran the writing room for the 1970s animated show,  AND she had a hand in creating the first season of The Next Generation, though a falling out with Gene Roddenberry ended her input in subsequent seasons. On top of all that, she created most of the iconic aspects of Vulcan culture and society, so it is perfect that she was brought in to help flesh out the Trill.

As the episode opens, Julian Bashir gazes dreamily at Jadzia while trying his very best to gain a toehold through flirting, desperately and pathetically, with her. Give it up, Julian! We all understand how you feel, but this display is just pathetic. Not only does he completely wash out in his flirtation game, he then spectacularly fails to take on the three shady goons who tackle her when she leaves the promenade! It’s a banner day for failure, Julian. As a side note here, Jadzia doesn’t fare too badly in her own attempts to fight back, but does not at all live up to her own future standards in a fight. Clearly they hadn’t really worked out just how badass Jadzia is yet. She should have taken these losers down with no problem.

Leave it to D.C. Fontana to bring us a classic Star Trek trial. These scenes do so much to flesh out all kinds of details about our still new space station crew, while remaining very tense and dramatic. You can’t go wrong with a good trial scene, so it’s always fun when this particular Trek Trope pops up. Jadzia Dax is on trial for a crime that may, or may not, have been committed by Curzon Dax, the symbiont’s previous host. Is she responsible for his crimes? Are they the same person? Are they completely different? These are the questions that Sisko and the Arbiter must wrestle with and the answers do reveal a lot about how the Trill consider themselves connected to their previous “selves.”

The most revealing thing here is just how much Curzon Dax meant to Sisko, and how much of that love he still feels for Jadzia. The scenes where Sisko cannot contain his emotions as he begs Dax to give him something to work with to save her are powerful and well-played by Avery Brooks and Terry Farrell. His heart is breaking and she wants to comfort him, but can’t give him what he needs. It makes me love them both that much more!

Sisko cannot contain his emotions…and [Dax] wants to comfort him

On another note, just seven episodes in, look how much the relationship between Sisko and Kira has changed! They have such great teamwork as they antagonize Ilon Tandro and throw bureaucratic stalling tactics into the works to slow down his extradition of Jadzia. They have clearly grown to trust and respect each other so much more than they did when they first met. I loved watching them in action during the trial as well. They already make a great command team!

Another theme that is still all-too-relevant today is the idea that you should be really careful about who you choose to put on a pedestal as a “hero.” General Tandro was clearly not at all the man his people thought he was and putting him up to idolize as a “great man of history” is sadly foolish. There are very few perfect heroes in the real world and we should all be very careful about who we look up to and what the reality behind them may be.

Before I wrap this up, I have to mention the Arbiter who is hearing this case. “I am 100 years old. I do not have time to listen to superfluous language.” She does not have any patience for any nonsense and she is amazing! Thank goodness Q wasn’t still hanging around, because that could have turned ugly.

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