A cosy episode that is a fantastic exploration of Jadzia and allows the cast to have fun by taking on different roles. We learn about all of the Dax hosts, and this works out quite nicely for me as I recently read the 'Lives of Dax' short story collection, so there was a lot of familiar stuff here.
But I do find this to be a bit of a missed opportunity. I really want to spend more time with each of the host personalities and am disappointed that we only get tiny glimpse of Lela, Tobin, etc. Cramming them all together in what is little more than a montage is a bit of a disservice and also spoils the pacing a bit. It's also weird the way the Leeta is shoehorned in as one of Dax's closest friends simply because they needed an extra person.
But Curzon/Odo is quite interesting to see and Rene Auberjoinois certainly puts in a great performance. He's almost upstaged by Joran/Sisko who goes super creepy. It's maybe a bit pantomime but Avery Brooks' quirky acting is nicely off kilter.
The background story also deserved more time. I really wanted to see the tests that Nog had to take (and his Starfleet desires haven't really been mentioned for a long while). I particularly loved how assertive Rom became when he figured out what his brother was doing.
There does seem to be a massive plot hole here for me, which has always bugged me: why doesn't Jadzia already know why Curzon denied her application, or that he was in love with her? She has ALL of his memories! That seems to be a big oversight in the writing department and ultimately ruins the entire central concept of the episode.
Side note: I have memories of this episode being advertised. When we first got Sky TV in the family home, DS9 season 3 was nearing the end of it's UK premiere run and this episodes had adverts all over Sky One, along with 'The Adversary' the next week.
Simply put on of the best episodes of this series, I mean all Dax centric episodes are brilliant, but this one is special. Learning and meeting from all her previous hosts are brilliant.
In theory the A-plot is fascinating. Dax is fascinating. The whole notion of hosts is fascinating. And Jadzia's encounter with Curzon and the other guys are an intimate and interesting encounter. (Another chance for the actors to be different and they did a fantastic job). Problem is that Jadzia is often used in stories that reduce her to being a trill. We've seen that in 3x04 Equilibrium before. She is still presented first and foremost as a trill whose whole skill set and character is almost entirely derived from her previous hosts. We know little about how Jadzia's skills, experiences and character contributes to the Jedzia Dax. I hope that's it for the time being with these trill centered Jadzia episodes. She needs to become her own person now. If this episode was part of season 2, I'd have liked it better. The novelty of trill stories wear off a bit. I also remember 2x04 Invasive Procedures which is similar in that Jedzia as a person isn't really of interest: almost everyone (including Jadzia) thinks she is a mere vessel of the Dax symbiont.
Plus, writers again misuse the fact that Farrell is hot. When writers wanted to tell a romantic story (and failed) in Meridian they misused Jadzia although that felt very much out of character. When they had to explain why Curzon always acted strangely towards Jadzia, they once again turned to the idea, that Jadzia is hot and that's why people around her (this includes Curzon) act strangely.
The B-plot is is charming. Perhaps even important to the Nog story. But it's told very hastily. I know there's more to come and we'll learn more about Nog's difficult path from waiter to officer. But that was a bit quick to be honest. They should have shown the test and how Quark sabotages it. In previous episodes we understood what's Nog motivation for joining Starfleet. And here we realize how proud he is of becoming an officer eventually. You really want to see more of him and DS9 won't disappoint. In later seasons there's episodes that focus very much on him.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2022-12-23T22:33:38Z
[7.5/10] On paper, Dax remains one of the most interesting characters in not just Deep Space Nine, but all of Star Trek. The notion of a “joined species” is one of the franchise’s most ambitious concepts. From a sci-fi standpoint, a person who has both their own existence, but also the collective memories and personhoods of their symbiont’s prior hosts is a unique idea. From an emotional standpoint, having to intertwine and reconcile one’s own individual identity with those of generations of those who came before gives the writers plenty of room to run. And from a narrative standpoint, someone with experiences and relationships that stretch long into the past provide opportunities for conflict and ingenuity.
There’s two problems though. The first, I’m sorry to say, is Terry Farrell, who gives a perfectly fine performance in the role, but not one that can live up to that degree of layered complexity. That is no sin. It would take a tremendous performer to convey both the sense of a confident yet still newer young officer who has multiple lifetimes worth of wizened experience bubbling up within her. To put a fine point on it, Farrell is solid enough as Jadzia, but rarely conveys the interiority and legacy of Dax. One of her fellow performers described the show as her graduate program, and while you can see her improving from season to season, she’s often a little too labored, and rarely convincing, in the major emotional moments. (Which makes moving, tender exchanges like her farewell to Benjamin in “Meridian” that much more precious.)
The second, though, is entirely on the writers. Basically everyone on the station is enamored with her, which is both awkward and limiting. Thankfully, the show mostly moved away from Julian’s obsession by this point. But here we are again with her taking advantage of Quark’s affections by practically groping him to get him to cooperate with her Trill ritual. And heaven forbid she have a major story that doesn’t hinge, in some way, on people falling in love with her. Romance is a part of life and a worthwhile thing to explore for a Trill in particular, who has to balance connections past and present. But reducing her narrative possibilities to, “Everyone has the hots for Jadzia” diminishes her when there’s so many other worthy avenues to explore with the character.
Including this one! Whoever came up with the idea of “Jadzia gets to meet all her old hosts” deserves a raise. The premise is a touch hokey. And the means -- past hosts being able to psychically inhabit the bodies of Jadzia’s friends -- are a touch convenient. But it’s also a lot of fun.
Seeing the show’s cast break out of their normal personas and get to show off a character who’s a little more nurturing, or anxious, or reckless is a hoot. Some of the performers do better than others (most of the ones who only get a single scene are overdoing it a tad), but without exception, it’s entertaining to see each of them branch out. Avery Brooks in particular is downright terrifying as a Hannibal Lecter type. I wouldn’t necessarily want an entire episode of Joran-as-Sisko, and it flattens the character out a little bit after “Equilibrium”, but man, you can see how Brooks could be amazing in this sort of role.
(As an aside, I don’t know how I feel about the scene where Quark is inhabited by one of Dax’s female hosts. Charitably, you could read the humor as stemming from a character who was trying to reinforce a misogynistic system just a couple episodes ago now having to share his body with a woman. But some of it feels like the humor is, “Haha, a dude has to talk about sensitive stuff like a girl!” which sits uneasily.)
But the secret sauce of “Facets” is Rom’s story. The tale is simple. Nog is testing to get into a Starfleet Academy prep program. Quark sabotages him to keep him close to home. And Rom figures it out and calls his brother to the carpet over it. There’s nothing especially unique about the setup.
What elevates it, though, is that it’s all rooted in character. We understand Nog’s fervent desire to join Starfleet, and how this is an important first step toward reaching that goal. We understand Quark’s skepticism and disdain for the whole idea, with a readiness to do anything to thwart it. And most all, we understand Rom’s knowledge of his son, recognizing that Nog would never fail the spatial orientation portion of the test given his natural aptitude; his knowledge of his brother, sniffing out a sabotage when he smells something funny; and most of all his love for his only child, ready to show a certain backbone and intensity that we rarely see from the deferential younger brother.
So he sets things right. Nog gets his cadet uniform (tailored by Garak no less). He arrives in the bar having passed (and orders a root beer, something portentous in the show). And most of all, Rom stands up for what’s important, getting in the face and confronting a veritable bully when what’s on the line truly matters.
That connects the B-story thematically to the A-story. After meeting all of Dax’s past hosts, Jadzia starts to develop some imposter syndrome. How can she measure up to all these great folks from the past, especially when she was initially a wash-out as an initiate? It’s sympathetic and relatable, to be at the beginning of your journey and worry that you won’t be able to climb as high or go as far as those who came before. Adding Curzon, the host who rejected her from the program in the first place, only heightens the insecurity in the situation.
The greatest boon of all is to mix Curzon and Odo together as part of the ritual. For one thing, it allows us to see Renee Auberjonois cut loose, which, like Leonard Nimoy and Spock before him, has the innate thrill of a normally stoic character seeming friendly and fun. It also gives us a chance to see someone much-talked about but never really seen (outside of one brief flashback) who’s important to two major characters.
In truth, I wish we’d gotten more with Benjamin and Curzon. Imagine being able to see someone you loved deeply, who’d died, one last time? Their reunion plays like a pair of old college buddies checking in at the reunion, not what is possibly the last chance for mentor and protege to confide in one another. Still, it’s fun to see a more gregarious persona emerge through Odo, and watching the reified Curzon show his spark but also his flaws via the normally more subdued shapeshifted is a blast.
The central idea is a good one, though. Jadzia is tentative around Curzon, because she wants to know why he washed her out. She needs to persuade him to rejoin the Dax symbiont, which supposedly neither he nor Odo wants to do, but is especially reluctant when Curzon says he only let her back in the program because he felt sorry for her, and she doesn’t want that idea to be internalized in a way that would exacerbate the self-doubt she’s already struggling with.
The arc lands where it should. A pep talk from Benjamin gives her the gumption to challenge Curzon, tell him when he’s crossed a line, and show the confidence in herself and self-worth that demonstrates how she’s worthy of the symbiont. It puts her in line with Rom, telling off someone taking liberties they’re not owed in a way that reveals selfishness and myopia.
Except that when called to account for his actions Curzon explains that he rejected Jadzia from the initiate program not because she was unworthy but....because he was in love with her. Come on! Does everyone have to do that? Why is this a satisfying answer to the question? Why couldn't it simply be something poetic, like he thought she was brilliant enough that she might outshine him as a Dax host if he let her in? No, instead it’s just yet another person who has the hots for Jadzia as the sticky wicket.
Jadzia takes it in stride, because if there’s one thing that's maddeningly consistent on this show, it’s the character brushing off colleagues and acquaintances constantly hitting on her to the point of harassment like that's okay. But in the end, she does stand up to him, and there’s catharsis in her asserting herself and convincing Curzon to rejoin, in the right way. Her closing exchange with Odo is a particularly sweet one, as she better understands Odo’s joy in shapeshifting, and he better understands the simple pleasures of humanoids like eating and drinking.
It’s just a bumpy road to get there. There is so much potential in Dax as a character. So many places to take her and intriguing wrinkles to explore in someone who is both one life, and ten beings, all with different experiences and quirks that have left their mark on Jadiza. I just wish the performer could convey that on a consistent basis, and that the show didn’t reduce her to an object of romantic infatuation, rather than a full-fledged person whose existence extends beyond who’s crushing on her this week.