Terry Farrell is Mediocre.

[TedShatner10]

Like most UK sc-fi fans I've been catching up on the DS9 on the somehow appropriately name Virgin 1 and while DS9 is mostly as good (or better) as I vaguel remember it, what leaps up at me is Terry Farrell's happy-go-lucky (but insincere) mediocre acting. It is all the more glaring, given the otherwise remarkable ensemble cast and the very solid writing. It would even be glaring even on the more lambasted Voyager (Jeri Ryan, Kate Mulgrew, and Roxann Dawson blow her out of the water, even with their more patchy screenplays).

Am I alone in my opinion?

 

[Lashmore]

Personally I found her convincing, but maybe for the same reasons you found her not convincing. Yes she seemed to pause a lot before talking, which could be the actor going "oh I can't believe I'm fucking saying this trek shit" and hence ruining her performance or:

Her Character has several lifetimes worth of experience to ponder reactions to actions from. it would be a confusing role to play and if you take her sometimes off-Standish approach into account I would say its Dax going through all her previous lives experience before speaking/acting.

That makes Dax, to me believable. The times where terry seems mediocre if you look at her closely in the context I mentioned above, you could put it down to a Trill conflicting with itself.

In which case....

Emmy Award winning performance my dear

 

[Trekwatcher]

I definitely hear where you are coming from. This breezy style of hers is most common in the early seasons, but thankfully fades with time as the show develops. By the later seasons, especially S5 and S6, Jadzia is played much more seriously , especially in the context of the war.

I felt similarly about Dr. Bashir. His early, aloof, snooty persona was offputting (as they creators wanted it to be) but once they let the good doctor show some true grit he became much more interesting to watch.

 

[2 of 10]

I liked Jadzia very much, I thought she was underrated . Go back and watch the DS-9 ep "Change of Heart" she did a great job. Granted, the early ep's of DS-9 her character had not yet developed, but that can be said for all the characters, not just in DS-9 but in all Trek's...

 

[Navaros]

Nope, you aren't alone. A huge portion of DS9 fans hate Terry Farell and Dax on the show, me included.

Terry Farrell is by far the worst actress on the show (she was a model, not an actress) and the worst-written character on the show.

The other actors on DS9 mostly all have theatre backgrounds (almost always the hallmark of a truly great actor).

Her lines were always generic, interchangeable with Kira, O'Brien or any other character, and completely uninteresting. And woodenly, monotonally-delivered. DS9 would have been a better show without her being on it. She was 100% irrelevant to the plot of the show anyways. The show would have lost nothing by never adding her, but it would have gained not having a useless, annoying character wasting screen-time all the time.

 

[Marie1]

I liked Jadzia, she was one of my favourite characters, and I thought she did well in Becker too. I agree that she would have needed to reflect a bit before answering if she wanted to draw on Dax's memories.

She was confident, she didn't usually need to act flamboyant, she was skilled, she had Dax, she knew what to do and she did it. When necessary she could explain herself, she could adapt to various situations, work with others, she was good with other cultures and didn't have the prejudices a lot of characters did. I thought she was great.

 

[Damask]

Nope, you aren't alone. A huge portion of DS9 fans hate Terry Farell and Dax on the show, me included.

I didn't know an official poll was done?

I think once the writers knew what to do with Dax (pretty much around Blood Oath) the character and the actor improved. I'd say she was certainly the weakest of the cast members but nothing that ever distracted me from the character. I'm not sure if you gave a different actor the part would it mean much for Dax to be honest.

 

[Aquehonga]

Right on brother!

Terry Farrell's Dax is 1 of Trek's worst executed characters. TF's Dax was less believable & real than her BACK TO SCHOOL character.

She's supposed to be merged with, having the gestalt of the minds & memories of a multitude of past symbiont sage hosts?

Yeah right!

Never know that from TF's portrayal.

I'm sure TPTB@DS9 could've hired a more powerful actress to play the part.

That would've freed up Terry Farrell to go to Melrose Place, where she'd fit in perfectly

TF's Dax was very pretty but a Herbert in the end. A termite, strictly out of the wood.

 

[QuasarVM]

Terry Farrell is HOT! Nothing mediocre about her...

 

[Kirk1980]

Terry Farrell is HOT! Nothing mediocre about her...

Yeah, what's wrong with that...?

NOTHING It got my adolescent attention in the mid-90s.

 

[QuasarVM]

Preachin' to the choir...preachin to the choir...

 

[JNG]

She had her moments. I don't blame the actress. The writers really did not know how to work with such a potentially complex character, and just used her as a vehicle for the boring science dialogue, with occasional reminders that she was a hot chick and then further incidental note of the fact Dax had many lifetimes before.

I have said it before: it just doesn't make any sense that they made an effort to establish that Curzon had been this sort of fits-in-with-Klingons-two-fisted-drinker-skirt-chaser guy and he had all these crazy memories with Sisko, and then they tell Terry Farrell to just play this sort of "I'm-a-quiet-girl-science-nerd-and-I've-got-a-secret" kind of removed performance.

They realized it wasn't working later and told her to act like Errol Flynn, but of course no acting job could keep that from ringing a bit false after several seasons of other stuff.

It was interesting when that dork stole the symbiont for a few hours in season 2 and then immediately started acting sort of heightened, yet it was clear the symbiont did not "take control." It made me wonder if it was Jadzia's ego driving her to act "superior" or "enlightened" instead of cutting loose. Of course, later Ezri got the symbiont and acted goofy instead, because they didn't want to handcuff themselves any more. More than one writer was heard to remark they wish they'd started with an insecure "accidentally joined' sort of Trill at the beginning.

Since DS9 Trills bore zero goddamn resemblance to TNG Trills, it seems clear that not quite enough thought was put into some of the elements that were to inform the performances. I can't blame Terry Farrell.

 

[indranee]

judging from her turn in Becker, we were ALL proven right: she needed some serious acting classes.

 

[LLAP]

I thought the most mediocre aspect of the character was the way she died in such an anti-climax. Terry Farrell was indeed very hot, however - always nice to have some eye candy in a show

I do agree that she was somewhat bland though - especially when put against what they kept telling us about Curzon.

 

[Photon]

Calm down everyone. If I drive a Chevy or Renault (snicker), amongst Lexus, Infiniti, and BMW-the Chevy's not gonna look too smoky. The Chevy maybe alright w/other Chevy's and Fords, but not in the rarefied company of the other cars. See me point?

I saw Terri as an OK actor, but amongst Visitor, Rene, and all others (even Dorn) she just couldn't cut it.

I saw her on Cosby a couple of times, it was just like DS9, vanilla lines....yada yada....

One of the problems w/the TF was what to do w/her. Make her hot or brainy, she comes off unconvincing as both (gah, hope that didn't come off as sexist).

 

[Norrin Radd]

I really hated most of the Trill episodes, Jadzia or Ezri. I don't know why...they just weren't executed well.

Or maybe I just didn't care about the whole concept; it just didn't make much sense to me. I mean...an individual actually wanting to surrender their individuality...?

 

[JoeRalat]

You guys think that Ezri Dax was better? I think Nicole de Boer was ok as Dax.

I never realize that Terry Farrell would pause, I think that Avery Brooks pausing stands out more. I still liked his acting.

 

[Aike]

I have heard that she did not renew her contract for the seventh season because she felt she was underpaid and did not get a raise.

Why she was denied a raise? The producers felt she was a bad actress.

 

[Bacl]

I'm going to have to disagree. Jadzia Dax was one of my most favorite characters (Ezri my most hated...in fact...the only one I hated in all of Deep Space Nine. Huh). I loved what Farrell did with her: she was sexy, beautiful, smart, tough, intelligent, both a mentor and child. I don't think anyone but her could have pulled it off. Actually, Dax is one of the great characters in all of Trek, in my most humble opinion.

Did I mention sexy?

 

[Frontier]

*Crashes through the bulkhead, Bat'Leth over his head, Mek'Leth slung on his belt, blood dripping from both, predatory glare on his face* You dare insult the honor and talents of the only True Dax?!

Peta'Q! I shall eat your heart!

[/klingon rant]

No, but, seriously: I love Terry. She rocks. Jadzia rocked. Ezri stole her spot-light because she was the 'petite little cute thing' that so many men fantasize about, re: asian schoolgirls. Truth be told, Terry was one of the best parts of DS9. She has the same talents, but didn't get to showcase them as often as Nana. Nana got a lot of oppurtunities to show off her skills, which is why Terry doesn't stand out as much.