Thoughts on Jadzia...

[parsonsm]

I just wondered what people think of Jadzia all these years after the show has finished,

Everyone is meant to love her right?

Bashir is infatuated, Quark too. Sisko has the deep friendship (and sleeps with the evil twin...),

Then there is Worf of course,

Random guy on shifting planet falls in love with her, ex partner from previous host etc etc....

DS9 certainly presents the idea that Jadzia is absolutely wonderful and that everyone thinks she is amazing.

I never really got it.

I find her to be arrogant, annoying, childish and selfish, and whilst the show admits to these factors at times, for me at least her character never equals the scales to account for these faults.

As such when Dukat kills her, I was very much...meh....

I found Ezri to be vast improvement on the Dax character.

So am I alone, does everyone really love Jadzia?

 

[kkt]

She can be a lot of fun when she's in a playful mood and so is whoever's with her. If I was with her in real life, I would get overwhelmed and pretty regularly suggest that she go out by herself while I stay home and read a book or watched DS9 on television or something.

I don't think all those people are "in love" with her. Quark enjoys her company and is attracted to her but knows it's never going to go beyond a game of Tongo once in a while. Sisko likes her company but it would be creepy for that to be a love interest. Jadzia and the random guy from the shifting planet was just nuts; infatuated in a few days, sure, but not love, and it was breaking Dax's character of several lifetimes that she would even consider staying behind and among other things lose her chance to pass the Dax symbiont on to the next host.

I was sad when she was killed but not exactly sorry to be seeing Ezri instead. At times I've felt like the only fan who doesn't see the loss of Jadzia as the Greatest Tragedy in All Trekdom or something.

 

[STEPhon IT]

It was something I had faults on Ezri's character of being attracted to Bashir; it was quite boring to see her fall for him. Jadzia always seem to throw a monkey-wrench on "What is considered attractive?". Everything was alien to her and I appreciated that side of her which I thought made her interesting. My interest of her waned very quickly when the 4th season came around; she was less of a science officer and more of a wise-cracking crewmember who was the pilot of the Defiant all of the time. Once an independent woman who now had to bow down to Worf and do redundant Klingon stuff all of the time which I thought was wasting the character. Jadzia made being an alien very cool; and humorous at the same time and I wish the producers didn't act on Terry Farrell's wishes to dumb down her character and keep her dialog strong to remain the great potential character she was in "Emissary".

 

[Tosk]

At times I've felt like the only fan who doesn't see the loss of Jadzia as the Greatest Tragedy in All Trekdom or something.

You're not.

I enjoyed Jadzia a lot of the time. But I also found her infuriating some of the time.

I was personally glad to get a new Dax. Ezri brought new life to a character that (IMO) was stagnating.

 

[DonIago]

If nothing else, Ezri would have been worth it for the scene where she calls out the Klingon Empire to Worf.

It's much harder for me to imagine Jadzia doing that, in part because she seemed as enamored of Klingon culture as Worf was.

I still kind of wish Jadzia had been succeeded by a male host, but I understand why they didn't go in that direction.

 

[Paul755]

That scene with Ezri is great and not something I think they would have written for Jadzia. Problem is that’s about the only memorable scene for Ezri. I mean, I like her fine enough but she wasn’t as good as Jadzia.

and while not her fault my biggest issue with S7 is there is so much time dedicated to Ezri stories it makes her feel more shoehorned in than she already was.

 

[DonIago]

Thing is, I don't remember Jadzia being highly memorable in the first season either, though it's been a while since I've done a rewatch.

TPTB simply didn't have the time to find the character, or for Nicole to really grow into the role. I guess they kind of tried to compensate by making so much of the season so Ezri-focused, but that's not organic.

 

[Oddish]

I liked the quieter, more intellectual pre-"Playing God" Jadzia better than the one we had afterwards.

And as for Ezri, she was too good a character to waste on one season. Better to either give DS9 an 8th season, or give Terry Farrell what she wanted and let her ride the series out.

 

[kkt]

Yes, 1st season Jadzia was not as good as she got later, for sure. The writers were struggling with their first idea that she should be aloof and very good at science, almost Vulcan-like. Also Farrell's acting was still maturing.

I just wish the producers had the clout to give DS9 an 8th season just because Ezri's character could have used it!

 

[STEPhon IT]

I liked the quieter, more intellectual pre-"Playing God" Jadzia better than the one we had afterwards.

And as for Ezri, she was too good a character to waste on one season. Better to either give DS9 an 8th season, or give Terry Farrell what she wanted and let her ride the series out.

The producers didn't have to kill her off; we could've had Ezri with same crap she was going through and could invent another symbiont. Or have Ezri be herself without the symbiont; I think we could have a Trill who didn't have or wasn't a candidate; I thought the producers were cruel to Terry for killing off her character and didn't have a proper mourning. Especially, when a previous episode had the crew deal with an unknown who was lost through time on a planet and gave her this inappropriate and unnecessary funeral. Its a slap in the face to give a character we only knew for about 35 mins of story and got a Spock type memorial while we experienced a woman who was a beloved character for 6 seasons and got nothing.

 

[at Quark's]

I never particularly cared for her, I had the feeling she mostly was a pretty face (and a bit of a party animal in later years). On some occasions, I got a selfish vibe from her character, but not sure exactly why, and it could simply have been nothing more than a 'not my type of person' thing.

But I never hated her either, she was an OK part of the show.

 

[Oddish]

I thought the producers were cruel to Terry for killing off her character and didn't have a proper mourning.

The producer's actions toward Terry Farrell were deplorable. From what I hear it was one of the relatively few times Rick Berman stuck his nose in DS9's affairs; usually he was too busy ruining Voyager to give it much thought.

Especially, when a previous episode had the crew deal with an unknown who was lost through time on a planet and gave her this inappropriate and unnecessary funeral. Its a slap in the face to give a character we only knew for about 35 mins of story and got a Spock type memorial while we experienced a woman who was a beloved character for 6 seasons and got nothing.

Complaining about what was done with Capt. Cusak is like complaining about Tom Paris getting his rank restored: it misses the point. She didn't deserve worse; Jadzia Dax deserved better.

On some occasions, I got a selfish vibe from her character, but not sure exactly why, and it could simply have been nothing more than a 'not my type of person' thing. But I never hated her

Kind of the same. There were just characters on the series I liked better.

 

[Captain pl1ngpl0ng]

It would have been interesting if the zhian'tara ritual went wrong,
and after that Facet episode, she never fully recover.
And that the trait of the different pre-hosts was randomly coming through in a strong way..
It would have made her a total loose canon and you would never know how she would respond to anything lol.

 

[Silvercrest]

This isn't quite the same thing, but — we certainly saw aspects of Joran coming out randomly, because he was different every time. His portrayal (raving maniac) in "Facets" was different than what we were told about him (unstable individual) in "Equilibrium". Later on, his portrayal (Hannibal Lecter-clone) in "Field of Fire" was different again. Could those differing portrayals result from the ritual going wrong?

Speaking of "Equilibrium", it annoyed me that she had to take the bottom bunk because one of her hosts suffered a fall and she inherited their problem with heights. Good Lord, woman, if you've collected eight lifetimes of hangups and neuroses, how can you manage to be a functional Starfleet officer? Or a functional person, for that matter.

 

[Captain pl1ngpl0ng]

This isn't quite the same thing, but — we certainly saw aspects of Joran coming out randomly, because he was different every time. His portrayal (raving maniac) in "Facets" was different than what we were told about him (unstable individual) in "Equilibrium". Later on, his portrayal (Hannibal Lecter-clone) in "Field of Fire" was different again. Could those differing portrayals result from the ritual going wrong?

yes and also, when i think about it, in "Rejoined" Jadzia had overwhelming feelings towards Lenara
and those feelings certinly come from a prev host, so maybe in fact , something DID happen after the "facets"?

 

[Gul Sengosts]

I neither loved nor disliked her, she was alright but I always felt she didn't get the same character exploration and depth that most other characters on DS9 got. Even frigging Bashir, who started as a jackass, had so much growth over the course of the show that Jadzia paled in comparison. Her relationship with Worf didn't do her any good in my opinion and wasted time that could have been used for better character exploration.

Again, it's not that she's a bad character, just that I found her a little overshadowed by the mostly very strong other characters on the show, and just because of that I was somewhat indifferent. On one of the other shows where she would have had less competition, she probably would have had a stronger impression on me.

 

[Tosk]

It's interesting that we seemingly learned more about Ezri (not Dax) in one season than we did about Jadzia (not Dax) in six. We never even learned Jadzia's last name.

 

[Oddish]

We never even learned Jadzia's last name.

It's Dax.

 

[Trekker09]

In one novel, it’s Jadzia Idaris.
(Revelation and Dust)
Same as on her grave marker, mentioned in Worlds of DS9, volume 2, Trill and Bajor.

 

[STEPhon IT]

Complaining about what was done with Capt. Cusak is like complaining about Tom Paris getting his rank restored: it misses the point. She didn't deserve worse; Jadzia Dax deserved better.

You're missing my point. Capt. "I don't give a f^ck who she is???" should've never had THAT kind of treatment, contrast to Jadzia Dax's lack there of. A character who didn't deserve better but have an ending that showed some gratitude for her earned years of the series.