Why Didn't People Like Jadzia Dax?
- Thread starter Ro_Laren
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She was OK. It seemed sometimes it was a stretch when they had to build storylines around her. Her Klingon pasts was the most intriguing, so that was the only aspect I got into-really liked Blood Oath.
A better actor would have helped, but the entire Jadzia/Ezri thingy was kinda lame.
Her working around Brooks, Rene, Hertzler, ARob was like the YMCA player, playing alongside the Celtics.
Her whole death thingy was beyond lame
I always wondered the same thing. I agree with Photon that Terry Farrel was out-classed as an actor by the rest of the cast but I didn't think she was that bad. She had good chemistry with Brooks too.
I liked Jadzia... liked her better than Ezri. Loved the science-y ness, loved the Dax/Sisko relationship. I thought TF did a great job with her. My only problem was the random writing that made her make stupid choices, like in Meridian - a mature Trill who is joined can't wander off like that! And for someone responsible for a symbiote, she did some reckless things I found out of character, which were annoying. Overall she was one of my favourites.
I think that this is another case of a vocal minority making it seem like fans didn't like her. She tends to wind up near the bottom of the list in popularity contests, but obviously someone needs to.
My biggest problem with Jadzia is that we never learned much about who she was prior to joining. So much effort was focused on Dax and on Jadzia Dax, that Jadzia the host was completely forgotten. We don't even know her surname.
I can only think of two episodes that even dealt with her-- "Playing God" (barely) and "Facets". And they both deal with her joining rather than her personal life.
My biggest problem with Jadzia is that we never learned much about who she was prior to joining. So much effort was focused on Dax and on Jadzia Dax, that Jadzia the host was completely forgotten. We don't even know her surname.
I can only think of two episodes that even dealt with her-- "Playing God" (barely) and "Facets". And they both deal with her joining rather than her personal life.
Out-classed? I disagree on that point.
It's like Troi. Marina Sirtis was completely consistent with the TNG cast as an actor. But, she got a very difficult character, with some bad and questionable writing. Therefore, people say she was a lesser actor.
As an old D&D'er, I really do think that some characters are more difficult than others. A Worf, Quark, O'Brien, or Kira, are much easier to get into than a Jadzia Dax.
My 2 cents.
Let me count the reasons I hate Jadzia:
- horrible, wooden, monotone acting. easily the very worst acting performance on the show, and ridiculously out of her league due to the rest of DS9's cast (primary and secondary) almost all being immaculate actors
- horrible writing with generic dialogue that is always interchangeable with O'Brien, Kira, or any number of other characters (which is always a telltale sign of bad writing/useless character; and Jadzia is more or less the only character on DS9 with generic dialogue)
- completely irrelevant to the plot of the show
- smug, condenscending attitude which is inherently annoying
- tells 'jokes' that are never the least bit funny
- tells boring stories in the most generic, mundane way possible, instead of putting any effort in to show rather than tell (again, both an acting and writing problem)
- added no value to the show whatsoever
- totally one-dimensional. when she criticized Victor Hugo for writing one-dimensional female characters, I threw up in my mouth a little because she is easily one of the most one-dimensional female characters of all-time
- has harlot-esque tendencies
- took away screentime which could have been much better-spent on worthwhile characters (ie: 99% of the other characters on DS9)
My impression from years past was that there is quite a sizable portion of DS9 fans who do not like Jadzia. Best way to gauge it is to do a poll, but even that is not scientific. It generally seems to me that Jazdia seems to have a higher ratio of pro rather than con fans on this particular site than elsewhere.
- horrible, wooden, monotone acting. easily the very worst acting performance on the show, and ridiculously out of her league due to the rest of DS9's cast (primary and secondary) almost all being immaculate actors
- horrible writing with generic dialogue that is always interchangeable with O'Brien, Kira, or any number of other characters (which is always a telltale sign of bad writing/useless character; and Jadzia is more or less the only character on DS9 with generic dialogue)
- completely irrelevant to the plot of the show
- smug, condenscending attitude which is inherently annoying
- tells 'jokes' that are never the least bit funny
- tells boring stories in the most generic, mundane way possible, instead of putting any effort in to show rather than tell (again, both an acting and writing problem)
- added no value to the show whatsoever
- totally one-dimensional. when she criticized Victor Hugo for writing one-dimensional female characters, I threw up in my mouth a little because she is easily one of the most one-dimensional female characters of all-time
- has harlot-esque tendencies
- took away screentime which could have been much better-spent on worthwhile characters (ie: 99% of the other characters on DS9)
My impression from years past was that there is quite a sizable portion of DS9 fans who do not like Jadzia. Best way to gauge it is to do a poll, but even that is not scientific. It generally seems to me that Jazdia seems to have a higher ratio of pro rather than con fans on this particular site than elsewhere.
^
Couldn't say it better myself. Agree 100%.
What I find funny is people who complain about Ezri's screen time. Ezri evolved as much as a character in one year as Jadzia did in six. But, I think both were because there was much more to work with, and she was a lot more fun to write for.
Couldn't say it better myself. Agree 100%.
What I find funny is people who complain about Ezri's screen time. Ezri evolved as much as a character in one year as Jadzia did in six. But, I think both were because there was much more to work with, and she was a lot more fun to write for.
Agreed. If it weren't for the fact that she's attractive, most people would be blasting her to smithereens.
And quite frankly, I never found her all that attractive. She kinda reminds me of a gorilla.
I loved Jadzia. For a long time she and Kira were my favorite characters on DS9. They are probably the best examples of strong independent women Star Trek has to offer. I never really warmed up to Ezri, but a lot of that is because she was such an obvious replacement for Jadzia. Had they made Ezri a different trill, or a different character entirely, I think she could have been much better.
I think Dax gets a bum rap around here. Yes, it took the writers a while to get a handle on her, but something seemed to click in The Siege and for the most part she was a great presence thereafter.
I think there probably isn't much character growth a +300-year-old is going to go though no matter what you throw at them (especially compared to the rest of the Niners), so positioning her more as a wry observer of their foibles was a clever move on the writer's part. That she retained some of the rashness and spontaneity of a 28-year-old was equally inspired.
In any case, it's a unique role that no other character on the show was really in a position (emotionally or otherwise) to perform. She was in essence the station's de facto counsellor before, ironically, Ezri came along.
Garak's description of Jadzia in Afterimage as somebody who was vital and 'owned herself' summed her up beautifully, and made me really pine for Dax at the time.
As for Terry Farrell, while I think her performances were a little uneven now and then, she had a tough gig. The character of Dax didn't require the sort of scene chewing of the likes of Dukat or Garak nor the histrionics of Kira or Bashir, she had to be both stately and at ease with herself, an observer who still had a passion and appetite to try new things, and these sorts of contradictions probably made the role much tougher to sell than it might otherwise appear, and all in all I think Terry did pretty good job.
I think there probably isn't much character growth a +300-year-old is going to go though no matter what you throw at them (especially compared to the rest of the Niners), so positioning her more as a wry observer of their foibles was a clever move on the writer's part. That she retained some of the rashness and spontaneity of a 28-year-old was equally inspired.
In any case, it's a unique role that no other character on the show was really in a position (emotionally or otherwise) to perform. She was in essence the station's de facto counsellor before, ironically, Ezri came along.
Garak's description of Jadzia in Afterimage as somebody who was vital and 'owned herself' summed her up beautifully, and made me really pine for Dax at the time.
As for Terry Farrell, while I think her performances were a little uneven now and then, she had a tough gig. The character of Dax didn't require the sort of scene chewing of the likes of Dukat or Garak nor the histrionics of Kira or Bashir, she had to be both stately and at ease with herself, an observer who still had a passion and appetite to try new things, and these sorts of contradictions probably made the role much tougher to sell than it might otherwise appear, and all in all I think Terry did pretty good job.
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Wow, a lot of controversy in here. I'd just like to step up as one of the people who was a fan of Jadzia. In fact, she's my favourite character. I did think the actress was a babe, but that wasn't the only reason I liked the character. I always enjoyed her interactions with the other characters and the way she tended to be so cheerful, enthusiastic, and full of life. I thought her "Klingon fetish" was cool too. 
And I even thought she did a great job bringing the necessary emotional intensity to make dramatic episodes like "Re-Joined" effective.
I actually feel the complete opposite of some people here - for example, the one who claims that she took screentime away from other characters. On the contrary, I thought she deserved more screentime than she got. I remember a period in season 4 when she had like one line per episode in every episode and it was driving me crazy seeing her be so overlooked and then she had that awesome conversation with the Jemhadar soldier in "To The Death", which was one of the many highlights of the episode that made it one of my favourites. I was always anxious to see how she would interact with different characters and almost always surprised and delighted by the results.
And I even thought she did a great job bringing the necessary emotional intensity to make dramatic episodes like "Re-Joined" effective. I actually feel the complete opposite of some people here - for example, the one who claims that she took screentime away from other characters. On the contrary, I thought she deserved more screentime than she got. I remember a period in season 4 when she had like one line per episode in every episode and it was driving me crazy seeing her be so overlooked and then she had that awesome conversation with the Jemhadar soldier in "To The Death", which was one of the many highlights of the episode that made it one of my favourites. I was always anxious to see how she would interact with different characters and almost always surprised and delighted by the results.
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