Why Didn't People Like Jadzia Dax?

[Mirror_Barclay]

If you feel we found out too little about Jadzia and her history, that has nothing to do with one's assessment of the character herself. That's a criticism of the writers. I thought this thread is about why people do or don't find the character likable, not about whether they feel the character was suffiently explored in terms of background and history by the writers. I figured it's more about how she was (behaviour, personality, attitude) not who she was (backstory, nature).

One reason why might not like (it was asked why we don't like Jadzia, not why some perhaps dislike her) a character is that we don't learn a lot about them.

Another is that we don't understand where negative characteristics are coming from, that might lead us to forgive them in other characters.

And in 7 years, we learned more about Ezri in one than we did with Jadzia in 6. I know Jadzia had to carry the wait of also introducing the symbiont, and I think that was the best part of her character, but it would have been nice in the later years to learn more about her. Actually now that I think about it, I think we found out more about Curzon than we did Jadzia, and Curzon wasn't even in the series. That's weak writing I think.

Yeah, Curzon was better explored than Jadzia - I agree, weak writing. And not calculated to instill a love of Jadzia.

 

[crusher]

I liked Dax and more so when she got together with Worf.

 

[CommanderTrip]

I liked Dax and more so when she got together with Worf.

ditto.

Some of my favorite episodes are Dax-centric. Equillibrium, Invasive Procedures, Past Tense, and Facets come to mind.

But Meridian? Yeah... that episode was a bag of fail. I think the early stories involving Dax are much better in terms of execution and writing than the later stories. (aside from maybe change of heart, I've really only seen that episode once.)

 

[neogothboy74]

Jadzia Dax is one of my favorite Trek characters of all time; Kira being my favorite. It doesn't bother me if other don't like them, but for me, these two were some of the best Trek ever created. Ezri Dax was fine, but we really hardly knew her; she's getting some major development in the books though, which I appreciate.

And in 7 years, we learned more about Ezri in one than we did with Jadzia in 6. I know Jadzia had to carry the wait of also introducing the symbiont, and I think that was the best part of her character, but it would have been nice in the later years to learn more about her. Actually now that I think about it, I think we found out more about Curzon than we did Jadzia, and Curzon wasn't even in the series. That's weak writing I think.

Yeah, Curzon was better explored than Jadzia - I agree, weak writing. And not calculated to instill a love of Jadzia.

You know how on a series with 8 regular charcters there are episodes that highlight a certain character. Well, the thing with Dax was that she was 8 or 9 complex charcters all on her own and the writers had to choose which Dax they were writing for everytime they did a Dax centric episode, so I can see how Jadzia might have felt under utilized - which I think is more the nature of the character than anything else. It's also understandable that the writers worked so hard to develope Ezri in Season 7; not only was she a new character to write for, which must have felt like a breath of fresh air at that point, they also needed to develope her enough that when the final 10 episode story arc kicked into high gear that she would be able to hold her own weight - which I think worked out very well. Ezri's viewpoint on the Klingon Empire, which she shared with Worf in "Tacking Into the Wind" just 4 episodes from the end of the series is one of the highpoints of the Dax character, IMHO.

 

[The Grim Ghost]

I only found Dax interesting when she was playing off of someone else. Dax/Worf, Dax/Quark, Dax/Sisko, etc..

On Dax/Worf though, some of it irritated me quite a bit. Worf has always been portrayed as someone who hates to look foolish and hates to be made fun of. So he is attracted to someone who at every opportunity does these things to him? I never liked that.

Like some others have mentioned, I hated how smug she seemed at times.

I don't feel that she made the show any worse, but I don't think she added much either. Many of the secondary characters like Martok and Garak were way more interesting.

 

[kitsune]

I hated how smug she seemed at times.

After seven lifetimes, one would presumably learn to not take life too seriously.

 

[The Grim Ghost]

^

Even 7 lifetimes won't teach you everything there is to know though

 

[Thrall]

She was a smug, know-it-all who thought way too highly of herself.

See? Now that's a legitimate criticism. Obviously I don't think of her that way, but I can see where the person who posted it is coming from. Even I cringed a little in that episode where she and Worf are walking back from training in the holosuite and she starts saying something like, "I'm not a [whatever Worf called her], I'm a beautiful woman who [blah blah blah]". I mean I adore Jadzia, but she could have been a little more modest.

She was also a heartbreaking cocktease. Especially when it came to Julian. However, Julian could be just as bad, so I really didn't feel all that bad for him. Serves you right, Man Whore. You'd think a brilliant science officer would be more professional and not act like a Sorostitute though.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

The idea of a merged being that is part humanoid and part symbiote is fascinating, so Jadzia should not have been so dull. Or Ezri, either. Maybe the character should have been re-thought. Instead of just killing the host once, late in the series, just because Terry Ferrell got another gig, it might have been interesting if the character had been conceived to have been replaced a couple times during the show's run, either because of the death of the host or because that's how the symbiote thing works - they need to switch hosts frequently - and the person who was the Starfleet officer was Dax, not the host, so the symbiote was the one who kept its job while the host left.

 

[Bisz]

I'm not a fan of Jadzia for all of the reasons that have already been pointed out, for the most part: bad acting and bad writing. I enjoyed the Ezri character a lot more.

 

[RobertScorpio]

True story; I was at a convention in early 2000s. I heard an interesting discussion between two fans about this very topic. And what I came away with? They simply hated the actress (and thus the character) because she was a Republican/gun shooting/red-state supporter. That was the reason. And, having been to my fare share of conventions over the past 30+ years, does not surprise me one bit that they would think that away about her.

Just keeping it real.

Rob

 

[AdmiralGarak]

I've never even heard one mention of her political beliefs on TrekBBS. That's certainly not why anyone here doesn't like her.

 

[RobertScorpio]

I've never even heard one mention of her political beliefs on TrekBBS. That's certainly not why anyone here doesn't like her.

Or so, we know. I'm just saying what I heard at that convention. I had no idea what here political beliefs were, and I am only stating those are hers based on what I heard them going back and forth about. For all I know those are not her views, so I am not attributing them to her.

Rob

 

[TEH BABA]

She didnt have a boob job like Sirtis or Jolene.

 

[RobertScorpio]

She didnt have a boob job like Sirtis or Jolene.

Sirtis wasn't natural? I'll have to find some of those softporn movies she did to really tell.

Rob

 

[QuasarVM]

True story; I was at a convention in early 2000s. I heard an interesting discussion between two fans about this very topic. And what I came away with? They simply hated the actress (and thus the character) because she was a Republican/gun shooting/red-state supporter. That was the reason. And, having been to my fare share of conventions over the past 30+ years, does not surprise me one bit that they would think that away about her.

Just keeping it real.

Rob

OOooh!!!! Is that TRUE?? Is she really a right-winger?

Man if that's so, I think I am truly in love!

Hot...and a right winger...who could ask for more?

I actually hope it's true...and not some fan rumor! Now that would truly be something...if true!

 

[RobertScorpio]

True story; I was at a convention in early 2000s. I heard an interesting discussion between two fans about this very topic. And what I came away with? They simply hated the actress (and thus the character) because she was a Republican/gun shooting/red-state supporter. That was the reason. And, having been to my fare share of conventions over the past 30+ years, does not surprise me one bit that they would think that away about her.

Just keeping it real.

Rob

OOooh!!!! Is that TRUE?? Is she really a right-winger?

Man if that's so, I think I am truly in love!

Hot...and a right winger...who could ask for more?

Yeah...I can remember reading something about her revealing that fact and how she got some interesting fan-mail later on. I guess she did an interview somewhere admitting that she liked to go to the shooting range (gasp) and liked country music (double gasp) and was very traditional in her views (and we know what that is a buzz word for don't we "hollywood"?)...

And then she got all kinds of weird fan-mail. I thought she did a good job. Her problem, as was the problem for every female in BERMAN-era trek, was the lack of consistant writing. The only one who seemed to escape this? Nana Visitor. But all the others, from Troi to Dax to Janeway to Hoshi ...they all were undermined, IMO, by shakey writing..

Rob

 

[Praetor]

True story; I was at a convention in early 2000s. I heard an interesting discussion between two fans about this very topic. And what I came away with? They simply hated the actress (and thus the character) because she was a Republican/gun shooting/red-state supporter. That was the reason. And, having been to my fare share of conventions over the past 30+ years, does not surprise me one bit that they would think that away about her.

Just keeping it real.

Rob

OOooh!!!! Is that TRUE?? Is she really a right-winger?

Man if that's so, I think I am truly in love!

Hot...and a right winger...who could ask for more?

I actually hope it's true...and not some fan rumor! Now that would truly be something...if true!

Steady, Quasar, old chum. She also likes fishing.

I remember reading about it in TV Guide, and how she was always amused that people were surprised that the 6' pretty brunette was a fisherman. (And apparently rather good at it too.)

And it's a shame people would send hate mail to an actor due to their personal lives. Personally, I'd rather not know about an actor. It's sufficient for me for them to do a good job.

 

[TEH BABA]

She had a hot kiss with a girl.

 

[kitsune]

Steady, Quasar, old chum. She also likes fishing.

That reminds me of this cool photo of her: