DS9 Flashback: Dax

Though all of the Deep Space Nine characters would grow to be layered and compelling in time, Jadzia Dax was arguably the one with the most built-in potential. With multiple past hosts of experience and back story to flesh out and play with, the character inherently contained multitudes. The writers, just as curious as the audience about that, decided to explore things in the episode "Dax."

After a group of Klaestrons attempt to abduct Jadzia Dax, their leader Ilon Tandro switches to a direct route and presents Sisko with a warrant for her arrest and extradition. 30 years ago, her former host Curzon allegedly committed murder and treason, and now Tandro wants to extradite Jadzia for trial and capital punishment. A trial ensues to ascertain whether the current Dax can stand accused for the crimes of a past host, while Odo investigates the decades-old case to try to exonerate her.

Among the die-hard Star Trek fans who followed all the series, this episode may be most notable for one of its credited writers: D.C. Fontana. The veteran of the original series and early Next Generation was invited by staff writer Peter Allan Fields (who'd worked with her before) to come in and write this script from a rough outline the staff had generated. The character-heavy premise played to her strengths, but she found the assignment difficult all the same. Her ideas on the voices of the new characters of this new series didn't necessarily mesh with those emerging from the staff. Fields would end up re-writing her draft (and splitting episode credit), and this would be Fontana's final Star Trek contribution.

The episode could be seen as a loose repackaging of an all-time great Next Generation episode, "A Measure of a Man." But while both episodes put a main character's very identity on trial, the allegory there (of slavery and the Dred Scott case) was stronger. Perhaps you could consider this episode analogous to the story of criminal who lives a straight-and-narrow life for decades only to be caught later for high crimes? Or perhaps there's no real analogy here at all -- it's simply an exploration of a sci-fi concept without being a lens to examine a real-world dilemma.

Notably, the episode doesn't even resolve its moral question: Dax is exonerated before we ever get an answer to the question of whether she can stand accused for the crimes of past hosts. And while the episode does have fun with the back-and-forth arguments over the question, it's odd that we never get the "official" Trill answer to this. Surely their society must have laws governing this exact situation, so what's the legal culpability in their minds?

Then again, perhaps the omission of the Trill perspective isn't so odd, when you consider that this episode about Dax isn't much of a showcase for Dax. Terry Farrell has surprisingly little to do in the episode, her character remaining stoically silent through most of it. It's good for many of the other characters, though (save O'Brien, who for some reason is specifically written out at the top of the episode). We get a lot more back story on the friendship between Sisko and Dax, of Sisko's admiration for (and acceptance of the faults of) the "old man." Odo gets into full investigative mode, and unlike last time gets to see it through to the end. (Though you'd think being recently framed might make him initially less flippant about the situation.) There's a delicious scene in which Sisko steps aside and Kira goes full-tilt at the "annoying" Ilon Tandro.

It's also a pretty solid episode for the guest stars, a mix of solid working actors and Star Trek veterans who turn in good work here. Gregory Itzin has had a long career of weasels and lawyers (and weaselly lawyers), perhaps most memorably playing Charles Logan on 24. He imbues Ilon Tandro with enough strength that his arguments at the hearing actually seem credible. Fionnula Flanagan plays the widow Enina Tandro, delivering a good scene with Odo and an even better one at the end of the episode with Dax. You can see in their farewell that Enina still recognizes something of her former lover Curzon in Jadzia. (Though even a chaste kiss on the cheek would have been nice here. It would take a few seasons before Trill romance would be explored in that way in an episode.)

Stealing the show, though, is Anne Haney as the Bajoran arbiter Els Renora. Striking an entirely different tone from her role as Rishon Uxbridge on The Next Generation, she's crusty and stern, yet in a truly fun way. There's a subtlety to the performance too -- watch for the withering look she gives the "unfaithful" Enina as she makes her final exit. I was reminded throughout the episode of a much more recent show, The Good Wife, which routinely presented similar judges with memorable personalities (and brought them back in multiple episodes, too; sadly, there would be no repeat visit by Renora).

Other observations:

• There are worse things than being left out of an episode (like O'Brien and Jake) -- like being in one, but horribly written. Bashir crosses over into true ickiness here in his pursuit of Dax. After she shoots down his skeezy flirtations at the start of the episode, he basically decides "no doesn't really mean no" and stalks her. At this point in the series, his character needs some serious rehabilitation. (But by my memory, it's a long way off.)

• This episode brings the first mention of Klingon coffee, a.k.a. raktajino.

• Klaestron assault gear includes some truly impressive gloves.

• Though this isn't primarily an action episode, the opening act featuring Dax's abduction is fairly well staged. There's a satisfying amount of strategy/counter-strategy between our heroes and the Klaestrons.

• The notion of holding the hearing in Quark's bar feels pretty flimsy. I would have said it was to save money on building a new set, but producer Michael Piller specifically denied this, saying they just liked the bar and wanted to use it. It does make for another fun Odo/Quark scene, at least, watching the former strong-arm the latter.

This would have been a better episode if it had really pursued all the interesting issues it raised to some dramatic completion. Still, it did at least raise the issues, in the mode that would ultimately come to define Deep Space Nine. I give this episode a B.