Or "My Inner Slug"
"When one of my kind stumbles... It is a mistake that is there forever."
-Lieutenant Dax
For all of the early-series missteps the DS9 writers made in "Q-Less" (and there were many), they rebounded nicely in the title-character-centric "Dax." The episode delves further into the nature of Trill existence while asking some intriguing questions about honor, statutes of limitations, and just how well we can really know another person. There is a smoothness to how this episode builds depth to Dax's character while further rejecting the notion that an immobile space station isn't interesting, as opposed to the awkward wink-wink forced participation of TNG retreads just the episode before.
The Dax character, along with Odo, is certainly one of the more mysterious constructs introduced at DS9's inception. As I remember someone saying to me during that first season, "The prettiest girl on the show a guy living inside her as a slug." And to this point in the series, the most substantial discussion of Dax's Trill identity was an awkward exchange where Sisko told Bashir he would not be an obstacle to the doctor's romantic pursuit.
The plot arc allows Terry Farrell and Avery Brooks to play the roles they seem most comfortable in with these characters. Farrell, who always seemed to have just heard a mildly humorous one-liner, effectively keeps Dax coolly detached from the defense of her own life while stonewalling the efforts to extract her great secret. When I think back on Farrell's Dax, I think of her engrossed yet under control while performing her duties or humoring her fellow crew members from emotional distance. This plot fit snugly into that wheelhouse.
And then there's Sisko. I made be a little hard on Brooks in these reviews. After all, he is more-or-less asked to be a black Patrick Stewart, wrestling between his Federation-issued moral zeal and the pragmatism it often defies. In "Dax," Sisko makes an impassioned case to spare the life of his science officer. In he moments when he seemed to be channeling the best of Jack McCoy from a New York courtroom, Brooks' intensity hit the mark. Of course, he attempted to jam that same intense square peg into his private plea to Dax to help him by divulging more information (lowlight: "Dammit, if you were still a man"), but let's at least stay positive for a post.
Furthermore, the opening scene demonstrated the level of "get me past the credits" intrigue TNG pulled off so often. If these first eight hours of DS9 stake any claim, it is that frontier life will often bring the unexpected, especially when that frontier flanks a wormhole to the Gamma Quadrant. The series' best moments come when the writers lean heavily on this premise.
Additional thoughts:
- Speaking of that opening scene, the writers deserve credit for not fixating on discord between the Bajoran and Federation crews. Perhaps this is a holdover of Roddenbury's "Let's get along" credo, but it would be easy to see envision a multi-episode theme where the two sides bristle with working together until they learn they must to survive. In "Dax"'s first minutes, we see Sisko, Kira, and Odo work together effectively to prevent Dax's captors from escaping. If the crew friction angle were strongly in play at this point, this would strike discordance.
- If Fionnula Flanagan looks familiar as Enina Tandro in this episode, you are probably a nerd. If you recognize her as Eloise Hawking from Lost, give yourself one nerd point. If you recognize her as Dr. Juliana Tainer (i.e., Data's Mom) from TNG, that's nerd checkmate.
- It appears there is no sexual harassment code in the Federation. Lucky you, Dr. Bashir.
- I have little expertise in the technical side of stage performance, but I found the fight scene between Bashir and Dax's captors confusing. First, Bashir probably would not give away the element of surprise by yelling Dax's name as he charged through the corridor, right? But most of all, he appears to knock himself down as he strikes the first captor. I also struggled to find the head trauma that would knock the doctor out. Are these failings of planning or execution?
3.5 bars of gold-pressed latinum out of 5
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