Over the years,Star Trekhas become known far and wide for being a cornerstone in science fiction. Whether one is a fan or not, it’s impossible to untangle the franchise from the genre as a whole. The franchise is responsible for some of the best sci-fi technology, fromfaster than light warp travel, all the way to devices that cantranslate almost any alien language instantly.
But at the heart of each show’s greatness is their great characters, human and alien alike. One of these believed characters was Jadzia Dax, from the highly acclaimedDeep Space 9series. The character met an untimely end, but thanks to the unique properties of her species, she was replaced by another character who shared her memories. However, her successor, Ezri Dax, never truly won over fans in quite the same way. Why exactly was Ezri so unpopular?
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Jadzia and Ezri were bothTrill Symbionts, the combination of two living entities: a Trill (which acted as the host) and the adjacent symbiont that coexisted within them. Jadzia and Ezri both acted as hosts for the Dax symbiont, a being that had been around for many years in various different hosts. One of these hosts, Curzon Dax, was even the elderly mentor for station commander and sidelinewar criminal Benjamin Sisko. However, that host died of old age and the symbiont was joined with Jadzia. The joining of the two beings was not as barbaric as it might first appear. When joined, the two become one entity made up of the two distinct individuals. Dax carried the memories and experiences of all the previous hosts, but the Trill hosts themselves contributed much to the personality and unique outlook on life. It was not a case of taking it in turns to control the body; rather, they combined and created an entirely new living organism with equal control.
Jadzia was around for the majority of the show, until her untimely death in the finale of the sixth season, the episode “Tears of the Prophets.” She was shot by Gul Dukat, acting as the crescendo for the franchise’s turn towards a much darker narrative. It was adeeply emotional moment, taking place shortly after she andWorf, the lovable yet complex Klingon, got married. They had also just found out they were able to have children together, something previously unknown between two fairly distinct alien races.
As Jadzia died, Dax barely managed to survive. An emergency pairing was performed with the only Trill on board the station at the time, an ensign named Ezri, and the rest was history. Normally, the paring of Trill and Symbiont is a ritualistic event. It only takes place after the Trill has undergone a lengthy trial, constantly being tested to see if they are’worthy' of being a host. However, Ezri skipped the que, and it was a miracle that both she and the symbiont survived.
Jadzia’s death was sad, but ultimately, this was not what irked fans about Ezri’s character. Terry Farrell, the actress who played Jadzia, was near impossible to replace. Ezri feeling like a pale imitation of Jadzia despite being designed to be her own distinct character. Farrell had originally signed a 6-year contract, seeing her through all the way to the end of season 6, but for unknown reasons decided to not renew it, forcing the hands of the writers to do something. They could have simply let her die, Trill and Symbiont together, but the show was already lacking in its female representation, as Kira was the only other major lady in the show.
Ezri was born out of necessity, but what really damaged her character was that the show had to cram all her character development into one final season. She straddled the line between being a new character, but also the same old Dax, forced to slot right back into the tight-knit crew of pre-established characters. The writers could have devoted more time to this, showing her grow more as a character, but there was so much going on in the incredibly complex,franchise-changing show thatDS9had become. There was just not enough screen time to properly develop Ezri.
At the end of the day, Nicole DeBoer, the actress who played Ezri, did a fantastic job. Her qualities as an actor were never truly the reason her character received such backlash. It was the writing that let her down. The show didn’t seem to know what to do with her most of the time, funneling her into the comedic sidekick role. She bumbled around, being an emotional wreck who lacked confidence. Her relationship with Worf was incredibly awkward, and left a sour taste in both the characters' and the audience’s mouths. If it were possible, then the best thing for the show would have been to keep Jadzia on, but the wants of Farrell put the producers in such a difficult position that the Ezri results were much better than what could have happened.
