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Star Trek - Deep Space Nine, Episode 71: Facets [VHS]

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I just got finished reading a review of mine which 15 people found unhelpful, so I'm going to try to be more constructive in my comments.

Here goes: Too much time was devoted to Curzon. All the other hosts (the one exception being Joran) had about a minute to make there existense and personality known. Curzon got half the hour, and Curzon was the only past host Jadzia talked about in most of the episodes, so we already knew much more about him then any other host. Otherwise, this was a pretty good episode.

Now watch, I'll probably get 15 more "unhelpful" tally votes. (That is if 15 people even see this, I know the page for this video doesn't get much traffic)

The Trill are a very interesting species. They are two seperate species who live as one. You have the worm-thing that, because of an environmental disaster hundreds of years ago on the Trill homeworld, needs to form a symbiotic relationship with a humanoid (the other half of the Trill). Now, not all humanoid Trill qualify to host the worm-things in their chest (belly?) but those that do, bond with the worms for life. Only problem is that the worm-things live a heck of a lot longer than the humanoids do. Jadzia the humanioid is the current host of Dax the worm but there have been several previous humanoid hosts and, through Trill ritual, we get to meet 'em all in "Facets". It's about time! The hints of what Dax's former hosts were like have been dropping since the beginning of DS9's run but here we finally see who they were.

This is a solid episode and it was satisfying to finally find out about all of Dax's previous hosts. Jadzia and Curzon we know about, as well as the homicidal Joran but it was finding out about the others that made this episode fun for me. A politician, a musician, a gymnast, a pilot -- Dax has had many incarnations and many stories. Good episode!

Another welcome episode that concentrates on the Dax worm that lives inside Jadzia. Each of the major characters allows one of the past hosts to take over their bodies, temporarily, Quark is given a female personality who sits and brushes Jadzia's hair in a hilarious scene. Sisko gets the mad former host who killed some people, wonderfully over-acted by Avery Brooks. All in all a cracking episode that sheds a new light on the Dax character in pure Star Trek style!

Jadzia prepares for the Trill "Rite of Closure" called Zhian'tara (pronounced jihn-tara) by selecting the 7 people she feels closest to: Sisko, Kira, Bashire, Odo, O'Brien, Leeta and Quark (yes, Quark) and asking them to donate their bodies for a few hours.

The ritual allows Jadzia to talk with Dax's previous hosts and to know them better. Kira is the first to undergo the transferance of consciousness from the symbiont, via a Trill guardian. Kira's personality is still there and observing, but Lela talks to Jadzia. Lela, Dax's first host, could have never participated in the Zhian'tara - since there were no previous hosts to converse with, but Lela states that Jadzia will "love" the Zhian'tara. Hole #1.

Quark is a bit of comedic relief as he is the embodiment of Audrid. Quark squirms as Audrid uses his body to explain the joys of childbirth. Sisko embodies Joran, who Jadzia didn't even know about until recently. In a prior episode, it was revealed that Joran was a murderer - a bit unstable, but Jadzia embraced him as part of her memories. In this episode, however, Joran isn't just someone who killed his music teacher for revenge - he's apparently a homicidal maniac that must be caged like an animal. This doesn't jibe with previous information. Hole #2.

The most interesting is the morphing of Curzon to Odo. Odo shapeshifts to somewhat resemble Curzon - spots and all. The unique combination of Curzon's memories with Odo's mind has made both of them equal in the transferrance. Odo gets to enjoy food and drink as Curzon and Curzon gets to experience shapeshifting. Now, it's only Curzon's memories, so how Odo is now able to taste food and drink, and metabolize them is not explained. Big hole #3.

Joran's demeaning chat with Jadzia has her doubting herself and terrified of meeting with Curzon. She feels she needs to confront Curzon about how he washed her out of the symbiosis commission when she was an initiate... she desperately wants his respect, but he's too busy drinking, gambling and checking out the ladies to talk with Jadzia. He then announces that he wants his consciousness to stay in Odo and Odo also prefers the arrangement, depriving Jadzia of her memories from Curzon.

Sisko coaches Jadzia on tough love and she gets ready to hit Curzon/Odo with the ugly stick. Rene Auberjonois once again displays incredible acting. He should have been nominated for an Emmy for this episode.

Despite some holes big enough to drive a big rig through, this is a fascinating episode and develops the friendship between Jadzia and Odo like never before.

"Facets" offers us the spectacle of a fascinating Trill rite known as zhian'tara, in which the memories of each of Dax's previous hosts are transferred into Jadzia's friends. This allows Jadzia to interact with them. Sounds like a great idea, but it turns out to be a most unpleasant experience, especially when Curzon announces he likes being joined with Odo. This is a great idea, but this is not a great episode. The genesis for it seems to be the fact that way back when Curzon had rejected Jadzia as a Trill host. Obviously things changed and while "Facets" offers an answer to this mystery, it is a minor mystery to be solved after all, especially wasting as good of an idea as the zhian'tara. Besides, I agree with those who say less Curzon more Joran, Lela and the other hosts.

Episode title: Facets

Written by: Rene Echevarria

Directed by: Cliff Bole

"Facets" is an episode that has a perfect timing in the near-end of the third season of the show and a better execution than it might have had, if the worse had come to being.

After three long years of waiting, we finally get to see the spectrum of personalities that make up the character of Jazia Dax, one of the most potential characters of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

"Facets" describes to us the events that take place when Jazia has her zhian'tara, a Trill ritual where a new host can meet all the previous hosts of his/her symbiont as their personalities are momentarily removed one at a time to a host body.

All the other main characters and a few additional ones are chosen to fill that purpose, including Quark, who gets Audrid, a female host...

The episode deals with Jazias self doubts, as she begins to harvest doubts about herself as a matching host for the other six. The story gets complicated further as Odo and Curzon, the host preceeding Jazia, form a hybrid entity, who wants to stay the way he is. Finally, deeper reasons for this wish are revealed, leading to in depht character exploration of Jazia and even Curzon.

The episode isn't plot driven and it gives good room for character moments and deeper drama, that even the subplot about Nog's entrance exam for Starfleet Academy can't interfere with.

In the end, however, the episode is too shallow and vague, and it contradicts the second season Dax-episode, Playing God, to wich it's otherwise a sequel in character terms.

The pacing of the story is quite adequate, though, and Terry Farrel's and René Auberjoins's exellent performances quarantee a quite satisfying forty minutes of drama that provokes thoughts and entertains as well.