3.25 — “Facets”

3.25 — “Facets”

Plot” Under pressure from Homeworld, Jadzia Dax decides to undergo a ritual called Zhian’tara, in which she meets Dax’s past hosts through a mystical scientific process that separates their memories from her and places them in the receptacle of one of seven of her chosen friends. Two of these meetings are fraught: her encounter with Joran, the murderer within Jadzia revealed during DS9 3.4, “Equilibrium,” and a long-delayed confrontation with Curzon. Meanwhile, Nog takes an exam for a preparatory program for the Starfleet Academy entrance exam.

Thoughts: This is a phenomenon we’ve seen before: DS9 is out of inspiration at the end of a long season. This is not inevitable! The penultimate episode of TOS’ first season, TOS 1.28, is “The City on the Edge of Forever.” Star Trek worked more with freelancers then (like Harlan Ellison), instead of an insular, exhausted writing staff.

I feel like I could nitpick “Facets” to death. If Jadzia embodies the memories of her past hosts, and the source of these memories is literally came her own mind (or Dax’s), how could the prior hosts have secrets from her? They don’t have a separate existence, like trapped souls. More importantly, I feel like the key character who wasn’t represented in this long exercise is Dax itself (themself?). When the past hosts interact with Jadzia, they should also be interacting with Dax. The presence of the great and wonderful symbiote, however, isn’t felt at all, and it (they?) evidently provides no support or solace to Jadzia during this ritual which feels like a trial.

The lineup of past hosts did not include Verad, the hostage-taker who forcibly removed and joined with Dax in 2.4, “Invasive Procedures” (h/t Memory Alpha for reminding me of Jadzia’s many traumas). I did not care for the Hannibal Lecktor-like treatment of Joran, who is not so much a character (let alone a set of memories), but a malevolent demon with superpowers who has to be contained behind a forcefield. There was at least some lip service to the idea that Jadzia may gain some benefit from what this person adds to her personality in “Equilibrium.” My view is that we all contain multitudes, and, as comforting as the thought may be to some, you won’t find any convicted murderers who aren’t persons. From this episode, it appears that Jadzia needs an exorcism.

Nog’s entrance exam to the academy is evidently planned for a future season, but why not preview it here? While we don’t learn anything new about Nog’s relationship with Quark, it is another good episode for Rom. The actor Max Grodenchik is quoted in Memory Alpha (in turn quoting a StarTrek.com interview) saying “In the next-to-last episode of the third season, ‘Facets,’ a Jadzia Dax episode, the B-story was about Nog taking a pre-entrance exam towards his entry into Starfleet Academy. Quark sabotages the test. Rom finds out. He waits for Quark to come down a corridor, throws him up against the wall and says, ‘If you ever do anything to hurt my son again, I will burn the bar to the ground’. That was a turning point, both for the character and myself. Rom begins to stand up to his brother, here standing up for Nog, and later on standing up for himself. It was at the end of season three, and I think helped me begin to accept the possibility that the writers were trying to do something a little special with Rom. Maybe a little bit of a ‘They like me, they really like me’ moment.”

Which goes to show that something worthwhile happened during this episode.

Even the first scene in the Roundabout simulator has me crying foul. The producers exploit the artifice of the Roundabout set by having Jake walk up and knock on the window, but Holodecks don’t work like that. Even accepting the premise that you can just walk into someone else’s Holodeck simulation (augh! What a terrifying violation!), the Holodeck wouldn’t allow Jake to stand outside the ship in the vacuum of space.

It’s time to wrap up the seasons. Fortunately, the season finales are next week.

Memory Alpha has more rueful reminisces from Ira Steven Behr, who acknowledges that this episode (written by René Echevarria) is a weak installment.

2 out of 5 Trill guardians.

http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Facets