{"id":5325,"date":"2017-09-01T07:10:59","date_gmt":"2017-09-01T07:10:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/38-Meridian"},"modified":"2017-09-01T07:10:59","modified_gmt":"2017-09-01T07:10:59","slug":"38-meridian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/relivethemajesty.com\/index.php\/2017\/09\/01\/38-meridian\/","title":{"rendered":"3.8 — \u201cMeridian\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n \n

3.8 — \u201cMeridian\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Plot:<\/strong> Love stories intertwine as Jadzia Dax finds a soulmate on planet Meridian, in the Gamma Quadrant, which is set to phase into another dimension in incorporeal state for 60 years, after spending just 14 days in the tangible universe. Meanwhile, Kira and Odo start to spend more time together on DS9 while an alien named Tiron develops an unhealthy obsession with Kira and hires Quark to place her likeness into a custom Holodeck simulation for his enjoyment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thoughts:<\/strong> The main story involving Jadzia Dax and Deral is based on Brigadoon<\/em>, the musical about a magic village in Scotland that appears every 100 years. It\u2019s easier to say “it’s Brigadoon<\/em>” that than to explain the science fiction justification for the premise. It so happens I played pit orchestra in a production of Brigadoon<\/em> in high school. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this premise, why not just evacuate all 30 survivors before the planet phases out again? If they don\u2019t need rescuing, the episode doesn\u2019t do a good job of explaining why not. I can understand why Deral would feel reluctant to abandon his community, but not why the community would choose to stay in its trap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The alien, Tiron, is played by Jeffrey Combs, who plays a supporting character in one of my favorite films, The Frighteners<\/em> (1996). From this first appearance Combs goes on to play 8 characters across 44 episodes in DS9, VOY, and ENT (some of which will be recurring characters).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, the porn subplot? Pretty rapey. Making Tiron an alien evades, I guess, the \u201cI thought humans were supposed to be beyond this\u201d question. The producers of the episode, however, certainly weren’t beyond it. If humans in the 24th century know better, why isn’t Kira protected against the attempts to perpetrate sex crimes against her, and why are Tiron and Quark not subject to prosecution? I can\u2019t say that the future of bodily privacy isn’t a legitimate question to explore through science fiction, but Kira and Odo\u2019s resolution of the problem suggests that the writer’s think Quark’s appropriation of her likeness for prostitution is a big joke, since the fitting retaliation we are shown is just another prank.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The effects coordinators had fun with the effect of placing Quark\u2019s head on a woman\u2019s body (played by Nana Visitor’s body double), which was done with green screens, not as an in camera effect as I had initially assumed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The main plot is compromised because there isn\u2019t enough chemistry (or good writing) to support the Jadzia\/Deral relationship. Here\u2019s the thing though: I think it works anyway, because Terry Farrell really sells it. Her scene with Avery Brooks when Jadzia asks Sisko for his approval is one of my favorite things I\u2019ve seen this season. I\u2019m a sucker for a love story, and this has the bones of a good one. I can believe Jadzia and Deral would connect, because they are both much older than they appear, inhabiting bodies which have not proportionally aged. I believe Dax in the vessel of Jadzia would go all in for something like this. The moment of realization that the transfer won\u2019t work is wrenching. In a better setting, this episode could have been a classic. If I could get past the creepy porn subplot, I would fully endorse “Meridian” as a guilty pleasure. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jadzia and Quark now both have absent, inaccessible soulmates, except I\u2019ve already forgotten about Quark\u2019s Cardassian paramour because so little in that episode was worth remembering. I think I\u2019ll remember “Meridian,” but I\u2019ll probably remember a version of it that is better than the real McCoy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rating:<\/strong> 3.5 of 5 not decorative markings.<\/p>\n\n\n

http:\/\/memory-alpha.wikia.com\/wiki\/Meridian_(episode)<\/a>