The Boer Essentials

by Simon Plumbe

Jadzia Dax was one of the most popular characters in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine so it came as a shock to many when it was announced that Terry Farrell was leaving the show, and an even greater shock when the confirmation came through that Dax was going to die... well, Jadzia at least. Fans were concerned that Terry could not be replaced and the show wouldn't be the same without her. Well, after seeing Nicole de Boer's debut season in Star Trek (and I really hope she returns soon!), I have to say that I don't miss Jadzia one bit...!

But what makes this new Dax so special? Both Ezri and Jadzia on first impressions would appear quite similar - Starfleet officers, relatively young prior to joining, and from an obvious male perspective, both are very attractive women. Appearances aside however, there are a lot of hidden depths to the characters that make Ezri more interesting to watch and she seems more "real". While there were many facets to Jadzia's character, these could be broken down into just a couple of key characteristics, and Jadzia became rather predictable. That could never be said about Ezri!

With Jadzia, after the early parts of the series, she became somewhat two-dimensional. She was a character with a brilliant scientific mind, she had a penchant for Klingon culture, gambling with Ferengi, and little else. She was in control of the Dax symbiont, and as such, for most of the time she was considered by many to be a singular entity and I feel that the writers often felt unsure just what to do with Dax. Perhaps this lead to Terry's departure. It was known that Terry wasn't particularly happy with the role of Dax as the show progressed, and that there was very little character development. Infact, even though Dax had over 300 years of memories and experiences, we seldom heard about this or knew anything of Dax's past lives.

Ezri, on the other hand, couldn't be any more different. In terms of her experience pre-joining, Ezri was a young Starfleet officer, still undergoing training for her chosen career path. Now, she is trying to deal with 8 other personalities as well as her own, and many of these show through from time to time. What makes Ezri compelling to watch is her unpredictability - you never know from one minute to the next whether you are seeing Ezri, or one of the previous hosts (or at least an aspect of one of the other hosts). This was highlighted brilliantly well with some of the early episodes with Ezri making remarks about her previous hosts, their likes and dislikes, and what the other hosts would have done in her circumstances. In just a brief period of time in the first few episodes, we have learned more about all of Dax's past lives than we did in six seasons with Jadzia, and it makes Ezri all the more realistic for it.

There are times when Ezri is walking, talking and acting like Jadzia, and she seems perfectly at home on DS9 and other than the physical differences, she is the same old Dax, even down to the idiosyncrasy of holding her hands behind her back when she walks. But at other times, she appears to be a young, innocent Starfleet officer who is extremely unsure of herself. Then there are the moments when the previous hosts show through - Ezri's sudden cravings for the favourite foods of her past hosts, her dislike of space travel, or her urges brought on by activities that previous Dax's enjoyed doing. While all of this provides for light comic relief in the series, it doesn't demean the character at all - Ezri still comes across as a strong, serious character, despite her strange quirks. It is very similar to the way in which Quark is portrayed - while he is predominantly a serious character, there is plenty of depth to the role showing that there is another side to him.

The main strength in this shows through with Nicole de Boer's superb performance as Dax. Terry Farrell, while not a bad actress, did not have too difficult a time on Star Trek. The role of Dax was relatively straightforward and she pretty much knew where the character was going and what was expected from her, week in, week out. In Nicole's case, she has a much more difficult job, having to convince the viewers that her personality is changing, albeit slightly, on a frequent basis. A tough job for any actor or actress, and one that she manages to do with conviction. I certainly don't think that there are many actresses who could manage to step into the shoes left by another actress and make a character their own so quickly.

Nicole de Boer has managed to work wonders with Ezri Dax, and I would certainly rather see her than Jadzia, if only for the added depth she brings to the character. As popular as the Klingons were, I think that some fans were getting a little tired of seeing Dax's only real scenes when Klingons were around, and Ezri managed to provide the writers with no end of possibilities for really good, strong storylines, with plenty of humour to boot. My only disappointment to the character of Ezri is the fact that it took seven seasons before she appeared! Why couldn't Terry Farrell have left the show one or two years sooner?!