Star Trek: Facets

Episode: "Facets"

Series: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Season 3, Episode 25

Original Air Date: June 12, 1995

via Memory Alpha

Jadzia performs the zhian'tara ritual in which she meets each of the Dax symbiont's previous hosts.  She asks each of seven friends - Benjamin, Kira, Odo, Bashir, O'Brien, Quark and Leeta (in her second of 16 appearances) - to embody one of the previous hosts in turn.  Meanwhile, Nog takes the Starfleet entrance exam.  

The Dax story is highly rewarding.  The idea of exploring "previous lives" is a popular fantasy in our own world, of course - white culture's egocentric oversimplification of an ancient Hindu belief.  Moving right on past that, Jadzia's relationship with the previous hosts runs deeper.  They're not exactly dead.  In a sense, they live on through the symbiont and, at least for the moment, through her.  As she meets each one, she learns more about what they all added to the complete being that is her current self.  Perhaps the more meaningful equivalent is meeting one's own ancestors, a fantasy I'll admit to entertaining myself.

However she gained her complexities, Jadzia has been one of DS9's most dynamic characters from the beginning.  I find her confrontation with Curzon (via Odo) regarding his original rejection of her as an initiate especially interesting from a broader, behind-the-scenes Star Trek perspective.  Curzon admits to falling in love with her - and being in love with her still.  He rejected her from the program because he was in love with her.

Well, isn't that interesting?  A man in power blocks the career progress of a woman.  His own infatuation with her prevents him from seeing her as someone with independent value.  Curzon repeatedly refers to Jadzia as a "little girl" even though he has only ever known her as an adult woman. (He apologizes for that - sort of)  His feelings of vulnerability lead him to see her as a threat through no fault of hers.  The frequently terrible treatment of female actors on The Next Generation is well documented.  One can't help but wonder if writer René Echevarria is unconsciously revealing all-too-typical male attitudes, within Trek's production staff, within the industry, within broader society.

"Facets" provides meaningful development for three recurring characters: Rom, Nog and Leeta.  Leeta (Chase Masterson) only became one of Jadzia's "best friends" because Rosalind Chao (Keiko) was unavailable.  Leeta will become more important moving forward, a fine example herself of a female character growing into more than just a pretty face.

Food Notes

At the bar, Curzon (Odo) orders Tranya, the same drink offered by Balok in the original series classic, "The Corbomite Maneuver."  The original prop was actually grapefruit juice.  There are numerous online recipes, including this one.  

Root beer is mentioned for the first time on DS9, the beginning of a running gag.  For Quark, the drink is emblematic of his general disappointment in human taste.

Acting Notes

via Memory Alpha

Jefrey Alan Chandler played the role of the Trill Guardian who guides Jadzia in the zhian-tara.  It was Chandler's second of two Trek appearances within just a few months, having also been in Voyager's "Emanations."  Chandler was born in New York City, September 9, 1944.  He graduated from Carnegie Mellon University.

Chandler made guest appearances on several television series, including Hill Street Blues, L.A. Law and ER.  Films included La Bamba, In the Mood and Iron Will.  He died of liver failure in 2001.