Capsule Review: DS9 1.08 "Dax"
May. 13th, 2013 01:30 pmThe awesome ![[profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
fairladyz2005, who introduced me to DS9, also sent me a list of TNG episodes that were relevant to DS9. One of them was "The Host," a Season 4 TNG episode that first introduced the Trill. The DS9 episode "Dax" is in many ways an inversion of "The Host." Where the Trill character in "The Host" had to prove himself to be the same guy as a previous incarnation in order to gain the trust of warring factions, the titular Trill in "Dax" must prove herself a different person in order to get away from the crime a past self is accused of committing.
That question, the meaning of identity, is the central subject of "Dax" much as it was in "The Host." However, the understanding of that question, along with the setting information on the Trill, has become a great deal more sophisticated since TNG. Much like the changes in the Ferengi since their first appearance (TNG 1.05 "The Last Outpost"), it shows the evolution of Trek writing.
( On the law, and what really matters )
"Dax" may not have had the most original or unexpected resolution, but the abovementioned subtlety in the writing still drew me into the story and made me think. The episode was also a smart legal drama with an appealing sense of humility that a court is not always the final arbiter of truth, and the real story happens with the choices of men and women in their lives. The courtroom is a forum where some very interesting issues are laid bare, though, and the courtroom scenes were worth it for that reason.
fairladyz2005, who introduced me to DS9, also sent me a list of TNG episodes that were relevant to DS9. One of them was "The Host," a Season 4 TNG episode that first introduced the Trill. The DS9 episode "Dax" is in many ways an inversion of "The Host." Where the Trill character in "The Host" had to prove himself to be the same guy as a previous incarnation in order to gain the trust of warring factions, the titular Trill in "Dax" must prove herself a different person in order to get away from the crime a past self is accused of committing. That question, the meaning of identity, is the central subject of "Dax" much as it was in "The Host." However, the understanding of that question, along with the setting information on the Trill, has become a great deal more sophisticated since TNG. Much like the changes in the Ferengi since their first appearance (TNG 1.05 "The Last Outpost"), it shows the evolution of Trek writing.
( On the law, and what really matters )
"Dax" may not have had the most original or unexpected resolution, but the abovementioned subtlety in the writing still drew me into the story and made me think. The episode was also a smart legal drama with an appealing sense of humility that a court is not always the final arbiter of truth, and the real story happens with the choices of men and women in their lives. The courtroom is a forum where some very interesting issues are laid bare, though, and the courtroom scenes were worth it for that reason.
