S07.E13: Field of Fire

[John Potts]

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Ezri must work with one of Dax's previous incarnations in order to solve a series of murders.

While I'm a fan of Ezri, I can see that some people might feel she was taking over the show: this is the third episode focused on her this Season (and we're only halfway through!). But if the last (Prodigal Daughter) had no real reason to involve Ezri, at least this time, the fact that she used to BE a murderer does make some sense (well, in as much as going, "I'm going to do something incredibly risky that could get loads of people killed!" ever makes sense) and at least she didn't do it without some thought first. Evidently looking after the mental health of an entire station doesn't take up too much of her time and you do have to wonder what Odo was doing while she was pursuing her solo investigation (you'd think he'd query her replicating the murder weapon at least).

It might be a rip off of Silence of the Lambs, but I did actually like how the Ezri/Joran interactions were handled - not only do they remember that it's only Ezri that can see Joran when she's chatting with him, but you can see him noticing the pictures before it's mentioned as a plot point. Also liked that we see that young drunk men will make passes at cute young women because... well, I doubt being drunk is going to be much different 300 years from now.

Edited August 3, 2017 by John Potts

[legaleagle53]

Could a mod please fix the thread title?  The episode is titled "Field of Fire."  Thanks.

And this was an excellent episode, but I must disagree with you on one issue, @John Potts. Ezri was never a murderer, nor was the Dax symbiont.  JORAN was the murderer, and Ezri Dax is not Joran Dax any more than she is Jadzia Dax or Curzon Dax.  There's a reason that people felt that a given symbiont host could never be held accountable for the acts of a prior host.

[John Potts]

1 hour ago, legaleagle53 said:

but I must disagree with you on one issue, @John Potts. Ezri was never a murderer, nor was the Dax symbiont.

While Ezri certainly was never a murderer, whether Dax was is more of a philosophical question. While it has been legally established in Bajoran law (in Season 1's Dax) it seems Klingons still regard Jadzia as bound by Curzon's Blood Oaths (in, well, Blood Oath) - so for the Klingons, at least, they're not as distinct (the legal status would become murkier because you can inherit certain obligations in Klingon Law, such as Worf's dishonour because of his father's - supposed - actions, so it's possible Jadzia is considered Curzon's heir, but not the same person). Then you have ST-TNG's The Host* where is seems that (at least in Trill society), the symbiont is the legally continuous entity!

...but given your username, I'm not going to argue legal issues any further (particularly not fictional law)!

(I've corrected the title)

* I know many people might prefer to forget that episode existed, but it is still Canon!

[SVNBob]

15 hours ago, John Potts said:

it seems Klingons still regard Jadzia as bound by Curzon's Blood Oaths

Actually, I don't think they did.  Kang released her from the Oath, and Koloth didn't think she would be strong enough to be part of the battle until she challenged him.  So it seems like they regarded Jadzia and Curzon as different people.

Kor was the only one that saw Jadzia and Curzon as the same person, but he was self-admittedly different than other Klingons and didn't have the influence he once did.  So during his prime (TOS days), Jadzia and Curzon might have been the same person under Klingon law, but seemingly not under Gowron's rule.

[readster]

I don't blame the focus on Ezri so much in the final season. Even Michael Pillar said they had to really get her character established since they were pretty much planning on season 7 being the end and had their timeline set for the series. I applaud them for working so many storylines in a short time that actually made sense from Dax's frienship with Sisko, to formerly being married to Worf to even the what if between Bashire. 

[iMonrey]

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While I'm a fan of Ezri, I can see that some people might feel she was taking over the show:

It's making me start to wonder if the writers weren't (subliminally or otherwise) thumbing their noses at Terry Ferrell. 

I found the process by which Ezri "conjured" Joran a bit wonky, to say the least. The pot of bubbling goo and the incantation suggest some sort of magical formula that raises his ghost from the dead. I'm not sure if we're meant to think the Trill have some kind of mystical powers or if this is just some sort of ritual that's meant to focus the mind into a semi-hypnotic state. 

I felt the same way about "Facets" when Jadzia "transferred" her former hosts into each of her friends. A little too mystical-magical for this show.

[rmontro]

On 8/24/2017 at 1:58 PM, iMonrey said:

It's making me start to wonder if the writers weren't (subliminally or otherwise) thumbing their noses at Terry Ferrell. 

Ha, interesting theory.  Even in the episodes that don't feature her as the lead character, she is given a strong presence as the main (or one of the main) supporting roles.  Fortunately, I like her, so it doesn't bother me.  She has a good strong one season in the Trek universe.  But the other possibility is that the writers enjoyed playing with their new toy.  I remember thinking that Worf had kind of taken over the show when he first transferred over from TNG.  They used him a lot at first.  At the time, I thought they were trying to get some of TNG's popularity to rub off on them.

I agree the way the former Dax hosts are juggled is kind of wonky.  Not much else to say, so I'll leave it at that.

Note also that Ezri out-detectives Odo here!  Nice to see a Vulcan go off the deep end and become a murderer.