This Star Trek: Lower Decks article contains spoilers.
For a character we almost never see, Curzon Dax had a lot of influence on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. The host of the Dax symbiote before Jadzia, Curzon became the stuff of legend. His legacy lived not just in the way he shaped Jadzia, but in the the valor of Captain Sisko, the Blood Oath sworn to Klingons Kang and Koloth and Kor, and in the many tales of his exploits.
Yet, outside of a flashback, the closest we came to actually seeing Curzon in action was in the DS9 season three episode “Facets,” when he took over Odo’s body and reshaped himself to look, well, just like René Auberjonois.
For its penultimate episode “Fissure Quest,” Star Trek: Lower Decks finally lets us see the man himself. Or, at least a variation of that man. “Fissure Quest” checks in on Boimler’s transporter clone William, now working (refreshingly sciencey, not at all dystopian) secret ops for Section 31 on a ship crewed by familiar characters across the multiverse.
We’ve got Garak and Bashir, actually married with no O’Brien (or Rick Berman) to muck it up. We’ve got T’Pol, with a greater understanding of human behavior after a six-decade marriage to Trip Tucker. We’ve got Lily Sloane from Star Trek Generations, actually getting the respect that she deserves. And we’ve got so many Harry Kims, all but one is still an ensign.
The most vivacious of the bunch is an elderly Curzon Dax, pushing 100 and not ready to give it up. On one hand, this Dax (voiced by Fred Tatasciore, but retaining Auberjonois’s signature growl) spends a lot of time griping about T’Pol’s (Jolene Blalock, who makes her Star Trek return, along with Garret Wang, Alexander Siddig, and Andrew Robinson) attempts to correct him. Even a suggestion as small as “Eat less sodium” sounds like an insult to Curzon’s ears.
Lower Decks being Lower Decks, the ribbing plays as jokes, framing Curzon as a cranky old man who does reckless things to hang onto his youth. Curzon’s big moment in the episode comes when he grabs a bat’leth and takes on an army of Khwopians, which plays at first like an elderly delusion. Even the resolution, in which T’Pol takes the katra of the dying Curzon to carry elsewhere, turns the Trill into the butt of the joke, realizing he was wrong about the Vulcan.
Yet, the jokes also add to the rich tapestry of Curzon. Throughout the first seasons of Deep Space Nine, Jadzia felt like she lived in Curzon’s shadow. In “Facets,” she even admits that she delayed the zhian’tara because of her feelings of inadequacy. That episode concludes with Jadzia gaining confidence after see learns about some of his vulnerabilities, which makes for a satisfying arc.
In “Fissure Quest,” however, Curzon’s failings are less dramatic, more relatable. The episode knows that the viewers have seen how much Jadzia and Ezri appreciate the experiences he gave them, putting us on Curzon’s side in squabbles with T’Pol. But the jokes deflate the importance of these moments, putting them in proper context. Yes, Curzon is creating a record that will go on to enrich the lives of generations of Trills, but he’s also a cranky old man who throws a fit at the slightest ribbing.
In other words, “Fissure Quest” lets us see Curzon less as a major figure in Star Trek history and just as a person. Unlike “Facets,” Curzon’s foibles aren’t so grand that they almost create another Tuvix situation when he argues that he and Odo have become a unique individual. Rather, they’re dumb and petty and understandable.
In this way, Curzon’s story mirrors the lesson that Lily tries to teach William Boimler, one that many Trekkies would do well to remember. The purpose of exploration isn’t to learn about new life and new civilizations, not really. It’s about learning about ourselves—the people doing the exploring, sure, but also the audience watching Star Trek.
The cranky old man Curzon is fundamentally human, just like millions of other elderly grouches across the globe, who take even the slightest concern for their safety as a blow to the ego. Instead of diminishing the old man spoken of with such reverence by Jadzia and Sisko, the touches help us better relate to both Jadzia and Sisko, people who try to honor the memory of those who came before, and to Curzon himself, someone who feels the weight of expectation and still screws up sometimes.
The Curzon jokes in Lower Decks help us better understand how to be human, the greatest legacy that any TV show can leave behind.
Star Trek: Lower Decks releases new episodes every Thursday on Paramount+.
The post Star Trek Just Made an Important Deep Space Nine Character Even Better appeared first on Den of Geek.
0 Commentaires