Meridian

DVD, DS9 S3 (Meridian)

Now they've got a proper starship they can do the conventional stories in the same way as any other Trek series and this is the first traditional Trek episode in the series for a while. That may be one reason why it didn't work so well. It's not a bad episode by a long way, but the Meridians as a race are a bit of a mystery. We hear all about their dual existence as non-corporeal beings, but less of them as a people. It could be they were so similar to humans that it wasn't necessary, but the people we meet aren't well enough developed to intrigue us, so it's harder to believe that someone as experienced, intelligent and confident would fall for one so easily, especially such a quiet, romantic sort as Dax finds in Deral. Once that falls down you start to see flaws in Dax' character, which is never positive. We've seen her fight violent battles side by side with Klingon warriors, or calmly solving a scientific problem with nary a sweat, but get her up a couple of metres from the ground and she gets all jittery! In its defence, Dax' fear of heights is a follow-up to her comments in 'Equilibrium' about a former host falling out of a tree, so full marks for continuity.

There's more personal continuity, this time for Kira who continues her aversion to Holosuites. This B-story of a dodgy alien associate of Quark's wanting to exploit Kira for his personal pleasure is dark side of the romance theme playing out on the planet. It is funny in places and is noteworthy for Kira's easy pretence that Odo was her boyfriend while she fails to notice the impact the moment has on the Constable, something to be followed up in the future. Jeffrey Combs' Tiron isn't as memorable, but he does enough that you've got to watch him and as he was to become one of the company in this and subsequent Treks there is a certain novelty value in seeing this performance.

The moments that stand up very well and improve the episode are the very realistic goodbyes between Dax and her friends when she decides to leave them. Sisko particularly is utterly believeable in his grief at the end of a long friendship, and even though it's sudden (think back to Tasha Yar) you begin to see her actually leaving. If we think forward to the time she really did leave the series this becomes even more real, for it is the unsaid goodbye that Sisko would never get to say. It also posits the idea of such a wonderful character as Dax leaving which can make us appreciate these people even more.

With beautiful locations and good direction from Jonathan Frakes, this is not as good as the other episodes so far this season, but has enough to make it worth watching and to be enjoyed thanks to the strong bond between the main characters working so well and for the fun of seeing the Defiant orbiting a planet in the mould of 'The Original Series' or 'TNG'. They're still willing to explore the Gamma Quadrant despite the Dominion presence which is heroic and shows what Starfleet is made of as well as Sisko's confidence in the good ship Defiant. My only question would be why the inhabitants of Meridian didn't all leave the planet? Maybe their dual existence was important to them and their lives were intertwined with their home. I always thought there should have been some kind of scene in the future when another Dax host made the pilgrimage to see Deral, but perhaps such things are outside the series' remit.

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