Jadzia Dax actor Terry Farrell says that there were “missed opportunities” throughout Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 1. DS9 was a new flavor of Star Trek, distinct from but still related to Star Trek: The Next Generation, which was also airing concurrently. Early episodes of DS9 had to do more than simply introduce the main characters of DS9 and their relationships with each other; DS9 season 1 also had to craft a political backdrop and sell the DS9 space station as a legitimate setting for a Star Trek show to a potentially skeptical audience. It was a lot to ask of a brand-new Star Trek still defining itself.

The hosts of The Delta Flyers podcast, Star Trek: Voyager actors Garrett Wang and Robert Duncan McNeill, point out the discrepancy between the expected behavior of Farrell’s Lt. Jadzia Dax and her actual behavior in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 1, episode 8, “Dax”. At this point in DS9, it’s established that Dax is host to the same symbiont that was part of Curzon Dax, a very old friend and mentor of Commander Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks), but the usual playful camaraderie between Dax and Sisko is absent. Farrell agrees, and suggests a reason for this. Read her quote and listen to The Delta Flyers below:

Isn’t this curious though? Because I think one of the reasons this episode is happening, is we’re trying to discover who Dax is. The writers are, too, and so there are those missed opportunities we’re gonna see all throughout the first season. Like in any show, right? Because they’re not completely fleshed out yet. Your characters aren’t. You’re discovering who you are.

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Terry Farrell’s reasoning that Star Trek: Deep Space Nine hasn’t discovered itself yet is not only sound, it’s part of a Star Trek pattern. Star Trek: The Next Generation started to become its iconic self around TNG season 3. Star Trek: Voyager‘s path to the Alpha Quadrant became clearer once it added Jeri Ryan as Seven of Nine in Voyager season 4. Star Trek: Enterprise found its footing just a few years into its run, before an unfortunate cancelation prevented Enterprise from really flourishing. The same is true of Star Trek: Discovery, which attempted a few different directions before arriving in Star Trek‘s 32nd century.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 1 is relatively cohesive, but seven episodes in, there just hasn’t been enough story yet to reveal the complexity behind DS9‘s characters and their relationships to each other. As scripts define characters with more nuance, and actors settle into their roles, DS9 zeroes in on its themes of faith and politics, and starts to look more familiar. Although it had some missed opportunities, DS9 season 1, episode 7 “Dax” was instrumental in starting to define Jadzia Dax, and raised tense moral questions that hinted at the darker tone and gray morality that eventually set Star Trek: Deep Space Nine apart.