Dax
Tawny Newsome leaves behind her beloved Star Trek: Lower Decks role, Mariner, to portray one of the franchise’s legacy characters in the fifth episode of Starfleet Academy. SAM (Brooks) was desperate to get into Professor Illa’s (Newsome) class, so she could solve the mystery of Benjamin Sisko.
Throughout the episode, the professor realized just how sincere and devoted SAM was to her research of the legendary Starfleet captain. Eventually, it was Illa who revealed that she was the keeper of Jake Sisko’s (Lofton) unpublished book, “Anslem,” which means “father” in the Bajoran language.
However, the biggest twist came when Illa brushed her hair back revealing Trill markings! To SAM’s astonishment, the professor’s true identity, Dax, came out of nowhere. Yes, 800 years after the events of Deep Space Nine, Dax lives on and protects Jake's book, which eventually led to SAM’s more personal understanding of Benjamin Sisko.
For me, the only disappointment here is that Terry Farrell and/or Nicole de Boer couldn’t reprise their role(s) as Dax, but I understand why (obviously) they couldn’t be the character in the 32nd century. Jadzia (Farrell) died, and the Trill took on the new host body of Ezri (de Boer) 800 years ago — a body that has long since perished. Now, though, the Trill’s new host, Illa, allows an iconic Star Trek character to live on in Starfleet Academy. (Continued on page 4…)