DS9 S3.E4 - Equilibrium

Season 3, Episode 4 - "Equilibrium," or "Jadzia Flips A Table"

A Trill symbiont is legion. Every Trill host that bears a symbiont is a gestalt entity. The memories and experiences of previous hosts, their personalities and their emotions, become threads in the tapestry of a host. The act of joining is carefully curated. Hosts must be disciplined, must exercise self-control, and must possess a spirit wide enough to accommodate so many minds. For this reason, only a few Trill ever become hosts--and yet the basis of Trill culture has the symbiont at its foundation. Everyone aspires to be a host, even though very few Trill can ever become a host.

What happens when something goes wrong? DS9 has a habit of asking that question. Where TNG was concerned with the Enterprise's relationships with the cultures and planets they visit, DS9 is more concerned with the problems of alien cultures. It's a question the show asks again and again. What happens when the Cardassian system of oppression unravels itself? What happens when Bajorans become terrorists? What happens when Klingon obsession with honor leads them to destroying themselves?

I suppose it's only reasonable that the Trill should have their turn on the Wheel of Cultural Deconstruction. I admit I didn't see this episode coming, largely because the "Equilibrium" plays itself along the lines of familiar Star Trek tropes--a crewmember behaves irrationally, which leads to medical investigations, which leads to a potentially dangerous treatment--that the true stakes of the episode aren't obvious until the very end.

For about thirty minutes, I was convinced this episode was about Jadzia Dax struggling with a psychological condition related to being Trill. It wasn't until the last ten minutes that I realized "Equilibrium" was about how Trill society is built on a lie, and how vulnerable it is to completely falling apart.

Briefly: Jadzia Dax discovers she can play an instrument like a maestro despite having no previous experience or talent for music. She doesn't know why. She loses her temper at Sisko, threatens Kira's life, and doesn't know why. She hears a melody and doesn't know why. She has vivid, violent hallucinations and doesn't know why.

Bashir, Jadzia, and Sisko try to discover the source of her troubles. Something is imbalanced. There's some kind of Trill hormone or enzyme or something associated with sanity or control over her gestalt personalities, and it's a lot lower than it should be and dropping fast. Bashir doesn't know what to do, so they head to the Trill homeworld to find out.

What I liked about "Equilibrium" was how well this episode balanced the personal and the universal. I loved the personal moments between Jadzia and Bashir. I know Bashir has feelings for Jadzia, but he's a gentleman and a professional in her presence. The way she confided her fear of doctors in him was touching, and his response was likewise heart-warming. I admit I sympathize with Jadzia. It's easy to be afraid of doctors, but Bashir's answer--a doctor is there to help you, and to heal you--is reassuring and reminds me of just why I love Bashir as much as I do. He even offers her a bunk in his quarters, and there's nothing sexual about it. (Well, aside from the subtle tension.)

"Equilibrium" also does an excellent job staying internally consistent. This is one of those episodes that unravels slowly over time. As Bashir and Sisko dig into the mystery behind Jadzia's condition, they discover an elaborate and suspicious cover-up and evidence of a conspiracy. Indeed, Jadzia isn't suffering from a psychological condition at all. She is host to one more mind than she ever knew. Somewhere in the history of her symbiotic joinings, Dax joined with a violent, troubled (but musically brilliant) young Trill named Joran. Joran's mind is part of the elaborate, many-faceted mind of Jadzia Dax, but because she never knew of his presence, and never internalized his personality, Joran has been reasserting himself over her.

Joran is a ghost buried by the Trill Symbiosis Commission, concealed and locked away inside Dax's mind. His life, his crimes, and the records of his joining were all systematically purged. But he still exists inside Dax, as a part of Dax.

This is a subtle, multi-layered episode with a lot going on. In a way, Joran is a metaphor for the fragility of Trill society. Joran was able to join with a symbiont despite being clearly unqualified. He's living (well, formerly living) proof that Trill society is built on a lie. At least half of all Trill are capable of joining, which means the elaborate rituals and traditions of the Symbiosis Commission and the Academy are all false. The Commission erased any records of Joran's existence in order to save their society.

What would happen if everyone learned the truth? The symbiont organism would become a market commodity. Trill would buy and sell symbionts like slaves, and the entire moral framework of Trill culture would fall apart to the ravenous excesses of a market. An entire species might be wiped out in the process.

Sisko keeps the Trill's secret, but I can't help but wonder what will happen when someone else discovers the truth, someone less scrupulous than Sisko. An entire society cannot be built on a lie and expect to last. It's like building a house on a shaky foundation. Sooner or later, the Trill are going to have to come to terms with reality.