One of the oddities of this series is that the writers/creators managed to introduce a truly interesting concept, the Trill/symbiote relationship, but never seemed to be able to explore it in a particularly interesting fashion. Instead, we're given a slightly bland character (Jadzia never seemed to show any real nuance other than being a very attractive woman who was good at her job and was willing to slum it on occasion) with vaguely soap opera-ish storylines. This was a disservice to the inherent potential of the character because the concept practically screamed "hidden depths." While this was not the worst use of this tendency toward soap opera (that would be her ridiculous willingness to throw everything away for a man she barely knew on a transdimensional planet) but it hardly makes her character arc as interesting as those of the other credited leads on the show. Granted, there was some consistency -- she was willing to kill her symbiote permanently for an ex- she seemed to be fond of. But there was really no reason given that made the entire fatalism credible. Nothing in the series or in this particular episode suggested any reason her passion for this particular ex- was so overwhelming as to lead to such an end, and, ultimately, this episode, like the aforementioned transdimensional planet one, was vaguely insulting to the character. They had this concept with such enormous potential and spend much of their time making her an irrational and shallow creature. We should expect better from a Star Trek series.
Incidentally, the whole "exile from Trill, permanent death of symbiote" plotline was simply ludicrous in light of everything we've been told about the Trill and their adulation of the symbiote. They don't want to encourage the symbiotes to fall back into old patterns. I get that. But presenting it as a reason to kill off a symbiote when they clearly revere symbiotes is irrational in the extreme. Discouraging such relationships, making it difficult and outright unpleasant for joined Trills to engage in them? That makes sense. But killing them off permanently for such an indiscretion? Ridiculous. The relationship wouldn't be causing actual harm, and the society would not be in danger because of them. It's very much throwing the baby out with the bathwater, and doesn't fit in with anything we've been told about Trill society and its relationship with the symbiotes. This particular plotline therefore sounds incredibly contrived just to give the episode a source of tension. It's just bad writing and someone should have said something when the story was pitched. A good writer could have introduced the idea as simply something that was actively discouraged and had social repercussions without diminishing the resultant tension.
