You know I'm right. Jadzia was just a standard overachieving top-of-their-class type of Starfleet officer, like dozens we've seen before in great detail and thousands more in passing. The only interesting thing about her was the worm. Jadzia didn't matter, just Dax.

Ezri was what every long-running series needs, a shakeup of main cast interactions. Babylon 5 is a masterclass on how to not only deal with real-world-complications cast changes but to actually turn them to one's advantage in allowing for fresh character interactions and new dramatic tensions. DS9 never really managed that trick, except for Ezri, so it got really stale in terms of main cast character drama towards the last few seasons. It was also so refreshing to see a Starfleet officer who is having a more-or-less-permanent existential crisis but is also rooted in her new post. Ezri felt very relatable, someone suddenly completely out of their depth for reasons both out of their control and permanent. We don't watch Ezri talk technobabble. We feel Ezri trying to keep a mental grip in the face of crazy circumstances. We all know what that's like. Ezri mattered, not just Dax.

I think a lot of the Lower Decks writers were influenced by Ezri episodes. There's a nervous directness / earnestness / outwardly-brave-inwardly-panicking in a lot of Lower Decks characters that's very Ezri-like. Ezri would totally fit in on the USS Cerritos.

Also, I loved seeing her explain to Worf why the Klingon Empire was (a) fucked, and (b) deserved it.