VOY – Dragon’s Teeth

Plot – One of the more arresting pre-titles sequences features here with a stunning shot of a city under attack and cutting to the survivors desperately racing against time to put themselves in cryogenic suspension. What’s particularly worthwhile here is how the aliens are portrayed as sympathetic and despairing, a far cry from the villains they are later shown to be in the episode. The con starts here to convince the audience that the Vaadwaur are innocent victims and it convinces because there is nobody here to play up to. They also sweep in and rescue Voyager when the chips are down, another act that persuades both the audience and the crew of Voyager that this is a benevolent species. Everything that happens in the first 15 minutes of Dragon’s Teeth is a huge smokescreen to fool us that they can be trusted. In those terms this is a very smart script because you have no reason to believe otherwise, aside from the fact that these things rarely turn out to be too good to be true. We’re on course for having a new ally in the Delta Quadrant and a new method of travel that might get them home quicker. It could have been an intriguing relationship to explore…

…but no the Vaadwaur are the new big bad of the Delta Quadrant, a species that has learnt the hard way that fighting is the best way to stay in control of their destiny.

Character – The character moments that we have are slotted in quickly and efficiently – Seven makes a jibe that most humanoid species are hostile, Janeway snaps that she needs a reminder about Away mission protocols, Neelix gets to show some guile by seeing through the Vaadwaur mask of pleasantness. I’d suggest that Janeway shows some poor judgement in waking up the Vaadwaur army once promised access to the tunnels and a quicker journey home. She’s wreaked havoc on this corner of the Delta Quadrant for her own personal gain.

Another in a long line of The Naomi Wildman Adventures. Here Naomi is the key to tearing of the mask of the Vaadwaur as she’s the only person who can see through their veil of niceness and recognise the villains beneath.

Performance – It’s easy to phone in a performance as alien of the week on Trek as exemplified across all of the mid-90s Trek shows. There is a wealth of bland forgettable, bland acting by actors who know that this is just a couple of weeks work in prosthetics and that they will probably never step on the Paramount lot again. That is what makes those performances that have more worth stand out – because there really is no reason to act as though you are bringing to life Shakespeare but it is effortless to doll out credit to those that do take their one-episode stint serious and deliver something memorable. Jeff Allin takes hold of Gedrin and bleeds him for all he is worth. Callous, thoughtful, power mad, frightened…it’s a character that doesn’t have the time to establish himself but in Allin’s capable hands he makes every scene count. I particularly like the early scenes before his villainous nature is revealed because he slyly plays those scenes amiably but with an element of cold, crisp indifference. It’s possible to discern how his character will turn by the nuances he adds.

Production – Voyager descending on the ruined city and landing is the sort of powerhouse visual that this show commanded at the time. There was very little on TV at this point that had the ability to pull off such spectacular imagery. Even if the CGI has dated a little, the potency of the images still remains. Looking through the windows of Voyager out onto the aching sadness of the dead city around them retains its power.

Best moment – I love the idea of a species that is 900 years out of date but has woken up with the desire to dominate and so goes on the offensive with old ships and weapons. It could have led to some interesting conflict had the Vaadwaur continued to feature. Knives and spears instead of phasers, grappling hooks instead of torpedoes.

Some might say that the episode falls apart when Voyager engages in warfare with the Vaadwaur but for once this isn’t just a throwaway space battle but a fight that happens within a planetary surface and is bolstered by Janeway’s previous fiery exchanges with Gedrin. It’s conflict with substance, which is a rarity on this show. Plus, it looks fantastic. On an eye candy level, this is top dollar.

Worst moment – On Taylor's stint on Voyager, Ron Moore commented to Cinescape magazine, "To be blunt, Bryan Fuller and Mike Taylor were treated very shabbily, and it pissed me off. They took a lot of crap, and the only reason it was done was to keep the guys on the top of the pyramid feeling good about themselves. It also had the effect of keeping the writing staff from working in concert as a group. The DS9 staff by contrast was very tight" Fascinating insight into what was happening on Voyager at the time, and perhaps the reason why the sixth season of this show was so insecure and inconsistent, whereas series six of DS9 was one of Trek’s best.

I wish they hadn’t done that – Originally this story was going to be a two-hour telemovie but it was thought that it would make a much punchier single part episode. It’s a decision that the writers learnt to regret and I can see why – there is a great deal of potential here that could have been explored more and the extra time would have allowed them to inject more character work into the story that it is desperately asking for. So much happens in the space of 45 minutes and there isn’t really the time to give the characters reasonable motives or for the Voyager crew to explore there feelings towards any of this. It is so wham bam thank you ma’am that the characters pretty much only have the time to react to what is happening. What this means is we have an extremely tight episode, plot wise, and it is very exciting. But character is what I turn to Star Trek too and so I am left feeling that something is missing regardless.

A reason to watch this episode again – Dragon’s Teeth is a pretty robust episode of Voyager, especially for the final two seasons where the series was starting fray at the edges. It’s packed full of plot, promise and visual splendour. On those terms it is a big winner. What it lacks is logic, character and lasting consequences but then you can’t have everything. Visually it is one of the most impressive Voyager episodes and I really liked the high action content and dynamism, especially the scenes that bookend the episode. I could bang on about wishing this had more significant impact than it does (it has none and promises much) but that is pretty much this show all over at this point. Dragon’s Teeth is a fine episode in its own right and delivers plenty to (hoho) get your teeth into. What I especially like is that this feels like a setting that is established before Voyager stumbles on them. So many episodes feel as though the races and worlds were created simply to make an episode of Star Trek. Dragon’s Teeth is a corner of the Delta Quadrant that is having its own private war, one that started before they arrived and will continue after they have gone. The direction is particularly strong here.

**** out of *****

Clue for tomorrow's episode: