'Dragon's Teeth

Stardate: Unknown
Written By: Michael Taylor
Directed By: Winrich Kolbe
Rating: *** (out of 5)

When rumors began about "Dragon's Teeth" stating that it was going to be a 2-hour tele-movie I was thrilled.� When I discovered that it had become just a normal episode I was still thrilled because we certainly don't want a tele-movie when there is no need for one.� What's unfortunate is that this could've, and should've, been a tele-movie after-all.

From the beginning to the end, "Dragon's Teeth" seemed very rushed.� The camera scrolls around like the world is going to blow in 10 seconds and the lines are spoken so quickly that you'd think they where high on caffeine. (Well, I suppose Janeway is.)� Even the music has a rushed sense to it.

And you'd almost think, by the way this was done, that it was intended to be a movie, as it feels as though there were parts left out.� If this were a tele-movie I could see some fantastic scenes involving the Vaadwaar's culture.� But it's not only that which needed more work, the story itself needs work and only becuase it isn't a tele-movie.

The Vadwaar is an epic concept in my opinion and a very interesting plot. I liked the Vadwaar culture, they reminded me of Cardassians as they are alien and have their own traits, but there's an emotional dimension to them that makes you connect to their history and their motives.

Isn't it convenient that with so many passages around the Quadrant, that Voyager managed to exit right at the Vaadwaar homeworld, not a colony but the actual homeworld.

I want to know; the Turei wanted to catch Voyager for what reason exactly?� Why waste so much resource's on one insignificant ship?� Beats me. The Terei where nothing more than a plot device, or the Typical Delta Quadrant Race, either one.

There is also the issue of the Prime Directive.� The Vaadwaar, whether they are malevolent or not, would have significant changes on the area once awakened.� Janeway realized Seven's mistake, but didn't put Gredarin back into stasis or reprimand Seven. Seven was punished in "Prey" for something even less severe. Besides, her reason for opening the chamber is very forced.� Janeway didn't have to wake the entire species up, she could have used the Vaadwaar equipment with some investigation to defeat the Turei.

And how would the Turei hate, or even remember the Vaadwaar after 900 years? I can understand the stories where passed down, but the Vaadwaar were defeated and would probably have been forgotten as too insignificant.

These stupid mistakes make "Dragon's Teeth" a bit muddled, and in amongst the muddle we get 2 minutes of Naomi Wildman and Neelix discussion, time that could've been put to good use elsewhere.� I liked the Naomi Wildman scene, but with such little time it shouldn't have gone on as long as it did.

The only way "Dragon's Teeth" might succeed is if the Vaadwaar do return later in the series, making this episode more an introduction, therefore it's not so much a waste.

Other comments, I found the Borg's past "The Borg fragmented memories from that time period," very interesting. And the Devore have a massive territory, huh?� It's been about a year since Voyager encountered them and they are still close, well close enough for the Vaadwaar to have had colonies there . . . Voyager has made plenty of massive jumps during that time, those corridors can't be that fast, can they?

In closing, "Dragon's Teeth" was quite enjoyable, and the SFX rocked, but the story was rushed and not thought through and the consequences of this are huge, but, who really cares? Not the writers, obviously. This would've been a classic if it was a tele-movie. It has all the right parts to it.