Redshirts Roundtable: Resistance is Futile

Star Trek Voyager Scorpion Part II

David Goodman:

I loved the Borg when they first made their debut in The Next Generation.

For a long time, I really felt that Star Trek, on the whole, had been lacking a decent “bad guy” for lack of a better term and the Borg seemed like a perfect fit.

And while some fans dislike the way the Borg were portrayed in First Contact, I for one was a huge fan of the addition of the Borg Queen. Given the hive mind mentality of the Borg, it made complete sense they would have a queen and one that was looking for a mate in Locutus.

Did I feel they were overused in Voyager? Definitely. The show was struggling for ratings and the addition of the Borg and Seven of Nine seemed like the natural answer for those issues. I do wish the producers had done more with Species 8472, who looked like a fearsome new foe for the crew of Voyager, but they stuck with the Borg and we did get some great episodes out of that.

However, that all being said, for my money, the best enemy that Star Trek ever introduced was the Dominion. Here was the perfect opposite number of the Federation and Starfleet. Where the Federation wanted peace, the Dominion wanted conquest. Where Starfleet was supposed to be made up of explorers, the Jem’Hadar were feared soldiers who kept control.

It was during the early days of the Dominion War that the Cardassians were shown to be a great “bad guy” for Star Trek. When they appeared on The Next Generation they seemed to be more like the Romulans, more about deception and being generally sneaky, but not a real threat. It was during the Dominion War that they were shown to be treacherous, underhanded and way more evil than fans gave them credit for.

Add in the Breen and the Dominion has everything a big bad needs for a franchise. And I really hope we get to see the Dominion raising hell again at some point in the future of Star Trek.