Are Starfleet's new neighbours/mortal foes from the Gamma Quadrant a cool race or what ? They die young, at an age of 10 years, are perfectly loyal to the vast Dominion, and are bred for combat exclusively. They even use their combat vessels for kamikaze missions. And the grey, reptilian make-up is second to none. DS9 did it. After Next Generation's mortal enemy, the Borg, DS9's creators invented a race that is a completely different kind of menace. And still, the Jem Hadar leave me slightly cold. Had another SciFi show introduced the menacing race, I wouldn't overly credit that other show, either. I think what's missing for me is A LOT. A holy lot! The Jem Hadar are great. Full stop. But there needs to be a response in the ALPHA Quadrant. The Federation needs to respond somehow. A permanent battle fleet. The Romulans install another space station next to DS9. That kind of structural response would have put the new race in a completely different light. I would still remember the Jem Hadar to this day for changing the Star Trek franchise as a whole. Granted, from here on DS9 moves into a war that lasts until the end of the show, Next Generation's security officer Worf joins DS9 a season later, and Romulans do get more involved. All this is not remotely enough. It's still not real. That war wouldn't play out, the way it does in DS9. Watch Next Generation's all-time greatest episode 'Yesterday's Enterprise.' In the parallel universe of that episode, Picard is in a war with the Klingons. Everyone wears phasers at all times. Every last crewman is in a war-is-normal mindset. That's the kind of new universe the Jem Hadar would have triggered, had they been taken 100% seriously. Don't fire Star Trek's inventors of the Jem Hadar. Fire everyone else who didn't move along - enough. By the way, I loved this episode when I watched it in the 90s. And then forgot about it, because of the negligence throughout the rest of the show. I should add that I'm a Corporate Governance academic.
