Star Trek: To the Death

Episode: "To the Death"

Series: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Season 4, Episode 23

Original Air Date: May 13, 1996

via Memory Alpha

A renegade band of Jem'Hadar attack the station in order to steal supplies.  They leave heavy casualties and a destroyed upper pylon in their wake.  Sisko leads the Defiant in pursuit.  The crew encounter a separate, damaged Jem'Hadar ship and rescue the survivors, consisting of six soldiers and Weyoun, their Vorta commander, played by the ubiquitous Jeffrey Combs.  The combined crew must work together to find the rogue warriors and destroy the Iconian gateway (see TNG's "Contagion") they are using for quick interstellar transportation.  Tension and mistrust run high.  

The overall narrative plan for the Jem'Hadar ran counter to well-established Trek norms.  The long-standing attitude: if you get to know an antagonist culture - the Klingons, the Romulans, even the Cardassians - better, you'll learn to like them.  The idea of a story like "To the Death" was the opposite: if you get to know the Jem'Hadar better, you'll find them even more terrifying.  The lab-bred killers are ruthless towards foe and comrade alike, with no apparent path towards reform or redemption.  The Jem'Hadar are just plain bad.

With this episode, I was struck by the similarities between Trek's Jem'Hadar and Star Wars's Clone Troopers.  Both are genetically engineered as a slave army for superior beings whom they revere essentially as gods.  It's worth noting the Trek idea came first, though there must have at least been an inkling for George Lucas early on as there's a reference to The Clone Wars in the original 1977 film.  I'm always curious about the influences the two franchises have had on each other over the years.  Direct, obvious links are rare.  Perhaps this is one.

At least until Order 66, the Clone Troopers are a lot friendlier.

Acting Notes

via Wikipedia

Clarence Williams III played the role of Omet'iklan, the "First" among the Jem'Hadar soldiers who join our friends.  Williams was born in New York City, August 21, 1939.  Before pursuing an acting career, he served for two years in the Army as a paratrooper.  Before appearing on screen, he had a successful stage career in New York, including a Tony nomination for Slow Dance on the Killing Ground.

The big break came in 1968 when Williams was cast as one of the three leads in The Mod Squad, a show daring for its topical content, its interracial cast and its embrace of late '60s counterculture.  Films included Purple Rain, I'm Gonna Git You Sucka and Half-Baked.  

Williams died of colon cancer in 2021.