1.12 — “Vortex”
Plot: Odo assumes custody of a prisoner from Rakhari, a world in the Gamma Quadrant, after the prisoner’s arrest for participation in a robbery and murder aboard the station. Odo’s righteous anger falters when the prisoner reveals that he has knowledge of other Changelings in the Gamma Quadrant.
Thoughts: It’s sweet the way Odo is affected by news of his heritage. Loneliness is a powerful force to him. Odo, as the most passionate character, is the heir to Spock in this show. Instead of logic, he uses anger to conceal the depths of feeling churning inside him. His principled stands make him the strongest, most upright member of the crew. This will not spare him from making hard choices by the end of the episode.
I don’t much like the way Quark is used in this episode. So, he’s not only spying on DS9 station logs, including command decisions, but he’s also ready to give them up at the slightest inkling of a threat?
What “Vortex” lacks in subtlety, it makes up for by taking us to the surface of a foreign planet (or asteroid). I was missing that! Good special effects. I’m not sure where they are at this point in the transition between use of models and computer graphics to render ships.
The other thing I don’t like is that this episode again criminally underuses Kira. The parts given to Dax, Bashir, and O’Brien are likewise negligible. Jake doesn’t appear at all.
3 of 5 shapeshifting pendants.
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