THE VORTEX (NOTE: Yes, I have not been writing reviews of either DS9 or TNG for several weeks now. Aside from having been busy, I haven't had a lot to say about them. You can check the grade summary at the end of this review for my rating of "The Nagus".) Readers of rec.arts.startrek may remember when the TNG episode "Future Imperfect" came out, and I was disappointed with it because I felt it was all smoke and mirrors - and a rather thin illusion at that. But for all its misleading self-import, "Future Imperfect" at least had the courage of its convictions - and enough of a plot to *give* it some convictions. "The Vortex" didn't even have that. The episode was build around The Big Lie: Croden, an alien criminal, promises Odo information about other shapeshifters (and maybe even directions to a colony of them) in return to get what he wants. The basic idea sounds flimsy, and the details just make it worse. First of all, Croden's character is hazy at best. He turns up trying to steal some Gamma Quadrant artifact, apparently in collusion with Quark. Why he was doing this is unclear. Does he need money? Has Quark promised him something? Who knows. Anyway, he shows up trying to steal this red egg thing, and kills another alien when it goes awry and he's arrested by Odo. The deceased alien's brother promptly pronounces that his remaining purpose in life is to kill Croden. In jail, Croden claims to have visited a colony of shapeshifters like Odo, and shows Odo a locket he has which changes its shape, and Dr. Bashir says it bears a distant resemblance to Odo's genetic makeup. Okay, this is fine. Eventually it is revealed that Croden is a criminal from his homeworld and Odo is charged by Sisko with returning him there, presumably to be executed. Exactly why Sisko, who learned of these "facts", so readily accepts them after 2 minutes of conversation isn't made clear, given that DS9 knows absolutely nothing about their culture. For all he knows, they're descendents of Elvis with a skin condition. Also included in this exchange is one of the dumber comments I can recall hearing on Star Trek, where the alien official points out that Sisko's culture can't claim to have any respect for the aliens' culture if he doesn't return Croden, while all concerned overlook the disrespect the official is showing for the laws of the Federation and its interest in seeing Croden tried fairly. On the voyage, Odo learns that Croden's world punishes offenses against the state by killing the offender's family. It's implied (but by no means made clear, since we have absolutely no facts to go on) that Croden is a Good Guy and his planet's government is the Bad Guy. Of course, the alien on a vendetta follows Odo and Croden and threatens their life. In the mayhem, Croden takes them to an asteroid or planet or something in a "vortex" where he claims the shapeshifter colony lies. It turns out he was lying all along, and that contained there is a stasis chamber holding his daughter - his only surviving family member. The locket he showed Odo transforms into the key to the chamber and his daughter awakes. Exactly how he got her off his planet without being found out, how he got a stasis chamber opened by a "key" he admits he doesn't know the origins of, or why he put her on that asteroid is left unexplained. Croden, Odo and the girl escape, and through some trickery involving essentially getting the Bad Guys to fire photons in a cloud of explosive gas, manage to elude pursuit. Our Heroes stumble into the path of a Vulcan survey ship. Odo, his heart apparently warmed by Croden's love for his daughter, and seemingly not at all upset about the deception, turns them over to the Vulcans, saying he'll explain that Croden was killed on the asteroid to explain why he couldn't complete his mission. (Exactly how he's going to carry this off is left unclear, since it seems nigh-unto-impossible that Croden's story isn't going to be found out eventually, for instance, once the Vulcans start asking about his homeworld.) And the episode wraps up with Odo's soliloquy about how he'll find out where he came from, someday. Every time I go after a Trek episode hammer-and-tongs on USENET I usually get a small assortment of letters objecting to my tone of voice. However, I really feel like some of these episodes are just insulting to one's intelligence. I don't feel like they even *tried* to craft a good yarn out of the threads they had here. Loose ends abounded, and the basic premise of the story, searching for Odo's origins, which might have lent it some substance, was a sham from the very beginning. I wonder whether the creators of the series even have a plan for revealing Odo's origins, or if they're just going to play it by ear. DS9 has been falling apart since "Babel" aired, with no direction or structure to the series. And bad as things have been, "The Vortex" was a giant step backwards. Grade: F DS9 SEASON ONE AT A GLANCE: Emissary: C- Past Prologue: A A Man Alone: B Babel: A Captive Pursuit: C Q-Less: F Dax: D+ The Passenger: A- Move Along Home: F The Nagus: D The Vortex: F --- Total Points: 20 2/3 Season Average: 1.879 (C)