Episode 11: Vortex



Plot: 
Odo visits Quark, to grill him on a few new arrivals.  He gets indignant, as usual, and seems be lying, as usual.  
Yup, lying indeed.  The Raiders Odo was worried about were indeed there for Quark(Miradorn by race), to see a stolen, er, Fabrege Egg-like thing.  Someone tries to steal it, shooting ensues, but  then Odo is there (as one of the glasses) and breaks it up.

The bad guys are apparently twins, and when one gets killed, the other is unhappy. The killer turns out to be a new race from the Gamma Quadrant, so Dax is off to find them (or someone is, it's a bit unclear).

Meanwhile, Odo chats with the prisoner(Croden), and is almost convinced there are other shape shifters in the gamma quadrant, and has an pendant that has goo in it that shape shifts.

Apparently Sisko went with Dax through the worm hole, and the aliens aren't too friendly... they want Croden back, he's a wanted criminal, apparently.  They prep for Odo to bring him back there, hopefully without the other guy noticing and shooting them out of the sky.

Odo easily gets into the Gamma Quadrant, while Croden spins his tale of woe.   

Meanwhile, the surviving twin shakes down Quark and figures out they're gone, and goes after them.  He quickly attacks, and Odo has to let Croden take the controls to escape.  He lands them on the asteroid where he told Odo there was a changling colony... but it's, of course, a lie.   Instead, it's his daughter, in stasis... Croden says the government killed the rest of his family for his 'crimes.'  Odo agrees to save the daughter, when the Raider finds them and starts shooting.  Odo gets laid out, and Croden saves him (after thinking about it for a while), but the Raider is still on their tail.  Odo tricks him into blowing himself up.  

A Vulcan science vessel randomly shows up, and Odo gives Croden and his daughter to them, shockingly letting the prisoner go, and promising to tell his people he was killed.   Croden give him the amulet with the shape shifty thing (which was a key, it turns out) and Odo heads 'home'



Thoughts:

-- I love that Quark usually greets new people to the station with a free drink, but I'd feel more on his side if so far he hasn't be involved in every bad thing that happens... Odo's right to be massively suspicious of him.

-- You'd think Rom would be in the habit of counting things like cups and plates by now... Odo uses that trick ALOT.

-- It seems Odo goes all to pieces when someone mentions other shape shifters, I hope that gets either resolved or dropped sooner rather than later... it's already getting old.  

-- Sisko mentions the Bajorans were the ones who decided to send Croden back.. first time they've been mentioned in a while.

-- Even though this was (again) focused on Odo and Quark, at least everyone else got a quick cameo (well, except for Jake, naturally)

-- The Vulcan thing was way too Deus Ex Machina for me.  

-- So I guess Odo calls Croden's planet off screen?  Or do they just vanish forever?  I hate loose ends.


Pretty blah episode... if those aliens never come back, a completely pointless one (since Odo wanting to find his people has already be established)

By season three, it becomes a major focal point of the series.

Aw, really? That's disappointing... I thought for sure they'd pick it up again.

I read the first issue of the Malibu series and didn't mind it, but it wasn't great either. Was Mike W. Barr still writing by the time of #9?

The Wildstorm series, though, that was utter garbage.

I thought she would come back, too! I think she even says they're not finished, Sisko and her. I was disappointed in the episode because she left. It felt so unimportant.

I wonder if the actor was no longer available after that point? Maybe she was unsatisfied with only doing guest appearances or, once this was no longer a regular job, made other career or life choices that interfered with her returning.



Love the actress and loved hating the character at first, but if there was one thing I could undo about DS9, it would be the Pah Wraiths

While it was pretty cool when Sisko slugged him, he handled Q far worse than Picard usually does, I don't think it was a good comparison, myself.

This one was another very old school feeling episode, but not in the good way.   This one was more cheesy than anything.. and pretty forgettable I'd imagine.  I guess this is why Quark and Odo are often the focus... when they're not, bad things happen.


Ep. 13: Storyteller

O'Brien has to take Bashir to Bajor for something, and he tries to weasel out of it to no avail... apparently, he doesn't like him.  They arrive, and apparently it's just one old guy that's sick.

Meanwhile, Someone called the Tetrach of the Paku comes to the station, and she's much younger (or something) than Sisko and Kira expect. They're apparently mediating a territorial dispute of two Bajoran factions. The young girl gets busted on by Quark, and storms off... of course, Nog see her and falls helplessly in love.

Back on Bajor, we find the old guy is just an old guy dying of old age, but his village needs to slay a dragon of some sort. Of couse he gets up and does his thing, but can't manage it. He, in true Star Trek fashion, names O'Brien his successor. He then drops dead, and O'Brien is left to fend off he monster tomorrow.

The negotiations are not going well, and Sisko tries to get the girl to compromise, but she's being stubborn, probably to show she's tough. Of course, she turns to Nog and Jake for advice. They help her, and go and steal Odo's bucket for fun.

Apparently the old Sirah had an apprentice, and he's pissed, and tries to kill O'Brien. After they stop him, the apprentice tells him the story, apparently the  Balrog or whatever is a psychic manifestation of the village, that was created to bring them together. Naturally, O'Brien fails, the apprentice saves the day.and all is well. Apparently it was all a test set up to make sure the people were confident in their new Sirah.

On the station, Sisko turns on the fatherhood on the young diplomat.  She decides to compromise, and give Nog a peck on the cheek for helping her, which makes him turn to a puddle of goo.. super cutesy.
We don't actually find out what happens.   The End

Thoughts:
Nog and Jake are super annoying... whose idea were they, anyway? Jake was really channelling his inner Luke Skywalker with his whining about baseball.   I can't wait for them to get older

Ok, so the big scary monster is a cloud? Not impressed.

I feel like alot of the guest stars here were familiar, but IMDB didn't ring any bells, other than a few of them later being on Enterprise and other shows in a one-off sorta way. Jim Jansen, who looks alot like Mr. Rogers, apparently is another character in a later episode... a trick he did in several
other shows too, which is kinda neat.

Not so sure about a young diplomat who's struggling to get people to take her seriously should be pulling pranks with middle school kids.

Considering how often Keiko's been on the show, I think O'Brien should have taken one of the Bajoran women instead.  Speaking of Keiko, should Nog and Jake be in school instead of dangling from the Promenade?  Is it summer vacation already?

O'Brien in religious robes... hilarious.. he does confused indignation well.