Product Details

• Actors: Avery Brooks, Rene Auberjonois, Cirroc Lofton, Alexander Siddig, Colm Meaney
• Directors: Winrich Kolbe
• Writers: Michael Piller, Gene Roddenberry, Rick Berman, Sam Rolfe
• Producers: David Livingston, Ira Steven Behr, Michael Piller
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, HiFi Sound, NTSC
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Paramount
• VHS Release Date: March 15, 1997
• Run Time: 106 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6304342357
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #555,046 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

After a Miradorn twin is killed during a botched heist, Odo (Rene Auberjonois) arrests Croden (Cliff DeYoung), an alien from the Gamma Quadrant. The surviving twin, Ah-Kel (Randy Oglesby), swears he will avenge his brother's death and kill Croden.

In a holding cell, Croden tells Odo that he has seen other shape-shifters in the Gamma Quadrant. Initially Odo is suspicious, but when Croden shows him a stone from the Chamra Vortex with shape-shifting properties, his suspicion turns to intrigue.

Later Odo escorts Croden back to his home planet to stand trial. En route, Ah-Kel attacks their Runabout and they are forced to land on the asteroid where the shape-shifters supposedly live. Now Odo may finally get the chance to meet others like himself!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Deep Space Nine Takes Off, July 31, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Star Trek - Deep Space Nine, Episode 12: Vortex [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Though the official beginning of "Deep Space Nine," was in the first episode, "Emissary," the real storyo the station doesn't take off until this episode. In this episode, the first hints of Changeling life in the Gamma Quadrent is given. These few hints lead to a rude awakening to the Star Trek universe, as the seeds for first contact with the Dominion are set in episodes to come. Sadly, that is all the episode offers. If you don't buy this episode for the first hints of the Dominion, you may be wasting your hard-earned dollar. The episode is basically a fair, at best, episode of the Star Trek phenomeon.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Odo's Turn To Move Along Home, August 14, 2003

By 

Andrew McCaffrey "The Grumpy Young Man" (Satellite of Love, Maryland) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Star Trek - Deep Space Nine, Episode 12: Vortex [VHS] (VHS Tape)

There is only one main plot in this one, and I was thankful for that. Modern Star Trek's habit of squeezing two unrelated plots together in the same episode is something that I sometimes find distracting. This was a refreshing change, and it gives the writer(s) enough time to actually flesh out the characters and the story. The plot itself is fairly straightforward when all is said and done, but it's one that is nicely told.

The episode begins with a botched hold-up. One alien kills another, and the victim's brother vows revenge. Not willing to have one of his prisoner's killed while in custody, Odo protects him while he's onboard the station, and then personally escorts him back to his own planet to face his crimes there. The one unusual feature is that the prisoner comes from the far side of the wormhole, somewhere in the Gamma quadrant, and claims to recognize Odo's species. Odo, who believed that he was unique, is interested, despite the alien's history of lying.

Modern Star Trek often places two antagonistic characters in a closed set to see exactly how they interact. The results of these experiments can vary, wildly. Thankfully, this is one of the successes. Cliff DeYoung's performance as Croden, the murderer, is slightly over the top in places, but it suits the character. We aren't quite sure if he's lying or telling the truth when he says that he knows who Odo's people are, and this allows us to uncover the facts along with Odo himself.