Review

So Janeway finally realized that she made a mistake at the beginning of the series. But her redemption quest was equally short sighted. Seems Janeway is always looking for the quick fix. Fortunately, the crew manage to make her come to her senses, though I don't see why Janeway couldn't have just taught the aliens of this episode how to collapse the vortex themselves, perhaps give them some photon torpedos, then proceed peacefully through the vortex. Except that it would have made the episode less exciting and we can't have that now can we? ;) The Malon captain was a nice character, well portrayed in his luddite desire to preserve the status quo. History has shown us time and time again that conservative viewpoints are often self serving more than they are interested in serving the greater good. Mr. Emck was certainly no exception; he would rather pollute space because it makes him money than embrace new technology and allow it to better his society. Why improve society when you can exploit it? The message the episode sends is true to the spirit of Star Trek but the plot is unnecessarily bloated. The episode is average at best.