Past Tense, Part II

In part one, Dr. Bashir, Commander Sisko and Jadzia Dax all became stuck in the Earth's past, back in 2024. Dax was very smart and managed to find a place to stay in the posh side of town. The other two not only manage to get stuck in a hellish 'sanctuary zone' but they also manage to have a part in killing someone who is an important figure in the timeline. In other words, because the guy dies, the Federation appears to be gone. Oddly, and COMPLETELY inexplicably, the Defiant continues to exist and they try to work on retrieving the lost crew.

Here in part two, there is a riot in the sanctuary zone and Dr. Bashir and Commander Sisko get involved in the middle of it--taking some hostages in order to fulfill the requirements of the timeline. Can they manage to avoid killing anyone ELSE who is important to history and make everything work out peachy?

Like part one, this one is a bit preachy and the homeless folks look way too 'nice' to be realistic. But it also is entertaining nevertheless.

I talked briefly about the politics beneath this pair of episodes, it was something that almost happened in Los Angeles. Actually, the "Riot" portion of it did occur there, in 1992, and in 1995, the aftermath of those riots were still visible. Writer Ira Steven Behr took something basically from his newspaper and wrote it into what we have here. What I will say is I love that guy, he was not afraid to hit the nail right on the head and he is even a fan of Iggy Pop, who was supposed to be in this episode. Iggy of course appears as the Vorta "Yelgun" later in "The Magnificent Ferengi".

Mainly, nobody wants a "forced welfare" state, but they don't want a "No Welfare State" either. In the 24th Century, Earth is an alleged Paradise: There is no need for money, people work for pleasure. It occurs to me that this is not explored much in any of the Trek series, we get a small glimpse of how Life on Earth was in the 2nd Season Voyager Episode "Non-Sequitor", but we've never had a good long look at how this "Perfect Society" will appear.

But this episode sits in the aftermath of those 1992 Riots, and can be revisited today with the Baltimore Riots. Which makes this a difficult episode to talk about, The Sisko is basically holding several people Hostage and incites a full scale riot, even one that will be named after him in a way.

The ingredients of the Riot are already mixed. There is always that one incident that pushes people over the edge. The Sisko, Bashir and Dax had landed on Earth right at the moment one of these incidents was about to ignite. The Sisko tries to avoid becoming involved in it, but in true Trek fashion, he becomes practically the central figure of the whole incident.

Mostly this episode deals with the issues of Homelessness and Repression, several characters are shown who "don't care" - As long as "they don't have to see it". Jadzia confronts several of these people at a 2024 "Party" in her rich savior "Chris Brynner's" Office (Played by Jim Metzler who was, appropriately, the City Councilman in LA Confidential). She is able to show Chris Brynner *why* he should care and this becomes an important plot point later.

On a humorous note, O'Brien and Major Kira (with a "Broken Nose") have to visit a San Fransisco Alleyway through several historical periods as they search for what era the Away Team had been spirited off to, in one era, it's the entrance to a Speakeasy, in another, they confront stoned Hippies, in each case the decor is perfect, especially the 60's- Ironically, I used to work in the Print Shop on Dore Alley where those 60's Rock Posters for The Fillmore were printed.

Regardless of how I feel about Trek Time Travel episodes, this pair of episodes are a nice mid 3rd season distraction from the upcoming and developing Dominion storyline. One thing I liked about these 90's Trek series, was that most of the seasons had a full 26-episode contingent, which gave plenty of time per season for all kinds of tangential stories. Most series these days are only allotted 22 episodes per season.

Anyone seeing this episode in today's late-stage capitalist society can really connect the haunting parallels between what this episode predicts and where society is headed. Sadly, even this dystopian depiction of where things lead us to may have too optimist of an idea as to how we'll ever get kicked out of our mindset (if ever). Things have already been in the state they are in this episode with refugee camps and homelessness reaching epidemic levels, and nobody's been galvanized into doing anything about it.

Regardless, this episode and the one before it touch upon classicism and the lack of empathy between the lower and upper class divide, worsened by the upper class making themselves as remote from the lower class as possible. This is a real concept that exists, and what this episode does better than most others is it doesn't depict all of the homeless people as sideshows in a circus with a human interior-- but rather humans first, and their downfalls next.

Anyone who says this episode is "preachy" is either likely not in the demographic the message is intended for, or sadly is lacking the empathy to consider the message delivered (which, frankly, I'm surprised they're watching Deep Space Nine at all, as it's all about considering things from other points of view).

Once this message is delivered and taken home to the heart of society, only then can we ever hope to get anywhere near what Star Trek as a whole hopes to take us to.

I'm writing in 2018, which is six years before events take place in this episode. Unfortunately, there are a lot indications that our current situation could easily lead to the kind of nastiness we see here. Sisko and Bashir are faced with having to recorrect historical events that they damaged in the first place. The whole second half involves a hostage situation where it is absolutely necessary that these people be kept alive. One trigger happy young man is a loose cannon. This class war is evolving as I write. This is a pretty well done episode with good writing and some sincere effort to make a statement.

It is interesting to see the writers' vision of our society 29 years in their future. It is especially so to see how close they came in some ways. In the news I follow there are frequent stories of homeless problems in many cities with San Francisco being a major one matching this episode. How different is today's reality to the Sanctuary zones of the story? There are similarities. Despite measured unemployment numbers being apparently low today, there is a shortage of jobs that provide a living wage which has resulted in a trend that masks the picture provide by official numbers. Many people aren't seeking jobs because they don't live up to the seekers' expectations. The "dims" of the story fit the reality of high rates of mental illness among the homeless.

There is a picture in Federation data banks of Sisko as Hill despite the fact they left Hill's ID on someone else's body. I suppose his image was caught during the negotiations.