‘PAST TENSE’ (DS9)
Please feel free to comment on my review.
We come to an intriguing and compelling two-parter in the ‘DS9’ series. My parents and I enjoyed this two-parter recently that we watched all two episodes in a row. It’s an intriguing story about poverty and homelessness on the planet Earth. ‘Part II’ of the story is directed by Jonathan Frakes. 🙂
In the story, the Defiant visits the planet Earth where Starfleet members are to partake in a meeting to discuss the current situation about the Gamma Quadrant and the Dominion. Kira and Odo also accompany their Starfleet comrades, though why they should do so since they could’ve stayed on DS9.
They even receive a message from Quark, who I guess is in charge of DS9 whilst everybody else is gone apart from Jake. In fact, who is even in charge of DS9 whilst everybody’s gone? Anyway, Sisko, Bashir and Jadzia try and beam down to the planet Earth before O’Brien discovers something wrong.
The three Starfleet crewmembers never ended up ‘when’ they were supposed to be. Sisko and Bashir wake up to find themselves escorted by a pair of police officers who believe them be vagrants. They’re taken to a ‘sanctuary district’. Jadzia Dax is not with Sisko and Bashir at the time. 😐
She finds herself woken up by Jim Metzler as Chris Brynner, a prominent businessman of the 21st century. Yes! Sisko, Bashir and Dax have ended up in San Francisco in the year 2024. By 2020, that’s four years from now. Chris Brynner seems to be a pleasant, friendly man who willingly assists Jadzia.
Unfortunately, Sisko and Bashir don’t have such a good time in 2024 when they’re escorted to the sanctuary district. Incidentally, the two police officers that captured Sisko and Bashir are Dick Miller (who I’ve seen in ‘Small Soldiers’) as the mean-spirited Vin and Al Rodrigo as the good-spirited Bernardo.
The sanctuary district that Sisko and Bashir find themselves in was intriguing to see in this two-parter. Apparently, by the 21st century, according to this two-parter, homeless people are taken to these fenced-off ghettos to be left and forgotten about. There are so many various homeless people.
They include the poor, the sick, the mentally disabled and anyone else who can’t support themselves. Bashir is horrified to see this happen before his eyes. Sisko knows a lot about 21st century Earth and doesn’t like what goes on about him either. This is all way before the Federation.
I don’t know if 21st century history by 2024 is like this at this point (though I’m sure it is), but it’s interesting that homeless sanctuary districts in this two-parter happened to be the case in the 1990s as well. Yeah, according to the producers of the show, sanctuary districts had occurred in the 1990s.
Sisko notices on a nearby calendar that he and Bashir have arrived just before the Bell Riots have occurred. The Bell Riots happen to be a violent confrontation in the San Francisco sanctuary district they’re in. Sisko warns Bashir about this incident, as they have to be careful where they tread.
The riots happen to be significant as a ‘watershed’ moment in human history. Despite dozens being killed, the demonstration will change the attitudes towards the disadvantage in human society. After getting registered in the sanctuary district, Sisko and Bashir struggle to get a place to sleep.
Sisko and Bashir do meet some unsavoury characters, including ‘ghosts’ led by Frank Military as B.C., who’s a pretty mean jerk at times. They also meet Bill Smitrovich as Michael Webb after helping to save his son who’s been wounded. Webb invites Sisko and Bashir to rebel against the district’s laws.
Sometime later, Sisko and Bashir get caught in a fight between some ‘ghosts’, which includes B.C. They get saved by someone who comes to their aid but is severely killed by B.C. Sisko later discovers that the man who aided them was Gabriel Bell, the man that the Bell Riots are named after. Whoops! 😦
Meanwhile, Jadzia attends an affluent party with her new-found friend Chris Brynner. At the party, she learns that Sisko and Bashir might’ve been taken to the sanctuary district. Jadzia is anxious about trying to find them and rescue them from the sanctuary district. Brynner agrees to help Jadiza out. 🙂
Back in the 24th century with O’Brien, Kira and Odo aboard the Defiant, they set about trying to rescue Sisko, Bashir and Dax from whenever they went in time. In the process, they find that all they know about Starfleet goes missing in the 24th century as a result of the timelines getting changed. 😮
Back with Sisko and Bashir, they set to make things right once the riots begin to spell out in the sanctuary district they’re in. Hostages get taken and B.C. starts to lead a revolution. Being somewhat similar to Gabriel Bell in appearance, Sisko makes the move to assume his identity. This ends ‘Part I’.
In ‘Part II’; Sisko as Gabriel Bell, Bashir, Webb and B.C. keep watch over their hostages at the employment centre, which includes Vin, Bernardo and Tina Lifford as Lee, an admin official. Things get tense when B.C. is so trigger-happy and Sisko, Bashir and Webb restrain him to protect the hostages.
Sisko as Bell takes charge of the revolt, much to the disgruntlement of B.C.. Bashir warns Sisko that if he takes on Bell’s role, he could end up being dead. Sisko knows this but is determined to preserve history despite the obstacles. It doesn’t help much when a hostage like Vin becomes pretty difficult.
I like how Vin’s character develops in this two-parter from being a jerk and calling the residents of the sanctuary district ‘losers’. He attempts to escape and almost gets shot at by B.C. before Sisko stops him. Sisko gives Vin a good telling off. This helps to persuade him change his mind over things.
I found it funny when Sisko told B.C. who was about to shoot Vin that he gets on his nerves and he doesn’t like his hat. That combination of telling someone he gets on your nerves and not liking their hat is so easy to give me a chuckle. B.C., despite being a jerk himself, gradually develops too.
It’s also interesting how people like Bashir and Sisko interact with the sanctuary district residents and the hostages over how bad things are and that something good will come out of all this. It does reflect real life, especially when things seem to be so bleak, yet there’s a light at the end of the tunnel.
People like Sisko and Webb make demands to the governor and other officials, insisting that people have the right to know what’s going on in the sanctuary districts and for people to have them closed down. But the governor and the official don’t seem to want to know, as they only make things worse.
Jadiza Dax also manages to break into the sanctuary district by sneaking through the lines via a sewer pipe with Brynner’s help. She makes contact with Sisko and Bashir and is informed about what’s going on. She goes back to Brynner to spread the news on the state of the sanctuary districts.
Incidentally, beforehand, Jadzia and Bashir try to find the homeless person who stole Jadzia’s comm-badge in order to find a way to escape history. The homeless person is Clint Howard as Grady. Clint Howard played the baby-like Bartok in the original ‘Star Trek’ episode ‘The Corbomite Maneuver’. 😀
Kira and O’Brien also transport to various times in San Francisco’s history in order to try and find Sisko, Bashir and Dax. They end up in 1930 (same time as Kirk and Spock in ‘The City on the Edge of Forever’ 😀 ) as well as in 1967 where they’re given flowers and the peace sign by two hippies. Pretty amusing! 😀
Thankfully, Kira and O’Brien arrive in the correct time zone and they make contact with Dax in 2024. They stand by, as they wait to rescue Sisko and Bashir. It’s by that point that the SWAT teams get sent in to the employment centre to end the riots once and for all. This all ends up in a huge blood bath.
Sisko gets shot but survives, but people like B.C. and Webb aren’t so lucky. Sisko, Bashir, Vin and Bernardo see the aftermath of what occurred with the SWAT team. Vin and Bernardo agree to let Sisko and Bashir go, putting them on the list of the dead and agreeing to share what had occurred. 🙂
Once Sisko, Bashir and Dax are back on the Defiant in the 24th century, Bashir and Sisko talk about what they’ve experienced. I like how this two-parter had Sisko and Bashir spending time with each other whilst in the sanctuary district and also talking about how things could’ve been so bad in 2024.
‘Past Tense’ is a highly regarded two-parter in the ‘DS9’ series that shares something about human society and how we can be better overcoming poverty, homelessness and such. It’s certainly a well-executed ‘Star Trek’ concept and I’m happy my parents found it compelling when we saw it recently.
On Disc 7 of the ‘Star Trek: Deep Space Nine – Season 3’ DVD, there’s the ‘Time Travel Files – ‘Past Tense’ documentary to enjoy.
‘Past Tense’ (DS9) rating – 8/10
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Bradley's Basement 
Time travel stories in the Trekiverse, certainly after all that had come before from The City On The Edge Of Forever to The Voyage Home, might have become particularly mainstream in all the Trek ethical issues for how careful our heroes need to be when visiting the past. Although it’s not easy for me to see these Trek time travel stories nowadays with the awe and wonder of most time travel stories outside the Trekiverse, I can naturally appreciate the point on how understanding the past might help us appreciate the present a great deal better. First Contact would certainly achieve that. Thank you, Tim, for your review.
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I’m kind of disappointed that the original version of Harlan Ellison’s script wasn’t used for City on the Edge of Forever. There’s a particular detail in it that would’ve changed how Star Trek typically looks at its time travel stories.
According to the DS9 documentary, Past Tense was written surrounding a very real push in California for the equivalent of Sanctuary Districts. Somewhere to displace their homeless population.
Ironically, Ira Steven Behr’s inspiration was the 1971 Attica Prison riot that occurred when the inmates’ demands for better living conditions were ignored. A timely set of episodes or a timeless set of episodes?
Star Trek tends to use the past in a very strange sort of dichotomy. It’s almost always cautionary. A reminder of how far humanity had to come to get to the Federation. It was also a reminder of how easy it was for Earth to regress to the days of World War III and the Post-Atomic Horror.
Interestingly, though, there is a resistance to the idea that the future is anything other than brighter. There’s a novel, Crossroads, featuring Kirk’s Enterprise that gives us a glimpse of something far closer to Blake’s 7 and it’s quite jarring. Compellingly so, in that case, but it still feels quite at odds with Star Trek’s overall mission. The future is always brighter and the past is a rocky road.
Getting back to City on the Edge of Forever, though, the one detail I wish they’d been able to keep was the original character, Beckworth. A drug dealer, a con man, a murderer. Irredeemably wicked. Everything that a Starfleet officer shouldn’t be, but nevertheless this man was.
Beckworth was far less sympathetic than Dr McCoy and, although the canonical version gives the trio much food for EU character development… Beckworth’s split-second decision to try and save Edith Keeler said something quintessentially Star Trek. That even in the vilest, ugliest specimens of humanity is the capacity for instinctive good.
Quite a stark contrast to Past Tense, in some ways. A story fundamentally about what happens when compassion fails and a society treats its weakest members with contempt (well, they fight back). And yet… There are glimmerings of Ellison’s original idea in the character of Vin. Albeit tempered.
Bonus points for the ending, as well. As Sisko and Bashir sit in the back of the Defiant, returning home to their own time:
“How did they let things get so bad?” Bashir asks.
Sisko shakes his head. “That’s a good question. I wish I had an answer.“
Well, City on the Edge of Forever has the answer. The quintessential Star Trek answer.
How did things get so bad?
By looking away.
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Hi scifimike, Hi Wolfie,
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on ‘Past Tense’ and how it stands as a time-travel story compared to other time-travel stories like ‘The City on the Edge of Forever’ and ‘The Voyage Home’. I didn’t know that there was another version of ‘The City on the Edge of Forever’ and that echoes of it seem to resonate in ‘Past Tense’ concerning how characters behave in less idyllic situations compared to how the Federation is presented in the 23rd, 24th and 25th centuries. I also didn’t know about the ‘Star Trek’ novel ‘Crossroads’, as my knowledge of ‘Star Trek’ expanded media isn’t as diverse compared to my knowledge on ‘Doctor Who’ expanded media. I like the comparisons made between ‘The City on the Edge of Forever’ and ‘Past Tense’, especially concerning how things have gone so bad compared to how many of us would like to see an idyllic future. I don’t know if the future is going to be better by ‘Star Trek’ terms, but I’d like to think and hope there are more positive things to look forward to compared to how we are now. It’s bound to be ‘a long road’ (borrowing from ‘Enterprise’s theme song here), but I’m hopeful the future will have brighter aspects than dystopian aspects featured in other sci-fi stories over the years. Let’s see what happens when we get to 2063.
Many thanks for your comments.
Tim 🙂
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