‘THINGS PAST’ (DS9)
Please feel free to comment on my review.
This is an unusual episode in the ‘DS9’ series. It’s rated as one of the best episodes. I like it fine, although it’s not exactly a favourite. It does present an unusual side to Odo’s character and his past.
In the episode, Sisko, Odo, Dax and Andrew J. Robinson as Garak return from a conference on Bajor. Very soon, the runabout encounters an unknown spatial anomaly before arriving back at the station.
Worf and Bashir discover that the four people inside the runabout are in a comatose state. Bashir is unable to revive them as he moves them safely back to DS9’s infirmary so that he can monitor them.
With Sisko, Odo, Dax and Garak however, they find themselves on Terok Nor in the past, during the Cardassian Occupation of Bajor. They also happen to have taken the identities of four Bajoran slaves.
As our heroes try to work out what’s going on, Odo acts anxious and suspicious. He later reveals the Bajorans whom they’ve assumed their identities of were executed for an attempt on Gul Dukat’s life.
But it was later revealed that the Bajorans were innocent of the crime. Sisko, Dax and Garak wonder why they are re-living this event and, as the episode progresses, certain inconsistencies appear here.
Marc Alaimo guest stars as Gul Dukat in this episode, as he was there during the time the incident took place on Terok Nor. Dukat soon acquires Dax as his ‘Bajoran friend’, which was quite unnerving.
The episode also sees Quark enlisting Sisko, Odo and Garak’s services to be workers at his bar during the Occupation of Bajor. It was funny to see Quark again being ‘dirty-dealing’ during the Occupation.
There’s a special guest star in this episode. It happens to be Kurtwood Smith as Thrax, Odo’s predecessor as chief of security aboard Terok Nor. Kurtwood Smith has been in ‘Star Trek’ before. 😀
He played the Federation President in ‘Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country’. He would later play Annorax in the two-part ‘Voyager’ story ‘Year of Hell’. I enjoyed his performance as Thrax in this tale.
One of the inconsistencies in this reality that our heroes are living in is that Thrax shouldn’t be on the station during this time. Odo was the security chief at the time when the Bajorans got executed.
Odo also keeps seeing hallucinations of the Bajorans who were murdered as well as his hands being bloodied when he’s having dinner with Sisko and Garak. The signs are becoming clearer with Odo. 😐
Our heroes set about trying to find a way to escape the station and avoid execution. But soon the assassination attempt gets made and Sisko, Odo and Garak (Dax is with Dukat) get arrested in this. 😐
Whilst in their prison cell, Odo pleads with Thrax to conduct a thorough investigation. But Thrax refuses to exonerate the Bajorans. Odo’s behaviour does become erratic and desperate this stage. 🙁
Dax, at one point, managed to knock Dukat out and help his friends Sisko, Odo and Garak in order to escape the station. But when they try to get out, the four find themselves back inside the prison cell.
There’s even a moment where Thrax turns into a Changeling like Odo. It would’ve been interesting if Thrax was revealed to be a Founder of the Dominion. It would shed a very intriguing light in this series.
But it gets revealed that it wasn’t Thrax, but Odo, who had the Bajorans executed. Dukat wanted to make an example out of killing the Bajorans. Odo was caring more about the rule of law than justice.
Thankfully, the four reawaken in the infirmary and are all alright. Apparently, the anomaly the runabout encountered triggered a telepathic experience between the four heroes in this episode. 😐
This was from some residual Changeling enzymes in Odo’s brains. Odo had been thinking about the guilty he had over the executions when the runabout encountered the anomaly. Kira then sees him.
Kira is disappointed about what happened and asks Odo if any more innocent people died on his watch. He says he can’t be sure, but he hopes not. I like that scene between Odo and Kira in this tale.
It sort-of echoes what happened when Odo investigated Kira during the Season 2 episode ‘Necessary Evil’. Overall, ‘Things Past’ is a tense drama tale, even if I don’t rate it highly like some others would.
LeVar Burton directed this episode too. I like how certain ‘Star Trek’ actors from ‘TNG’ come in to direct a ‘DS9’ episode. Incidentally, LeVar Burton as Geordi was on DS9 in the first ‘Birthright’ episode.
‘Things Past’ (DS9) rating – 7/10
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