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Teleplay by Robert Hewitt Wolfe
Story by Ira Steven Behr & Robert Hewitt Wolfe
Directed by Reza Badiyi
Simply put, "Past Tense I" is one of the best episodes of the series. It works terrifically as a refreshing time-travel story (the first for DS9) as well as a provocative allegory, characterized by heaps of brilliantly realized character moments. Sophomore director Reza Badiyi gets a chance to shine two months after helming the relatively pedestrian "Civil Defense."
A transporter mishap sends Sisko, Bashir and Dax centuries into the past to a point in time just days before a violent incident that will lead to a turning point in Earth's history. Now they must find a way back to the 24th century, being sure to avoid disrupting the time-line while in the past.
Sisko and Bashir wake up on the streets of San Francisco in the year 2024, finding themselves separated from Dax. Caught by the police without ID, the two are placed in a "sanctuary district"--an isolated section of the city composed of thousands of homeless, jobless, poverty-stricken citizens.
Before long, Sisko, an avid history buff, realizes that he and Bashir have landed just days before the infamous Bell Riots--one of the most violent civil disturbances in American history, scheduled to unfold within the very sanctuary district where the two have become prisoners. History states the event begins with district residents taking hostages at the processing center. It ends with armed forces killing hundreds of innocent people in an attempt to secure the situation as it turns into a rally. A man named Gabriel Bell plays a pivotal part in the incident by sacrificing himself to ensure the safety of the hostages. Sisko tells Bashir the incident will cause public outrage of the nation's condition and a major step forward to solving Earth's social problems.
Brooks and El Fadil both deliver memorable performances, and the pairing of their characters provides a poignant subtext: Sisko as the wise teacher from a future that remembers its past, and Bashir as the student whose eyes are opened to grim, depressing history for the first time.
When the two have an unexpected confrontation with street thug B.C. (Frank Military), a fight leads Gabriel Bell to intervene. B.C. kills him in the brawl, thus altering the future. Without Bell to save the hostages and take his proper role in history, Sisko realizes that it is imperative he and Bashir make sure history unfolds as it should. When B.C. takes the hostages in the episode's closing minutes, Sisko decides he must take Bell's place in history even if it means sacrificing himself in the process.
The most notable aspect of "Past Tense I" is how it affects Sisko's character. It's nothing short of a breakthrough as the writers put him into an extremely volatile situation and allow him to make monumental decisions. The results are Sisko's best actions yet as DS9's leader and hero. This is the Sisko that's been in the making for two years now. Sisko's decision to take Bell's place is an act of heroism that deserves to go down in Trek history right along with Kirk's saving of Earth in Star Trek IV.
And as a social commentary, the episode is intelligent and effective. Set in what we would call the near future, homelessness and economic problems have escalated to the point where the urban unemployed are merely shoved into these districts (prisons would be a better description) where the government and more fortunate can simply forget they exist. Some gritty production design and interesting photography set the tone, turning a few city locations into a fairly convincing reality.
In addition, the B-story is sensible and subtle, characterized by some details that make a difference. Dax is found unconscious by communications executive Chris Brynner (Jim Metzler), who gives her access to a terminal she quickly uses to establish a proper 21st century identity. It's interesting how Dax winds up with people on the opposite end of the economic scale (Brynner is a multi-millionaire who hosts upscale business parties). Dax has a discussion with some of Brynner's snobbish friends that reveals the general public's uncaring attitude on the sanctuaries--one party guest dismisses them as "the only way to keep those people off the streets." Brynner comments that the sanctuaries exist solely for the residents' benefit, but he can't offer an answer when Dax asks why there is a wall around it.
Resembling The Original Series episode "City on the Edge of Forever" in many respects, this installment redelivers the poignant nature of the concept and remains true to the idea (with exception to the obligatory '90s Trek time-travel technobabble). Delivering on-target drama while keeping every element of the plot in sync, "Past Tense I" is a season highlight.
Previous episode: Fascination
Next episode: Past Tense, Part II
Section Index
With China becoming the dominant world power, and the US going through a severe recession, without any hope of climbing out, social issues will begin to dominate the next few decades. More than likely, we'll see sanctuary districts popping up all over american major cities. I only wish there were people like Gabriel Bell, willing to stand up for those people.
It's a very real and scary prospect. Who would have thought? Ira Behr and Robert Wolfe nailed the reality of the issue 14 years ago, when they wrote it.
Truly scary, because you can honestly see something like that happening in America today. And seriously, if real-life "Sanctuary Districts" started popping up over the U.S., even if people knew their true extent, I doubt they'd bat an eyelash. They'd be so caught up in their own petty problems that they wouldn't do anything. This is some pretty powerful stuff.
Seriously, with the economy going the way it has, especially in California, plus San Francisco cracking down on the homeless ( http://tiny.cc/UNMQb ), the future ain't gonna be pretty.
1) The unmentioned C-plot, the technobabble is really over the top on the Defiant, it's slow-paced, awkward and sometimes just silly (surge in temporal energy, huh what could that mean? Let me run some tests, it's not like I spent 5 years on the Enterprise where this sort of thing happened every few months) 2) other than Terry Farrel's typically bad acting, the B-plot is okay, 3) Finally, the main story, nothing terribly shocking happens, we get some VERY slow-paced action sequences, some typically bad starfleet fighting moves, and TOS era smugness about the past and the future; (Sisko says his job as a "Star fleet of fi cer"--every time he says this it's so insincere I grind my teeth--is to prevent humanity from facing its own ideals. Excuse me? What the hell is that?) Finally, the "social problems" are never spelled out--okay the economy is "bad" and it seems like the middle class is shrinking, but notice the overt effort to multiracialise every sector (the rich, the poor and the working class) making the whole thing seem rather unbelievable. Part of the message of Trek's ideals is that "social problems" are interconnected. Racism, bigotry, homophobia and classism are part-in-parcel the same and to show a society (not any society, OUR society) which has totally integrated in every way EXCEPT the one relevant to the issue of the episode is painfully simplistic. This episode is an example of how people unfamiliar with Trek might view its social commentary, trite and juvenile. The name's Bond, I mean Belle...
The one aspect of the sanctuary district that few people seemed to have picked out is how a large number of its residents, perhaps even the majority, are mentally ill. There was that one crazy guy that Dax had to deal with, which was pretty obvious and played for laughs but there are hints all over the place that suggest the sanctuary districts are the asylums of the future.
Sisko and Bashir were automatically assumed to be "dims" when they were processed. Bashir talked to Sisko about a schizophrenic he saw on the streets. Many of the people in the background behaved like they had mental illnesses. The ghost leader clearly had some kind of personality disorder and it's suggested that most ghosts have anti-social tendencies.
Clearly, the writers were aware of the huge number of mentally ill people in the homeless population today and how it goes unrecognized by most people.
To be sure, too much fantastic fakery in an explanation of causes and/or effects can bog down a story and make it dry. I have, however, not seen any evidence of that so far in DS9, at least nothing memorable for being over-the-top unnecessary.
In fact, from my perspective, not only do I expect 'technobabble' but I rely on it to assist me in my suspension of disbelief.
It would not be enough for me if O'Brian simply said 'oh they're in the past because of a transporter malfunction'. I'd lose immersion, and question the writer's laziness and commitment to the franchise.
In order to believe that this COULD happen, I need a plausible basis for doing so. Transporters don't just malfunction people to a differnt point on the timeline for no reason. But if, say, the annular confinement beam was affected by a passing micro singularity which hyper-excited the residual chronatons on the ships hull from use of a cloaking device... well then that explains this unique event in Star Trek history, and helps bridge the gap of credibility from the utterly absurd to the plausible.
Perhaps you're more fancy-free in your appreciation of sci-fi and don't need the technical justifications. I for one hold Star Trek to higher standards, and expect them to explain to me how something so different and unusual could happen.
That way I don't feel like I'm simply being entertained by a cheesy melodramatic space opera, but I'm immersed in watching the potential history of our future unfold.
My two cents, and 4.5 Stars.
Apparently, he directed more hours of television than any other director in the entire industry. He'll be missed.
And to tell this overly dramatic, sublte as a ton of pillows, DSN needed to burn a time travel plot and two parter. Jammer, you seem to rate these inferior bambi-like episodes high, and tend to rate any story that has a hint of challenge less flattering. IMO
Maybe it's just the fact that I have a background in computer science, but for the most part, it makes sense to me. Of course chronotons would be an essential particle to make the cloaking device on the Defiant work, as it reveals to the viewer that when the Defiant cloaks, it's actually in a state of semi-flux in spacetime, which also makes sense why the Romulans go so far out of their way to protect such powerful technology. After all, the Federation isn't supposed to harness real, reliable time-travel technology for another thousand years after DS9's timeline.