Best of Star Trek: Deep Space 9---Past Tense (pt. 1 & 2)

"Past Tense" was written by:
Robert Hewitt Wolfe (Part I)
Ira Steven Behr (Part II)
René Echevarria (Part II)
courtesy of Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Past_Tense_(Star_Trek:_Deep_Space_Nine)

Commander Sisko, Dr. Bashir, and Jadzia Dax beam to down San Francisco for a synposium about the Gamma Quadrant. They land in the right spot but in the wrong time. Seems there was something to do with "polarized chronitron particles" that caused the rift through time. Way to go Chief O'Brien for figuring that out! Guess his time on The Enterprise helped prepare him for something like this. The only thing O'Brien had a hard time figuring out was when exactly they were. He manages to narrow it down to a dozen possibilities. But it's imperative that they figure out how to get them back because when they try contacting Starfleet headquarters, they only get silence. Seems our landing party trio messed things up in the past.


Meanwhile, The trio have landed in 2024 and America is in the throes of economic collapse, the type often depicted in dystopia novels. Those without work are put in Sanctuary's, camps more like dilapidated ghettos. People fight over rations and food cards. Sisko knows a lot about American history. Good thing too because a man responsible for getting hostages released in the processing center is killed when he tries to intervene in a brawl involving Sisko and Bashir. Now Sisko knows he has to change the change in the timeline. He assumes the identity of the man killed, the one who helped usher in changes that helped pave the way for the future of the Federation and its existence.

Dax had somehow got separated from the other two and enlists the aid of a corporate exec to help her find her "friends." He takes Dax under his wing and introduces her to his dinner guests. Dax uses her feminine beauty to her advantage to get her new found protector to help her find a way into the Sanctuary. She convinces him to help the hostage takers get control of the internet in order to spread the word about the reality of the sanctuaries.

As Sisko and Bashir inform Dax about the history they have to correct, O'Brien and Kira are busy going through the loops in time in hopes of finding the right one. 

It ends when processors who were taken hostage realize in the aftermath of the national guard sweeps that a police state is not all it's cracked up to be. The truth sets them free and restores the timeline in the 24th century.

This episode was well written and exciting. It also speaks to our time. As any good dystopian story, it works like a warning, a cautionary tale of what can happen when people and institutions like government fail to tackle problems as they arise and instead allow them to escalate to the point of anarchy and civil unrest. 

It's also a bit prophetic. Many recent crisis, especially the ones in Syria and Libya, gained world wide recognition through social media; raising awareness to their plights of injustice and tyranny. 

Back on the ship, Sisko and Bashir discuss the injustices they witnessed in the 21st century. Bashir: "Having seen a little of the 21st century, there is one thing I don't understand. How could they have let things get so bad?" Sisko: "That's a good question. I wish I had an answer."


One highlight is Clint Howard playing a crazy sanctuary dweller who believes himself invisible. He had stolen Dax combadge. She tells him she's an alien working to protect the Earth from it's enemies (a story any sane person would reject even though it's the reality in the plot.) He believes her and returns the badge.