Overall Rating: 9.0
Subversion of the welfare state on Trek? Vot next? Federation officers paying their bar tabs with latinum? Oh, wait a second...........
In all seriousness - this is an enthralling two-parter with lots of good old fashioned sci-fi action, some poignant social commentary, and another pleasing temporal mobius (I love those). Definitely an instant classic.
Plot Synopsis:
En route to a meet and greet at Starfleet Headquarters on Earth, a transporter malfunction appears to kill Sisko, Dax and Bashir. Upon further inspection, however, Chief O'Brien realizes that the transporter beam must have been diverted by an excess of chroniton particles on the Defiant's hull. The question isn't where they materialized - but when. In fact, Sisko and Bashir are awakened by a pair of police officers who drag them to a "processing center," where a valid identification can be made and they may either recover their identity cards or be placed in a sanctuary district. On the wall of the processing center, Sisko sees the date and time on a large digital clock. It's 2024 - mere days before a famous riot erupted in this very sanctuary district over the exceedingly poor living conditions and the lack of government assistance in finding ways to leave the district. Sisko describes these events to Bashir while they wait to be officially processed, and in more detail later, after they've been ordered into the sanctuary district and are walking around trying to get a better view of the place (while Bashir is expressing justified anger over the mistreatment of the many mentally ill people he sees, not to mention the absolute squalor all around him).
We learn of the historical significance of a man named Gabriel Bell - doomed to live in the sanctuary district in San Francisco and among those who rebelled, gained access to the internet, and told their stories of hardship and cruelty to the world. Bell reputedly gave his own life to save the lives of the hostages he and his cohorts took, and in so doing, garnered sympathy for his cause from the U.S. population - eventually forcing us to confront our social problems and moving us forward toward the nearly Utopian Earth we have today. Sisko and Bashir work very hard not to get involved in historic events, but they need to get up to the roof of one of the district's many ramshackle projects to try to find a way out and in the attempt, they meet a "ghost" named B.C. (who taunts them after they try to stop him from stealing from another resident) and a "gimme" named Webb (who is desperately trying to look after his family and friends in one tenement when they arrive to look around). Bashir does some very basic first aid to help Webb's son and Webb begs the two to help him organize sanctuary residents and lead a peaceful protest. Of course, they spurn his advances...for now.
Meanwhile, Dax is considerably more fortunate. She is found in a subway stairwell by a wealthy businessman named Chris Brynner. He owns a major media channel on the national network, and - in an act of chivalry motivated at least partially by his attraction to Dax - he rescues her and helps her get a replacement identity card. She uses his network access to get falsified documents and theorizes that her friends have been taken to a sanctuary district as soon as she learns of their existence.
Inside the sanctuary, tensions are mounting. The food lines take hours to get through and if you don't show up early enough, you don't eat. B.C. and a gang of other ghosts are out jacking food cards and bullying the masses when they lays eyes on B.C.'s favorite "new boys" (Sisko and Bashir) and try to rob them. Seeing this, a black man in line with the pair intercedes on their behalf and is knifed to death in the process. The victim is none other than Gabriel Bell. At this very moment (in the future on the Defiant), the Federation CEASES TO EXIST! The future has been irrevocably altered. O'Brien has a plan to send himself and Kira back through time with the transporter in an attempt to pinpoint Sisko, Dax and Bashir's place in time and retrieve them. They've only got enough polarized chronitons on the hull for about six attempts, and there are a dozen or so possible destinations to check - they have to hope they get lucky.
Knowing the pivotal role Bell played in the history he recalls, Sisko decides that rather than staying out of the way, he must now step into Bell's shoes and lead the rebellion along with Webb and B.C. Right on schedule, Webb's attempt to organize a peaceful protest gets co-opted by a very angry pack of ghosts and hostages are taken at gunpoint. B.C. starts barking orders and Sisko (playing Bell) defends the hostages and knocks some sense into B.C. regarding what his demands should be when he speaks with authorities (B.C. is a small time thug and thinks small - he wants a plane ticket to Tazmania. That's it. LOL. Webb and Sisko, on the other hand, demand that the government close down the sanctuaries and give the people access to the net to tell their stories). The hostage negotiator tries to resolve the conflict without making any real promises, but Webb bears down and plays hardball.
Vin - one of the police officers taken as a hostage - is apparently intent on getting himself killed. Not only does he burst out of a cubicle and attempt to arrest a dozen or more rioters all by his lonesome, he then constantly antagonizes B.C. (who desperately wants to release his anger in the form of murder) and tries to escape. Sisko barely contains B.C.'s outrage and then threatens to beat the hell out of Vin if he doesn't stop with his unhelpful behavior. Meanwhile, Sisko and Webb try unsuccessfully to get access to the net. Sisko knows that Bell and his people were somehow able to accomplish this in the history he has been taught, so he has faith that they will eventually succeed.
Meanwhile, Dax searches for her friends by hacking the city's sanitation grid with her ID card and crawling into the sanctuary through the sewers. Unfortunately, a dim follows her and steals her comm badge and she is then captured by gimmies patrolling the processing center and dragged in. Sisko and Bashir clue her in to Sisko's role as Gabriel Bell and she skillfully plays along. She says she knows a guy who can get them access to the net and B.C. reluctantly agrees to let her go back and try to get Chris Brynner to clear them to tell their story. Meanwhile, she needs to retrieve her comm badge. She and Bashir head out, locate the dim responsible for the theft, and convince him that the device is needed to protect him from being taken by brain-sucking aliens. Dax then returns to Chris Brynner's office and cajoles him into giving the sanctuary residents a voice on his net access channel.
After a few hours of this, the governor is adamant about sending in troops to take the processing center, having heard that the hostages might have been killed. Detective Preston (our intrepid hostage negotiator) begs for more time but is overruled. Aware of the militarization going on outside, Webb sends his son Danny home and Sisko shuffles the hostages out of harm's way into a processing office. The troops barge in, guns blazing, and kill just about everyone present, including B.C. and Webb. In the smoke-filled commotion, Vin steps out to inform the strike team that the hostages are alive and well and one of the gunners takes aim at him. Sisko dives in front and takes one in the arm to save Vin's life. As quickly as the onslaught begins, it ends, and Sisko - saddened by the death of Webb - cuts a deal with Vin. They will swap their ID cards with two of the casualties and Vin will let them leave. Dax, Bashir, and Sisko are evacuated by O'Brien and Kira and return to the present, where the time line has been restored - with the exception of the archived photo of Gabriel Bell, which has now been replaced by a picture of Sisko.
(Cut for length. Our comments and the highlights can be found after the jump.)
SABR Matt's Ratings:
Writing: 9.5
The script is full of praise-worthy social commentary but avoids a common problem in that brand of story-telling - ineffective exposition. The way this plot worked, there was no way to avoid the need for a long running discussion between Sisko and Bashir about Earth's future past (we need to understand how things got to this point by 2024 in the story, and we need to see Bashir get a valuable education in human history. The way they accomplished this without slowing down the story was to have Bashir enter this picture completely ignorant of what he'd be facing and allow him to inject needed emotion into the experience. Sisko needed to play the dispassionate Starfleet role for most of the story (they had to stay out of events), but we got to acquire all of that necessary back-story while we watched the horror in Bashir's eyes. Exposition is only bad when it adds nothing to the emotional part of the story and fails to advance the plot - here, what they did worked perfectly.
It was equally intelligent of Robert Hewitt Wolfe to give Dax a perspective from the outside. We needed to see that people not in the sanctuary districts weren't evil overlords. They were just ignorant of what was really happening within those walls. In fact, it would have been rather easy to do the standard Hollywood thing and paint the rich tycoon (Brynner) as ruthless, cold and arrogant. What we got instead...was a charming, intelligent, and unfortunately misinformed man who, like everybody involved in starting the sanctuaries (we presume), had the best of intentions. There was even a little hint of CHEMISTRY between Dax and Brynner...in another situation, they might have been romantically compatible. I like that they took this route and gave us a story that was not steeped in anti-establishment, anti-capitalist propaganda. I seriously doubt earlier incarnations of Trek would have been so bold.
Acting: 9.6
I was actually very impressed with the ensemble cast of guest stars appearing in this story. Frank Military (B.C.), Dick Miller (Vin) and Bill Smitrovich (Webb) were particularly solid for one-timers and added greatly to the quality of the experience for me. B.C. begins as an uncomplicated bully, but as his character moves front and center during the riot, we see his humanity - his sense of humor, his intelligence, and his resourcefulness all lend him credibility and even pathos by the time he is gunned down. It would have been easy to play this role too aggressively and leave us rather glad to see him perish, but Mr. Military avoided that trap quite nicely. Avery Brooks does chew the scenery a bit in some places, but it actually works in a story this filled with emotion, so I won't hold it against him. Alexander Siddig kicked major booty this time around as well - he's getting better and better as the show goes along and will be a major asset on a regular basis moving forward.
Message: 7.8
This two-part episode has the distinction of being the only Trek story to ever (intentionally or otherwise) question the validity of welfare and government-run housing. Taken to its potential extreme (essentially - a concentration camp), the idea that the government has done all it needs to do to defend a person's inalienable rights if it merely provides food, water and shelter (the bare minimum for survival), is of course revealed to be not only preposterous, but dangerous. Equally important - whether they realize it or not, the writers managed to question the concept of government job-placement. What actually happens in today's society is not so different than the nightmare future of 2024 speculated on here. When the government is in charge of creating jobs and placing people in those jobs, not only does the whole economy suffer from the spectacular inefficiency that develops from this subversion of the market (which is driven by human nature), but the government bureaucracy becomes so thick that apathy sets in and platitudes soothe the conscience of the masses while officials cease to care about what the well being of the less fortunate they are theoretically trying to help.
I'd have given this story much higher marks for the message if the resolution hadn't been a typically trite far-left idea - the Federal Employment Act (a piece of legislation that Sisko demands be reinstated) is essentially painted as a decree that the government has a responsibility for seeing that anyone seeking a job be employed. I hear this line of thinking all the time - the Democrat party answer to any economic turmoil is to spend money "creating jobs." I believe that the government must work to create the infrastructure upon which a sound and thriving economy can be built. Having the government "create jobs" is like trying to build a great pyramid starting at the top. The entire economy is pressured when money (provided by said economy!) is spent creating jobs for which there was no market demand rather than using that money to enhance the foundation of the economy. You get a top-heavy structure built on debt spending and speculation rather than a sustainable (to steal a favorite lefty word) future. That slightly dampens my enthusiasm for an otherwise incisive and fascinating bit of social commentary.
Stephanie S.'s Ratings:
Writing/Production: 9.5
Back in 2006, I struggled with a long term illness that ultimately cost more than $20,000 to resolve. At the time, I was not insured - my existing rheumatoid arthritis made enrolling in a plan difficult - so I had no way to pay the full amount. Lest anyone view this story as an argument for socialized health care, I should note that I was finally rescued by a private hospital charity, who paid 75% of my medical debt, and I was able to pay the rest in monthly installments. Before this arrangement was made, however, one of the things I attempted to do was apply for government aid. I drove down to the Ferlazzo Building, took my number, and proceeded to spend the next few hours waiting in this ridiculously uncomfortable chair. Sitting in the sea of equally uncomfortable chairs all around me were a lot of hopeless people. I observed no sense of community - no sense of compassion. It was probably the most powerful argument against the welfare state that I have ever personally witnessed. Now, why have I told you this story? Because the writing and direction in Past Tense manages to evoke my memories of that day with vivid exactness. The resemblance between my experience at the Ferlazzo and the early scenes in the sanctuary district's processing center is so uncanny that a big part of me wonders whether someone on DS9's staff has had to apply for government aid before.
Also impressive is the writers' honesty when it comes to depicting the poor and homeless. Particularly during Republican administrations, our own mainstream news media often run stories on homelessness that feature down-on-their-luck families and adorable little moppets that, gosh darn it, are just like you and your kids, Mr. John Q. Public. Frequently, those featured are white because the media cynically assume that the American middle class wouldn't care about poor black people or poor Hispanic people (and also because the PC police - unaccountably given the sad racial disparities among the poor in this country - gets upset when minorities are overrepresented in pictures of mission lines). What the media absolutely do not run are shots of the untreated delusional schizophrenic muttering to himself in a subway station - or shots of the guy wetting himself in a gutter in East Baltimore because he's strung out on heroin. The news media also try to avoid depicting the anti-establishment attitudes that are held by some of the urban poor - the lobster-bucket mentality that scoffs at any attempt to lift oneself out of poverty through honest labor. Those less pleasant realities just aren't going to "get the ratings," you see, so they're left out of the story. The result is a skewed, Disneyfied picture of poverty that in no way reflects the truth on the ground. In Past Tense, on the other hand, all of the poor are represented among the "gimmies," "ghosts," and "dims." And when Sisko asks Webb to bring in the gimmies to tell their stories on the net, it reads to me like a satirical slap at the calculations that determine our media's dominant narrative.
The writing is very expository and, in some places, a little on-the-nose, but like my co-author, I'm inclined to be forgiving, as the social commentary is a cut above Trek's usual.
Acting: 9.0
I am less impressed with the acting in these episodes than is my co-author. The principal guest stars do turn in quite competent performances, but there are scenes in which, I feel, the melodrama could've been dialed back a smidge. For example, when Vin comes barging into the processing center with a gun and is physically stopped by Sisko, Lee's scream is way, way over the top. Granted, it is scary when a gun goes off in close proximity, but that moment just rubs me the wrong way.
Message: 8.5
On the other hand, I'm going to give the message of these episodes a higher score. SABR Matt is right when he points out that it is not the government's responsibility to "create jobs" - and it is very likely - indeed, it is certain - that the writers intended for Past Tense to be an argument in favor of a Keynesian economic policy. I think, however, that emphasizing jobs over pure entitlements like welfare is a giant step in the right direction - and the unintentional arguments these episodes make against public housing projects and government handouts are just so groundbreaking for Trek that I'm willing to ignore, for the moment, the writers' Hollywood liberal naivete on the matter of the market system.
Highlights:
VIN: No ID, no fingerprint record, no Interface account. It's like you two don't exist.
BASHIR: Since we don't exist, why not let us go?
VIN: Yeah, well, let's see. You don't have any ID, you don't have any money, and you're both dressed like clowns. You figure it out.
(Vin gives them clipboards with forms.)
VIN: Please fill out these forms. Answer all questions to the best of your ability. If you cannot speak English, an interpreter will be provided. If you cannot read, questions will be given to you verbally. If there is any part of this form you do not understand, ask one of our staff for assistance. Now sit down, shut up, and fill out the forms. (Clearly, someone on the writing staff knows what it's like to apply for government aid.)
SISKO: You ever hear of the Bell Riots?
BASHIR: Vaguely.
SISKO: It was one of the most violent civil disturbances in American history, and it happened right here. San Francisco, Sanctuary District A, the first week of September, twenty twenty four.
BASHIR: That's only a few days from now.
SISKO: Which means if we don't get out of here soon, we'll be caught right in the middle of it.
BASHIR: Just how bad are these riots going to be, Commander?
SISKO: Bad. The Sanctuary residents will take over the District. Some of the guards will be taken hostage. The government will send in troops to restore order. Hundreds of Sanctuary residents will be killed.
BASHIR: Hundreds? And there's nothing we can do to prevent it. Starfleet's temporal displacement policy may sound good in the classroom, but to know that hundreds of people are going to die and to not be able to do a thing to save them --
SISKO: I sympathise, Doctor, but if it will make you feel any better, the Riots will be one of the watershed events of the twenty first century. Gabriel Bell will see to that.
BASHIR: Bell?
SISKO: The man they named the Riots after. He is one of the Sanctuary residents who will be guarding the hostages. The government troops will storm this place based on rumours that the hostages have been killed. It turns out that the hostages were never harmed, because of Gabriel Bell. In the end, Bell sacrifices his own life to save them. He'll become a national hero. Outrage over his death, and the death of the other residents, will change public opinion about the Sanctuaries. They'll be torn down and the United States will finally begin correcting the social problems it had struggled with for over a hundred years.
BASHIR: And all of this is going to happen in the next few days.
SISKO: Which means if we warn these people about what's coming, if we try to help them in any way, we risk altering a pivotal moment in history. And we can't let that happen.
SISKO: Is there something wrong?
LEE: Well, according to these forms, you're supposed to be dims. But you're not, are you?
SISKO: I hope you're not disappointed.
LEE: Pleasantly surprised is more like it. I guess I owe you an apology. If I'd known you were gimmies, I could've processed your application much sooner.
BASHIR: Gimmies?
SISKO: They're American slang terms.
LEE: I try not to use them, but it's a bad habit. Gimmies are people like you. People who are looking for help, a job, a place to live.
BASHIR: And what about the dims? Don't they need help?
LEE: The dims should be in hospitals, but the government can't afford to keep them there, so we get them instead. I hate it, but that's the way it is. (Hmm. I wonder how the health care system got so overtaxed. Did the U.S. government foolishly increase the demand somehow?)
SISKO: What about jobs? How are we supposed to find a place to work and somewhere to live if we're stuck in here?
LEE: One of the services we provide is job placement.
SISKO: And how long's that usually take?
LEE: I wish I could give you a definite answer, but jobs are hard to come by right now, what with the economy and all. My advice is to be patient. (Government efficiency! How's that working out for ya?)
BASHIR: Every building we go to, it's the same story. They can't all be full.
SISKO: Don't be so sure. One of the main complaints against the Sanctuary Districts was overcrowding. It got to the point where they didn't care how many people were in here. They just wanted to keep them out of sight.
BASHIR: And once they were out of sight, what then? I mean, look at this man. There's no need for that man to live like that. With the right medication, he could lead a full and normal life.
SISKO: Maybe in our time.
BASHIR: Not just in our time. There are any number of effective treatments for schizophrenia, even in this day and age. They could cure that man now, today, if they gave a damn. (Yes, we could! Unfortunately, we've decided that forced commitment is a civil rights no-no even for those who clearly can't care for themselves.)
MAN: Our sea floor mining project is almost ready to go into operation. The Pan-Caribbean government did have some misgivings, but I think we've won them over. I hear you just came back from Christchurch?
CHRIS: Yes. Did a little skiing on Mount Cook.
WOMAN: You're lucky. We had to cancel our trip to the Alps this year because of the student protests in France.
CHRIS: I thought the Neo-Trotskyists were going to put a stop to that.
WOMAN: They're not having any more luck that the Gaullists did.
MAN: Europe is falling apart.
WOMAN: Well, at least we don't have to worry about that kind of thing here.
DAX: Don't count on it. (Indeed! I also like that thinly veiled swipe at the French propensity to protest.)
BASHIR: And I thought the replimat lines were bad. By the time we get dinner, it'll be time for breakfast. You'd think that before they lock thousands of people into a twenty square block area, they'd give some thought to how those people are going to get fed. (Hah! Politicians never think about logistics.)
CHRIS: You were right. Your friends are in Sanctuary District A.
DAX: When can we get them out?
CHRIS: Well, it might not be that easy. The Sanctuary personnel first have to find them. There are something like ten thousand people in there.
DAX: Did they say how long it would take?
CHRIS: They're not sure. But don't worry, your friends are fine. That's the whole point of the Sanctuary. To give people in trouble food and a place to stay.
DAX: If that's all it's for, then why is there a wall around it?
SISKO: Those hostages aren't going anywhere until we get what we want.
PRESTON: Which is what?
SISKO: We want the Sanctuaries closed and the Federal Employment Act reinstated.
PRESTON: That's asking a lot.
SISKO: I don't think so. What we want is to get out from behind these walls, to stop having to depend on handouts.
WEBB: That's right. All we're asking for is a chance to get back on our feet again. We don't deserve to be locked up in here. (Of course, it's not the government's place to create jobs -- but at least they're not asking for cradle-to-grave welfare here.)
LEE: When I first started working here, I processed a woman who had a warrant out on her for abandoning her kid. She couldn't take care of him, so she left him with a family that she worked for over in the Marina. I felt so sorry for her I didn't log her in. I just let her disappear into the Sanctuary.
BASHIR: Well, that was very kind of you.
LEE: Almost got me fired when my supervisor found out.
BASHIR: What happened to this woman?
LEE: I don't know, but I think about her all the time. Ever since then I've just done my job, you know? Tried not to let it get to me.
BASHIR: It's not your fault that things are the way they are.
LEE: Everybody tells themselves that, and nothing ever changes. (Yes! People are so willing to blame others - particularly conservatives - yet they won't take a look at themselves.)
SISKO: Now you listen to me closely because I'm not going to say this again. The next time you try something stupid I will make you regret it.
VIN: You trying to scare me?
SISKO: I'm trying to save your life and the lives of every hostage in that room. And mister, you are not making it easy.
VIN: If you're so concerned about our welfare, why don't you let us go?
SISKO: You don't know what any of this is about, do you? You work here, you see these people every day, how they live, and you just don't get it.
VIN: What do you want me to say? That I feel for them? That they got a bad break? What good would it do?
SISKO: It'd be a start.
WEBB: Excuse me. You obviously don't live here, so how did you get in?
DAX: I managed to recode my ID card so that I could get past the Sanitation Department checkpoint.
BC: You crawled in through the sewers? You must really like these guys. (LOL!)
CHRIS: Let me see if I understand what you're asking me to do. You want me to override a government block, violate my Interface operating license, and turn over my channels to a bunch of criminals.
DAX: They're not criminals.
CHRIS: I know that, but they're acting like criminals. They have guns, they have taken hostages.
DAX: So why do you think they're doing it? Don't you want to know? Don't you think that the public deserves to know?
CHRIS: You are asking me to break the law.
DAX: I am asking you to give those people a voice. Chris, sooner or later, the government is going to retake the Sanctuary District. And when they do, a lot of people are going to die. And unless the public learns why the Sanctuary residents did what they did, all those deaths will be for nothing.
CHRIS: You know I'll lose my license. But I'll get great ratings. (And thus the quest for profit leads to a positive result!)
BASHIR: I thought you might like to see this. I found it in the historical database.
(On the PADD, Sisko is captioned as Gabriel Bell.)
SISKO: I'm not looking forward to explaining this to Starfleet Command.
BASHIR: Well, at least it's a good picture. (Heh.)
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