Cheap Star Trek - Deep Space Nine, Episode 57: Past Tense, Part 1 (Video) (Rene Auberjonois) (Rene Auberjonois, Corey Allen, Reza Badiyi, Gabrielle Beaumont, LeVar Burton, David Carson, Chip Chalmers, James L. Conway, Michael Dorn) Price

Related Products

Customer Reviews of Star Trek - Deep Space Nine, Episode 57: Past Tense, Part 1

A transporter mishap sends Sisko, Bashir and Dax and the U.S.S. Defiant three centuries back in time to a pivotal and crucial point in Earth's history.

En route to a symposium in San Francisco, Sisko, Dax and Bashir are lost during transport to Earth from the U.S.S. Defiant. The trio materializes in San Francisco, but in the year 2024. Apprehended by a pair of policemen, Sisko and Bashir are taken to a "Sanctuary District" �" a gated area of the city where homeless, mentally ill and unemployed people are locked away from the rest of society.

Separated from the others, Dax is found by a prominent businessman named Chris Brynner, who takes her to his office and helps her obtain the ID card necessary to exist in this society. Dax doesn't reveal where she comes from, but tells him that her friends are missing. Meanwhile, in the Sanctuary District, Sisko and Bashir are taken to a processing center, where no records of their existence are found. Sisko learns the date and realizes that they have arrived in the date, August 30th, 2024, before a crucial event in history, the Bell Riots, which occurred in the area of the city where he and Bashir are now confined.

Sisko tells Bashir that residents in the District will take hostages, but a man named Gabriel Bell, after whom the riots were named, will sacrifice his life to save them. Hundreds of innocent people will be killed during the riots, but Sisko and Bashir can do nothing, or this pivotal moment in history, which led to sweeping social reforms, and eventually leads to the Federation, could be changed and altered forever. Later, Sisko and Bashir are given ration cards to obtain meals and sent out to find a place to sleep among the abandoned buildings.

On the U.S.S. Defiant, Kira, Odo and O'Brien realize their comrades were transported back in time, by the particles from the Defiant's cloaking device, and the particles shifted the U.S.S. Defiant's hull into a state of temporal polarization. But they cannot pinpoint the exact date, and have only five or six search attempts they can make. In the Sanctuary District, Sisko and Bashir meet Webb, a homeless but proud man who asks them to try and help the community, but they must refuse his request in order to avoid any contact that could change history. Later, Sisko and Bashir end up in a scuffle over Bashir's food card, during which a bystander who steps in to help is killed. Sisko is shocked to discover the dead man is Gabriel Bell.

When Kira attempts to contact Earth to discuss the situation, she learns that everything connected with Starfleet has vanished. Odo, O'Brien and Kira realize their missing crewmates have altered history, and that the U.S.S. Defiant is all that remains of the Federation. Back in the past, Chris Brynner does some research and learns that Jadzia's friends are among the thousands of people behind the walls of the Sanctuary District. Meanwhile, Sisko and Bashir realize that they must step in to undo the damage to history resulting from Bell's death. They arrive at the processing center just as the residents take hostages. As the riots begin, Sisko joins the aggressors, identifying himself as Gabriel Bell.

Ridiculously structured and unoriginal
Episode title: Past Tense

Teleplay by: Robert Hewitt Wolfe

Story by: Ira Steven Behr & Robert Hewitt Wolfe

Directed by: Reza Badiyi

It just had to happen.

After two and a half years, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine introduced it's first true time travel story, and does it by the way of a two-parter.

"Past Tense" Couldn't be more traditional. It's basically a classic TNG story told in Deep Space Nine, and it has absolutely nothing to deliver into the conrinuing aspects of the series.

The episode takes us to the year 2024, as Sisko, Dax and Bashir just happen to be transported from the Defiant to Earth exactly at the same time as a tachyon surge occures near the ship. And what is even more surprising, is the fact that they happen to materialize on San Francisco only days before one of the most tide-turning events in history: the Bell Riots.

The Bell Riots happen in a sanctuary district in San Francisco, a place where social leftovers and mentally ill are being kept out of the sight of "normal" people. Sisko remembers that a man named Gabriel Bell will lead the riots that will lead to the public awareness of social problems and will contribute heavily to the developement of the equal society the Federation-era Earth is.

It just happens that Sisko and Bashir just happen to be discovered by law inforcements and are sent to the very sanctuary district the Bell Riots will occur, as Dax just happens to stumble into one of the most influencial economical figures of the era, who gives her a place to stay.

In the meantime, Sisko and Bashir get into a fight that leads to the death of an innocent outsider, who just happens to be Gabriel Bell.

So when the Bell Riots begin, Sisko has no chance but to take on the role of Gabriel Bell and lead the riot whose lead figures just happen to be the only people he and Bashir have had any contact with.

It's every bit as horrible as it sounds. The episode is probably the least beliavable star trek episode ever, as it completely relies on the ridiculously unbeliavable coincidences that carry the story. It is amazing that no one ever thought of it being so ridiculous during the pre-production phase. The story is paced unevenly, alterating between many "dead" moments and the scenes that contain those countless coincidences and unbeliavabilities.

Also, the episode introduces a senseless consept of 'in the past, now', as the scenes aboard the Defiant coincide the scenes in the past, where the missing crew mwmbers alter history. At first there's nothing different in the universe, but when the killing of Gabriel Bell is shown, the crew of the shielded-against-timeline-anomalies Defiant emmidiately discover that the Federtation is no longer. This kind of storytelling error alone ruins the whole episode after you analyze it for a microsecond.

Nevertheless, Reza Badiyi's directing is talented and the money put into the episode can be seen. It also captures a scence of strong drama in the most basic level and the episode contains a strong sociopolitical message that can be very thought-provoking. I just hope it could have been made differently, even if the second "Past Tense" episode is a lot better, compensating for this one.

Sisko, Dax and O'Brien end up in the Bell Riots of 2024 A.D.
When the Defiant returns to earth a transporter accident throws Sisko, Dax and O'Brien back in time to the year 2024, where the trio are put into custody. After all, they have neither identification cards nor credit chips. Consequently, they are thrown into a Sanctuary District, which is how Americans dealt with homelessness and unemployment in the early 21st Century. The obvious parallel is to the Warsaw Ghetto during the Nazi occupation. Sisko knows enough about American history to remember that this particular Sanctuary is going to be the site of the Bell Riots, which led to the end of such places and significant reforms. The riots were named for Gabriel Bell, who was responsible for saving the lives of hostages only to be killed when the authorities retook the building. When Bell is killed before the riots begin, Sisko takes his place to protect the time line. Star Trek has always been noted for talking about contemporary social problems in the context of science fiction. Obviously "Past Tense" brings things a lot closer to home by strongly implying that the current disregard for the less fortunate in the United States is going to end up with our government violating sacred principles by treating such people as unequal. Once you get past the fact that this is yet ANOTHER time travel episode, "Past Tense" is a pretty good episode.