STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE: PAST TENSE {PART 1 OF 2} (TV)
Summary
One in this series of science fiction programs about a twenty-fourth-century space station, Deep Space Nine.
Sisko and his staff travel to earth on the Defiant to host a symposium on current affairs in the Gamma Quadrant. When Sisko, Bashir, and Dax attempt to beam down to Starfleet Headquarters in San Francisco, they instead find themselves hurtled back in time to the year 2024. Sisko and Bashir are taken in as vagrants by passing security officers, whereas Dax is discovered by a passer-by named Chris Brynner who offers to help her obtain new ID. O'Brien and Kira attempt to figure out what transpired; O'Brien believes that the transporter malfunctioned due to a chronoton-induced surge of temporal energy derived from the ship's cloak. Sisko and Bashir quickly determine that they are in San Francisco in the year 2024, but cannot contact Dax since their comm. badges were stolen. They find themselves being processed into a squalid slum-like area called a "sanctuary district;" Sisko explains that such places were ghettos for the poor, homeless, or mentally ill, created in many major cities when the government could no longer afford to care for them all.
Dax orders a new ID using the Chris's computer. He explains that he is the head of a major information access company. While being processed into Sanctuary District A, Sisko notes the date: August 30th, 2024. He tells Bashir that they have been transported to several days before the Bell Riots, a major historical event. He elaborates: the Bell Riots began in Sanctuary District A when a civil disturbance resulted in sanctuary residents taking over the district and holding officials hostage. One resident, Gabriel Bell, sacrificed his own life to ensure that the hostages were not killed, and in doing so became known as a national hero and drew attention to the plight of sanctuary residents everywhere. Although hundreds of residents died in the riots, it forced the nation to reexamine the viability of sanctuary districts and work towards solving many of their social problems, thus paving the way for the ideals of the Federation. Bashir is concerned about the impending deaths, but Sisko points out that they cannot change it, as it could negatively affect hundreds of years of history.
Sisko and Bashir continue to be processed and are sent to live in the sanctuary district, given ration cards for food and water and warned about the dangers of sanctuary life. There is a job placement service for residents, but it is highly inefficient and hardly places them. In addition, they are warned about those who prey on their fellow residents. Dax attempts to contact Sisko and Bashir but cannot. Chris gets her a hotel room to stay in and invites her to a small party he's hosting the following evening. Sisko and Bashir find themselves turned away from all the buildings in the sanctuary district; Sisko talks about the problem of overcrowding in such places. Bashir is outraged at what he perceives as callous indifference of the time period to its own issues, but Sisko explains that these problems seemed "too enormous" for people to face at the time. They witness some thugs mugging a resident but resist the urge to help, unwilling to change the timeline. Sisko and the thug have a standoff before he lets them go.
O'Brien figures out a way to recreate the accident that transported Bashir, Sisko, and Dax back in time, but can only perform it a few times and cannot precisely determine the destination. Sisko and Bashir awaken the next morning and eat a meager breakfast, planning to get on the roof of a building and get a better vantage point. They exchange their Starfleet uniforms in exchange for access to a building. Inside, Bashir examines a young man, Danny, who was beaten up by thugs, and remarks that his injuries are mostly superficial and he will make a recovery. Danny's father, Webb, remarks that the residents must stage a protest against the terrible conditions they live under, but Sisko and Bashir refuse, still hoping to preserve the timeline. Meanwhile, Dax learns about the sanctuary districts and realizes that Sisko and Bashir must be in one of them. She convinces Chris to help her unearth sanctuary processing records to look for them.
While in a food line, Bashir and Sisko are accosted by the thugs from earlier. They get into a brawl and a man from the crowd rushes in to save Sisko. The man is stabbed to death by the thugs, who run off. Sisko and Bashir evade the security guards sent after them and Sisko informs Bashir that the man who just died was none other than Gabriel Bell. They realize that unless they save the hostages themselves, the future will be drastically altered. In the 23rd Century, the Defiant loses contact with Starfleet and find that there are no more Federation ships or structures anywhere in the solar system; they determine that the timeline has been changed but they were spared thanks to a buildup of chronoton particles. Sisko and Bashir reunite with the man they aided earlier and spread the word that a rally is being organized at the processing facility. Dax and Chris find where Bashir and Sisko have been taken to, and Dax shoots down Chris's assertion that they are in no danger. A massive riot breaks out in the sanctuary district after a guard gets into a fight with one of the residents. Fires erupt and the guards are overwhelmed by the residents, but Sisko steps in to prevent the guards from being killed. At the processing plant, he finds the thug from earlier has taken hostages for a "political statement." Sisko reluctantly joins him, introducing himself as "Gabriel Bell." Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: Syndicated
- DATE: January 2, 1995 8:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:45:26
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: B:50219
- GENRE: Drama, fantasy/science fiction
- SUBJECT HEADING: Drama, fantasy/science fiction
- SERIES RUN: Syndicated - TV series, 1993-1999
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Rick Berman … Executive Producer, Created by
- Michael Piller … Executive Producer, Created by
- Ira Steven Behr … Co-Executive Producer, Writer
- Ronald D. Moore … Supervising Producer
- David Livingston … Supervising Producer
- René Echevarria … Producer
- Peter Lauritson … Producer
- Steven Oster … Co-Producer
- Robert della Santina … Line Producer
- Reza Badiyi … Director
- Robert Hewitt Wolfe … Writer
- Gene Roddenberry … Based on "Star Trek" created by
- Dennis McCarthy … Music by, Theme Music by
- Avery Brooks … Cast, Commander Sisko
- Rene Auberjonois … Cast, Odo
- Siddig el Fadil (See also: Alexander Siddig) … Cast, Doctor Bashir
- Terry Farrell … Cast, Lieutenant Dax
- Cirroc Lofton … Cast, Jake Sisko
- Colm Meany … Cast, Chief O'Brien
- Armin Shimerman … Cast, Quark
- Nana Visitor … Cast, Major Kira
- Jim Metzler … Cast, Chris Brynner
- Frank Military … Cast, B.C.
- Dick Miller … Cast, Vin
- Al Rodrigo … Cast, Bernardo
- Tina Lifford … Cast, Lee
- Bill Smitrovich … Cast, Webb
- Henry Hayashi … Cast, Male Guest
- Patty Holley … Cast, Female Guest
- Richard Lee Jackson … Cast, Danny
- Eric Stuart … Cast, Stairway Guard
- John Lendale Bennett … Cast, Gabriel Bell