Plot – You better be very sure of what you are doing if you are going to borrow your plot device from City on the Edge of Forever. What could possibly be so dramatic that occurred in the past that wiped the Federation and Starfleet out of existence? It’s one of two stories in the entire canon of Trek where the stakes are this high.
I like the fact that this isn’t just a fully realised world in terms of production and performance but that the script is full of slang that is indigenous to this time period and our regulars have to try an negotiate it in order to fit in here. Drones, ghosts, logo, gimmes. It’s a world building of the highest order because for the most part you have to pay attention and keep up.
‘Just people…without jobs or places to live…’ Past Tense might have been made in the mid-90s but it is more relevant today than ever as we talk about segregating the rich and the poor more than ever and trying to tidy away poverty so those who have everything aren’t offended by the sight of those who have nothing. The lessons that Past Tense push it pushes pretty hard (and sometimes a little awkwardly because of that – nobody likes a moral lesson shoved down their throat) but what it is saying is hugely pertinent and worth paying attention to. This isn’t an oppressive regime, it’s a society that has forgotten how to care for those who have nothing.
What we have here is akin to those Doctor Who stories where they drop in on a famous historical event with all the horrific foreknowledge of what is to come and having to deal with the inevitable horror of being personally involved in the action. It’s a tried and tested storytelling device and it works perfectly here, Sisko having thorough knowledge of the Bell riots and Gabriel Bell’s part to play in keeping people alive. I love the fact that the cliff-hanger isn’t a moment of jeopardy (that would be such an obvious place to end it) but the moment Sisko takes on Bell’s identity and the entire plot pivots in a new direction, offering an enticing way in to the second episode.
Dax spending time amongst the privileged makes you wonder who is worse off in this time period. Sisko and Bashir might be living rough but they are free to be individuals. Dax is surrounded by opinionated, advantaged Nazis who look down on those less fortunate than themselves and have to suffer the indignity of having to cancel a skiing trip because of protests. It’s not subtle but it is strikingly presented. ‘I thought they stop doing that?’ ‘Why would they? It’s the only way to keep those people off the streets…’
Character – We never get to meet ‘Droner’ Draxman but the way the O’Brien ducks out of dinner with him and Kira and Odo find excuses of their own to avoid his company it’s a shame we never do. It could have been a running gag. Do as you’re told or you will be forced to into a social engagement with Droner Draxman.
This is more like an episode of Enterprise, focussing on the human characters rather than the alien ones. I’d suggest this is a watershed moment for both Sisko and Bashir, the point where they go from being interesting characters to ones who truly drive stories and perpetuate development. It takes a story with this much dramatic potential to drop them in the middle of to show the exciting possibilities they offer as characters.
Bashir is still idealistic and full of arrogant privilege and so to be dumped in a shelter for homeless people and surrounded by so much poverty, disease and emotional instability is like stepping into hell. He’s a Doctor so not being able to wave a magic wand and make everything better for these people doesn’t sit at all well with him. Sisko and Bashir together don’t get an incredible amount of focus over the years (although there are some real individual standout moments in episodes such as Honor Amongst Thieves and In the Pale Moonlight) and this is the show they get the most time together. How fortunate it is such a compelling one. On a note of complete shallowness, how good does Bashir look when he gets out of that uniform and into some normal clothes?
Across the two episodes it is Vin who impressive me the most because his character goes on the most interesting journey. When we meet him he is a grizzled old worker who has accepted the system for the way it is and has no qualms with pushing people about and tucking them away in a Sanctuary District in order to pick up extra overtime. He’s such a cynical character because he has forgotten how to care or why this system is wrong. It’s not until he sees the place explode around him that the scales fall from his eyes and he sees that people are truly suffering and need some muscle to help give them a voice.
Production – The Paramount back lot has been transformed into many different locations over the years but I think I can say with some confidence that the Sanctuary District is the most compelling and realistic of them all. It’s the little details that help to build up such an impressive picture; the people staring hauntingly out of the windows, the dirty washing hanging on the line, tepees made out of rubbish, children playing hopscotch around bins on fire, the hideous bureaucratic nightmare that Sisko and Bashir suffer to simply get processed, muscle in the doorway of the buildings to protect the families they have made in the District, the spotlights tearing through the night.
Dax, hair bunched up and squeezed into a trouser suit, looks stunning.
Interestingly, in this setting the violence is so much more pronounced and graphic. I winced at the punches that Sisko was delivering and Bell being stabbed is truly horrific.
I wish they hadn’t done that – There’s a wealth of technobabble to explain how Commander Sisko and company were beamed back in time where I understood the words they were putting together but couldn’t fathom for the life of me what they were trying to say. Something about the cloaking device and the transporters. In future time travel episodes on this show they literally just say it happened ‘because’ (Trials and Tribble-ations, Wrongs Darker Than Death or Night) and that is a sign of a show that has matured into its own entity and has left all the Star Trek trappings behind.
A reason to watch this episode again – Justly renowned, Past Tense is only held back by the fact that it is so obviously mid-90s TV and that screams from every frame but if you can get over the fact that this was made twenty years ago you have an intelligent, powerful, dramatic episode to watch which leaps straight out of the Star Trek comfort zone and goes straight for the blood of a society that is starting to turn its back on those in trouble. The technobabble and time travel are just trappings, the real meat is the intense world building and social commentary. It’s not often that I enjoy being lectured at by television but Past Tense has something to say that people really need to start listening to. Things aren’t getting better when it comes to poverty and the point about caring rather than forgetting is more important than ever.
****1/2 out of *****
Clue for tomorrow's episode:
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