A few months ago, the real world caught up to Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, at least the two episodes where it visited the past. Thanks to a transporter anomaly, the Deep Space Nine crew were sent to San Francisco in September 2024, right before a historical riot in the city. The two-part “Past Tense” episode of Deep Space Nine is one of Star Trek’s most overly political episodes, and it’s even more relevant now that it’s technically alternate reality history.
While Star Trek has always been known for its social allegories and progressive storytelling, Deep Space Nine was a darker, grittier show. Unlike the crew of the USS Enterprise-D, the characters that populated the Deep Space 9 station were not flawless paragons of Starfleet virtue and duty. However, “Past Tense” was a different kind of story, in which the Star Trek characters were able to hold the moral high ground. The characters — specifically Captain Sisko — do what they do for two reasons. The first is because given the Temporal Prime Directive, they are supposed to avoid altering the past in any significant ways. The second, and most important reason, is because it was the right thing to do.
Why Deep Space Nine Storytellers Went Political In ‘Past Tense’
As Always, Star Trek Is a Reflection of the Modern Day
The 2024 the Deep Space Nine crew visit in “Past Tense” has a lot of similarities and differences to the actual year itself. A vital law was repealed, and society in general stopped caring about trying to fix the problem of endemic poverty. Instead, the homeless and those who needed healthcare (but had no money) were stuffed into Sanctuary Districts. These supposedly stop-gap camps set up in condemned parts of San Francisco were meant to be temporary. Yet, once people went to one of them, neither they nor their children could expect to leave.
The impetus of the story came from Robert Hewitt Wolfe who wanted just Captain Sisko sent back in time. He would tell people who he was, a space station commander from the future, and be drugged or institutionalized. However, the story wasn’t the commentary on social apathy and homelessness it could’ve been. Showrunner Ira Steven Behr came up with the idea for the Bell Riots based on the infamous Attica Prison riot of 1971. That helped push the story into a two-part epic that only looks more prescient 30 years later.
“I was down in Santa Monica one…beautiful day, the ocean, sky, sun, and homeless people everywhere. And all these tourists, and people up and about, and they were walking past…as if they were part of the scenery. It was like some artist had done some interesting rendition of juxtaposition between nature and urban decay right there in front of me. And the fact was that nobody seemed to care, at all.” — Producer Ira Steven Behr from the DS9 Season 3 special features.
Since this is Deep Space Nine, unlike Kirk or Picard, Sisko couldn’t change the way people thought with a speech about values and morality. Because of him, Gabriel Bell (who led the historical riot) was killed by a Sancturary resident. Sisko had to lead the uprising himself to preserve history, alongside the real Bell’s killer. The episode makes it clear that a character, called “B.C.” wasn’t a rampant murderer. He and the rest of the people in the Sanctuary Districts were pushed towards violent action because of how the government and the public ignored their plight.
What Were the Bell Riots About in “Past Tense?”
DS9 Got More Overtly Political Than Usual for Star Trek in This Era
Despite all the evidence to the contrary, people thought of themselves as more compassionate and aware in the 1990s than during The Original Series era. A lot of the moral quandaries in The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine weren’t given clear answers. Storytellers wanted the audience to evaluate multiple points of view and make their own value judgment. “Past Tense” was not such an episode. The Sanctuary District residents were painted, mostly, in an unsympathetic light, after all.
What Defined a ‘Sanctuary District’ in Deep Space Nine?
Massive unemployment and economic instability hit the U.S.
Section of town full of abandoned and condemned buildings.
Homeless people were sent inside and left to fend for themselves, including those with mental illness and injury.
They were effectively prisoners and policed by guards oblivious to the struggle.
Still, that didn’t affect how Sisko and Doctor Julian Bashir saw their struggle for basic human rights. Starfleet taught their officers that violence was an act of last resort. Sisko and Bashier realized that, despite being historically necessary, the Bell Riots were a violent act of last resort. Still, even though the uprising was violent, Gabriel Bell was a hero because he tried to save the hostages taken by the Sanctuary District residents. Two of those hostages, Vin and Calvera, are the sadistic guards viewers have watched through both episodes.
Eventually, a special weapons and tactical police unit, and the National Guard arrive to deal with the armed Sanctuary District residents. This leads to a massacre, which shocks both Vin and Calvera profoundly. Sisko and Bashier save them, just as Bell had done. Vin allows Sisko and Bashir to escape, planting their ID cards on one of the dead. Just as history demanded, Gabriel Bell died in the riot trying to save lives.
How the DS9 Crew Helped the Bell Riots Make a Difference
Dax Avoided the Sanctuary District and Used the Media to Raise Awareness
While the crushing economic conditions and apathy towards people in need is spot-on for 2024, Deep Space Nine got some things wrong. Ironically, since Star Trek technology has influenced the future, it was the technology aspect the writers missed. They didn’t foresee smart devices nor how the media would change. They did accurately predict that San Francisco would remain a hub for rich, technology bros who owned media companies. Chris Brynner, owner of “Channel 90” on “the Net” was a crucial part of the Bell Riots.
While Bashir and Sisko were in the Sanctuary District, Brynner found Jadzia Dax. Since she was a beautiful woman, the wealthy businessman decided to help her rather than toss her in a Sanctuary District. She’d lost her combage, taken by one of Clint Howard’s many Star Trek characters. After she retrieves it with his help, she’s able to learn about Sisko and Bashier’s situation. While they technically could’ve escaped, Sisko had to see the Bell Riots through, believing he would die. Dax wanted to make his sacrifice worth it.
Going back to Brynner, Dax convinces him to allow Bell and the others in the District to have access to his broadcast channel. He reluctantly agrees, and the broadcast helps raise the awareness needed to end the practice of Sanctuary districts. (Though, it didn’t stop Khan and World War III.) Nonetheless, “Past Tense” argues that if people are forced to face injustices without looking away, they will do the right thing. Whether the writers got this part correct about the real 2024 is an open question, but it doesn’t look great for reality.
Why ‘Past Tense’ Is Even More Relevant in the Real 2024
The Message of the Star Trek Episode is Timeless and Right
To use the common vernacular, Star Trek has always been “woke.”Deep Space Nine is proof of that, even beyond “Past Tense.” Another episode, also a period piece but more conceptual than even time-travel, “Far Beyond the Stars” was a powerful story about humanity’s shameful past. Yet, “Past Tense” is even more relevant because it was about humanity’s shameful future, and despite Deep Space Nine’s warning, it’s mostly come to pass.
Sure, there aren’t actually Sanctuary Districts, but they are apt metaphors for imprisonment in the United States, which jails more of its citizens than any other country, according to the Population Reference Bureau. In fact, Deep Space Nine gave the US too much credit, because while states and cities pass ordinances effectively making homelessness illegal, they don’t even bother to worry about where those people can go. Similarly, protests by people against authoritarianism and police overreach are the subject of intense media coverage. But humanity isn’t as moved as they were in the fictional 2024 Star Trek storytellers imagined.
“You know, Commander, 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?” Doctor Julian Bashier to Captain Sisko.
What makes Deep Space Nine such an integral part of Star Trek is that it wasn’t afraid to look at the more troubling aspects of modern society. Yes, humanity advanced since the time of The Original Series, but poverty, war and other social ills continued and, arguably, got worse. Even with famous episodes about tolerance and equity in The Original Series era, humanity still hasn’t truly learned that lesson.