#boy this two parter got me on my soapbox huh

[jimintomystery]

DS9: "Past Tense, Part II"

Commander Sisko and his officers are stranded in the year 2024, and their presence has already altered future events. To correct the timeline, Sisko must assume the identity of Gabriel Bell, the hero of the historic Bell Riots. But the riots were named for Bell because he protected the lives of six hostages...at the cost of his own life!

All the placesetting in part one leads to this dilemma, where the hostage crisis can only end the "right" way if Sisko is the one holding the shotgun and making demands and yelling at everybody. It makes for good dramatic tension, because you know this isn't how he'd like to approach a problem like the Bell Riots. But since history has handed him a script he's going to put his heart into the role.

The standout performance in this situation is Dick Miller as Vin, the curmudgeonly police officer. Vin's contempt for his captors is palpable, and even when they make reasonable requests he refuses to cooperate. He embodies the type of person who figures the Sanctuary residents "deserve" to be there, and if they can't change the system peacefully then they can only expect to be shot down like rabid dogs, along with anyone else who might be in the way, because you can never negotiate with terrorists.

Vin isn't evil, but he deals with society's woes by not giving a damn, and in doing so he's dehumanized the residents he's supposed to serve and protect, and that's the problem. He doesn't wake up to that until Sisko literally takes a bullet for him, from a SWAT team guy that assumed the hostages were already dead, and doesn't give a damn when they learn they're wrong. Even that one SWAT guy isn't evil, but you can tell he's never going to get a clue except through the sort of ordeal Vin just went through.

My main beef with this episode is how Sisko and his cohorts shape the message they're sending to the public. The Sanctuary residents aren't derelicts asking for handouts, you see, they're hard-working people who would pull themselves up by their bootstraps if they were allowed to find jobs. Unfortunately that message overlooks all the residents who can't work, or can't afford healthcare that would allow them to work. The issue here is not that a regular joe like Michael Webb is being unfairly treated like a derelict. The issue is that even derelicts deserve more humane treatment than the Sanctuaries can provide. Society has an obligation to meet the basic human needs of everybody, even the people you don't like, even when it's expensive, and even when nobody wants to pay for it.