A Look at Things Past (Deep Space Nine)

Opinionated DS9 Episode Guide looks at the follow-up to Necessary Evil. Odo, Sisko, Dax, and Garak find themselves in the bodies of four Bajorans during the occupation, a time when being mistaken for a Bajoran was dead last on the list of things to be mistaken for.

[@Aezetyr]

Before going any further, RIP Jeri Taylor. Trek has lost a strong figure that brought it from the depths and into the light. Say what you will about Voyager and Janeway's characterization; Taylor was instrumental in the stability of the franchise. She will be missed. Even in a small role, Kurtwood Smith does an excellent job as Thrax. He's not quite Vaughn Armstrong or Jeffery Combs level of guest appearances, but they are always memorable and great. The scene with him and Rene Aubejonois was excellent acting. Kudos all around. I score this one a little higher because I love how it weaves into the... ahem tapestry of DS9 altogether and shows that they had a great handle on depth of character.

[@ziggystardust1973]

RIP. I didn't know she died :(

[@metropod]

@@ziggystardust1973it was just the other day. She was 86. Sometimes feels hard to remember just how long ago these shows were on. “What You Leave Behind” aired 25 years ago after all…

[@cambiata]

Oh, I do love seeing my name come up at the start at one of these reviews!

[@grandoldpodcast]

Its a good episode

[@alexneff]

Hale the overlord

[@CaptainJZH]

The Giver of the Blank Scrabble Piece

[@Nazo-kage]

I recently watched the DS9 episode, Where Sisco is trying to deal with a prophecy involving a comet. And there’s a point in which O’Brien is dealing with a female Kardasian and their bickering back-and-forth, apparently she finds attractive and thinks that he is actually propositioning her. This actually informs a lot on Kardasians especially Dukot, because then it explains why he seems to be attracted to Keira so much. His very culture is turned on by aggressive women.

[@scockery]

Female Kardashian? Which one? Kim?

[@Nazo-kage]

@@scockery I knew spellcheck was going to screw me over and change all of those to Kardashian

[@KnightRaymund]

@@Nazo-kage lol (it's also Sisko)

[@Nazo-kage]

@@KnightRaymund yeah I blame voice to text on that. I had a feeling it was spelled wrong, but I had no idea how to spell it right and it wouldn’t give me any other name.

[@Norvo82]

For some reason Garak's line: "Giving me a name tag that read, 'Elim Garak, former Cardassian oppressor' was hardly polite." always gets a chuckle out of me. Not sure if the writers intended that, but I appreciate any bit of levity I can get in this one.

[@LostieTrekieTechie]

Hey, they did write "former"

[@233Deadman]

I think the reason it seems funnier as a line is probably because of Garak's delivery of it. It's almost like he's maybe venting a little frustration by taking a snarky tone.

[@CaptainJZH]

I want to imagine it was one of those bright red and white "Hello My Name Is" nametags with "Elim Garak: Former Cardassian Oppressor" handwritten in sharpie

[@Norvo82]

@@CaptainJZH That's exactly how I pictured it! Like the name tags the contestants on The Price Is Right wear. "Elim Garak...Come on down!"

[@noblehelium3794]

I think it's definitely a humorous line. Actually I would say most of Garak's lines are either dry wit that can be laughed at or a deep, thought-provoking cut. It's a large reason why he's the best character of DS9.

[@CrystalBearer20]

Little known fact: after leaving Terok Nor, Thrax traveled to the Delta Quadrant to study temporal mechanics

[@bradwolf07]

Great Strange Episode that gives Odo a pivotal moment in his own personal history

[@Renegade2786]

Both *Tapestry* (TNG) and this episode have alot in common. Both have a *quantum leap* theme to them.

[@beav1962]

Regarding the alleged positives of the occupation...I believe it was Dukat at one time who attributed the current Bajoran's strength to the occupation. He said that they were weak until they had to fight. I guess that's one way to look at it.....not the right way, but one way. Also, the Red Foreman meme was hilarious.

[@KingOfDoma]

Things turn poorly for our heroes when they are seemingly affected by time itself. Also Kurtwood Smith is there. ... what? No, I'm not talking about Year of Hell. What are you talking about? :D

[@WoohooliganComedy]

💖 not one of my favorite episodes but definitely needed character development for Odo

[@dylanthomas385]

Quick question I now I remember you up loading a part to to your fallout 3 you did a how park about hating tree dog but now I can’t find it

[@Redrally]

Something even the Bajorans grudgingly admitted (but never openly) was that the Occupation trashed the previous "caste system" that was strictly enforced. I found this very fascinating since even human history finds that with war, conquest and occupation, the occupied or losing society does undergo a change, whether they like it or not. Some traditions are suppressed and lost, while new viewpoints and traditions - even sports - get added to the mix. (Compare Bajor to India under and post British Imperial rule for comparisons)

[@15oClock]

Chances are that Garek wasn't even invited to the conference; I can't imagine his points on "the positive things Cardassia did during the occupation" wouldn't have come with extreme caveats. Then again, maybe he just made them up because... Garek.

[@EebstertheGreat]

The positive points would probably be all the equipment and infrastructure the Cardassians left behind at the end of the occupation. Racists use that as an argument for why the European colonization of Africa was a good thing, actually.

[@Nasafalkas1]

I would imagine it would be how it unified the Bajorans, and prevented them from going down the same path as Cardassia. Consider the episode where the man comes from the past, and the first thing he does is set about re-establishing the caste system. Or the episode of TNG where Worf steps from reality to reality, and in one the Bajorans are an oppressive, militaristic, expansionist power. Or perhaps he would point to how it made them stronger. Remember Maritza's line, "Bajor didn't resist. It surrendered". A civilization of pacifists would have fallen to the Klingons if not to the Cardassians. The only reason the Federation was there, was because of the war with Cardassia. Life under the Klingon empire seems worse than life under Cardassia.

[@jamesabernethy7896]

Sorry that I haven't commented on your other videos in this series. These were such character-driven episodes.

[@BrettCaton]

This could have been improved by just having them exposed to one of the orbs of the Prophets accidentally, rather than having Link Magic somehow be resposible.

[@murrvvmurr]

Mr foreman !

[@fluffskunk]

Please explain how Garak, a top member of the state intelligence agency during the occupation, was not part of the occupation.

[@Maniac536]

Cardassia is not Bajor, i can’t imagine the entire population of the planet was on Bajor the time of the occupation. He could’ve been working other planets for all we know, (although his codes did work on ds9 during the Dukat emergency but the station was cardassian built, and the codes could’ve just been “just include everyone on file just in case” and were never updated so who knows?)

[@fluffskunk]

@@Maniac536 His codes work, he knows Dukat well, and even if he was stationed on Cardassia, he's still directly supporting the occupation with intel from his networks.

[@arlibrarian]

Well maybe. Part of Garak’s whole bit is how little we actually know about him. Almost all his stories about his past are suspect. Anything is possible in terms of what he was or wasn’t actually doing at that time.

[@Cailus3542]

As best as I can remember, Garak never conducted any operations against the Bajorans. If he did, the Bajoran government certainly would have put him on trial and convicted him. Bajoran Intelligence is surprisingly very good, and would likely know the extent of Garak's activities on Bajor and Terok Nor. Garak instead appears to have operated against fellow Cardassians or foreign powers, a job better suited to his talents. He almost certainly did some work in the Federation that Starfleet Intelligence was aware of after the fact, but he wisely kept those stories to himself. After all, we saw Picard being tortured by Cardassians, and Garak was apparently very good at it. Just imagine how many Starfleet officers and civilians he broke.

[@naciabell7903]

The answer is simple. Garak didn't opress Bajorans. He opressed the cardassians who in turn opressed the Bajorans. His job wouldn't of had him actually directly interact with Bajorains as he was too busy...Keeping order under Tain.

[@Nasafalkas1]

10:37 After 1 attempt on Trump, no one even gets close with a gun.

[@EebstertheGreat]

The only thing that bugs me a little about the episode is the "die in the game, die in real life" thing. It was just a quick line, so it doesn't really matter, but I just never like that plot. It feels overdone and cheesy. And it wasn't necessary at all, because the tension in the episode doesn't really come from a feeling that the characters are going to die. In fact, right before the scheduled execution, they seem positively blasé (except for Odo).

[@toddfraser3353]

Besides it was 1990s Trek and not Game of Thrones. While at the time, Tasha Yar death showed Trek now can kill off a Title Character, chances are they wouldn't. So their actual parel wasn't much of an issue. However the events were real to them.