Past Tense

Past Tense is a two-part episode from the third season of science fiction television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, the 57th and 58th episodes overall and the last episode to air before the premiere of its spinoff, Star Trek: Voyager. It is also the first episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine to not feature any scenes on the DS9 space station, except for the opening credits.

In the episode, a transporter anomaly accidentally sends Commander Sisko, Dr. Bashir, and Jadzia Dax back in time to a pivotal moment in Earth's history. The episode received critical acclaim for analyzing U.S. social issues in a science fiction context, but also for addressing various societal issues such as homelessness, poverty, and technology.

The Attica Prison riot served as a source of inspiration for the Bell Riots from this episode.[4] Another inspiration for the episode were the writer's experiences with homeless people in California.[3]

According to the DVD commentary, as this episode was finishing production an article appeared in the Los Angeles Times describing a proposal by the then mayor, Richard Riordan, to create fenced-in "havens" for the city's homeless, to make downtown Los Angeles more desirable for business.[2] The cast and crew were shocked that this was essentially the same scenario that "Past Tense" warned might happen in three decades, but was now being seriously proposed in the present.[5]

The episode

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