Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (TV Series) Past Prologue (1993) User Reviews

Great introduction for Garak

[Tweekums · 8/10 · 5 February 2010]

Having introduced the primary characters in the opening episode it is time to introduce one of the main secondary characters; the enigmatic Garak. The station gossip suggests that he is there to spy for the Cardassians he however claims that he is just a simple tailor. When he approaches Doctor Bashir as he eats dinner the young doctor is convinced he has been approached for information although it isn't clear whether this is the case or whether Garak rather likes people thinking he is more than just a tailor.

This episode's main story involves Tahna Los, a Bajoran, who arrives at the station being pursued by the Cardassians, they demand that Sisko hand him over because he is a terrorist who is part of a group that has continued to attack Cardassians after the ceasefire was agreed. He however claims to be a freedom fighter who has now given up violence and just wants to return home. Major Kira does not want a Bajoran to be handed over to the Cardassians but is unsure whether Tahna Los is quite as retired as he claims. He certainly starts looking more suspicious when two renegade Klingons turn up and meet him. When it becomes clear that he is planning something the crew of DS9 must discover what he is planning and prevent him from doing so.

The main story isn't one of the best in the series but the way it introduces Garak, fantastically played by Andrew Robinson, was great, we see that he knows how to deal with people but we still don't know his motives; did he help the Federation learn what Tahna Los was up to because he wanted to help then, because it also served Cardassian needs or did he have personal reasons? we just don't know.

The only important thing is not to betray yourself

[snoozejonc · 8/10 · 23 November 2021]

A Bajoran freedom-fighter/terrorist seeks asylum in DS9.

This is strong episode with some great character interaction and it sets the scene for relations between Bajorans and Cardassians, plus the Federation's role in keeping the peace.

One of the best aspects of this episode is the introduction of Garak. He is depicted as a very intriguing character with some eccentric personality traits that make him entertaining to watch. Andrew Robinson creates a strong first impression and has good chemistry with Alexander Siddig.

Kira Nerys has a lot of solid establishing scenes that show the awkward situation her character is depicted to be in whilst serving on DS9. Nana Visitor is electric in most scenes as a passionate, fiery character dealing with the aftermath of an occupation. Her scenes with Rene Auberjonoir in particular are very compelling.

Avery Brooks is solid and at this point starting to develop a commanding presence in the lead role.

Jeffrey Nordling is good as Tahna Los, but the character is written as quite a one-note antagonist. The Duras Sister though are great value for their screen time as they were on The Next Generation.

Round one to Sisko

[Paularoc · 8/10 · 13 October 2012]

Good episode not only because it introduces Garak, the only remaining Cardassian on DS9 but because it establishes the Kira/Sisko relationship. Garak introduces himself to Dr. Bashir in a seemingly friendly manner. The gee whiz adolescent Bashir is all atwitter when he tells his colleagues about the meeting and is sure that Garak wants to wheedle medical secrets out of him. His colleagues receive this "news" with humorous exasperation. Concurrently, fleeing from the Cardassians, a Bajoran resistance fighter, Tahna Los,seeks asylum on DS9. The Cardassians insist that Sisko turn Tahna Los over to them as he has continued to attack and kill Cardassians even after the cease fire. Concerned that Sisko may indeed return Los to the Cardassians, Kira goes over Sisko's head and complains. There are two questions in this episode, is Tahna Los actually retired from what is now considered a terrorist group and what are Garak's motives in helping the Federation - is he the simple tailor he pretends to be or is he a spy? One of these questions is resolved, one is not. But what is resolved is that Kira better understands Sisko and is coming to respect his strength. Also interesting to see is the budding friendship between Kira and Odo. As she tells Odo - things were easier when she knew who the enemy was. Garak's role is a welcome addition to the DS9 story.

What do we do with a Bajoran exile?

[bkoganbing · 7/10 · 11 October 2019]

The new relationship and command structure of DS9 gets a test here as Nana Visitor and Avery Brooks are at odds over how to handle the arrival of former Bajoran freedom fighter Jeffrey Nordling coming to DS9 with some Cardassians in hot pursuit. They want him for terrorist acts, Nordling wants asylum.

There's more to it than that. The infamous Klingon Douras sisters also arrive at DS9. And Andrew Robinson shows how his rather intriguing character Garak the Cardassian tailor has his fingers in many pies.

Confrontation scenes between Sisko and Kira are key here and well done.

Choosing Your Alliances

[Samuel-Shovel · 6/10 · 26 June 2020]

In "Past Prologue" the arrival of a former Bajoran terrorist requesting asylum from the Cardassians on DS9 forces Major Kira to choose her loyalty between an old friend and her current position within the Federation-Bajoran allyship.

We're slowly starting to flush out these characters a bit. DS9 has already turned Kira into more of a three-dimensional character than TNG ever did with its female crew members. (As much as I love TNG, that's one of its big faults.) The subplot involving the doctor playing Sherlock Holmes Jr. is a bit less exciting; he seems over his head so far on this new assignment. He comes across as extremely naive and overly confident for no apparent reason.

I'm still trying to figure out Sisko though. I can't quite tell what to make of him. Brooks' acting sometimes feels stilted and inconsistent. Is that an acting choice or is he a bad actor? I think some of these characters have yet to be fully formed but I'm glad we're starting to fill in the corners a bit more. It was a nice little cameo from the Duras sisters as well.

Classic DS9 - Introducing Elim Garak

[mstomaso · 10/10 · 30 January 2008]

Brilliantly, the franchise decided to jump from the very heavy, convoluted and intense Emissary which revolved around Ben Sisko and the precarious situation which would center on him for the next seven years directly into a no-less-serious but very different drama. More importantly, this is the episode which first unleashed the great Andy Robinson into his very beautifully developed recurring character Elim Garak - the most popular Cardassian in Star Trek history and perhaps the most sympathetic alien (besides Spock) in the canon. Garak is, of course, introduced by way of his relationship with Dr. Bashir (Alex Siddig, then credited as Siddig El Faddil) and throughout the series Siddig's best episodes will most often be those featuring Garak.

Garak is either a left-behind Cardassian tailor or a Cardassian spy or both, and he is particularly concerned about the arrival of a Bejoran "Terrorist" (or freedom fighter, depending on your perspective) who has been running from Cardassian authorities and is seeking asylum. Kira,of course, knows Tahna Los, the suspected terrorist, and pleads with Sisko to allow him to stay.

As the story develops, the powerful ethnic conflict between Bejorans and Cardassians becomes a central focus. This will be well-exploited throughout all seven of DS9's seasons. And Garak's contribution to the depth and range of what it is to be a Cardassian ensured that the Cardies could never become just another franchise stereotype disguised by a forehead prosthetic. Finally, Past Prologue allows some breathing room for Avery Brooks to settle into his role as Ben Sisko, and includes some important developments in his relationships to Kira, Odo, and the Cardassian military.

Acting highlights - Robinson, Visitor, Siddig, Brooks and Auberjonois are all terrific in Past Prologue.

As usual, the episode is economically directly and scripted, well-shot and thoroughly entertaining from start to finish.

Tightly executed story with great characters

[Nominahorn · 8/10 · 28 August 2018]

1.02 "Past Prologue"

A Bajoran terrorist named Tahna Los barely escapes pursuing Cardassians and requests asylum aboard DS9. He turns out to have a history with Major Kira, who advocates for him. He insists that his days of violence are over, but with the help of Plain Simple Garak, who uses the naive Bashir as his unwitting accomplice, the crew of DS9 discover that Tahna may not be sincere about his intentions on the station, and the tense confrontation that results will influence the future of Bajor.

The is the first "normal" episode of the show and it continues the high quality storytelling and character development from the pilot. The plot here is pretty complicated, but the writing is sharp and the directing and editing is tight, which gives the whole episode a polish that is rare for a show so early in its run, particularly by ST standards. TNG is great, but there is no doubt that is stumbled a LOT in its first two seasons. While season 1 is probably my least favorite from DS9, that is mainly just because the show continually got better as it went, and not due to any real flaws with the season, aside from perhaps some claustrophobia setting-wise.

In general, Bajoran episodes are among my least favorite ones on DS9 (probably mainly because they always feature Kira, who is my least favorite character on the show), but the excellent use of suspense and tension and some really solid pacing (not to mention a lot of great moments with Garak and/or the Duras sisters) makes this episode highly enjoyable in spite of poorly-acted Kira tantrums and those awful drab Bajoran uniforms.

THE GOOD

-Garak!! I think arguably the best part about DS9 is the deep roster of great recurring characters like Garak, Dukat, Weyoun, Damar, Martok, etc. The overall acting talent of the main cast is pretty average at best, but the recurring characters are almost always a highlight of any episode they appear in. And of all the best recurring characters, Garak is my favorite (well, him and Damar are tied as my favs). I think Andrew Robinson's acting is incredible and he absolutely oozes a serpentine quality that is perfect for the enigmatic Cardassian tailor. Watching him toy with Bashir in this episode is like seeing an apex predator play with its food. You really never know what Garak is going to do next, and every scene with him is just a joy to watch.

-I love seeing the Duras sisters here. They are cartoonishly evil but immensely amusing. For better or worse, they capture your full attention every time they are on screen. And having another TNG cameo effectively reinforces what Picard's presence in the pilot was showing--that these two series are taking place at the same time in the same basic setting.

-"Go over my head again, and I'll have yours...on a platter." One thing I love about Sisko is his 'no BS' attitude. Even the ever-petulant Kira was cowed by that dressing-down.

-The Odo and Kira scene in the security office is good. Even though I don't care for Kira very much, their friendship is nice and Rene Auberjonois is a really great actor who gets to shine here.

THE BAD

-The Bajoran clothes and uniforms are so ugly and I hate them. Every Bajoran-centric episode is 10% less enjoyable due to that alone.

-Some mediocre acting from the guy who plays Tahna, as well as by Nana Visitor, drags the scenes down a bit where it's just the two of them.

THE UGLY

-Runabout roster: Ganges, Yangtzee Kiang, Rio Grande

-Odo shapeshift count: 1 (rat), 3 total for series

-If Gul Danar looks familiar, that's because he is played by Vaughn Armstrong, who has played a total of eleven different ST characters to date. This is his second appearance, with his role as a renegade Klingon in the TNG season 1 episode "Heart of Glory" being his first, and Admiral Maxwell Forest on ENT being his most numerous and recognizable.

-I was curious why the Ganges has a extra module on its dorsal side that the Yangtzee Kiang doesn't have. Turns out that is an advanced sensor module, which explains why the Ganges can monitor the Yangtzee around the moon but not vice-versa.

-It's unclear why Tahna said he needed a warp-capable ship for his mission. Everything seems to take place within the Bajoran system, so a sublight ship would work just fine. However, the top speed of a Danube-class runabout is Warp 5, which about 200 times the speed of light. Since it takes them about 2.5 minutes to get to DS9, that implies that DS9 is 9 billion kilometers away, or about 60 AU. For reference, Neptune is about 30 AU from the sun, which means that DS9 and the wormhole are probably very far out on edge the Bajoran solar system and would make a sublight journey possibly take a very long time, increasing the chances his plan would be detected and stopped.

-The Cardassian ship takes about 4 minutes to reach DS9 from the Cardassian border. The top speed of a Galor-class cruiser is around warp 8 (about 1000 times the speed of light), which means the Cardassian border is only .008 light years away, or about 493 AU. This implies that a large part of the Bajoran system's Oort cloud (if it has one) isn't even in Bajoran space, as the Oort cloud is believed to be able to extend more than a lightyear from its parent star.

-Dax and someone else should have been piloting the Ganges, not Sisko and O'Brien. It makes no sense for the CO and chief engineer to be doing that job. It also would have been nice for Dax to actually have something to do in the episode.

Is this episode 2 or 3? I dunno...

[planktonrules · 8/10 · 9 December 2014]

This episode is listed as episode 2 on IMDb. However, when shown on Netflix, it's listed as episode 3. I really am not sure which is which--perhaps you know for sure.

When the episode begins, the tailor, Garak, is introduced as he works hard to build a relationship with Dr. Bashir. He's obviously a Cardassian spy--but why would he foster this relationship with the Doctor? At the same time, an old associate of Major Kiera in the Bajoran underground is headed towards Deep Space 9--with the Cardassians in hot pursuit. When he asks for asylum on base, what is Sisko to do? And, why did he arrive here? Well, it gets even more interesting when two Klingons arrive. How will these three players' stories intersect? See the show.

The main reasons for this episode are to further explore Major Kiera's dilemma of divided loyalties as well as to introduce a semi-regular character, Garak. All in all, rather exciting and worth seeing--and a lot better than the dull and artsy premier episode.

Solid Kira episode!

[thevacinstaller · 8/10 · 8 March 2020]

A enjoyable episode about Kira dealing with personal conflict of supporting bajor/federation/resistenace(terrorist) groups. I really enjoyed how Sisko let Kira make the decision of what route she would ultimately go in this episode --- an astute command decision that exposes Kira's true intentions/loyalty.

Odo is great in this episode as being a soundboard for Kira's decision making process. It was interesting to me that Odo ultimately makes the decision to call Sisko and not Kira to set up the Bajoran terrorist.

The episode establishes Garak as being more than just a simple tailor. His keen observation eye gets the ball rolling on uncovering the plot to destroy the wormhole.

I got a good laugh at Bashir being a knucklehead and not figuring out that Garak was providing him with an intel opportunity. He was about to disrobe to try on the suit no less!

A solid episode!

Whose Side Are You On?

[Hitchcoc · 10/10 · 23 September 2018]

When a Bajoran terrorist shows up, Kira is conflicted, having been involved in revolutionary activities. Unfortunately, this guy has become a megalomaniac and is extremely dangerous. Conflict develops between Kira and Sisco and Kira. Meanwhile, Garak the tailor is introduced and entreats the Doctor to become his friend. Soon a couple of Klingon women show up and begin to bargain a serious weapon. Sisco is still learning the ropes, so he feels he must be absolutely fair in every situation, not totally trusting Odo's judgment and recognizing that Kira is a loose cannon. Some really significant bonds are formed in this episode.

Make bajor great again.

[amusinghandle · 8/10 · 12 April 2024]

So, I got friends who have been sliding further and further into extreme views and this episodes does a good job of exploring my feelings about that.

I feel confident that extremism has been around since we developed agriculture but the internet/24 hour news is like a giant megaphone. Just look at the debates regarding the middle east never ending debacle.

So, what do you ultimately do when a perceived ally has gone over to the dark side and lost it? Well, turns out you seek the wisdom of a grumpy shapeshifter and have him infer your decision.

Extremism is going to kill us all one day ---- unless of course we have a mysterious cardassian tailor on our side (?).

I am picking Odo for political office. I like my political leaders and doctors to be straightforward and extremely grumpy.

Hats off to Sisko for turning the other cheek on the whole insubordination thing that Kira did. I aspire to have that ability to forgive but I have a long way to go.