I talked briefly about the politics beneath this pair of episodes, it was something that almost happened in Los Angeles. Actually, the "Riot" portion of it did occur there, in 1992, and in 1995, the aftermath of those riots were still visible. Writer Ira Steven Behr took something basically from his newspaper and wrote it into what we have here. What I will say is I love that guy, he was not afraid to hit the nail right on the head and he is even a fan of Iggy Pop, who was supposed to be in this episode. Iggy of course appears as the Vorta "Yelgun" later in "The Magnificent Ferengi".
Mainly, nobody wants a "forced welfare" state, but they don't want a "No Welfare State" either. In the 24th Century, Earth is an alleged Paradise: There is no need for money, people work for pleasure. It occurs to me that this is not explored much in any of the Trek series, we get a small glimpse of how Life on Earth was in the 2nd Season Voyager Episode "Non-Sequitor", but we've never had a good long look at how this "Perfect Society" will appear.
But this episode sits in the aftermath of those 1992 Riots, and can be revisited today with the Baltimore Riots. Which makes this a difficult episode to talk about, The Sisko is basically holding several people Hostage and incites a full scale riot, even one that will be named after him in a way.
The ingredients of the Riot are already mixed. There is always that one incident that pushes people over the edge. The Sisko, Bashir and Dax had landed on Earth right at the moment one of these incidents was about to ignite. The Sisko tries to avoid becoming involved in it, but in true Trek fashion, he becomes practically the central figure of the whole incident.
Mostly this episode deals with the issues of Homelessness and Repression, several characters are shown who "don't care" - As long as "they don't have to see it". Jadzia confronts several of these people at a 2024 "Party" in her rich savior "Chris Brynner's" Office (Played by Jim Metzler who was, appropriately, the City Councilman in LA Confidential). She is able to show Chris Brynner *why* he should care and this becomes an important plot point later.
On a humorous note, O'Brien and Major Kira (with a "Broken Nose") have to visit a San Fransisco Alleyway through several historical periods as they search for what era the Away Team had been spirited off to, in one era, it's the entrance to a Speakeasy, in another, they confront stoned Hippies, in each case the decor is perfect, especially the 60's- Ironically, I used to work in the Print Shop on Dore Alley where those 60's Rock Posters for The Fillmore were printed.
Regardless of how I feel about Trek Time Travel episodes, this pair of episodes are a nice mid 3rd season distraction from the upcoming and developing Dominion storyline. One thing I liked about these 90's Trek series, was that most of the seasons had a full 26-episode contingent, which gave plenty of time per season for all kinds of tangential stories. Most series these days are only allotted 22 episodes per season.
