My partner and I just finished a mini-binge of Deep Space Nine to get through the final few episodes of the sixth season. It has its highs (Inquisition, The Sound of Her Voice, Tears of the Prophets) and its lows (Valiant, Time’s Orphan, Profit and Lace) but the majority of these episodes deal with issues that affect us in personal and modern context. Many DS9 episodes deal with topics that are ahead of their time. Inquisition is one of these episodes.
Doctor Bashir, in the previous season, had a childhood secret revealed: that as a child he received illegal gene therapies to become hyper-intelligent. This caught the attention of a previously unknown organization hidden deep within Starfleet called Section 31; a sort of black ops group that has tasked itself with defending the Federation by any means necessary. Their means and goal fly directly in the face of the Federation but still see themselves as absolutely necessary because otherwise, the Federation would have collapsed long ago.
They are expanded upon deeply throughout the remainder of the show and Star Trek Universe, questioning the lengths people are willing to go to defend things dear to them – or to advance personal goals. This is probably the second time there has been a 9/11 precursor allegory in DS9.
My partner and I have moved into the final season of the show. Already, topics covered include prophecy, destiny, and coping with loss. I am looking forward to progressing through it with her; DS9 continues talking about subjects that were ahead of its time. Episodes like “Siege of AR-558” and “It’s Only a Paper Moon” deal with war on a level television really hadn’t done so yet. It also talks about real issues that were poorly understood at the time like Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, recovery, and just how war changes people who fight in them, often for the worst.
Header photo courtesy of Paramount
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