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Our Man Bashir (DS9 episode)
Encyclopedia
"Our Man Bashir" is an episode of the television show Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
, the tenth episode of the fourth season. It features many homage
s to James Bond
and similar heroes.
Quick Overview: Bashir plays a 1960s secret agent in a holosuite program, but when it malfunctions he must make actual life-or-death decisions.
is in the holosuite playing out a fantasy with himself as a secret agent. Garak
intrudes and convinces Bashir to let him tag along. Meanwhile, Captain Sisko
, Worf
, Dax
, Major Kira
, and Chief O'Brien
are on a runabout, returning to Deep Space Nine. As they pull up to the station they find that their ship has been sabotaged and that a warp core breach is imminent. Eddington transports them out, but the ship is destroyed during transport and the five crew members are trapped in the transporter buffer.
Eddington stores their patterns while he repairs the transporter, but doing so uses almost all of the station's memory, putting many station systems off-line. Their physical patterns end up in the computer controlling the holosuite
, where they appear as characters in Bashir's program.
Bashir is startled to see Major Kira appear in his program as a lingerie-clad spy with a Russian accent and bombs hidden in her earrings. She introduces herself as Colonel Anastasia Komananov, KGB
. She appears to believe she is the character and has no idea who "Kira" is. Bashir and Garak are notified by Eddington that they must not shut the holosuite down, leave the program, or allow any of the characters to die. They are forced to proceed with the story, gambling with the crew's lives.
Anastasia delivers Bashir's assignment. A megalomaniacal scientist named Dr. Noah is planning to take over the world. He has built massive lasers that will cut into the Earth's crust, releasing magma
such that the tectonic plates
will sink and the planet's oceans will rise over all the land area except the top of Mount Everest
, where he has his base. Noah has recruited top scientists from around the globe to assist him in his devious plan. Bashir has orders to rescue one of the scientists, beautiful and shy geologist Professor Honey Bare (Dax), from Noah's clutches.
Complications arise when Bashir's nemesis, Falcon (O'Brien), breaks into his townhouse and pulls a gun to assassinate Bashir. When Anastasia takes him down and prepares to put a bullet in his head, Bashir stops her, since if she kills O'Brien's character, his pattern could be lost from the buffer.
Meanwhile, Eddington is working with Quark (owner of the holosuites) and his brother Rom (the technician who maintains them) to develop a way to bridge the missing crew's patterns from the holosuite systems to a compatible transporter. One of Rom's ingenious technical solutions involves a spatula with the correct physical properties.
Bashir, Garak, and Komananov track down an associate of Dr. Noah at a casino nightclub in Paris. The associate, Duchamps, is Worf in a white tuxedo, blowing smoke rings. He informs Bashir that the price of an audience with Dr. Noah is more than he could possibly afford. Bashir indicates the stack of cash in front of Duchamps, and proceeds to win it all in a flawless night of cards. Duchamps agrees to let Bashir and associates see Dr. Noah, and he knocks them all out with a puff of powdered drugs.
They awaken in Dr. Noah's lair at the pinnacle of Mount Everest. Noah (Sisko) sweeps into the room and shows off his control panel, complete with the big red button he will push when it is time to wipe out the population of Earth to make way for his regime. His timid assistant, Professor Honey Bare, does calculations in the background. She casts a shy glance at Secret Agent Bashir, and he notices.
Dr. Noah has Bashir and Garak taken below ground, to one of the laser rooms, where they are handcuffed to a laser. They are left to die when the laser is activated and the cavern fills with magma. As the time ticks down, Bashir notices Professor Bare performing a last check of the machinery before the place blows. He calls to her and flirts for a bit, and she slips him a key and hurries out. Bashir unlocks the handcuffs and he and Garak search for a way out of the cavern.
Garak has had quite enough of this holoprogram where all the safeties are off and his life is very much in danger. He ignores Bashir's warnings. Before he can call for the holosuite exit, Bashir grazes him with a genuine bullet, shocking (and impressing) Garak, who decides to stick with him. Bashir explains the ending of the program. Once the hero defeats Dr. Noah, he will escape with either Colonel Komananov or Professor Bare; however, the other must die. In order to save both Kira and Dax he must invent a new ending for the program.
Bashir bursts into Noah's study and hits the button. The room's occupants gasp as they realize he just annihilated the entire population of Earth. Dr. Noah is not, however, prepared to spare Bashir, and just as he is about to execute Bashir, Eddington is able to transfer the crew's patterns into the computers aboard the Defiant
. They are then simply beamed aboard, returning to their normal selves.
In the holosuite, Bashir and Garak end the program with relief: Bashir "saved the day" by "destroying the world", Garak notes; Bashir jibes Garak that they never taught him that in the Obsidian Order.
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is a science fiction television series set in the Star Trek universe...
, the tenth episode of the fourth season. It features many homage
Homage
Homage is a show or demonstration of respect or dedication to someone or something, sometimes by simple declaration but often by some more oblique reference, artistic or poetic....
s to James Bond
James Bond
James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
and similar heroes.
Quick Overview: Bashir plays a 1960s secret agent in a holosuite program, but when it malfunctions he must make actual life-or-death decisions.
Plot
BashirJulian Bashir
Lieutenant Julian Subatoi Bashir, M.D., played by Alexander Siddig, is a main character in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Bashir is the chief medical officer of space station Deep Space Nine and the USS Defiant.-Overview:...
is in the holosuite playing out a fantasy with himself as a secret agent. Garak
Elim Garak
Elim Garak is a fictional character from the television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, in which he is portrayed by Andrew J. Robinson. In the series, Garak is an exiled spy from the Cardassian empire and a former member of a prestigious Cardassian intelligence group called the Obsidian Order...
intrudes and convinces Bashir to let him tag along. Meanwhile, Captain Sisko
Benjamin Sisko
Benjamin Lafayette Sisko, played by Avery Brooks, is the main character of the television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.-Early life and career:...
, Worf
Worf
Worf, played by Michael Dorn, is a main character in Star Trek: The Next Generation and in seasons four to seven of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. He also appears in the films based on The Next Generation. Worf is the first Klingon main character to appear in Star Trek, and has appeared in more Star...
, Dax
Jadzia Dax
Jadzia Dax , played by Terry Farrell, was a main character during the first six seasons of the science fiction television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine....
, Major Kira
Kira Nerys
Kira Nerys , played by Nana Visitor, is a main character in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.-Backstory:Per Bajoran custom, her family name, Kira, precedes her given name, Nerys. She has two brothers , and her parents' names are Kira Taban and Kira Meru...
, and Chief O'Brien
Miles O'Brien (Star Trek)
Miles Edward O'Brien, played by Colm Meaney, is Chief of Operations in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Before DS9, he appeared as a recurring transporter chief in Star Trek: The Next Generation...
are on a runabout, returning to Deep Space Nine. As they pull up to the station they find that their ship has been sabotaged and that a warp core breach is imminent. Eddington transports them out, but the ship is destroyed during transport and the five crew members are trapped in the transporter buffer.
Eddington stores their patterns while he repairs the transporter, but doing so uses almost all of the station's memory, putting many station systems off-line. Their physical patterns end up in the computer controlling the holosuite
Holodeck
A holodeck, in the fictional Star Trek universe, is a simulated reality facility located on starships and starbases. The first use of a "holodeck" by that name in the Star Trek universe was in the pilot episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, "Encounter at Farpoint", although a conceptually...
, where they appear as characters in Bashir's program.
Bashir is startled to see Major Kira appear in his program as a lingerie-clad spy with a Russian accent and bombs hidden in her earrings. She introduces herself as Colonel Anastasia Komananov, KGB
KGB
The KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...
. She appears to believe she is the character and has no idea who "Kira" is. Bashir and Garak are notified by Eddington that they must not shut the holosuite down, leave the program, or allow any of the characters to die. They are forced to proceed with the story, gambling with the crew's lives.
Anastasia delivers Bashir's assignment. A megalomaniacal scientist named Dr. Noah is planning to take over the world. He has built massive lasers that will cut into the Earth's crust, releasing magma
Magma
Magma is a mixture of molten rock, volatiles and solids that is found beneath the surface of the Earth, and is expected to exist on other terrestrial planets. Besides molten rock, magma may also contain suspended crystals and dissolved gas and sometimes also gas bubbles. Magma often collects in...
such that the tectonic plates
Plate tectonics
Plate tectonics is a scientific theory that describes the large scale motions of Earth's lithosphere...
will sink and the planet's oceans will rise over all the land area except the top of Mount Everest
Mount Everest
Mount Everest is the world's highest mountain, with a peak at above sea level. It is located in the Mahalangur section of the Himalayas. The international boundary runs across the precise summit point...
, where he has his base. Noah has recruited top scientists from around the globe to assist him in his devious plan. Bashir has orders to rescue one of the scientists, beautiful and shy geologist Professor Honey Bare (Dax), from Noah's clutches.
Complications arise when Bashir's nemesis, Falcon (O'Brien), breaks into his townhouse and pulls a gun to assassinate Bashir. When Anastasia takes him down and prepares to put a bullet in his head, Bashir stops her, since if she kills O'Brien's character, his pattern could be lost from the buffer.
Meanwhile, Eddington is working with Quark (owner of the holosuites) and his brother Rom (the technician who maintains them) to develop a way to bridge the missing crew's patterns from the holosuite systems to a compatible transporter. One of Rom's ingenious technical solutions involves a spatula with the correct physical properties.
Bashir, Garak, and Komananov track down an associate of Dr. Noah at a casino nightclub in Paris. The associate, Duchamps, is Worf in a white tuxedo, blowing smoke rings. He informs Bashir that the price of an audience with Dr. Noah is more than he could possibly afford. Bashir indicates the stack of cash in front of Duchamps, and proceeds to win it all in a flawless night of cards. Duchamps agrees to let Bashir and associates see Dr. Noah, and he knocks them all out with a puff of powdered drugs.
They awaken in Dr. Noah's lair at the pinnacle of Mount Everest. Noah (Sisko) sweeps into the room and shows off his control panel, complete with the big red button he will push when it is time to wipe out the population of Earth to make way for his regime. His timid assistant, Professor Honey Bare, does calculations in the background. She casts a shy glance at Secret Agent Bashir, and he notices.
Dr. Noah has Bashir and Garak taken below ground, to one of the laser rooms, where they are handcuffed to a laser. They are left to die when the laser is activated and the cavern fills with magma. As the time ticks down, Bashir notices Professor Bare performing a last check of the machinery before the place blows. He calls to her and flirts for a bit, and she slips him a key and hurries out. Bashir unlocks the handcuffs and he and Garak search for a way out of the cavern.
Garak has had quite enough of this holoprogram where all the safeties are off and his life is very much in danger. He ignores Bashir's warnings. Before he can call for the holosuite exit, Bashir grazes him with a genuine bullet, shocking (and impressing) Garak, who decides to stick with him. Bashir explains the ending of the program. Once the hero defeats Dr. Noah, he will escape with either Colonel Komananov or Professor Bare; however, the other must die. In order to save both Kira and Dax he must invent a new ending for the program.
Bashir bursts into Noah's study and hits the button. The room's occupants gasp as they realize he just annihilated the entire population of Earth. Dr. Noah is not, however, prepared to spare Bashir, and just as he is about to execute Bashir, Eddington is able to transfer the crew's patterns into the computers aboard the Defiant
USS Defiant
The USS Defiant is a fictional starship in the television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and the feature film Star Trek: First Contact...
. They are then simply beamed aboard, returning to their normal selves.
In the holosuite, Bashir and Garak end the program with relief: Bashir "saved the day" by "destroying the world", Garak notes; Bashir jibes Garak that they never taught him that in the Obsidian Order.
Arc significance
- This is the first mention of True Way, a Cardassian terrorist group opposed to the current civilian government (cf. "The Way of the Warrior").