"Doctor Bashir, I Presume?" is the 114th episode of the
syndicated American
science fiction
Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...
television series ''
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'', the 16th episode of the
fifth season. This episode guest stars actor
Robert Picardo, who played the role of the
Emergency Medical Hologram on ''
Star Trek: Voyager''; in this episode, Picardo portrays both its creator, Dr.
Lewis Zimmerman, and briefly the EMH itself. The episode also features guest performances by
Brian George and anthropologist
Fadwa El Guindi as the parents of Dr.
Julian Bashir.
Set in the 24th century, the series follows the adventures of the crew of the
Starfleet-managed
Bajoran space station
A space station (or orbital station) is a spacecraft which remains orbital spaceflight, in orbit and human spaceflight, hosts humans for extended periods of time. It therefore is an artificial satellite featuring space habitat (facility), habitat ...
Deep Space Nine. In this episode, Dr. Lewis Zimmerman comes to DS9 to create a medical hologram based on Dr. Bashir, leading to the revelation that Bashir was
genetically modified as a child.
The episode's title refers to the famous quotation attributed to
Henry Morton Stanley
Sir Henry Morton Stanley (born John Rowlands; 28 January 1841 – 10 May 1904) was a Welsh-American explorer, journalist, soldier, colonial administrator, author, and politician famous for his exploration of Central Africa and search for missi ...
on encountering the medical missionary and explorer,
Doctor Livingstone.
Plot
Hologram
Holography is a technique that allows a wavefront to be recorded and later reconstructed. It is best known as a method of generating three-dimensional images, and has a wide range of other uses, including data storage, microscopy, and interf ...
engineer
Lewis Zimmerman comes to
Deep Space Nine with the intent of using
Dr. Bashir's likeness as a template for a holographic program designed to provide medical treatment. In order to make the program as robust as possible, Zimmerman needs a complete personality profile on Julian. Against Julian's wishes, Zimmerman invites his estranged parents, Amsha and Richard Bashir, to the station to be interviewed.
Julian is embarrassed by his father's tendency toward self-aggrandizement. For example, Richard references a time he "ran shuttles" when, in fact, he was merely a steward and was fired shortly into his career. Julian implores his parents not to reveal to Zimmerman anything about a secret from his childhood, and they are angered that he thinks they would be so sloppy.
Later, his parents go to the infirmary to try to assuage their son's fears, stating emphatically that they will not tell Zimmerman that they had Julian illegally
genetically modified when he was a child. However, they are unaware that they are speaking to Zimmerman's new hologram, rather than to their son. Zimmerman and
Chief O'Brien are in the next room and hear everything they say.
O'Brien informs Julian about what he heard. Julian is furious, but confirms that he was genetically modified as a child. He was a poor student, apparently had a learning disability, and was below average in height and weight for his age. Shortly before his seventh birthday, his parents sent him to a clinic for a series of treatments that dramatically improved his physical and mental abilities. When he was fifteen, he learned of what had been done to him and stopped using his birth name, Jules. With the secret out, Julian sees no alternative but to resign from
Starfleet, whose regulations bar genetically enhanced individuals from serving or practicing medicine.
Julian angrily accuses his parents of giving up on his original self, but they tell him that they put him through the treatments out of love for him and worry over seeing him struggle. Before he can tender his resignation, his parents tell
Captain Sisko everything and make a deal with the
Judge Advocate General of Starfleet. Richard will plead guilty to illegal genetic engineering and serve a two-year sentence at a minimum-security prison, and Julian will be allowed to retain his commission and medical license. Grateful for his father's sacrifice, Julian makes some peace with his parents as they depart for Earth.
Meanwhile, Zimmerman pursues the affections of Julian's ex-girlfriend
Leeta, asking her to accompany him back to Jupiter Station. Shy
Rom is too scared to say anything to convince her to stay, although Leeta would welcome any reason to stay with him. She is on the verge of leaving with Zimmerman when Rom careens around the corner and tells her that he loves her. Touched, she decides to remain on the station.
Production
The episode began as a way to bring actor Robert Picardo and his character the Emergency Medical Hologram to Deep Space Nine.
Amsha Bashir is portrayed by
Fadwa El Guindi, an anthropologist with no previous screen acting experience, at the time a professor at
UCLA
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...
. She was invited to audition for the role by Ron Surma, who saw her
community theatre
Community theatre refers to any Theatre, theatrical performance made in relation to particular Community, communities—its usage includes theatre made by, with, and for a community. It may refer to a production that is made entirely by a communit ...
performance in ''Mahjar'', a play she co-wrote and co-directed.
Reception
Keith DeCandido of
Tor.com rated the episode 7 out of 10.
Cinefantastique
''Cinefantastique'' is an American horror, fantasy, and science fiction film magazine.
History
The magazine originally started as a mimeographed fanzine in 1967, then relaunched as a glossy, offset printed quarterly in 1970 by publisher/ ed ...
gave it 2.5 out of 5.
In 2012, ''
Den of Geek
''Den of Geek'' is a UK and US-based website covering entertainment with a focus on pop culture. The website also issues a biannual magazine.
History
''Den of Geek'' was founded in 2007 by Simon Brew in London. In 2012, DoG Tech LLC licensed ' ...
'' ranked this the ninth best episode of ''Star Trek: Deep Space Nine''.
References
External links
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{{Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episodes, 5
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 5 episodes
1997 American television episodes
Television episodes about eugenics
Television episodes written by Ronald D. Moore
Television episodes directed by David Livingston