Star Trek 400: Doctor Bashir, I Presume?

400. Doctor Bashir, I Presume?

FORMULA: The Icarus Factor + Family + Space Seed + Birthright (where Bashir = The Doctor) + Coming of Age

WHY WE LIKE IT: The mother's speech.

WHY WE DON'T: Possibly the stupidest romantic triangle of all time.

REVIEW: After all this time, I'm still ambivalent regarding Bashir's new status quo as a genetically enhanced human (or "mutant"). I really loved the character before and so no need to make him other than he was, especially which such a "comic booky" paradigm shift. As far as dark secrets go, you have to admit it's a little crazy. "Lightning Lad is really Proty" kind of crazy, if some of you know what I mean. On the other hand, it didn't really damage the character (except some mental calculus scenes that made him sound like Spock or Data) in the long run, and opened a few doors as well. And having just looked at the first 111 episodes of DS9 in sequence, very few actually contradict this interpretation of the character (so long as you believe he sabotages himself in less crucial situations). More importantly for this article, the way it's brought forward is well done.

After all, how many episodes of Trek have we seen where a character's parents show up to much embarassment from said character? Plenty. But there's more there as we soon find out. Both characters are well drawn, and that certainly helps. Bashir's father is an overcompensating underachiever, something of a fool in his son's eyes, and the type of person we don't really see on the show. In a world where you can achieve your potential, Richard Bashir is one who doesn't really know what that potential might be. Amsha was hard to cast and they brought in an amateur to play the her. Fadwa El Guindi, a university professor, acquits herself rather well under the circumstances and gives a rather naturalistic performance. Her speech about wondering if your child's birth defect is your fault is actually very effective, and the healing process is mostly motivated by her.

Is it fair that Bashir would be drummed out of the service for being genetically enhanced? (In other words, is his dilemma relevant?) Well, it sort of makes sense that the Star Trek universe would be nervous about Khan and his ilk after what happened in its history. Bashir does say that in the case of severe birth defects, such operations are legal, but the way he talks about his childhood (a very sad story, I must say), it sounds like he was suffering from severe retardation or some form of autism. Not ok in such a case? Not ok for Geordi's eyes? Then again, it may be that the Bashirs went TOO far, and it might have been better explained that way. Setting Jules' IQ at a reasonably average 100 could have been acceptable, but making him a boy genius is just asking for trouble. A note on Star Trek history here: The admiral mentions the Eugenics Wars as something that occurred 200 years ago, an admitted mistake, but it might have been time to retcon that bit of history since the audience knows 1996 to be an unrealistic date. It wouldn't have been the first contradiction in TOS' timeline. Enterprise will eventually give us some mutant madness 200 years ago, reconciling the statement made here, and cementing Starfleet's mutant phobia.

Of course, Bashir's secret wouldn't have been revealed if not for Doctor Zimmerman, Voyager's EMH programmer also played by Robert Picardo. A sensible crossover appearance, though halfway through, his story dovetails with Leela and Rom's romantic dilemma. Zimmerman as Rom's unlikely rival it at least more interesting than his interviews of the crew, in a format copied from Coming of Age but not as well realized, but it's still stridently comic in an episode that is largely dramatic. The two stories really clash tonally. Not that I don't appreciate Quark's comments about Leeta's "brains" or the illuminating story about Rom's ex-wife, but Rom's screaming can only go so far.

Oh, and the holo-communicator is STILL stupid.

LESSON: Nobody likes the smart kid.

REWATCHABILITY - Medium: Bashir's motivations and attitude get a perhaps unnecessary explanation, but the drama is strong. It's comic bits and slight titillation that doesn't quite fit.