Doctor Bashir, I Presume?

Last updated

"Doctor Bashir, I Presume?"
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode
Doctor Bashir I Presume.jpg
Episode no.Season 5
Episode 16
Directed by David Livingston
Story by Jimmy Diggs
Teleplay by Ronald D. Moore
Featured music Dennis McCarthy
Cinematography byJonathan West
Production code514
Original air dateFebruary 24, 1997 (1997-02-24)
Guest appearances
Episode chronology
← Previous
"By Inferno's Light"		Next →
"A Simple Investigation"
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 5
List of episodes

"Doctor Bashir, I Presume?" is the 114th episode of the syndicated American science fiction 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 the EMH's creator, Dr. Lewis Zimmerman. The episode also features guest performances by Brian George and anthropologist Fadwa El Guindi as the parents of Dr. Julian Bashir.

Contents

Set in the 24th century, the series follows the adventures of the crew of the Starfleet-managed Bajoran space station 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 on encountering the medical missionary and explorer, Doctor Livingstone.

Plot

Hologram 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. Julian makes some peace with his parents as they depart for Earth, grateful for his father's sacrifice.

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. [1]

Amsha Bashir is portrayed by Fadwa El Guindi, an anthropologist with no previous screen acting experience, at the time a professor at UCLA. She was invited to audition for the role by Ron Surma, who saw her community theatre performance in Mahjar, a play she co-wrote and co-directed. [2]

Reception

Keith DeCandido of Tor.com rated the episode 7 out of 10. [2] [3] Cinefantastique gave it 2.5 out of 5. [4]

In 2012, Den of Geek ranked this the ninth best episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. [5]

Related Research Articles

The Doctor (<i>Star Trek: Voyager</i>) Fictional character from Star Trek: Voyager

The Doctor, an Emergency Medical Hologram, is a fictional character portrayed by actor Robert Picardo on the television series Star Trek: Voyager, which aired on UPN between 1995 and 2001. He is an artificial intelligence manifesting as a holographic projection, designed to act as a short-term supplement to the medical staff of a starship during emergency situations. However, when the starship Voyager is stranded on the far side of the galaxy with no surviving medical personnel, he is forced to act as the ship's chief medical officer for several years. In an example of the Star Trek franchise's exploration of artificial intelligence, a simple software program becomes a major character in the show.

Starfleet is a fictional organization in the Star Trek media franchise. Within this fictional universe, Starfleet is a uniformed space force maintained by the United Federation of Planets as the principal means for conducting deep space exploration, research, defense, peacekeeping, and diplomacy. While most of Starfleet's members are human and it has been headquartered on Earth, hundreds of other species are also represented. Most of the franchise's protagonists are Starfleet commissioned officers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Julian Bashir</span> Fictional character in the TV series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Julian Subatoi Bashir, MD is a fictional character from the television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, portrayed by Alexander Siddig. Bashir is the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) of space station Deep Space Nine and the USS Defiant.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Picardo</span> American actor

Robert Alphonse Picardo is an American actor. He is best known for playing the Cowboy in Innerspace, Coach Cutlip on The Wonder Years, Captain Dick Richard on the ABC series China Beach, the Doctor on Star Trek: Voyager and Richard Woolsey in the Stargate franchise. He is a frequent collaborator of Joe Dante and is a member of The Planetary Society's Board of Directors.

"Melora" is the 26th episode of the American syndicated science fiction television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, the sixth episode of the second season.

"Facets" is the 71st episode of the American syndicated science fiction television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, the 25th and penultimate episode of the third season, originally airing June 12, 1995.

"Life Line" is the 24th episode from the sixth season of Star Trek: Voyager, the 144th episode overall. It is one of the episodes in the Star Trek universe in which characters from elsewhere in the franchise are extended by Voyager. Reginald Barclay and Deanna Troi from Star Trek: The Next Generation make appearances, and in addition Jean-Luc Picard is twice mentioned by Troi but not seen. This is also one of the few episodes where a character actually arrives in the Alpha Quadrant, and the only Voyager episode which has a cast member receiving a writing credit.

"Hippocratic Oath" is the 76th episode of the syndicated American science fiction television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. It is the third episode of the fourth season and is directed by castmember René Auberjonois.

"Statistical Probabilities" is the 133rd episode of the syndicated American science fiction television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, the ninth episode of the sixth season.

"The Quickening" is the 96th episode of the syndicated American science fiction television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, the 23rd episode of the fourth season. It is directed by series cast member René Auberjonois, who plays Odo. Dax, Kira, and Bashir go on an away mission to a plague-afflicted planet in the Gamma Quadrant.

"Chrysalis" is the 155th episode of the television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, the fifth episode of the seventh season. The episode was written by Rene Echeverria and directed by Jonathan West.

"Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges" is the 166th episode of the television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, the 16th episode of the seventh season. The episode title means "In times of war, the law falls silent" and is paraphrased from Cicero. The script was written by Ron Moore and David Livingston directs.

"When it Rains..." is the 171st episode of the television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, the fifth of the final nine-episode arc of the series. This episode was directed by Michael Dorn and written by Rene Echevarria. It was first aired in broadcast syndication on May 3, 1999.

"...Nor the Battle to the Strong" is the 102nd episode of the American syndicated science fiction television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, the fourth episode of the fifth season.

"Projections" is the 19th episode of the American science fiction television program Star Trek: Voyager. Originally slated for the first season, the episode originally aired on UPN on September 11, 1995, and tells the story of Voyager's holographic doctor having an identity crisis on the holodeck regarding whether he or the world around him is the illusion.

Rocks and Shoals (<i>Star Trek: Deep Space Nine</i>) 2nd episode of the 6th season of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

"Rocks and Shoals" is the 126th episode of the syndicated American science fiction television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, the second episode of the sixth season's opening six-episode story arc, beginning shortly after the events of the previous episode.

"Inquisition" is the 142nd episode of the television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. It is the 18th episode of the sixth season. This episode introduces Starfleet's secretive intelligence agency, Section 31, which would go on to be featured in future Star Trek television series and films.

Fadwa El Guindi is an Egyptian-American anthropologist and former professor of anthropology at Qatar University. She is the author of several ethnographies, including The Myth of Ritual: A Native's Ethnography of Zapotec Life-Crisis Rituals (1986) and By Noon Prayer: The Rhythm of Islam (2008).

References

  1. ↑ Kaplan, Anna L. (November 1997). "Zimmerman uncovers a skeleton in Dr. Bashir's genetic closet" . Cinefantastique. 29 (6/7): 48–50. ISSN   0145-6032 . Retrieved September 22, 2022.
  2. 1 2 DeCandido, Keith R. A. (June 24, 2014). "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Rewatch: "Doctor Bashir, I Presume?"". Tor.com . Retrieved August 1, 2021.
  3. ↑ Zack Handlen (2013). "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: "By Inferno's Light"/"Doctor Bashir, I Presume?"". The A.V. Club .
  4. ↑ "Dr. Bashir, I Presume?" . Cinefantastique. 29 (6/7): 48. November 1997. ISSN   0145-6032 . Retrieved September 22, 2022.
  5. ↑ Gem Wheeler (November 11, 2012). "Top 10 Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episodes". Den of Geek . Archived from the original on June 20, 2021. Retrieved March 18, 2021.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.