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Before we get into our coverage of Star Trek: Voyager and Star Trek: Picard, let’s take a trip down memory lane. It’s been a while since we stepped back into the character-driven world of Deep Space 9, and this week we have a special guest to help Wes on that journey. Todd from the “Computer Resume” podcast joins the show to discuss “Our Man Bashir” and holodeck adventures in the 24th century.
The Wikipedia plot summary for “Our Man Bashir”:
Dr. Julian Bashir is playing a holosuite game in which he portrays a glamorous secret agent in 1964. His friend Elim Garak, a former spy, tags along. Meanwhile, the other officers of Deep Space Nine are rescued from the explosion of a runabout by Cmdr. Eddington, who beams them out in the nick of time. The transporter is damaged by the explosion, and Eddington must store their patterns in the station’s computer memory. Their physical patterns end up in the computer controlling the holosuite, appearing as characters in Bashir’s simulation. Eddington informs Bashir that he can’t shut down the program or let the characters die, or else the patterns of the crew members may be deleted. Making matters worse, the holosuite safeties are disabled, meaning Bashir and Garak could be hurt or killed by the game.
In the game, a Russian spy, Anastasia Komananov, appears with Major Kira‘s likeness. Komananov explains that a mad scientist, Dr. Noah, is kidnapping elite scientists; Bashir’s orders are to rescue Professor Honey Bare (Jadzia Dax). After escaping the assassin Falcon (Miles O’Brien), Bashir, Garak and Komananov go to a casino to speak to Noah’s associate Duchamps (Worf). After a game of baccarat, Duchamps drugs the trio, knocking them out.
They awaken in Dr. Noah’s lair on Mount Everest. Noah (Captain Sisko) explains his plan to flood the rest of the world, wiping out the human race except for his kidnapped scientists. He has Bashir and Garak handcuffed to an underground laser that will flood the chamber with lava in five minutes. As the time ticks down, Bashir flirts with Prof. Bare, and she slips him a key. Bashir frees himself and Garak, who protests that continuing the simulation is too dangerous. Garak is about to close the program, potentially killing the other crew members, when Bashir shoots him, grazing him with a bullet. Garak is shocked, but impressed, and agrees to continue.
They burst into Noah’s study, and Eddington tells them he will attempt to rescue Sisko and the others in two minutes. To gain time, Bashir hits the button to activate Noah’s plan, flooding the Earth. As he had not expected to actually win, the shocked Dr. Noah is still about to shoot Bashir, but before he can pull the trigger, Eddington beams the crew’s patterns out of the holosuite. Bashir and Garak end the program with relief, Garak commenting that Bashir “saved the day by destroying the world”.
In this episode of the podcast, Wes is joined by Todd from the “Computer Resume” podcast to revisit “Our Man Bashir” from DS9’s fourth season. Plus! Wes and Todd chat about podcast ethics, being a fan of James Bond, and the reality of Star Trek: Lower Decks.