The Best Star Trek DS9 Episode Retcons The Worst TNG Episode
One of the most interesting things about the early days of Star Trek: The Next Generation is that the various writers and producers were still getting an idea of this universe’s various rules. For example, in the TNG episode “Unnatural Selection,” we are introduced to the Darwin Genetic Research Station, a place that is home to many genetically enhanced children. Picard and the Federation seem completely fine with this, but the later DS9 episode “Doctor Bashir, I Presume” effectively retcons this weak TNG episode by revealing that the Federation has outlawed genetic engineering.
Starting At The Beginning
Before you can properly appreciate this tale of a much-needed retcon, it’s important to get a primer on both of these episodes.
The TNG episode “Unnatural Selection” has the Enterprise crew dealing with a virus that accelerates aging, much as Kirk had to deal with in the TOS episode “The Deadly Years.”
Meanwhile, the DS9 episode “Doctor Bashir, I Presume” is about Dr. Lewis Zimmerman sizing Dr. Bashir up as the model for the Federation’s latest holographic doctor, but this leads to the revelation that Bashir’s parents had him genetically augmented at a young age, a practice which is outlawed in the Federation.
The Explanation We Needed
In this DS9 episode, it makes perfect sense that such genetic engineering would be illegal: as a crusty admiral helpfully explains, “for every Julian Bashir that can be created, there’s a Khan Singh waiting in the wings.” This is a fictional universe where genetically augmented people nearly took over Earth, and one of them–Khan–nearly killed Starfleet’s greatest captain on two separate occasions. After having all these brushes with disaster, it’s only logical that the Federation would forbid any genetic experimentation whatsoever.
Throwing The Retcon Wrench
Of course, that declaration in this DS9 episode throws a big retcon wrench at the TNG episode “Unnatural Selection.” In retrospect, it makes no sense whatsoever that the Federation would have an entire research station designed for genetic experiments, complete with an entire brood of young augments. The franchise never really attempted to clarify why the Darwin Genetic Research Station got a pass from the Federation, but the non-canonical novel The Buried Age has Picard claiming that the research station got some kind of special exception allowing them to break the rules.
The Federation’s Relationship With Genetic Research
The revelations about Dr. Bashir in this episode were quite the retcon, though the bigger reveal was how seriously the Federation treats genetic research. Interestingly, Strange New Worlds reinforced this plot point by showing how Una Chin-Riley (Number One) was arrested by Starfleet because she was genetically augmented as a young child. Some top-notch lawyering (Lawyer Picard would be proud) got her acquitted, but it was interesting how this episode revealed that the Federation ban on genetic tinkering was fully in place even before The Original Series took place.
Bashir Changed Franchise History
As far as Star Trek retcons go, we’re pretty happy with what DS9 did: for one thing, it would be insane for the Federation to permit genetic augmentation, and for another…well, “Unnatural Selection” was always one of the more disappointing TNG episodes. Plus, “Doctor Bashir, I Presume” clearly paved the way for excellent stories regarding everything from the dangerous Augments in Enterprise to Riley’s arrest in Strange New Worlds. Bashir effectively changed Star Trek’s entire history, which isn’t bad for a frontier doctor who once mistook a preganglionic fiber for a post-ganglionic nerve.
