Usually these two-parters always set you up for a fall. Not here – the conclusion is of cats pyjama levels.
The death of a good samaritan (Gabriel Bell, luckily a large, bald African American, much like someone we all know) has caused a rift in the timeline. If Bell can’t be a martyr at an upcoming riot, he will not be a catalyst to social changes that will ultimately lead to the formation of the UFP.
This is background, though, to a Dog Day Afternoon-esque standoff with Dick Miller as a guard who has seen it all. Remarkably, the good guys and bad guys all have a point, here, once again proving that DS9 is a far better show than it needs to be.
All works out in the end, kinda….and we get a drastic look at what well-meaning social policy can do when it goes unchecked.
