LogFAQs > #933393640

20. Julian Bashir
Why yes, my real name is Siddig El Tahir El Fadil El Siddig Abderrahman Mohammed Abdel Karim El Mahdi, how did you know?

Lets get our Game of Thrones jokes out of the way now, okay? Okay. Boy, the Dorne stuff in GoT sure sucked a lot. Its almost as bad as being stabbed by a Jemhadar. Alright, good enough, lets move on.

Bashir falls into the Crusher mold of I only exist because the show needs a doctor, but he does it much, much better. In particular, he actually has some personal drama to resolve over the course of the show: two relationships with Dax and the problems of being a genetic augment in a future where thats not cool.

I guess we can deal with early season 1 Bashir first. If I was just ranking him, hed be near the bottom of the list. That guy is way too pushy with Dax, and its forgivable mainly because Dax is like this super old and wise type who knows exactly how to deal with him. Hes also annoying in general, very jumpy and irritating. So, in a weird way, Bashir is the DS9 character who has the second highest jump in quality. Rom, of course, goes from unbearable to merely highly annoying, so he wins that title.

I wasnt really into Bashirs romance with Dax, to be honest. I never really understood why he was so into her? I guess the heart wants what it wants, but she never really seemed very into him, despite her later claim that shed have banged him but for Worf. I mean, yes, shes beautiful and a super genius, but its Star Trek. Everyone is a hot super genius. And as for Ezri, I already mentioned how I literally forgot he had a romance with her after watching the show three times. I would say that its unnecessary, that the arc of Bashir in this is getting over Dax after she chooses another man, but I cant rightly say that since I dont even remember the romance at all.

Even though the thing everyone remembers about Bashir is that hes a genetic augment, it actually doesnt come up that often. It comes up in like six episodes total, but its a really interesting idea. Bashir has to grapple with the fact that hes literally better than normal humans at anything he wants despite not really wanting to be, but acknowledge the bare truth that if he wasnt an augment, hed be mentally disabled. He looks at other genetic augments who are borderline-insane and knows that he dodged a bullet, all because the procedure isnt very reliable. Its a great premise and interesting setup, and I like it a lot. It also leads to funny moments when you rewatch the early episodes before the writers thought of that and see Bashir struggle with normal humans. Theres one episode where a pudgy guy tries to murder OBrien and Bashir barely manages to restrain him. So good.

You can mine a lot of drama out of doctor who sees crazy stuff during a war, and they sort of do that. Bashir grows a lot during the show, but not in a PTSD sort of way. Actually, a great comparison is the doctor in Babylon 5, whos also a doctor during a crazy war who sees stuff he shouldnt, but instead gets broken by it and has to walk to clear his mind for many, many episodes. Bashirs response is to just be a little grimmer.

Bashir/OBrien is an interesting friendship, partly because its one of the few just a normal friendships in Star Trek. Kirk/Spock/Bones, Geordi/Data, and Harry/Tom are sort of it, and even Geordi/Data is pushing it. The juxtaposition between Im literally superior and Im the most normal person in the galaxy produces a really cool relationship, and it makes complete sense that theyd bond over dumb stuff like medieval battles in the holodeck.

One of the main things about Bashir people remember is his relationship with Garak. Well save most of this for Garak, but the idea of I like screwing around as a pretend spy meeting I am actual spy and am kind of offended by your naivete is super strong.

Overall: a really good character, even if he's not one of the best DS9 has to offer.

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Not changing this sig until I decide to change this sig.
Started: July 6, 2005