Genetic engineering is a touchy subject in Star Trek. Ever since Khan Noonien Singh tried to take over the world in the 1960s, the Federation has been pretty much terrified of anyone messing with human DNA. So, when the fifth season of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine rolled around, nobody really expected a massive retcon of the show's resident physician. But then "Doctor Bashir, I Presume" happened. It didn't just give us a backstory; it fundamentally broke the character of Julian Bashir in the best way possible.
Most fans remember Alexander Siddig’s character as the wide-eyed, slightly annoying young doctor from the pilot. He was brilliant, sure. But he was also "fresh out of the Academy" green. By season five, he’d matured. Then this episode hits, and suddenly we find out he’s been lying to everyone for years. He isn’t just smart. He’s "enhanced."
The Secret Life of Julian Bashir
The plot of "Doctor Bashir, I Presume" starts out almost like a sitcom. Dr. Lewis Zimmerman, the creator of the Emergency Medical Hologram (EMH) played by Robert Picardo, arrives on the station. He wants to use Bashir as the template for a new Long-term Medical Hologram (LMH). It’s a huge honor. It’s also a death sentence for Julian’s secret. Zimmerman starts poking around into Bashir’s past, interviewing his parents, and looking for any skeletons in the closet. He finds a graveyard.
Julian wasn't born a genius. In fact, he was "struggling" as a child. His parents, Richard and Amsha Bashir, took him to Adhara Primary for illegal genetic resequencing when he was six years old. In the span of a few months, his IQ jumped five points a day. His coordination became superhuman. He went from being a kid who couldn't tell a dog from a cat to a man who could perform complex surgery with his eyes shut.
Why does this matter? Because in the 24th century, being "Augmented" is a crime. It’s the ultimate taboo. If the Federation finds out, you aren't just fired; you're barred from practicing medicine and usually sent to a penal colony. The fear of another Eugenics War is so baked into Earth’s culture that they’d rather lose a brilliant doctor than risk a "superior" human taking over.
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A Retcon That Actually Worked
Usually, when a show tells you a character has been hiding a massive secret for five years, it feels cheap. It feels like the writers ran out of ideas. Honestly, though, this one clicked. If you go back and watch the first four seasons, you see the clues. Bashir was always too good. He came in second in his class at medical school because he "mistook" a pre-ganglionic fiber for a post-ganglionic nerve on his final exam. In "Doctor Bashir, I Presume," he admits he did that on purpose. He didn't want to be valedictorian because it would draw too much scrutiny.
It recontextualizes his entire friendship with Miles O'Brien. Every time they played darts and Julian won, he was holding back. Every time he acted "bumbling" or "naive," it was a mask. It’s actually kind of tragic. He spent his whole life pretending to be less than he was just so he could be allowed to exist.
The Performance of Alexander Siddig
Siddig really shines here. He plays Julian as a man who is absolutely terrified of his own parents. When Richard Bashir (played by Brian George) blusters about how he "saved" his son, the look of disgust and hurt on Julian's face is visceral. He doesn't see himself as a masterpiece. He sees himself as a freak who was manufactured because his real self wasn't good enough for his dad.
The tension in those scenes is thick. It’s not just sci-fi drama; it’s a family intervention. It’s about the ethics of "designer babies" and the pressure parents put on their kids to be perfect.
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The Fallout and the Legal Precedent
The resolution of "Doctor Bashir, I Presume" is a bit of a legal tightrope walk. Rear Admiral Bennett basically makes a deal. Julian stays in Starfleet, but his father goes to prison for two years. It’s a compromise that feels very Deep Space Nine. It’s messy. It’s gray. It’s not a clean "everything is okay now" ending.
This episode set the stage for later storylines, specifically the "Jack Pack"—the group of other genetically engineered individuals who didn't turn out as "functional" as Julian. It showed the dark side of the procedure. For every Julian Bashir, there are dozens of people whose brains were fried by the process, leaving them brilliant but completely unable to function in society.
The Federation’s stance is harsh. Maybe too harsh. But "Doctor Bashir, I Presume" forces the audience to ask: is it the person or the process that we should be judging? Julian is a hero. He’s saved thousands of lives. Does it matter that his DNA was tweaked in a lab?
Why "Doctor Bashir, I Presume" Still Holds Up
If you watch this episode today, the themes of medical ethics and parental ego feel even more relevant. We are getting closer to CRISPR and real-world genetic editing every day. Star Trek was doing this back in 1997.
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The episode also fixed the "Zimmerman problem." By bringing the Voyager character over to DS9, it tied the franchise together without feeling like a forced cameo. Zimmerman is arrogant, rude, and hilarious. His interactions with Quark are gold. But ultimately, he’s just the catalyst. The heart of the story is the Bashir family dynamic.
It’s one of those rare episodes that changes the DNA of the show—literally. It made Bashir a more complex, lonely, and fascinating character. He wasn't just the "pretty boy" doctor anymore. He was a man living a double life in a society that hated what he represented.
Actionable Insights for Fans and Writers
If you’re revisiting this episode or analyzing it for your own creative projects, keep these points in mind:
- Look for the "Darts" Meta: Rewatch early Bashir/O'Brien scenes. Knowing Julian is an Augment makes his "losing" streaks look like a desperate attempt at social camouflage.
- The "Model" Concept: Note how the LMH project was scrapped in canon because of this scandal. This explains why we don't see Dr. Bashir holograms running around every Starship in later series.
- Genetic Ethics: Contrast Julian with the Augments in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. The "Una Chin-Riley" trial (which happened in 2023's season 2 of SNW) directly mirrors the themes established in this DS9 episode, showing how long-standing this Federation prejudice truly is.
- Character Consistency: Use this as a case study on how to execute a "retcon." It works because it explains existing behaviors rather than contradicting them.
Julian’s journey didn't end with this revelation. It actually made his later involvement with Section 31 much more believable. A man who has lived a lie is the perfect recruit for a shadow organization. But at his core, Julian remained the man who just wanted to help people—the man his parents didn't think was enough, but who proved to be more than anyone expected.