"It was much easier for [us] as civilized men to behave like barbarians than it was for [them] as barbarians to behave like civilized men." Spock, " in STAR TREK TOS episode "Mirror, Mirror."
No frame story, no lead-in, no garbage :) Just out and out barbarism and one hell of a good time:)
I *loved.* Zephram Cochrane as 'enforcer.'
Hoshi and Archer. Well....Damn!
TPol. Way more than meets the midriff here. Her casual usurpation of Tucker is more than Mirror Spock did, even in an emergency. He only went in for info. She marched Tucker around like a marionette.
Phlox! "Think you're angry now..."
Dissecting a Poor! Defensless! Lifeform! Bwahahaahahahaa!
"Please kindly DIE."
Boomer in soldier-drag.
What didn't seem to fit:
Archer's mercy to Forrest. Are you up for the captaincy or not? If so...he should have died with the takeover by Archer.
The men's uniforms. No Fun. At. All. At least a silver glitter-sash to go with the blue. Not an earlier version of the "Yesterday's Enterprise" arms' harness.
Enquiring minds wanna know:
Who Are The Reptillians in the Defiant's nacelle? Zindi? Gorn? "Founders?" temporarily shifted into reptiles?
Favorite Next Episode Teaser Line:
"What ARE YOU wearing?"
Great fun, and a good testament that the bean counters at Paramount should *never* have cancelled this show.
More next week for Barbarism Part II
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6 comments:
I'm going to "test" post & try to see if this works before I write a whole huge thing & then have the computer not allow me to actually post it (as happened yesterday !!!)
seems to have worked :)
LOL! As a guy it didn't occur to me til I read this that yeah, the women would've been quite bummed out by the lack of creativity in the mirror universe men's costumes!
Hoshi & Archer---damn, indeed. Rivaled the Kirk/Marlena & Sisko/mirror Dax stuff.
OK, here's what I thought. Unquestionably this episode will be a popular one with fans. C'mon, an explanation of what happened to the Defiant, complete with a reminder that the captain's neck was broken? Our first glimpse of a Tholian since 1968 (and first glimpse of its appendages EVER)? Zephram Cochrane shooting the first Vulcan instead of shaking hands? Agony booths? Background about the Terran Empire, complete with the "sword through the planet" logo and the Nazi-like salute among officers? And a flawless recreation of a 23rd-century bridge/uniforms??!! Great stuff.
But it occured to me right before it ended---why was I enjoying this episode? The answer: Nostagia, pure & simple. I was loving all the blanks getting filled in from storylines from classic Trek, but did I really care about what was actually happening to the "Star Trek: Enterprise" characters? Not really. In fact, as I write this I can't even remember what the cliffhanger was.
Here's my problem: Compare "In a Mirror Darkly" with "Trials & Tribble-ations," the wonderful 1996 DS9 episode with Sisko & crew interacting in the "Trouble with Tribbles" story. Yes, that show was unabashedly dripping with nostalgia, BUT the focus of the episode (in my opinion) was the Deep Space Nine guys. The Kirk-era stuff was a fantastic BACKDROP to set a really fun story against. In "A Mirror Darkly," on the other hand, the classic Trek nostalgia is unfortunately more than a backdrop---it overshadows the story to the point where the only reason to watch the show is to pick up on those (admittedly fun) "insider" references.
To boil my argument down in a nutshell: You can watch "Trials & Tribble-ations" with total ignorance of the "source" material and still enjoy it (trust me, I've watched it with people who don't know the David Gerrold show at all and they really liked it). But nothing that happens in "Mirror Darkly" has any significance or "weight" unless you know what happens in Kirk's time.
And one last thing (I know I'm being harsh; I did enjoy watching the show but I'm being devil's advocate here)---isn't the heart of all the mirror universe episodes supposed to be that we are seeing that evil universe THROUGH THE EYES OF THE ACTUAL REAL CHARACTERS FROM OUR UNIVERSE? "He is a lot like our own Mr. Spock, isn't he? You've got that minute." Kira meeting her double---Sisko meeting the mirror version of the dead wife---isn't this kind of the point? I dunno, it seems like setting the show completely in the mirror universe with no "good guy" perspective dilutes the effectiveness of the contrast between us & them. Therefore, it also does nothing to advance the ongoing story on "Enterprise," and there's only a few episodes left to do that.
I can't argue at all with that.
"Trials" and the Mirror DS9 stuff was incredibly better than this
And yes, we care more about our people if they slip into the mirror universe and then slip out...But just once this seems so unapolegetic for the cruelty. The driven arrogant self centeredness
Tucker, on the possibility of our universe existing...
"So What? How does that help us?" or something close to that.
It's just so amazingly self-absorbed...
Re: seeing the evil universe through "our" character's eyes - we don't know what they will do next week (do we?)
Agony booths set on maximal pain for all UPN executives involved in the cancellation decision. And a gratis Tantulus Device for Manny Cotto. (Loved Odyssey-5 and the character of "**d damnit to hell" Chuck Taggart.)
Hi : )
It's my understanding that both parts of the Mirror episodes are completely self contained within the Mirror-universe...but I like it that way....
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