2.23 — “Crossover”
Plot: A plasma injector leak while travelling in a Runabout through the wormhole sends Kira and Bashir into the Mirror Universe, where they encounter a different version of DS9, er, Terok Nor, commanded by Mirror Kira. Since we last visited the MU, the Cardassians and Klingons have ganged up to subjugate the Terrans. Bajor collaborates with their Alliance by managing the forced labor of enslaved humans.
Thoughts: I’m not sure I can express how much I love this sequel to TOS 2.4, “Mirror, Mirror.”
“Mirror, MIrror” is not even one of my top favorite TOS episodes, mostly because its premise is far-fetched. Oh how convenient these same characters are grouped together, when so many other details of the universe are so fundamentally different. This counterbalances the high camp fun for me. “Mirror, Mirror” is great nevertheless because of what it reveals about Kirk and Spock and their fundamental natures. Even in the MU Mirror Spock is ruled by logic, which leads him to draw similar “moral” conclusions as his prime counterpart, despite his environment and nature being markedly different. It’s great stuff.
“Crossover” is great for a lot of the same reasons, but since it’s a sequel to a piece of established canon, the implausibility doesn’t bother me half as much. Even moreso than in the original, the DS9 cast looks like they’re having a blast. The fun is infectious.
How much fun are they having? Look at the scene where Sisko closes a door on his pursuers by shooting it with a blaster. That’s pure Star Wars! They’re loving every second of this.
And Kira. Where have you been all season? Nana Visitor (Kira) hasn’t been given a lot of great stuff to do so far in Season Two, and instead of stealing all the small scenes like she did so often in Season One, it has sometimes seemed like she’s phoning it in. No more! I’m in love all over again.
Forget the alternate universe stuff. The opening scene with Bashir in the Runabout is master class. I was howling. The control, precision, and invention Visitor brings to Kira’s small reactions as Bashir gasses on and hangs himself with his own rope is so delicious. Bashir has famous rocky relationships with O’Brien and Dax, but that’s nothing compared to his flameout with Kira. She feels no obligation to humor him. Alexander Siddig (still credited here as Siddig El Fadil) is good in these scenes, but my eyes were on Visitor.
Then we get Prime Kira masterfully manipulating everyone, including her double, when the chips are down and she’s in trouble. She’s formidable. And as little use as she has for Bashir, she refuses to leave her man behind.
In the best tradition of TOS, the writers and actors have really considered who the characters are before creating their Mirror Universe counterparts. We learn new things about all our favorites, particularly Kira, Garak, Sisko, O’Brien, and Quark. The Mirror counterparts are not necessarily the same as the ones we know, I think they should have darker natures, but at least they don’t follow obvious paths.
Prime Universe history is reconsidered, and a dark chain of outcomes is imagined to flow from Kirk & Co.’s glorious victory in TOS, just as Wrath of Khan reconsidered “Space Seed.” Something similar happened in the more obscure animated episode, TAS 2.4 “Albatross.” I remember hearing about a graphic novel that followed up “A Piece of the Action” by revealing that the Enterprise’s visit had horrible consequences. Great! Consequences are hard to foresee, which is why a rule like the Prime Directive can make sense, although the tragedy is you can’t control all your outcomes, no matter what. It’s deep!
More like this please! What did y’all think?
5 out of 5 ore mines. Okay, I have one complaint. How do you mine ore on a space station?
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