3.19 — “Through the Looking Glass”

3.19 — “Through the Looking Glass”

Plot: Alternate O’Brien kidnaps Sisko to take him to the Mirror Universe with an offer of a rescue mission he can’t refuse.

Thoughts: Pretty good, right? Eh? Maybe a bit off? Perhaps lacking some freshness, and better lines for Garak? It’s an ambitious thing to turn your series on its head for a week. I suspect the difference between this episode and a 4 or 5-star version of the same is money, time to prepare, and a feature-length running time.

Kira still looks great in what was reportedly an unbearably unbreathable costume, and this time, so does Jadzia with her more stylish, less objectified look. I would not object to her adopting this look permanently in the regular series. A lot of things, however, don’t quite land, like Sisko’s scene with the Intendant, or a specific take on the character of the Intendant in general.

Incorporating Sisko’s wife Jennifer was a stroke of genius, but Sisko’s scenes with her, especially the parting, do not have enough weight. Did you catch that Jadzia isn’t united with Dax in this universe? Calling her “Dax” gives Sisko away, information which Jadzia communicates to Jennifer before the final scene.

Another thing lacking is a general theory of how the Mirror Universe works, and how its characters differ from their prime counterparts. This seemed fairly solid and predictable in TOS! Alternate O’Brien, however, doesn’t seem changed a jot. I’m not sure why Tuvok is there, since they didn’t give him anything to do (reminds me of Wesley Crusher’s wasted cameo in TNG’s dimension hopping episode, 7.11 — “Parallels”), but he also doesn’t seem to be changed, which reinforces the impression that Star Trek just hasn’t figured out Tuvok yet.

I can’t help but think that if there were more women involved in writing Star Trek in this era (besides co-executive producer Jeri Taylor), they would have figured out something to do with the episode besides have Sisko make serial sexual conquest out of all the women in the cast. The whole liaison with Jadzia–it’s not good! You aren’t who she thinks you are, Ben. Not. Cool. That’s an understatement.

Still–it’s Mirror Universe, right? A fun break from routine. One of the things I like about Mirror Universe is that it follow Star Wars rules. The guns all behave like blasters. I kept expecting to hear someone say “Together we will crush the Rebellion and rule the galaxy side by side!”

So, if you fudge it a little in your head, and purposely suspend some disbelief, you can enjoy it just enough to earn a rating of 3 out of 5 trash compactors. That’s totally how Sisko escaped the hallway standoff with Kira and Garak, right? They just didn’t have time to film it.

http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Through_the_Looking_Glass