Enterprise | Season 4

In a Mirror, Darkly (Pt 2)

Directed By: Marvin V. Rush
Teleplay By: Michael Sussman
Story By: Manny Coto

Rating:

Reviewed on: 9 August 2005
Reviewed by: Michael Axe

In Brief:

Review: (Contains Spoilers)

If the first episode was an affectionate tribute to the Mirror Universe, this concluding part manages to be both a fascinating insight into a key event in MU history, and also a nostalgic homage to TOS.

Manny Coto always said that he wanted to incorporate as many elements of the TOS universe into the fourth season of Enterprise , and he managed to deliver on this promise time and time again. But this episode really feels like he crammed every TOS tribute he wanted to make into one episode (presumably because of the show's imminent demise), but the episode is all the better for it.

So we get to see life onboard the 23 rd Century USS Defiant (an amazingly convincing replica of the 1960's TOS interiors), as well as the Enterprise crew wearing the uniforms of their TOS-era counterparts. Little touches like the inclusion of TOS-era phasers and communicators, in particular, work effectively to spark off the nostalgia for the show that started it all. And following on from the revamped appearances of the Tholians (and before that, the Andorians and Tellorites), we now have a CGI Gorn which was surprisingly effective.

But the episode is more than just a string of TOS-era gimmicks. The rebellion of other races against the fledgling Terran Empire is nicely fleshed out, and the subplot concerning the conspiracy between T'Pol, Phlox and Soval (sporting a Mirror-Spock style beard!) and the reasons for it was handled convincingly.

I did expect the 23 rd Century Defiant to be destroyed by the end of the episode – but on reflection, there's no real need to trigger the infamous “reset button” in a MU episode. In fact, the survival of the Defiant could actually explain a lot – the human race has never been portrayed in Trek as the most technologically advanced race, and even if the Terran Empire stole a lot of technology from the conquered Vulcans, they would still find it very difficult to overpower all of the other Alpha Quadrant races (as shown by the numerous victories of the rebellion in this two-parter). But if the Terran Empire had access to a ship with weapons and shields a hundred years more advanced than any other race, it could be enough to allow the Terran Empire to manoeuvre itself into the position of dominance it enjoyed in the episode “Mirror, Mirror”. The lack of scientific co-operation and expertise could also explain why the Defiant's technology is never reverse-engineered and incorporated into the other Terran ships (i.e. why the TOS-era MU is no more technologically advanced that the real universe at that time). Ironically, this two-parter does as much for showing how the TOS-era MU came to be, as the rest of Enterprise has shown about the future of the real universe…

As with part one, the stand-out performances were Archer and Hoshi. Archer's slow decent into narcissistic madness is wonderful to watch, as the shadow of everything that real-Archer has achieved serves to further highlight Mirror-Archer's inadequacies. But Hoshi is a real revelation, proving that the worst thing you can do is underestimate an enemy. It's ironic that after having got to do so little with the character in the real universe, one of Hoshi's biggest storylines involves her becoming ruler of the entire Terran Empire! And the fact that Mayweather, the other character given little to do in the real universe, becomes her consort is just the icing on the cake!

All in all, this episode is a real treat for the fans. Yes, it has nothing to do with the “real” characters, but when the episode is this much fun – who cares?

Michael Axe is the author of a number of novellas and screenplays, and is a main reviewer for ST Universe. All his reviews are copyright © Michael Axe and are used here exclusively with his permission.