monkee reviews 'In a Mirror, Darkly – Part 2'
First Impression: Another success! The mirror universe rocks!
The Great Escape: When last we saw our fearless anti-heroes, they had boarded the Defiant and were trying to get the ship up and running so they could assist Enterprise, which had fallen under attack by the Tholians. They couldn't manage it in time, though, and witnessed their home ship's destruction. Now they're in trouble, because the Tholian's attention has shifted to them. A lot of action ensues – they break free of the docking clamps, the Tholians start building a web, the Tholians tractor them, then Trip finally gets the weapons on-line. The twenty-third century weapons make short work of the twenty-second century Tholians, and the Defiant leaves triumphantly under Archer's command. First they stop to pick up the escape pods that Forrest gave his life to protect.
I would swear that Archer thought twice about it, though. He actually hesitated! I guess he realized that he needed the extra personnel to run the Defiant. Besides, he seemed rather fond of Hoshi...
Complications: The Tholians had an alien salvage team on board gutting the ship when Enterprise arrived. The team has been captured, but they had partially dismantled some of the Defiant's systems. Warp drive is off-line. Trip thinks the components are still in the cargo bay, but he's not completely sure how to put it all together. Archer is unsympathetic. "If we don't have warp capability in twelve hours," he says, "I'm going to find a new chief engineer." Archer needs warp so he can rendezvous with the assault fleet – he wants to get Defiant into the action as soon as possible, for the good of the empire, and for the glory of Jonathan Archer. T'Pol informs him that this course of action is illogical and unwise – the ship is meant to have a crew of four hundred and there are only forty-seven (naturally) of them. They don't fully understand the technology. Starfleet should study the ship first.
Oops. It might have been illogical and unwise for her to voice her objections...
Keeping the Fair Vulcan in Line: Archer dismisses the staff, but tells T'Pol to stay. His personal bodyguard, Mayweather, remains as well. Archer takes Mayweather's assault rifle and points it at T'Pol's head, wondering aloud why he should keep her alive at all, since she betrayed him in his earlier mutiny attempt. She defends herself, saying she had a duty to Forrest. She tells Archer that Forrest had ordered her to kill him, but now that Forrest was dead, she considers Archer her commanding officer. Archer says he will keep her alive only because he knows he needs her help to get Defiant up and running. He snarls that he no longer trusts Vulcans – they've had too large a role in the rebellion.
In Another Reality...Hoshi visits Archer in his new digs, the Captain's quarters. She smirks at his attire – he's wearing a uniform he found in the wardrobe, the wrap-around green command tunic and the flared, black pants. He's disturbed, though. He can find no mention of the Terran Empire in the ship's database. Apparently, it doesn't exist in this universe. The names are the same, but the history is not. "Earth becomes a member of an interstellar ALLIANCE," he tells her, disdainfully. On a whim, they look up their counterparts. Hoshi Sato is famous for creating a 'linguicode translation matrix,' and Archer is referred to as 'the greatest explorer of the twenty-second century.' There are planets named after him. Despite his counterpart's esteemed place in history, Archer is appalled. "There's nothing great about that man," he snaps. "He sold out Earth's future to a group of sub-human species." Hoshi tries to sooth him, telling him that Starfleet will have to give him his own command now. "I already have my own command," he says, grimly.
It's becoming obvious that a) Archer is hungry for power, and won't give up the Defiant, and b) he's a racist who considers non-humans inferior.
Mysterious Attack: Trip, now wearing a traditional Scotty-esque red engineering shirt, is yelling at Kelby because the warp drive isn't being repaired fast enough. Kelby says it isn't his fault – components are going missing. Trip doesn't want to hear any of his excuses. Kelby hears a sound in the access tube above him, and goes to investigate. Uh-oh. ANYONE could tell him that's a mistake! He's not wearing a red shirt, but he might as well be. Something large, loud and off screen grabs him, and he meets a leg-twitching violent end. After watching Kelby's counterpart whine and simper after Orion slave girls in 'Bound,' I have to admit I found this just a teeny bit gratifying.
New Dress Code: Here it should be noted that many of the Defiant's new crew begins to wear the old-style uniforms. Maybe Archer was a trendsetter and they just like the look, or maybe they've decided to set themselves apart from the rest of their Starfleet. It's not addressed in the episode, but it's fun to see T'Pol in a blue TOS-era mini-skirt, so who cares?
Revelation: At first, the crew speculates that the reptilian creature (they can tell by the DNA in the wounds) that killed Kelby might be a pet that belonged to one of the original crew. 'Not unless one of them owned a velociraptor,' Phlox quips. Archer interrogates one of the alien salvage team members – a brutal procedure in which Mayweather beats him mercilessly. The alien is unwilling to talk, though, until Archer threatens him with the phaser. Only then does he admit that the creature is their slave master, Slar. Slar has been sabotaging Defiant, and hiding out in one of the service crawlways. 'His species likes it warm,' the alien says. Which species, Archer asks? "He's a Gorn."
A GORN !!!
(monkee does a silly Trek-girl happy dance...)
If I could have chosen ONE more TOS thing for Enterprise to revisit before the end, it would have been the Gorn! How happy they've made me! Now I'm really glad I don't read spoilers. What a nice surprise!
The Other Archer: The problem is, they can't find the bugger. They think they have him cornered, but he keeps eluding them, and two more crewmembers have disappeared. On the bridge, Archer is visited by a vision of his counterpart, who might not have been a glorious conqueror, but at least got his name in his universe's history books. "When MY ship was in jeopardy," he taunts the other captain, "I didn't let security handle it. I took care of it myself." This Archer, like so many others before him, just can't stand the other Archer's sanctimonious little speeches. He orders Reed to assemble a team, and declares that he will lead it himself.
Glorious Gorn! First, they manage to contact the Gorn and tie in the translator. He says he wants a shuttle so he can leave. Once he's away from Defiant, he'll tell them where the components are. T'Pol thinks this is a reasonable request, but Archer just gives her a withering look and stalks off with the security detail.
They split up – Archer goes in one direction with a MACO, and Reed goes off in another with two MACOs. Reed's team detects a lifesign, but it turns out to be a communicator that's been programmed to transmit false readings. Too late, they realize it's a trap. They are caught in an explosion. That sneaky Gorn! The two MACOs are killed, and Reed is badly wounded. The Gorn attacks Archer and disarms him. Just as he's about to finish him off, the MACO distracts him. Too bad for the MACO. The Gorn turns his attention to him, and soon he's dead. Archer manages to crawl out of the section, then he has T'Pol enhance the grav plating there. The Gorn falls to his knees, unable to move. When reinforcements arrive, Archer takes one of their weapons and emphatically executes the Gorn.
A Quibble: Don't get me wrong. I love that there was a Gorn. And he was a great Gorn! He looked the way I imagine Gene Roddenberry wished the other one could have looked in the 60's. The CGI was awesome. But in TOS ('Arena',) the Gorn was slow and stupid. It was an actual plot point, for crying out loud! It was mentioned in the dialog! This Gorn was neither. He was sneaky, intelligent, and quite spry! It just didn't seem right to me. I don't mind it when they alter the appearance of aliens on this show, but it irks me when they completely change their characterization!
The Seeds of Discord: T'Pol and Phlox have their little mess hall chats in this universe, too. T'Pol is fishing for something. She observes that Phlox has been making use of the library database on Defiant. He says he's comparing the classic literature of both universes. The classics in Defiant's universe seem a little bland to him, except for the Shakespeare, naturally. The darkness of Shakespeare is a constant, Phlox says. (He should read Hamlet in the original Klingon...)
T'Pol has been doing some reading of her own – in Defiant's historical files. She finds them intriguing, most notably because in the other universe, humans don't consider themselves to be superior to other alien species. She presses Phlox to admit that he's interested, but he refuses to get drawn into such a treasonous discussion.
Archer's Triumph: The Assault Fleet is in trouble. Actually, trouble isn't an adequate word. The Assault Fleet has been decimated. The only ship left is the flagship, under the command of Admiral Black, and it's not going to last much longer either. Suddenly, out of the blue – well, out of the black – a shiny white ship appears. It's the Defiant! One by one, it picks off the rebel ships with its futuristic weapons. Tellarite ships disintegrate. Although T'Pol asks Archer to let a severely damaged rebel Vulcan ship go, he destroys that as well. He lets only one ship – an Andorian vessel – retreat. "I want the other rebels to know what happened here," Archer crows. Admiral Black can't help but be impressed, although he wonders where Forrest and the Enterprise are. Archer invites him aboard Defiant, for an update and a tour.
Archer Gets No Respect: Admiral Black likes what he sees on Defiant, but he keeps calling Archer 'Commander.' Rather pointedly, too. Archer requests a field promotion and Defiant, but Black just chuckles indulgently. "I'm sure Starfleet has other plans for this ship," he says. He blathers on and on about this and that, but Archer can't even hear him. The OTHER Archer has returned, and is circling him, voicing all his worst fears and doubts. "They're never going to give you this ship," he taunts. "If you're lucky, you'll end up commanding a moon shuttle!"
Black calls Archer 'Commander' one too many times. "That's CAPTAIN," he says. He signals Mayweather, and they forcibly remove the admiral from duty. When he resists, Archer disintegrates him with a phaser.
So much for that moon shuttle...
Power Play: Archer addresses a group of crewmen from both ships. You got it – it's time for a speech! He says that Starfleet has become corrupt and incompetent. The current administration, and the current emperor, must be overthrown if glory is to be restored to the Empire. He asks them to join him. Since he's holding all the cards, no one dares voice any dissention. At least not out loud...
Multi-Species Crew: The Admiral's flagship has several non-terrans in its crew complement. There's an Andorian on the bridge, and, interestingly enough, an Orion woman! I wondered how the Orion 'slave' girls fit into this universe. I guess using sex for power is so common here that their pheromones don't even make an impression! That's not all, though. There's a Vulcan bridge officer as well, and its someone we're familiar with...Soval!
The Goatee! It's the mirror universe, right? So one of the Vulcans has to have a mirror Spock-ian goatee. It wouldn't have looked good on T'Pol, so here's Soval with one! Bonus! I'm almost as happy to see the goatee as I was to see the Gorn! What can I say, I'm easily amused, and easily impressed...
An Alternate Vision: Soval and T'Pol, who know each other, meet in private. He admonishes her for giving the traditional Vulcan salute, saying it's not safe to do so, even behind closed doors. Undeterred, T'Pol asks him what he thinks of Defiant's historical files. He's intrigued, but wary, especially when she asks for his help. She wants to give the Vulcan rebels information on Defiant's engines and tactical systems. And that's not all. She wants to prevent Archer from becoming emperor. She intends to destroy Defiant. Soval argues – he's not even convinced they should stop Archer. The Empire HAS become corrupt. But T'Pol knows Archer. He blames Vulcans for inciting the rebellion. She's certain that once he's emperor, he'll destroy their entire planet. This convinces Soval.
How does Hoshi WANT to fit in? In the darkness of the Captain's quarters, Archer and Hoshi talk. Several items of interest are revealed. Hoshi absolutely loathes T'Pol, for one thing. She's seductively trying to convince Archer that T'Pol has outlived her usefulness. Archer agrees (though he doesn't agree to actually kill her) and goes one step further – he wants ALL of the non-terrans off his ship now. He's going to transfer all of them over to the other ship. All except Phlox. He can stay, since his people aren't involved in the rebellion. Plus, he's the only doctor they've got!
All we see are Archer and Hoshi's silhouettes, and at first the scene is rather interesting. I enjoy most of the interactions of these two. They're very natural. Ultimately, though, this is Star Trek. There seems to be a rule that Trek romance, even of the alternative universe kind, must end like some kind of adolescent fantasy. As things heat up between them, Hoshi wraps her arms around Archer's neck, purring something about being the consort of a legend.
Getting the Denobulan On Board: T'Pol has just begun transferring data to a disk for the Vulcan rebels when Archer has her escorted to the transporter room, telling her that 'her service aboard this ship is no longer required.' Their plans thwarted, T'Pol and Soval meet secretly with Phlox. He's now the only non-terran aboard the Defiant, and they need his help to sabotage the ship. At first, he's uncooperative, and not at sure that Archer shouldn't rule the Empire. But T'Pol and Soval double-team him. T'Pol says that the emperor's very life is at stake, and if he should save the emperor's life, the rewards would be...well, more wealth than he can imagine, I suppose. She says he could have his own medical facility, and conduct nefarious experiments and dissections to his heart's content. Soval mentions all the wonderful concubines that would be his for the taking...
I think it's the mention of the concubines that does it. Phlox reasons that if the emperor were ill, he'd be obligated to save his life, so this isn't much different. He's on board.
CATFIGHT! Archer discovers T'Pol's data transfer, and sends Hoshi and a MACO thug to arrest her. T'Pol, perhaps a Vulcan martial arts expert in this universe too, easily disables the MACO. Hoshi, perhaps an Aikido black belt in this universe too, nearly gets the better of T'Pol. While they fight, they exchange catty remarks about Hoshi's bed hopping. Hoshi says Trip has asked her to give T'Pol some pointers. Meow. In the end, T'Pol knocks Hoshi nearly unconscious. Unfortunately for T'Pol, the MACO rallies just enough to stun her.
Archer interrogates her. Green blood runs down her face, but she's defiant, so to speak, and resigned to her fate. "It may take centuries," she says, "but humanity will pay for its arrogance." Hoshi really, REALLY wants to kill her, and I think Archer is about to let her, but they are interrupted by the red alert klaxons.
[How cool is it to hear the old TOS red alert klaxons again ?]
He's a DOCTOR, not a Saboteur! Phlox is creeping around in engineering, climbing Jeffries tubes. At first, remarkably, I can't remember what this scene reminds me of. Then it comes to me. It reminds me of the scene in 'Mirror, Mirror,' when Dr. McCoy is in engineering, helping Scotty re-route power so the 'good universe' people can beam out of the 'evil universe.' What a neat little homage!
But I digress. Phlox is having a difficult time figuring out how to sabotage Defiant. Soval has to talk him through the procedure from the flagship. Soval has barricaded himself – along with a small band of sympathetic crewmen, including the Andorian and the Orion woman – on the bridge of that ship.
Phlox is almost done, and it's working! Meanwhile, on the bridge of the Defiant, Trip detects a power drain. He heads to engineering to investigate...
Slipping Through His Fingers: All hell is breaking loose for Archer. The Defiant is about to self-destruct. He quickly realizes the source of the treachery, and sends an assault team over to the flagship, but they can't gain access to the bridge. Archer is furious, and even engages in one of his favorite activities, shoving someone out of their chair and taking over for them. Is this the end? Has it all been for nothing?
Trip Saves the Day: Trip catches Phlox leaving the scene in engineering, and knocks him out. In the nick of time, he replaces the necessary components and saves Defiant.
Archer summarily destroys the flagship. I don't know if his assault team made it back. I suppose it doesn't really matter...
Poor Soval. A great goatee, gone to waste...
How Hoshi Wants to Fit In: Falling back on their bed in post-coital bliss, Archer and Hoshi celebrate yet another victory. Hoshi hands Archer a glass of champagne, then reaches for a glass of her own. At this point, Archer can taste the triumph. He doesn't expect any more trouble. "By the time the fleet arrives, the reign of Emperor Jonathon Archer will already have begun!" he proclaims, lying on the bed and pouring the champagne into his mouth. He laughs maniacally!
Then he clutches his chest and falls off the bed in agony. Hoshi feigns concern at first, and rushes to the door to let Mayweather in. Then, catching Archer's eye just as life begins to fade from it, she pulls Mayweather into a steamy embrace.
So much for Emperor Jonathan Archer. Seduced! Betrayed! Poisoned! Turns out, the 'Captain's woman' didn't want to 'fit in' at all. She wanted it all for herself! Bwahahahaha! You go, girl!
The Captain's MAN: It looks like Mayweather is going to be her first 'Captain's Man.' And a fine choice he is, too! Bwahahahaha!
The New EMPRESS: When the Defiant reaches Earth, Hoshi orders Starfleet's immediate surrender. The Admirals are understandably confused. "Where is Archer?" one of them asks, thoroughly perplexed. "And who the hell are you?" She smirks, and says, "You're talking to Empress Sato. Prepare to receive instructions." So there you have it. The Terran Empire will be led into the next century – or at least into the next week – by none other than Hoshi Sato.
And the rest, as they say, is history.
Bringing Back the Joy: There's very little to legitimately admire about these mirror universe folks, so why do I love them so much? I suppose it's because I exist in a reality where people just don't behave this way. It's unseemly. It's wrong. So maybe it's just a little bit refreshing and gratifying to watch these complete caricatures of evil do it. I mean, seriously – don't we ALL sometimes want to shove someone out of a chair? We don't do it because...well, because it would be horrid! But we can watch mirror Archer do it and laugh! And it's okay!
The two episodes aren't perfect. The plot gets convoluted quickly, and sometimes it's difficult to follow where everyone's allegiances lie. There are questions left unanswered – we never find out what happens to T'Pol and Phlox. We don't even know if Reed survives. And they've crammed background information from no less than three TOS episodes in here – 'Mirror, Mirror,' 'The Tholian Web,' and 'Arena,' and the crossover universe from DS9 lurks in our minds as well. We have a TOS era ship with its cheery flashing lights, retro uniforms, and distinctive red alert klaxon and bridge sounds. We have Tholians. We have a Gorn. We have an evil alternate crew. It's a bit too much, really, but I don't care a bit. The entire point of 'In a Mirror, Darkly' seems to be, simply, to have FUN! And Star Trek fun is something I can always get behind.
Retro Novelty: Did the novelty wear off a bit as the two hours progressed? Yes. After a while, I have to admit, I barely noticed the cheery flashing lights anymore. I consider that a good thing, though. As I mentioned in my Part One review, I think that's an indication that the two wildly different eras – and the two wildly different television shows – can coexist peacefully, without seeming too contrived.
The Real Archer and Hoshi Sato: The episode neatly gives our own Enterprise crew its legacy, when the alternate versions of the characters look them up in Defiant's database. There, we learn that a decade from now, Hoshi will invent an important new and improved translator. And Archer...Archer will go down in history as a famous peacemaker and explorer. We could have anticipated these things anyway, but it was a neat way to show it in canon.
The Other Archer: Alternate Archer's recurring vision of our universe's Archer fascinated me. It wasn't even an accurate vision. This was 'the other Archer' as this Archer interpreted him. Taunting him. Out-doing him. Pointing out all of his shortcomings. I thought it was cool.
The Empress: I love it that Hoshi came out on top! I'd much rather think about her swaggering around in the alternate universe than Archer. She's not an admirable woman, by our standards, but she sure is a lot of fun to watch! Emperors and Empresses probably come and go with alarming speed in the Terran Empire, but I hope Hoshi sticks around for a while.
Linda Park was amazing! She's a terrific actress, and it's clear that her talents have been grossly underutilized on Enterprise. She just runs with the opportunities she's given. Her alternate Hoshi was faithful to Forrest, seductive with Archer, catty with T'Pol – and Park made it all seem so natural. I hope she has a long and healthy post-Enterprise career.
I'm going to skip most of the regular review features this week. I've been over most of the stuff I'd have included, and it was, after all, a different reality. All except this feature...
'shipper Watch: I can't skip the 'shipper watch! Since our own Archer and Hoshi have an almost father/daughter – or at least mentor/student – relationship, this isn't a pairing I'd given any serious thought to, but it works in the mirror universe. I liked Alternate Archer best when he was interacting with her. Some of the bedroom scenes went a bit too far, naturally, but I enjoyed most of their relationship. There also seemed to be quite a bit of heat between Archer and T'Pol. Even when he was telling her how much he despised Vulcans, he was circling her like a hawk, deep in her personal space. I think he wanted her. In his own way, he might even have cared for her. He had plenty of opportunities to kill her, yet he never did. He even seemed reluctant to indulge his 'Captain's Woman' and do it for her. Fascinating.
Best Lines:
"The United Federation of Planets?" "More like the United Federation of Fools." (Hoshi and Archer)
"Great men are NOT peacemakers. Great men are conquerors!" (Archer)
"Defeat this Gorn, and you'll finally get the respect you deserve." (Archer, to Archer)
"No doubt there will be a several discreet celebrations should he expire." (Phlox, to T'Pol, regarding the seriously injured Reed)
"The stories are similar, but the characters are weak. With the exception of Shakespeare, of course. His plays were equally grim in both universes." (Phlox, to T'Pol)
"Did you know that in the other universe, Humans and Denobulans are considered equal, as are Vulcans? You don't find this interesting?" "I find it dangerous." (T'Pol and Phlox)
"Don't you see what the Admiral is planning? He's going to present this ship to the Emperor himself. He'll take all the credit, and you'll end up an historical footnote." (Archer, to Archer)
"Their weakness invited our enemies to strike. Their corruption and arrogance have brought the Empire to the brink of defeat." (Archer, to the crew, regarding Starfleet Command)
"It is agreeable to see you again." (Soval, the old smoothie, to T'Pol)
"Do you want to spend the rest of your life serving the Empire?" "I'm too old to become a revolutionary." (T'Pol and Soval)
"I've never been the consort of an Emperor before. Is there anything I need to know?" "I think you've...uh...I think you've got the basics down." (Hoshi and Archer. Ack.)
"I'm surprised you're not exhausted from all the beds you've jumped into lately." "Commander Tucker said I should give you a few pointers in that area." (T'Pol and Hoshi. Meow.)
"The Federation is our future." "You're mistaking our universe for someone else's." (T'Pol and Archer)
"There's no point in continuing. She's not going to talk. We should kill her." "You've been looking forward to that for a while now, haven't you?" (Hoshi and Archer, regarding T'Pol)
"They're loyal to the Emperor. They don't really care who it is." (Archer, to Hoshi – famous last words!)
"You're speaking to Empress Sato. Prepare to receive instructions." (Hoshi, to Starfleet Command. Bwahaha!)
Rating: 9.5/10, for the sheer fun of it all!
Next Week: SOB! Only three more episodes to go! Back on Earth, a xenophobic politician doesn't like the look of Trip and T'Pol's baby. Wait. Trip and T'Pol's BABY? Stay tuned...
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