Smiley Says C'mon Over: The Mirror Universe in DS9

[Maverick]

Illogical as it is, I love the mirror universe in DS9. Unfortunately each subsequent episode was weaker than the last leaving us with the tepid Emperor's New Cloak. By that point the mirror characters had been killed or been a bit overused (O'Brien, Kira, etc). DS9 had such a rich cast of supporting characters that they could have done much more with in the MU. I don't hate on Bariel as much as some others, but he wouldn't have been my first pick to show, especially as the focus of the episode. I wanted to see Mirror Dukat, Mirror Wynn, Mirror Martok, even Mirror Opaka.

One of the biggest disappointments of the MU is that they never dealt with the Prophets or the Dominion. Mirror Odo existed (and was tragically killed too soon) so there's a wormhole in the MU. The Alliance would surely tried to lay claim to the wormhole once they knew it existed; it would have been of far more value than playing games with the Ferengi for a cloaking device. And I always assumed the Mirror Dominion would be essentially the MU version of the Federation, which would have been interesting to see.

I also would have liked more of the Rebels with more Starfleet cameos like Tuvok. Mirror Torres would be interesting, especially given the politics of the MU. Mirror Crusher, Mirror Eddington, etc would have been interesting.

One peeve of the MU is the bisexuality. I don't have a problem with it and it was interesting for Kira. But the Leeta, and later Ezri had mirror versions that are tarted up bisexuals. Is every hot chick in the MU supposed to be bi? Why were none of the guys bi?

[John Potts]

I definitely agree that the Mirror Universe showed a steep downward arc over the episodes (rather like the Borg on Voyager), though the thing that always bothered me was that the same cast of characters always showed up. Now on a meta level, I can accept that has to happen (they have the actors available, so they're going to use them and not bring in a whole new crowd) but given the fact that the death rate in the MU is WAY higher (Odo, Quark, Sisko and O'Brien's counterparts all die at some point) and yet the casts are always the same on both sides. Mirror Dax even changed hosts at the same time!

 

But more than that, the whole takeover of DS9 makes no sense. In "our" Universe, DS9 is maintained by the Federation (and even they had to abandon it to the Dominion at one point) and the Defiant was built at Utopia Plenetia (I think). It beggars belief that even "Smiley" could construct a warship out of the resources they had available "On station", yet somehow he managed it And why the hell are the rebels holding the station anyway? Insurgencies cannot afford to stay in one place because that just encourages the enemy to bring the hammer down on all of them at once (which they did do - their opponents were just incompetent). But if the Alliance was so incompetent as to lose their station to a bunch of unducated miners, how have they maintained their empire for so long? The rebels should be more like the Maquis, hitting and running, not occupying space stations they shouldn't be able to hold! The whole thing just falls apart if you think about it too hard.

 

That said, I did like the Mirror Universe (at least up to Broken Mirror) but it does take an ever bigger crane to suspend my disbelief!

 

Maverick Is every hot chick in the MU supposed to be bi? Why were none of the guys bi?

 

Because everyone knows Girl on Girl is HAWT! but guy on guy is just icky? And by "Everyone" I mean TPTB at Paramount.

[legaleagle53]

And I always assumed the Mirror Dominion would be essentially the MU version of the Federation, which would have been interesting to see.

 

Actually, no.  The MU counterpart to the Federation was the defunct Terran Empire that was introduced in the original series episode "Mirror, Mirror" and the mid-22nd-Century origin of which was revealed in the two-part Enterprise episode "Through a Glass, Darkly."  As Intendent Kira explained, Kirk's attempt to encourage humanitarian reforms in the Empire of his time backfired spectacularly because the reforms so badly weakened the Empire that by the Mirror 24th Century it was easy for the Alliance to destroy it.  Thus, there is no true MU counterpart to the Federation  by the time that Kira and O'Brien encounter that Universe; it had already ceased to exist long before then, and the human rebels are all that are left of it.

Edited October 4, 2014 by legaleagle53

[Maverick]

 I didn't mean counterpart in that sense.  What I meant is that in the MU, the Federation is a tyrannical, violent empire so the MU version of the Dominion should be a bunch of different peaceful, alien races working together of their own accord.

[blueray]

I liked the mirror universe but it was kind of over played by the end. I could have done without Quark and Rom going there.

 

I like how all the characters are so much different then "our" counter part except for O'Brian. Who's awesome in both universes.

[Meushell]

I enjoyed them as well, but they did get weaker with each episode. Expanding on it and showing more characters might have helped. Mirror Female Changeling would have been interesting.

Mirror Kira was the only bisexuality that bugged me. Her reaction to Kira was supposed to be a "so in love with herself, and now she has a double!" issue. I liked Mirror Ezri/ Mirror Leeta. I would have liked Garak to be awesome in both universe and for there to be Mirror Garak/Mirror Bashir (since we couldn't have Garak/Bashir).

I don't think Dax changed hosts on the same time. Both Jadzias died. Since Ezri said she wasn't Dax, I got the impression that Mirror Dax died with Mirror Jadzia.

I do pity the Ferengi in every crossover.

[ShadowDenizen]

Needless to say, (as you can see) there are/will be spoilers aplenty in this thread!!

[blueray]

Needless to say, (as you can see) there are/will be spoilers aplenty in this thread!!

Wait were we not suppose to talk about all the crossover episodes?

[ShadowDenizen]

Nope, you're fine!

That's what this thread was created for!  (Sorry if I confused you!) :)

 

Just an friendly FYI for those who haven't wached the whole seiries (or at least the crossover storyline!), if they don't want to be spoiled!

Edited October 7, 2014 by ShadowDenizen

[legaleagle53]

I would have a mod tag this thread to reflect the potential for spoilers, then.  Otherwise, we'll have to use spoiler tags, and that tends to kill the buzz just a tad.

[Maverick]

 Are this some special rules for this forum?  If so, the Mods need to put up a pinned post about it.  It's just odd to have to worry about what you say where and spoiler tag for a show that's been off the air for 15 years.  

[HalcyonDays]

legaleagle53 and Maverick - you are absolutely correct. The show has been off the air for over 15 years so it would make sense to simply tag this entire thread as containing spoilers. I'll discuss with the Lead moderator (Chip) and we'll let you know.

 

ETA: Okay, so this entire thread will contain spoilers - i.e. please no spoiler tags in here. The show has been long over. Anyone who doesn't want to know about what happens in the Mirror Universe should stay outta here!

 

Also, no special rules for posting here, except the usual ones that apply all over the place.

[Locutus]

Emperor's Cloak also was one big nitpik. Cloaks were seen in earlier mirror episodes.

[Chaos Theory]

I liked the mirror universe episodes. They got increasingly nitpicky but it was fun to learn about Smileys progress.

[VCRTracking]

I just love how much fun Nana Visitor is clearly having in these episodes as Intendant Kira. Trying to seduce your doppleganger? Wow.