S07.E12: The Emporor's New Cloak

[iMonrey]

Quote

Quark and Rom cross into the alternate universe to rescue Grand Nagus Zek.

Okay. Another "alternate universe" episode, and a throw-away at that, halfway through the final season. And I had already complained last season that they went to the "alternate universe" well a little too often on this show.

The thing that really stuck out to me was that suddenly the alternate universe has an alternate Ezri. Convenient! Now, it's perfectly fine to suppose that this alternate universe somehow mirrors our own so alternate Jadzia died the same time our Jadzia did, and alternate Ezri showed up at the same time our Ezri did. Except - apparently not. This episode gave every indication that alternate Ezri had been around for quite awhile. Also, alternate Bariel did not die when ours did. So not every death is mirrored in the alternate universe, and there's no reason alternate Jadzia shouldn't still be around. 

Ultimate, the episode sort of highlighted the problem of the recast in a way it probably didn't mean to.

[John Potts]

12 hours ago, iMonrey said:

The thing that really stuck out to me was that suddenly the alternate universe has an alternate Ezri. Convenient! Now, it's perfectly fine to suppose that this alternate universe somehow mirrors our own so alternate Jadzia died the same time our Jadzia did, and alternate Ezri showed up at the same time our Ezri did.

That's an ongoing problem with the Mirror Universe - we're supposed to care about it, but it's clear that TPTB regard the characters as completely disposable (they've already killed their Quark, Rom, Odo and Sisko - probably a few others I'm forgetting too). And once the writing makes it clear that they don't care about the fates of their characters, it's hard to convince the viewers to care either. Which is a shame, because I thought the initial conceit of having Spock's reforms destroying the Terran Empire was an interesting idea of showing the unintended consequences of the most noble ideas ("Good intentions oft go astray"), but TPTB have shown they see the Mirror Universe as a cheap gimmick so they can kill off characters - and Fanservice, gotta get those lesbian kisses in!

I've read somewhere that Ezri is never referred to as "Dax" in this episode (can't confirm - that would require me to rewatch it!) so it's possible alt-Jadzia IS still alive, she just "happened" not to be in this episode. Memory Alpha refers to the Ezri from this episode as Ezri Tigan, so she may not have have received the Dax Symbiont.

[iMonrey]

She does tell Quark that her name is not Dax. 

My other issue is that the regularity with which Mirror Universe characters hop on over to our own makes it seem like the imminent danger is not so much from the Dominion as it is from the Mirror Universe. That's where the real threat of invasion seems to lie.

[Maverick]

 The entire mirror universe is a problem from this perspective, all the way back to the TOS episode.  If this were a truly Independent universe , there's no way events would unfold in a way for the exact people to exist, much less come together in the same place.  You have to a) assume some technobabble reason that these two universes are linked  b) there is some external force consciously influencing events in one or both universes to keep people and places relatively in sync (the whole concept sounds like something a bored Q would dream up) or c) some writer thought it was a neat-o idea and you just have to run with it.   The thing that bugs me the most out of the doppelgangers is Jake.  Although we've seen many people die "early" on both sides (Jennifer dies much earlier in the prime universe), we've never seen any other character explicitly stated as not having a counterpart.   Rather than the dreck that was the last two mirror episodes, I would rather they had tried to come up with some creative explanation for why Jake was an aberration.

 I'm it's as bad as the Dominion, but I agree the mirror universe was clearly a threat given the apparent ease with which the characters could cross over.  You can't tell me at least some of the rebels wouldn't escape to the prime universe to live in relative comfort and luxury and that the savage Alliance members wouldn't want to try to take over the naive inhabitants of the prime universe.    Mirror Kira's  big Rube Goldberg-inspired plan when she crossed over was to get and orb and create a Bajoran religion out of thin air?  Because that makes total sense that an entire planet of people with no religion is going to just start worshiping previously unknown gods with her and Bariel as their religious leader because she has an orb?  M'kay.  Perhaps the the Intendant should stick to middle management and soft core porn and leave the big ideas to others.  

[legaleagle53]

3 minutes ago, Maverick said:

 The entire mirror universe is a problem from this perspective, all the way back to the TOS episode.  If this were a truly Independent universe , there's no way events would unfold in a way for the exact people to exist, much less come together in the same place.  You have to a) assume some technobabble reason that these two universes are linked  b) there is some external force consciously influencing events in one or both universes to keep people and places relatively in sync (the whole concept sounds like something a bored Q would dream up) or c) some writer thought it was a neat-o idea and you just have to run with it.   The thing that bugs me the most out of the doppelgangers is Jake.  Although we've seen many people die "early" on both sides (Jennifer dies much earlier in the prime universe), we've never seen any other character explicitly stated as not having a counterpart.   Rather than the dreck that was the last two mirror episodes, I would rather they had tried to come up with some creative explanation for why Jake was an aberration.

 I'm it's as bad as the Dominion, but I agree the mirror universe was clearly a threat given the apparent ease with which the characters could cross over.  You can't tell me at least some of the rebels wouldn't escape to the prime universe to live in relative comfort and luxury and that the savage Alliance members wouldn't want to try to take over the naive inhabitants of the prime universe.    Mirror Kira's  big Rube Goldberg-inspired plan when she crossed over was to get and orb and create a Bajoran religion out of thin air?  Because that makes total sense that an entire planet of people with no religion is going to just start worshiping previously unknown gods with her and Bariel as their religious leader because she has an orb?  M'kay.  Perhaps the the Intendant should stick to middle management and soft core porn and leave the big ideas to others.  

Just wait until you see the two-part ENT episode "In a Mirror, Darkly."  That pair of episodes (considered two of the best episodes of ENT) sets up the origin of the Mirror Universe (it's apparently always existed as a darker parallel version of our universe side-by-side with ours), and also sets up both the original "Mirror, Mirror" episode and the TOS episode "The Tholian Web."  It may or may not change your opinion of the Mirror Universe.

[Maverick]

Saw them.   Good episodes, but doesn't change my take on the mirror universe.  Even if you supposed the two universes branched at first contact, the events in the mirror universe would not have led to all of the Enterprise crew being born, much less serving together on the same ship.   The mirror universe is silly fun, but unless there is some conscious force that created it with "rules" or is willfully manipulating events, it doesn't make a lot of sense.   It also doesn't make a lot of sense as to why only the "good" species are evil mirrors.  The Klingons and Cardassians are pretty much the same in the mirror universe.  

 In the end, it doesn't have to make a lot of sense if it's fun, but the last two outings on DS9 weren't.  

[iMonrey]

Creatively, the whole concept of the Mirror Universe is one they could have made an entire series out of, if they wanted to devote the necessary attention to it. Using it as a gimmicky plot once in awhile is what makes it problematic, because Starfleet in our world seems to react to it with little more than a shrug. You would think high ranking officers would be alarmed by the possibility that doubles could be taking over their ranks without their even knowing it, and genetic testing would have no way of distinguishing "our" people from theirs. That's a pretty sobering possibility and a prospect you'd think anyone in our Universe would be terrified of. 

[SVNBob]

14 hours ago, iMonrey said:

genetic testing would have no way of distinguishing "our" people from theirs.

True.  But recall "Parallels" from the last season of TNG, with Worf switching between parallel universes.  In the 4th act, (a) Data had determined that (our) Worf was from a different reality because his "quantum signature" did not match with the rest of... everything.

From that, we can assume that the Mirror Universe also has a different quantum signature than the "prime" Trek universe, and that that might be the only way to determine who is from where.

[rmontro]

I guess this is the last mirror universe episode.  Like others, I really can't bring myself to care about the mirror universe, but at least they kill two birds with one stone here by combining it into a Ferengi episode.  

The mirror universe really shouldn't be so easy to get to.  Can you imagine if the Nagus actually opened up trade with this place?  Then consider that if there is one mirror universe, there must be more.  I don't know, the only one I ever really enjoyed was the first TOS episode.  Spock with the beard, awesome.

Here Worf and Garak are played for laughs.  And apparently there is a lot of lesbian sex in the mirror universe.  I guess there's more, but like Rom and Quark, I'm ready to go home.

But they leave one big plot thread dangling - what did Martok do about his missing cloaking device once the Ferengi returned?  Maybe the Nagus was able to buy him a new one and write it off on his taxes.  And since this is probably the last Ferengi episode (?) too, kudos to Wallace Shawn for his portrayal throughout the series, he's a great actor.  Not sure how he got this gig, lol.