Customer Reviews

Star Trek - Deep Space Nine, Episode 66: Through the Looking Glass [VHS]

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For one thing, I love the mirror universe. I wish the series had taken place there instead of the regular universe. Unfortunately though, the writers don't seem to enjoy it that much, otherwise they would've given it much more depth. One wonders why they even took off from the original series episode "Mirror, Mirror" in the first place.
One of the things that really gets me frustrated about the writers is that they start to delve into this alternate universe idea, but then seem to back away because they get cold feet or something. Take the Alliance for example. We can easily sympathize with the Alliance, after all the Terran Empire that existed before it was brutal and ruthless, and enslaved many of their worlds, including Bajor. However, the Alliance is not given the sense of dread and danger a great villain truly deserves. The writers get it right with the Dominion in the regular universe, however the Alliance unfortunately is not granted the same dignity. For instance, at the end of this episode, Kira has Sisko and co. trapped in a corridor on the station. Yet, what happens? Sisko and the rebels easily sneak out the "back" way so to speak, and elude Kira, giving Sisko enough time to activate the station's self-destruct mechanism. Any truly competent military leader would've surrounded Sisko first, before making demands. This is why the Alliance is seen more as being silly rather than a serious threat. The Alliance's weakness is also compounded by the fact that in every mirror universe episode, things always turn out right for the good guys in the end. In "Crossover", Kira and Bashir get away and make it back into the regular universe. In this episode, Jennifer defects and the sensor array is never completed. In "Shattered Mirror" the rebels beat back an Alliance assault on the station, even though Jennifer Sisko dies (Did you really expect her to live anyway?). And in "The Emperor's New Cloak" the Alliance is beaten once and for all (not a very big feat for the rebels mind you, since all they had to do was stop one Alliance ship) when Regent Worf is captured. It seems as if all of the mirror universe episodes were "mini vacations" for the writers, since not a whole lot of thought was put into these shows, which is really disappointing because the story arcs could've been so much better, and there's so much to work with in a concept such as an alternate universe.

Episode title: Through the Looking Glass

Written by: Ira Steven Behr & Robert Hewitt Wolfe

Directed by: Winrich Kolbe

"Through the Looking Glass" is a sequel to the late second season episode "Crossover", and even though the premise seemes to be a bit forced, it has been executed quite talentedly.

The story begins as Sisko is been abducted to the mirror-universe by O'Brien's mirror-counterpart, and is been told that he is to save the wife of his own deceased counterpart from building a sensor array for the Klingon-Cardassian Allince, wich would be the end of Terrans. And on the top of it all, the person Sisko's supposed to get his hands on is the counterpart of HIS dead wife.

Sounds horrible?

Well, fortunately, after the story takes off, the ride is smooth and entertaining, as good dialogue, interesting scenes and settings carry the viewer through the ridiculously grounded story.

We get to see more mirror counterparts of our familiar characters, and even though the story is, as expected, filled with improbable coincidences and action, it still conveys a sence ov intelligent adventure.

In the end, "Through the Looking Glass" is a great deal better it most probably might have been, but it could have been a little better.

The semi-reunion of Sisko and his wife, Jennifer might have had much to offer, and many intriquing aspects of the episode are left unexploited, as adventure and action take all the time.

"Through the Looking Glass" is essentially a nice little vacation of the usual stuff, with nothing profound to it.

Synopsis:

In the sadistic, evil, and brutal mirror universe, Sisko must assume the role of his dead counterpart in order to save the mirror version of his late wife.

Sisko is abducted by a double of O'Brien, who takes him to the mirror universe that Kira and Bashir visited the year before. This O'Brien explains that Sisko's counterpart, the leader of the Terran rebellion against the Klingon/Cardassian Alliance, has been killed. O'Brien wants Sisko to pose as his dead counterpart and convince a Terran scientist with the Alliance to join the rebels. That scientist is Jennifer Sisko, the counterpart of Sisko's late wife. Since she is building a sensor device that will betray the secret location of the rebels, which is in the Badlands, Sisko must convince her to join them before she completes her work or the rebels will have to kill her. Unwilling to watch Jennifer die again, Sisko agrees to intervene. He meets the rebel counterparts of Bashir, Rom, Tuvok from the starship U.S.S. Voyager, and also Dax, who is Sisko's mistress in this universe. Only O'Brien knows that Sisko is an impostor.

Terok Nor, the mirror universe's Deep Space Nine, is ruled by Kira for the Alliance. She tells Jennifer that the bloodshed against the Terrans will end once her device is completed. But later, Kira tortures Terran slaves in the ore processing center with the help of Garak, her chief aide. Then, Kira discovers that Sisko is still alive.

With communicators hidden under their skin, Sisko and O'Brien take a rebel ship to Terok Nor. They are immediately captured and taken to Kira, who sends O'Brien to ore processing with the slaves and takes Sisko to her quarters. Later, Sisko meets Jennifer, who despises him, and without revealing his true identity, apologizes for his past treatment of her, then says that he has come to rescue her.

Sisko tries to convince Jennifer that the Alliance is her real enemy, and plans to kill the rebels once they are found. Sensing he may be winning her confidence, Sisko signals O'Brien. In ore processing, O'Brien receives the signal and causes a malfunction that allows him and the Terrans to escape. Meanwhile, Jennifer agrees to leave with Sisko, they meet O'Brien, then head for a waiting ship.

Before they can escape, however, they are cornered by Kira and her troops. While Kira waits for Sisko to surrender, he slips away and herds his entire group into the ore processing center, where they seal themselves within. When Kira, Garak, and her soldiers finally force their way in, Sisko calmly tells her that he has activated the station's self-destruct sequence, which only he can stop. Kira reluctantly agrees to let Sisko, Jennifer, O'Brien, and the Terrans go free in order to halt the imminent destruction. Sisko and the others return to the rebel encampment, where Jennifer admits to realizing that he's not really her husband. She kisses him goodbye, and Sisko returns to his universe just a bit sadder.

Captain Sisko is attack by Chief O'Brien, at phaser-point, and transported to an alien ship there he it is revealed that he is in the alternate universe and his wife is still alive. The alternate universe Kira is evil, she runs Terok Nor with Garak by her side, together they are planning on making a deadly weapon that will kill all that oppose her, until Captain Sisko emerges, the one man who can put a stop to Kira's plan and be reunited with his wife!

One of the best aspects of mirror universe stories is that it allows for enjoyable "What if" situations, where the good guys can become bad and different powers can dominate the galaxy. In DS9, the alternate universe is one where an alliance between the Klingons and the Cardassians rules with an iron fist and humans are slaves. Kira is the ruthless ruler of Deep Space Nine and Ben Sisko in the alternate universe is the leader of a small rebellion against the alliance.
When the alternate Sisko is killed, the alternate Miles O'Brien moves between the universes and kidnaps the good Sisko. O'Brien is a member of the rebellion and his goal is to recruit the good Sisko in an attempt to convince him to aid the rebellion. In the alternate universe, Sisko's wife Jennifer is a scientist about to perfect a device that will lead to the destruction of the rebellion. Sisko's purpose is to convince Jennifer to join the rebellion and keep her invention out of the hands of the evil alliance. If he is unsuccessful, the rebellion will have no choice other than to kill her.
The great thing about this is that the actors in the series are allowed to express different mannerisms, generally quite contrary to their standard personas. Kira, Garak, Dr. Bashir and even Sisko are all portrayed in different ways, making the episode interesting to watch, independent of the plot itself. Fortunately, that is also interesting, making this one of the better episodes in the series.

This is one of the most compeling and well done Wonderland stories I have ever seen. It reminds me of my childhood.