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STAR TREK ENTERPRISE: "IN A MIRROR, DARKLY" part 1

 
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Gord Green
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PostPosted: Tue Jan 02, 2018 6:43 pm    Post subject: STAR TREK ENTERPRISE: "IN A MIRROR, DARKLY" part 1 Reply with quote

STAR TREK ENTERPRISE: "IN A MIRROR, DARKLY" part 1 & 2



These were two of my favorite ST:E episodes.
I'm sure all ST fans know what the "Mirror Universe is, but just for those who are not knowlegable on the subject......

The characters in the Mirror Universe are aggressive, mistrustful, and opportunistic in personality.

Whereas the Star Trek universe depicts an optimistic future in which the Earth-based United Federation of Planets values peace, co-operation and exploration, episodes set in the Mirror Universe feature the human-dominated authoritarian Terran Empire which values war, despotism, and conquest instead.




April 22, 2005 original airdate

"In a Mirror, Darkly"

Mirror Archer, Mirror Forrest, and the rest of the crew discover that the USS Defiant, a ship from 100 years in the future of an alternative universe, has travelled to their universe through a rip in space.



All of the crewmembers except Captain Forrest evacuate the ISS Enterprise as it is attacked by Tholians and board the Defiant.

The Enterprise is destroyed, and its surviving crew uses the improved technology of the Defiant to chase away the Tholians. Archer replaces Forrest as captain.



"In a Mirror, Darkly Part II"

The Mirror Enterprise crew find the Defiant littered with the corpses of its former crew who murdered each other due to the effects of Interphase which causes humans to become psychotic. The Tholians use slaves to strip the ship.



The overseer is a Gorn named Slar, who sabotages the Defiant and kills some of the survivors of the ISS Enterprise. Mirror Archer defeats the Gorn, and then his thoughts turn to using the powerful Defiant to take control of the Terran Empire.

However, it is Mirror Hoshi Sato who ultimately threatens to use the Defiant's weapons on the Emperor of the Terran Empire and replace him as Empress of the Empire.
--------------------------------------------

Here are some trivia items from IDMb---

-The opening title sequence of this two-parter features a different title music and some new footage depicting the history of Human warfare and interstellar domination of the Terran Empire.

- The original idea was to feature more episodes inside the Mirror Universe, so that this new title sequence could be reused, had "Enterprise" not been canceled.

-The teaser features archive footage of First Contact (1996). Additional footage of the first contact between humans and Vulcans in the Mirror Universe was shot on traditional film instead of with digital cameras, so that the new footage would blend in seamlessly.


-The USS Defiant in this episode is the same starship that disappeared in the Original Series' episode Star Trek: The Tholian Web (1968).



When mirror Archer and his team board the Defiant, the captain and crew of the ship are found in the exact same positions as they were in 'The Tholian Web'.



-"In a Mirror, Darkly" takes place within the Mirror Universe first seen in Star Trek: Mirror, Mirror (1967). The cast play their mirror counterparts only, making this the first Star Trek episode to not feature any regular characters.



-At the 50th anniversary "Star Trek" convention in Las Vegas in August 2016, fans voted this and Star Trek: Enterprise: In a Mirror, Darkly, Part II (2005) the joint ninth best episode of the "Star Trek" franchise.

-A mirror-universe story for Star Trek: Enterprise was originally conceived as a way of bringing William Shatner into the series' fourth season.

The Mirror Universe of Captain Kirk would have been revealed to have been sent back in time by way of the Tantalus field and ended up being the cause of the split between the two universes.

As he and Paramount were unable to reach an agreement, the plans to have Shatner included in the series were discarded.

-Although small sections of the TOS bridge had been recreated for TNG: "Relics" and DS9: "Trials and Tribble-ations", this is the first time a full three-quarters version of the famous set stood on a Paramount soundstage since 1969.

-This episode contains two main elements from TOS: "The Tholian Web": the starship Defiant (whose fate is made known in this episode) and the Tholians.

In fact, this episode is the first to depict a Tholian "in the flesh" since the 1968 episode, wherein only the head of a Tholian is shown.



The species is revealed in this episode to be six-legged and crystalline in nature.

-Several pieces of equipment on the Defiant bridge, most notably the moving 'Sulu scope' were borrowed from Star Trek fan production Star Trek New Voyages: Phase II (2004).

--------------------

Here are a few reviews of the episode as posted on IDMb.

-"Another Enterprise is traveling in a mirror universe where everything is a great deal different. Zefram Cochrane shot the first Vulcan setting foot on Earth and mankind went the aggressive way.

Today humans have formed the Terran Empire, assimilating many other species, but there's a devastating war with rebels going on.

First officer Jonathan Archer disagrees with a decision Captain Forrest is making. He decides to take matters into his own hands and starts a mutiny.
In command of the Enterprise, Archer sets course for Tholian space.

Reports have shown that the Tholians have captured an Earth ship that might have come from another universe.

Written by Arnoud Tiele (imdb@tiele.nl) "
-------------------

"On 5 April 2063, in Bozeman, Montana of a parallel universe, Zephram Cochrane kills the Vulcans in their first contact.

On 13 May 2155, the humans are part of a dark Empire that uses force and torture to subdue other species and they are near to be defeated by the rebels.



In Enterprise, the First Officer Archer leads a mutiny against Captain Forrest and travels to the Tholian space to take the Earth ship Defiant that has come from the future of another universe and has been captured by the Tholians that intend to use reverse engineering to research the advanced technology and weapons.

In an environment of betrayal and mistrust, Captain Forrest and most of the complement of Enterprise are destroyed in an attack of several Tholian ships. Archer, T'Pol, Trip and a small group try to activate the Defiant to battle against the enemy ships.



"In a Mirror, Darkly: Part I" is a weird episode of Enterprise in a parallel universe where tyranny and betrayal rule.

The characters have basically the opposite behavior of the regular ones and Hoshi surprises with a sexy performance that seems to be inspired in Mata Hari.

The best part of this show is the excellent music score that replaces the annoying and out of context theme of Enterprise .

By Claudio Carvalho"

--------------------

"Back during the runs of "Star Trek: Deep Space 9" and "Star Trek: Voyager", the "Mirror, Mirror" plot from the original "Star Trek" was resurrected again and again.

While I loved the original "Mirror, Mirror", the great evil parallel universe idea was bled dry--with way too many revisitations of the idea.

Fortunately, this idea was only used in this and the following episode...plus the style and look of these shows is amazing.

What do I mean by this? The normal, wimpy intro to "Star Trek: Enterprise" has instead been replaced with a militaristic intro--complete with the symbol of the evil parallel Federation!

When the show begins, the Zefram Cochran first contact scene from "Star Trek: First Contact" is shown and things seem just fine. However, this has been re-edited--and you realize it when Cochran (James Cromwell) opens fire--killing the Vulcan visitors!!

The scene now cuts to the evil Enterprise--complete with most of the same crew from "Star Trek: Enterprise". But, like in "Mirror, Mirror", these folks are evil, conniving and rotten. How rotten! ! See the show and see for yourself!

The show that follows involves Commander Archer taking control of the ship from his captain! And, he then sets the ship on a secret mission into Tholian space. Why? What's all this about anyway?!

This is a mega-cool episode. Sadly, however, it's also one that was filmed AFTER the crew learned that the show was being canceled. Clearly a case of too little too late and this marks one of the better shows...yet only a few episodes later, the series sadly ended." Review by Martin Hafer



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Gord Green
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PostPosted: Tue Jan 02, 2018 8:05 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The second part seemed to end with a cliffhanger, just waiting for more episodes to come!

That was in fact the original idea, there were more episodes in the pipeline and would have come to be if only ST:E hadn't been canceled so abruptly.

Running only five seasons this incarnation missed making the seven season series precedent held by all but the first series.

I think the really interesting thing was the new, revamped opening title sequence which treated the "Mirror" stories almost as a separate series.


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johnnybear
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PostPosted: Sat Jun 16, 2018 9:16 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Four seasons surely?
JB
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Krel.
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PostPosted: Sat Jun 16, 2018 2:56 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I wasn't surprised by the fate of the mirror universe Archer, he wasn't the brightest bulb on the string.

It would have been interesting to see more of the M.U. Kirk, all you saw in TOS was him screaming.

The phaser II used it the show was the Art Asylum toy phaser that was out at the time.

David.
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mach7
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PostPosted: Sat Jun 16, 2018 9:39 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

This was one of the best stories from Enterprise.

I had always thought that the whole bridge set was
loaned from Phase 2. Interesting that it was only
pieces.

I wonder how much it cost to build all the Defiant sets?
The bridge looked good!

I own several AA/DST "props", I'll call them props because
they made it on screen unaltered!

I was upset with Paramount for canceling Enterprise, It was just getting good!
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johnnybear
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PostPosted: Mon Jun 18, 2018 2:38 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

But it had been bad for so many years earlier, Mach!
JB
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Mon Jun 18, 2018 10:53 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

johnnybear wrote:
But it had been bad for so many years earlier, Mach!
JB

I actually like it, JB, although I do have a few complaints.
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Last edited by Bud Brewster on Sat Oct 28, 2023 8:55 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Pow
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PostPosted: Mon Jun 18, 2018 11:09 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

One of the concepts that I enjoyed about ST:TOS was that each star ship had their own unique uniform badges.

In one of the ST movies they changed that idea. Now every star ship copied the Enterprise arrowhead design.

It also was used to represent all of Star Fleet.

Bad idea as it made everything look too homogenized,took away individuality.

In this episode we see the uniform badge from the Defiant when Archer wears a wraparound green tuinic.

Did not care for the design at all.
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Krel
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PostPosted: Mon Jun 18, 2018 11:40 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Pow wrote:
One of the concepts that I enjoyed about ST:TOS was that each star ship had their own unique uniform badges.

In one of the ST movies they changed that idea. Now every star ship copied the Enterprise arrowhead design.

I read recently that the arrow head emblem was intended to be the Star Fleet emblem. For some reason it got changed during the show.

David.
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mach7
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PostPosted: Tue Jun 19, 2018 10:38 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I've never been in the Navy, but having been in the Air Force each squadron has its own patch/logo.

I always liked that idea in TOS. Each ship had its own patch worn on the chest instead of the shoulder. It fosters Camaraderie, a sense of duty to your shipmates, and is a measure of security.
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johnnybear
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PostPosted: Wed Jun 20, 2018 3:22 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

The idea of different badges only came in with the second season of TOS, Mach! The first season episode Court Martial has guys from other ships and down at the Star Base all having the same insignia as Kirk and the rest of the crew!

My wife always tells me that Scott Bakula is really Henry Winkler! I say to her but Bakula is much taller and she asks me if I've ever heard of platform shoes? Laughing
JB
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Sat May 13, 2023 12:13 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

Never argue with your wife, JB. Sad

Just tell her she's right, and that T'Pol is played by Erin Moran, who played Joanie in Happy Days with Captain Fonzie!

The hair is covering her pointed ears in this picture, but they're definitely there.




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Krel
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PostPosted: Sat May 13, 2023 3:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

When the episodes were shown, people criticized the Defiant's rear firing weapons, pointing out that this was never seen in TOS. Someone posted Matt Jefferies original Enterprise drawings showing that the Enterprise was supposed to have rear firing phasers and photon torpedoes. Matt Jefferies designed a lot of things that were never used.

David.
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Sat Oct 28, 2023 4:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

______________________________________________

WWII submarines had stern tubes, so why wouldn't starships have the same capability? It's only "logical".Very Happy

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Krel
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PostPosted: Sat Oct 28, 2023 8:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

In "Star Trek" it was said that there were only 12 Constitution Class starships. Because the Constitution Class was so special, perhaps that is why each ship had it's own badge. The Enterprise being the first of the Constitution Class used the Starfleet emblem, as did the rest of the Starfleet vessels.

It's total B.S., but as good an explanation as any other one you might read.

David.
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