Star Trek: The Original Series/Recap/S2/E04 Mirror, Mirror
 Trope codification in progress. | |
| A story from Star Trek: The Original Series | |
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| Preceded by: | "The Changeling" |
| Followed by: | "The Apple" |
| Original release date: | October 6, 1967 |
| Central Theme: | |
| Synopsis: | |
The USS Enterprise is in orbit of a planet ruled by the peaceful Halkans. A landing party consisting of Captain Kirk, Doctor McCoy, Lieutenant Uhura and Scotty are on the planet to convince the Halkans to allow the Federation mining rights. The inhabitants of the planet, however, are convinced that Humans Are the Real Monsters, and despite Kirk's assertion that if the answer is "no" then they will simply be on their way without troubling the Halkans further, the aliens remain entirely unconvinced.
The landing party beam back to the Enterprise. But it all goes horribly wrong, and our heroes find themselves Trapped in Another World. In this Alternate Universe there exists not a peaceful confederation of planets, but instead an Evil Empire that slashes and burns its way across the galaxy. The first and most obvious change is that Spock has got a goatee beard; but there are other signs: nearly all the walls of the Enterprise are emblazoned with a logo of a sword through the planet Earth, and there are also agony booths around, used for punishing misbehavior among the crew.
Finally finding a moment to take refuge alone, our four-man crew attempt to figure out what happened. They reason that an ion storm around the planet disrupted the transporter and sent them to a Mirror Universe by accident, swapping them with their own counterparts from this universe. They make a plan to return home, replicating the unique situation that brought them here. But until then they will need to try and blend in as best they can. As for the unsettling thought of what their counterparts are doing, it turns out that Spock back in their own dimension has it under control; their barbaric character was immediately obvious to him and he had them hauled to the brig right away.
In his quarters, Captain Kirk meets Marlena Moreau, who introduces herself as "the Captain's woman". He resists the temptation to Boldly Come, instead subtly pressing her for information. Moreau introduces Kirk to the real source of his evil counterpart's power: the Tantalus field, a device that he stole from an alien planet, and which allows him to evaporate people at the touch of a button. Kirk, naturally, resists the temptation to push it and see what happens.
Our crew put their plan into action. While Lieutenant Uhura distracts Evil Sulu from his security monitoring board, Scotty shorts out the main phaser couplings and siphons power off to the transporter. Kirk, in the meantime, has to deal with an assassination attempt by Evil Chekov, and another possible attempt from Evil Spock. In the sickbay, a fight breaks out between the crew and Evil Sulu's gang of thugs. Marlena Moreau evens the odds by using the Tantalus field to remove Evil Sulu's gang, and our crew triumph. But Evil Spock arrives on the scene. His curiosity about the crew's bizarre behavior since returning from the surface has been piqued, and he performs a Mind Rape on the doctor to get the full story.
Moreau guides Kirk to the transporter room, but then performs a Heel Face Turn, deciding that she would rather come back to the prime universe alongside Kirk. To this end she pulls a phaser on him and starts making demands. Captain Kirk Wouldn't Hit a Girl, but thankfully he's not required to, because Lieutenant Uhura sneaks up behind Moreau and instigates a Designated Girl Fight (which she wins). One further obstacle comes in the form of Evil Spock, who arrives on the scene alongside the crew...
... but he too has performed a Heel Face Turn, and receives An Aesop from Captain Kirk:
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Evil Spock: You must return to your universe. I must have my captain back. I shall operate the transporter. You have two minutes and ten seconds. |
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Evil Spock activates the transporter and sends them home. Back in the prime universe, Captain Kirk goes over the events they have experienced and is then surprised to discover that a new Lieutenant named Marlena Moreau is among his crew. But he stops just short of telling her "And You Were There".
- Agony Beam: Both the Agony Booth and the Agonizer are classic examples.
- Beard of Evil: The Trope Maker and the Trope Namer. Ironically, Mirror Spock is just about the least evil person in the Mirror Universe.
- Bodyguard: The "mirror universe" is a dangerous place to live. One assumes that the security guards assigned as the officers' personal bodyguards are very highly paid, in credits, promotions, or both.
- A Day in the Limelight: For Uhura, along with (Mirror) Sulu and Chekov. Not for nothing is this episode considered one of the show's finest ensemble pieces.
- Designated Girl Fight: Uhura and Marlena. Doubles as a Curb Stomp Battle, as Uhura totally owns Marlena from the word "go".
- Disintegrator Ray: The Tantalus Field.
- The Empire: The Terran Empire, in obvious contrast to The Federation.
- Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: A variation, in that while the crew from our universe can blend in fairly successfully, the Mirror crew who were brought over to the Prime universe were immediately caught.
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Spock: It was far easier for you as civilized man to act as barbarians, than for them as barbarians to act like civilized men. |
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- Evil Twin: Everyone in the Mirror Universe.
- There is a bit of nuance to this though. While the mirror versions are generally debauched and depraved versions of their counterparts, some are similar to their counterparts but for different reasons. Spock is the first officer in both universes due to competence and lack of desire to advance. However, his mirror counterpart refuses to attempt to advance himself for reasons of pragmatism, not loyalty.
- Good Scars, Evil Scars: Mirror Sulu definitely has the 'evil' kind.
- Kirk Summation: Surprisingly, it actually works.
- Klingon Promotion: Apparently the only way promotion happens in the Imperial Starfleet. Mirror Kirk himself was promoted by assassinating Mirror Captain Pike. Mirror Sulu and Mirror Chekov both attempt this maneuver in the episode itself, impressive considering it takes place over a few hours!
- Mirror Universe: Again, the Trope Namer, as well as the Trope Codifier. It's worth noting in-universe, the term itself is never used, it comes from the name of the episode and has been used for some Star Trek novels set in said universe, but the term itself has never been used in the actual known canon.
- Punishment Box: The Agony Booth again.
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