Welcome back Trekkies to Day 3 of Star
Trek Favorites. We are moving over to Season 2 as we have more than
a few intriguing episodes but one concept sticks in many a mind of
viewer, writer and actor. Alternative universes. Yes, worlds
identical to our own but differs due to an event, scenario or lost of
importance. A land where familiar faces but have deviant
personalities or behavior. With the works of Issac Asimov and Ray
Bradbury, this approach to science fiction has been a popular theme
for televison, movies and novelizations. With a little working of a
plot device, these aberrant universes can be so far removed from our
own. This is Mirror, Mirror.
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| Conquering planets works the abs well! |
Beaming up from a planet after a
routine meet and greet Kirk, Scotty, McCoy and Uhura's bio-signatures
are caught in an ion storm scrambling their signals when... they are
shifted to a parallel Enterprise. Gasp! All the people are the
same with the exception they are callous and malicious as it is a
requirement in the Empire. In this universe the Federation of
Planets is actual a devious empire swallowing up systems and galaxies
to dominate over. Kirk finds himself in the exact trade and
negotiations he was in his own universe but with the added issue of
demands of plundering and strip mining the planet or he will bombard
it from orbit. Psst, Kirk save on on photon torpedoes and phaser
banks by using the deflector dish to tractor beam asteroids to the
surface of the planet. Just offering my services, bro.
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| My Beatles wig itches. |
As the crew members try to blend in, a
few key crew members including traitorous Sulu and Chekov attempt a
coup de tat and slay Kirk but he holds his own having to beat up
officers under his command and have them thrown in the brig. The
brig has a sonic device that punishes ear drums with ultrasonic
frequencies probably causes muscle spasms and organ failure if turned
up or prolonged exposure. Dealing with his own sense of morality
against this crew filled with deceit and treachery is beginning to
ware on his senses when he is greeting by the captain's concubine,
Marlena (BarBara Luna of Search for Tomorrow, The Devil at 4 O'
Clock, Ship of Fools and One Life to Live) who immediately
notices the difference between her cold and methodical captain vs
this compassionate man. Marlena warns Kirk that his landing party
needs to be careful because eyes are everywhere. Doppelganger Spock
hypothesizes that the landing party are not his actual crew and seem
to be impostors given Kirk did not put Sulu and Chekov to death for
their insurrection.
Can Kirk, Scotty, McCoy and Uhura make
it back to their home universe before it is too late? Can they
survive in this twisted and warped version of their own universe?
Will they have to adapt to this way of life just to survive?
Some bits of trivia on the episode now.
In the original story outline, Kirk was trapped in the mirror
universe alone and gradually it rejected him kin to an infection but
ultimately this story was dropped like a stone through a wet paper
bag. This is the only episode you hear Scotty call Kirk as Jim.
Written by William Shatner is a trilogy Spectre, Dark Victory And
Preserver of which are all about the mirror universe for the 24th
century around the time of Next Generation.
Because of this concept in question
the Mirror universe has been used in the latter Star Trek series as
in Deep Space Nine and Enterprise both of while well done would not
have been possible without these building blocks to the idea.
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| We are down in groovy town! |
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