Interesting review and I pretty much agree with your rankings. One thing you left out (unless I missed it) is that the Enterprise mirror episodes are the only ones that take place _entirely_ within the mirror universe, and there's _no_ crossover with the prime universe. I thought that was a unique approach and helped to elevate those episodes.
Maisie Summers 100% agreed, I loved that, it felt like a cool and refreshing take (though technically the U.S.S. Defiant did lead to at least a nominal prime universe connection, so it at least felt like it had some narrative momentum)
It's funny how people can have completely opposite reactions to the same thing. This was actually exactly the reason I deeply dislike the Enterprise mirror universe episodes, despite really liking Enterprise as a series in general. This was because the Enterprise mirror universe episodes don't have any impact on the prime universe at all. I prefer when the mirror universe acts as a mirror to the prime universe, and by extension, our own. But since it was just mirror universe characters, I didn't care what happened to any of them. I didn't even like any of them since they're horrible people, so it was a slog to spend two whole episodes with them. Jessie makes some good points about them showing what would have happened if First Contact went differently, but ultimately it was a message that was completely lost on those characters. Also, since I already kinda feel like I live in the mirror universe sometimes, it's not a place I enjoy without any good prime universe characters to act as a filter for me. Still, I'm really enjoying all these thoughts and reviews on Star Trek even when I disagree. Thank you, Jessie, for providing so much great content!
Andrew J. Robinson said he hated playing mirror Garak because he said the mirror character had no nuance/subtext. Also no bi-ness so mirror Garak didn't really do anything for me either
YES! I was just gonna say something like that. None of the other shows put together an ENTIRE VISUAL TIMELINE of the alternate Federation for the theme song, and just plonked you straight into it without any warmup. That intro was BADASS and I loved it from the second I realised what it was. :D
Personally one of my favourite mirror universe stories wasn't even on screen...it was in a book. Weirdly enough, Next Gen of all shows NEVER got a mirror episode. At all. So you have to look to the novels to find absolutely _terrifying_ Psi-Cop Troi as the mind-reading enforcer of the Enterprise D, for example... ("Dark Mirror". It wasn't perfect, but it _was_ interesting.)
If they had made that an episode, Marina Sirtis would have chewed the scenery so hard, they would have had to rebuild the entire set. The overacting, mustache twirling and backstabing is the best part of mirror universe episodes.
Bad gurl Kira has the boudacious boot-ay and the evil pettiness of someone who has a little power entrusted to them that gets to their head. However, Georgiou is a freaking emperor, like if Margaret thatcher had actual power and was actually hot. Decisions... EDIT: they both have the leathery BDSM thing going on, which only makes things harder (no pun intended) Mirror Ensign Sato is too backstabby for my taste, instant turn off.
@@pathevermore3683 The Erotic of power my guy, the erotic of power. It's like, "Fine! want me to talk? Make her interrogate me and I'll spill every single one of them beans, everything, even Michael's favourite dessert, every, thing.
You know what I thought when I saw Stamets kissing his partner? It wasnt "GAYAGENDA!!!" It was more like, "oh look, Sleeping beauty in space, but instead of a sleeping spell it's just a bad shrooms trip".
i know Im asking randomly but does anybody know a method to get back into an Instagram account..? I somehow lost my account password. I love any tips you can offer me.
@Brentley Sawyer Thanks for your reply. I got to the site thru google and I'm waiting for the hacking stuff atm. Takes a while so I will get back to you later when my account password hopefully is recovered.
I love Mirror Mirror, and I really enjoyed the Enterprise two-parter. The rest I didn't really like, but didn't hate either. That stupid Discovery twist 'we are all genetically bad at light' was the stupidest thing since Threshold, however. They could've said that the two of them were affected by an assassination attempt. It's that easy to fix! Changing every human in the whole universe for one twist. 我的天啊!
The one thing "The Emperor's New Cloak" has which was(prior to Discovery) unique is that it contains possibly the only queer representation in the franchise that does not conform to the Hays code. At the end, when Mirror!Ezri and Mirror!Leeta are flirting and go off together with their intention to bone displayed in flashing neon above their heads, they are both on the side of the heroes(well, the side with the palest shade of grey the Mirrorverse has to offer), and there is nothing to suggest that they or their fledgling relationship are doomed. So their sexuality is neither a signifier of evil or tragedy. Objectively, that's not much. You don't get a cookie for not portraying something neutral as evil. But it was a first, and to my mind, that moment paved the way for the way Discovery handles it - it just happens to be that in the Mirrorverse, sexuality is more diverse, and homophobia doesn't exist. It doesn't mean anything, it's just how it is. Mirrorverse humans have hyper photosensitive eyes and are mostly pansexual. Also I think Regent Worf deserves a mention for being the only character to implicitly acknowledge the possibility of one male character being attracted to another male character, by sneering at Garak that he wasn't his type. Again, it's not much, but if it was something that went without saying - because no man would be his type - he wouldn't have said it. And back to "The Emperor's New Cloak", he seemed pretty receptive to the idea of pegging, because what else could Intendant Kira have been talking about when the scene cut in on her saying "-some men find it very stimulating."?
I love the flashy uniforms in the mirror universe. Especially how they are tailored to each individual. I love how they come across in discovery. I really hated that the empire fell by the time of DS9. Those uniforms would have been bad ass.
It's why I never liked the DS9 mirror episodes really, it felt like they watered down the best parts of it. Also they did it way too much. In my opinion the Mirror Universe is something a Trek show should explore once or twice in their entire run. If you do it too much it just makes the "mirror" universe feel like it's actually part of the prime one. Discovery was starting the feel the same way, and I hope after Georgio's departure we won't see it ever again in that series. I love the Mirror universe and want to see it, but I know too much of a good thing will just make it bad.
I think I would have included the Star trek Voyager episode where the copy of the doctor ends up being activated in a distant future and is forced to set the record straight about voyagers past interaction with the species that woke him. Even though it wasn't a proper mirror universe episode it certainly was an interesting similar kind of story. (I wonder why the writers didn't use the proper mirror universe mythos in that episode...?)
"Mirror, Mirror" should have been number one. It has the fun of "In a Mirror Darkly" with the substance of "Crossover". That's said, I never thought of "In a Mirror Darkly" in those terms. Good job!
"Oh god, are we in the mirror universe?" I've been asking that question since 2016 . . . I personally didn't like Enterprise, but for me the mirror universe episodes were a highlight, the best episodes on the show. My favourite Trek, by far, is DS9, but I hated the mirror universe episodes apart from Crossover. Crossover was a really good episode, easily in my top 10 DS9, but most of the rest are silly unwatchable crap for me. I can see why the writers went back to that well after writing something as great as Crossover, but most of the rest did not work at all.
Love your ranking! DEFINITELY agree about the top episode and bottom episode (sorry, beloved DS9. "Resurrection" just wasn't great). I do rank "Emperor's New Cloak" a lot higher, because the humor is just SO funny to me, and I love Mirror Ezri a lot. Also, your point about how we could be the Mirror Universe... so scarily true!
Couldn't help thinking about the parallels with the parallel Buffyverse, in which Cordelia wishes that "Buffy never came to Sunnydale". Two of my favorite episodes. One deeply tragic, the other darkly, brilliantly comedic.
I completely agree with the top three because they were the ones that I remember most. The most memorable are the best. In a Mirror, Darkly was an absolute masterpiece, one of, if not the, best two-part episodes in Star Trek history.
that differentiation in "how we get here" is indeed beautifully well played in ENT. in fact, the idea might deserve distinction over OS positing the general concept.
Enterprise changed intro for Mirror episode. something, other show do very rarely. different intro sets different mood for episode. it adds to the experience. after the intro with tanks and explosions You know: it will be Dark. and that's after Archer's way thru The Expanse.
subscribed. I loved The Next Genration and Enterprise the most cause that's what I watched growing up. Forced to watch due tomy family, but still enjoyed enough. Enough to go back to it and many other iterations when I got older. And doing so again currently. It's nice to have a channel like this to indulge my fun in since I didn't really do too much of that in my younger years
I read a book when I was a teenager called The Same Place but Different, a wild YA fantasy novel in which kids are replaced by their fae dopplegangers and the way you find out a doppleganger is they are literally the mirror image of a person. If you're right-handed, your doppleganger will be left-handed. You part your hair on the right, your doppleganger will part on the left. Star Trek decided at some point that beards served the same purpose. lol
Late to the party I know... I love what In A Mirror Darkly indirectly tells us about the Terans. They've got a 200 year jump start on technology... and because they're so dysfunctional they just stagnate. It's also interesting when we contrast The Terran Empire to the Confederation from Picard. The Confederation is much more successful than the Terrans because, bad as they are, they're still LESS evil. It gets at the theme that evil is self destructive. I've also got some headcanons. Mostly that the big difference between humans and terrans is they've got a tweaked fight/flight response. As the meme goes, "But I'm a flightless bird." Also that Spock, while the rot was too deep for him to reform the Empire entirely and they lost Earth, managed to hold on to Vulcan and other imperial territory - like the Eastern Roman Empire didn't fall.
I finished s1 of Discovery yesterday and I definitely agree about Culber's death. I'm glad I knew about it in advance. I loved how Discovery and DS9 were very creative with the mirror universe. Especially Discovery. But, among the hints it dropped about Lorca, his sensitivity to light is a bit questionable for me. When I first saw him, my immediate reaction was to be happy to see a character who has a a sensitivity to light that is even worse than mine, but he was so shady (no light pun intended) a few moments later that that I thought "What? And he is so suspicious?", so, while I'm relieved he isn't an antagonist who has light sensitivity, it did seem that way. Though I might be the only one who feels uncomfortable with him lying about having light sensitivity, I tried googling it and couldn't find anything (the closest I found was TvTropes mentioning the Weakened by the Light trope)
I've historically never cared for Mirror Universe episodes. Especially the ones IN DS9 They're just so hokey. But I actually loved what they did with them in Disco. That actually got me, and I was like oh okay. I see what you've done here
Jessie Gender, Great reflection on my Favorite Topic in Star Trek apart from Kahn !! And I do agree with you about Enterprise. Their take on the Mirror Universe was the best apart from the original. And next to that for me is Discovery's take on the Mirror Universe. The Deep Space 9 versions never grabbed my attention.
I actually quite liked the fact that Sisko sleeps with Mirror Jadzia and there wasn't any equivocation about it for a few reasons. First, it was Ben's first sexual encounter since losing his wife (as far as we know) and that it took place during an episode where he'll literally get to see her alive again makes it a very complex situation. As the whole conceit of the episode was designed to put Ben through the emotional wringer, I think the writers handled it pretty well by adding the additional wrinkle that Mirror-Ben and Mirror-Jadzia were doing the old "horizontal monster mash" so Ben had to do the same. If it was in a more modern setting, or even in another franchise, it would have come across as exploitative, regardless of the intentions behind it. But because of the work done by DS9 to establish the nature of the world they're living in and the characters we're dealing with, I think it works. Plus, Mirror Jadzia's reaction to it is totally the response that should be expected of someone who doesn't know Ben like we do.
12. The Wolf Inside (alright) 11. Vaulting Ambition (still alright) 10. Terra Firma (Good) 9. What's Past is Prologue (Good) 8. Despite Yourself (Great Reintroduction) 7. Resurrection (Fun, as far as I remember) 6. Through the Looking Glass (Mirror Jadzia keeps this so high) 5. The Emperor's New Cloak (a lot of Fun) 4. Shattered Mirror (Great) 3. Crossover (Great) 2. In A Mirror, Darkly (Fantastic) 1. Mirror, Mirror (it's the original you might say. yeah I might've stolen this from Doctor Who) The Mirror Universe might return in Picard Season 2! I am not counting I, Excretus, The Tholian Web, and Into the Forest I Go as Mirror Universe Episodes, because they only shortly appear in there, if at all.
oh my god, I know I'm late to the party with this comment, but as a certified non-fan of the mirror universe, I came into this video mostly just to see where you ranked in a mirror darkly, since it's the one mirror universe ep I actually like. honestly, the further into this video I got, the more excited I got about how high it was being ranked, and I actually started yelling a little the moment I realized you ranked it first!!!
While ENT: IAMD is a wonderful mirror episode, it's primarily a fun fan wank. Which is fine, just like DS9: Trails and Tribbleations was, so IMO TOS's Mirror, mirror should be #1 for the ending alone.
I know you did this years ago BUT for an Enterprise lover--can we give some love to the way they twisted the theme at the beginning?? I thought it was so cool and a lot of fun too.
While Enterprise isn't my favourite Star Trek series (although I do quite like it!), it's Mirror Universe two-parter is by far my favourite Mirror Universe episode (and it's also my favourite Enterprise episode).
21:49 yeah that brought the episode down a lot for me :[ this may seem kinda silly, but every recap at the beginning of the episodes following Despite Yourself i learned to start hiding under a blanket, or cover my eyes, because they just *kept on* playing that scene (which i understand, is important to have in recaps) and im not very good with violence anyway, so seeing that over and over again was tough for multiple reasons.
I love that you said Doctor Culber's development after his death didn't justify him dying, because I felt that SO MUCH. Being gay myself, I loved that STD included the first openly gay couple (even if I'm not a huge fan of STD), and when Culber died... I felt so cheated. I was excited to see him come back in the last season, but I felt the same as you, that when he went through wasn't necessarily justifying of his death in the first place, but that's also where I think STD fails miserably, I don't think it spends as much time on character development as it does on plot, and going forward I think character development should be the driving force of the show. ALSO, KIRA. Incredible, one of the best performances in Star Trek, I mean I'm biased towards DS9, because it's my favourite of the Star Trek's, but Nana Visitor's portrayal of Intendent Kira was so riveting to watch. ALSO ALSO, I was so happy to see Hoshi become Empress at the end of ENT. I always liked Hoshi, but felt she was underutilized, and seeing her outwit her way to the top made me so happy, haha.
Working my way through DS9, I have not enjoyed any of the mirror universe episodes except maybe the one with Quark and Rom. A big factor for me is just how much I dislike mirror Kira and how’s she’s written. I appreciate how you explained why you enjoy that character though which while I can’t say it works for me, makes more sense as to why they kept going back to this premise
I actually interpreted universe Mirror Ezri as being gay rather than bi (as Mirror Brunt said, "I'm not her type"), which more than anything else made me wonder if being joined would affect a Trill's sexuality. I don't think Mirror Ezri's sexuality was handled well by any means, but I do still wonder about that.
That last mirror universe episode of DS9 tho.. Vic Fontaine?? Alive? Really?? Also the 'every woman is bisexual in the mirror universe' theme is sooooo tired.
my ranking def has every disc ep at the bottom, michelle yeoh as the emperor aside as an obv gem (and tilly masquerading as killy). [frankly, disc was so dark, that a cpl of ppl i watched it with were legit confused about which bits were mirror (I helped explain but frankly couldn't blame them). not to mention the total bs where they went "haha! we gave lorca a tell... which was not a thing before. and we retcon'd later bc it was stupid. moving on, no one saw that..."] OS next up, enterprise next, and every DS9 mirror ep objectively at the top.
How about a what if scenario. What if in Star Trek Enterprise, instead of Captain Archer and his crew commanding the NX-01, what if they had commanded the NCC-1701 found in the original series ? Now, if that had happened, what ship would Captain Kirk command instead ?
Jesse I loved your list and I'm glad somebody did this is probably one of my favorite aspects of Star Trek is the Mirror Universe. It's so interesting to flip everything that you know. I still say mirror mirror is my favorite Star Trek episode of all time of any Star Trek. But I am really glad they didn't do a mirror universe and next-generation for one thing they needed to establish their own show and not redo the original series which they did a couple of episodes like and they didn't particularly work well. I thought it was a great idea to bring it back in Deep Space Nine but they almost got to the point and I say almost that they overused I love the way Nana Visitor gets to completely let loose and you see just how great an actress she is. Enterprise in a mirror Darkly was mind-blowing so great. I wish they'd given that show one more season cuz they were just starting to hit their stride. Jesse I don't know if you read any of the books but there is some great books about the Mirror Universe and of course they're not canon and they don't follow but one of the best ones is where it shows the aftermath after Kirk left and how we ended up where we were in Deep Space Nine and how the Terran Empire crumbled the really good read like I said not canon but still. Discovery took it to another level I mean they were just able to flat-out show you one of the coolest versions of the Mirror Universe ever. It ain't a lot of the books it makes it clear that there more than one Universe where the Terran Empire exist that's why they could all be a little bit different in some way and give the writers kind of an out if they want to change something. Another great video
Rinehardt 68 thanks for the amazing kind words! Ive read some of the books and comics on the mirror universe. Prob my favorite are the Shatnerverse MU trilogy starting with Spectre and the Mirror Broken comics!
I for the most part agree with you on your list. I would have added (although not the same parallel universe) the three Kelvin movies should be considered. Also tha aliens in the Enterprise episode were Tholens not Gorn. On a side note someone mentioned in a Facebook group, what do you think the Borg are like in the mirror universe?
Mirror, mirror is #1 for the ending. IAMD is a close second. Only one Ds9 mirror episode is worth a crappy (1st one). All of Discovery mirror stuff was awesome.
I too love parallel universes (I wish Doctor Who had done more with that - I wonder what a Doctor Who-Mirror Universe would look like...) so I enjoyed the Mirror-Universe episodes very much. I too wished that Lorca would have been more complex once his true identity is revealed and then I wish we could have seen the good Lorca. Since you mentioned Seasons 3 and 4 of Star Trek Enterprise (which I also loved! :) ), could you do a Video explaining why you love this series? :D Especially since many People don't seem to like it.
Luca Schlichte for sure! I was planning on doing a video on the Xindi Arc at some point in the near future, and I’ll prob do one on Enterprise as a whole once I get through a rewatch in the coming months
Scott Bakula is such a good guy I could never buy his portrayl of the evil mirror Archer honestly, but I still think the ENT episodes are the best Mirror ones.
havent even played the video yet , all i did was look at that mirror universe "beard" XD and i literally laughed out loud . welp everyone in house is awake now. great vid ^_^
Enterprise definitely had the best mirror universe as no crossover, a different opening, and it makes sense that all the characters would still exist. All the other ones are silly as it seems unlikely the same sperm and eggs would meet up.
Like your review Jess. However, during 20:00 you made a sort of "slight" against anti-Discovery trek fans (air quotes)--and the look away. Yep, we exist--I say it now and loud ST: Discovery is LOUSY! It simply doesn't fit, universe-wise, visually, techno wise. etc. Just one guy's opinion (well, not really one guy)..LOL! Keep up the good work! I am glad you're a Enterprise fan--that show was slightly underrated imo.
I've always considered Discovery an unusally well-made, high-budget FAN Star Trek project. ...I'm a lot happier that way. I mean, seriously, it just doesn't feel canon. Mainly because of the weird Klingons, but...yeah it just feels like fanfic. Or if I'm being generous, "an alternate universe". I mean if the Abrams' Trek movies can be that...
Hey Jessie great job and thank you. Please please please add the fairest of them all even tho it not Canon. Should be That Star Trek continues. There was another episode I liked from the Farragut . Check that out too. It not about Canon it about where will Star Trek takes us next. Something Leonard nimoy said. I agree
Interesting review and I pretty much agree with your rankings.
One thing you left out (unless I missed it) is that the Enterprise mirror episodes are the only ones that take place _entirely_ within the mirror universe, and there's _no_ crossover with the prime universe. I thought that was a unique approach and helped to elevate those episodes.
Maisie Summers 100% agreed, I loved that, it felt like a cool and refreshing take (though technically the U.S.S. Defiant did lead to at least a nominal prime universe connection, so it at least felt like it had some narrative momentum)
It's funny how people can have completely opposite reactions to the same thing. This was actually exactly the reason I deeply dislike the Enterprise mirror universe episodes, despite really liking Enterprise as a series in general. This was because the Enterprise mirror universe episodes don't have any impact on the prime universe at all. I prefer when the mirror universe acts as a mirror to the prime universe, and by extension, our own. But since it was just mirror universe characters, I didn't care what happened to any of them. I didn't even like any of them since they're horrible people, so it was a slog to spend two whole episodes with them. Jessie makes some good points about them showing what would have happened if First Contact went differently, but ultimately it was a message that was completely lost on those characters. Also, since I already kinda feel like I live in the mirror universe sometimes, it's not a place I enjoy without any good prime universe characters to act as a filter for me. Still, I'm really enjoying all these thoughts and reviews on Star Trek even when I disagree. Thank you, Jessie, for providing so much great content!
Andrew J. Robinson said he hated playing mirror Garak because he said the mirror character had no nuance/subtext. Also no bi-ness so mirror Garak didn't really do anything for me either
I really loved the intro to the Enterprise Mirror stories.
Thomas Kirkness-Little can’t believe I forgot to talk about that more in-depth! Those intros were fantastic.
YES! I was just gonna say something like that. None of the other shows put together an ENTIRE VISUAL TIMELINE of the alternate Federation for the theme song, and just plonked you straight into it without any warmup. That intro was BADASS and I loved it from the second I realised what it was. :D
Personally one of my favourite mirror universe stories wasn't even on screen...it was in a book. Weirdly enough, Next Gen of all shows NEVER got a mirror episode. At all. So you have to look to the novels to find absolutely _terrifying_ Psi-Cop Troi as the mind-reading enforcer of the Enterprise D, for example...
("Dark Mirror". It wasn't perfect, but it _was_ interesting.)
Yeah, she was an amazing antagonist!
If they had made that an episode, Marina Sirtis would have chewed the scenery so hard, they would have had to rebuild the entire set. The overacting, mustache twirling and backstabing is the best part of mirror universe episodes.
Oh damn I dunno....bad sexy girl Kira versus bad sexy girl Hoshi is a HARD choice...
Let them fight it out. We can sit back, watch, and eat popcorn.
Bad gurl Kira has the boudacious boot-ay and the evil pettiness of someone who has a little power entrusted to them that gets to their head.
However, Georgiou is a freaking emperor, like if Margaret thatcher had actual power and was actually hot.
Decisions... EDIT: they both have the leathery BDSM thing going on, which only makes things harder (no pun intended)
Mirror Ensign Sato is too backstabby for my taste, instant turn off.
I was thinking of Empress Georgiou. My stance on Sato is still the same.
@@granudisimo i am right there with you. skin is nice, but the competence and grace of the empress makes her THE HOTTEST mirror universe character.
@@pathevermore3683 The Erotic of power my guy, the erotic of power.
It's like, "Fine! want me to talk? Make her interrogate me and I'll spill every single one of them beans, everything, even Michael's favourite dessert, every, thing.
I really don't understand how your channel isn't at least as big as Steve Shive's. You're so good.
This is one of my favorite channels. Steve's is as well.
You know what I thought when I saw Stamets kissing his partner?
It wasnt "GAYAGENDA!!!"
It was more like, "oh look, Sleeping beauty in space, but instead of a sleeping spell it's just a bad shrooms trip".
I maintain if you're bisexual in the Mirror Universe, you must be bi in the Prime Universe.
This made my day!!!!!! (Also loving the evil beard)
Enterprise wasn't the best Trek series but they had the BEST Mirror universe episodes.
To be honest I forgot enterprise had some mirror episodes, I havnt watched enterprise since it was airing on tv lol
They really took the mustache twirling and backstabbing to a whole new level. And the shows openning sequence was great.
i know Im asking randomly but does anybody know a method to get back into an Instagram account..?
I somehow lost my account password. I love any tips you can offer me.
@Jamie Tristan instablaster =)
@Brentley Sawyer Thanks for your reply. I got to the site thru google and I'm waiting for the hacking stuff atm.
Takes a while so I will get back to you later when my account password hopefully is recovered.
I love Mirror Mirror, and I really enjoyed the Enterprise two-parter. The rest I didn't really like, but didn't hate either. That stupid Discovery twist 'we are all genetically bad at light' was the stupidest thing since Threshold, however. They could've said that the two of them were affected by an assassination attempt. It's that easy to fix! Changing every human in the whole universe for one twist. 我的天啊!
Legit my reaction when Mirror Lorca stood up as himself I legit said "NO F***ING WAY" Also I love the ENT episodes
The one thing "The Emperor's New Cloak" has which was(prior to Discovery) unique is that it contains possibly the only queer representation in the franchise that does not conform to the Hays code. At the end, when Mirror!Ezri and Mirror!Leeta are flirting and go off together with their intention to bone displayed in flashing neon above their heads, they are both on the side of the heroes(well, the side with the palest shade of grey the Mirrorverse has to offer), and there is nothing to suggest that they or their fledgling relationship are doomed. So their sexuality is neither a signifier of evil or tragedy.
Objectively, that's not much. You don't get a cookie for not portraying something neutral as evil. But it was a first, and to my mind, that moment paved the way for the way Discovery handles it - it just happens to be that in the Mirrorverse, sexuality is more diverse, and homophobia doesn't exist. It doesn't mean anything, it's just how it is. Mirrorverse humans have hyper photosensitive eyes and are mostly pansexual.
Also I think Regent Worf deserves a mention for being the only character to implicitly acknowledge the possibility of one male character being attracted to another male character, by sneering at Garak that he wasn't his type. Again, it's not much, but if it was something that went without saying - because no man would be his type - he wouldn't have said it. And back to "The Emperor's New Cloak", he seemed pretty receptive to the idea of pegging, because what else could Intendant Kira have been talking about when the scene cut in on her saying "-some men find it very stimulating."?
I love the flashy uniforms in the mirror universe. Especially how they are tailored to each individual. I love how they come across in discovery. I really hated that the empire fell by the time of DS9. Those uniforms would have been bad ass.
It's why I never liked the DS9 mirror episodes really, it felt like they watered down the best parts of it. Also they did it way too much. In my opinion the Mirror Universe is something a Trek show should explore once or twice in their entire run. If you do it too much it just makes the "mirror" universe feel like it's actually part of the prime one. Discovery was starting the feel the same way, and I hope after Georgio's departure we won't see it ever again in that series. I love the Mirror universe and want to see it, but I know too much of a good thing will just make it bad.
I think I would have included the Star trek Voyager episode where the copy of the doctor ends up being activated in a distant future and is forced to set the record straight about voyagers past interaction with the species that woke him. Even though it wasn't a proper mirror universe episode it certainly was an interesting similar kind of story. (I wonder why the writers didn't use the proper mirror universe mythos in that episode...?)
"Mirror, Mirror" should have been number one. It has the fun of "In a Mirror Darkly" with the substance of "Crossover". That's said, I never thought of "In a Mirror Darkly" in those terms. Good job!
"Oh god, are we in the mirror universe?"
I've been asking that question since 2016 . . .
I personally didn't like Enterprise, but for me the mirror universe episodes were a highlight, the best episodes on the show. My favourite Trek, by far, is DS9, but I hated the mirror universe episodes apart from Crossover. Crossover was a really good episode, easily in my top 10 DS9, but most of the rest are silly unwatchable crap for me. I can see why the writers went back to that well after writing something as great as Crossover, but most of the rest did not work at all.
I've really been enjoying your thoughtful reviews of Star Trek. The time and effort you have put into your vids is much appreciated. Thanks Jess.
Lorca totally remembered that girl's name, it was Ava. He said he 'liked' her but then something better came along.
Love your ranking! DEFINITELY agree about the top episode and bottom episode (sorry, beloved DS9. "Resurrection" just wasn't great). I do rank "Emperor's New Cloak" a lot higher, because the humor is just SO funny to me, and I love Mirror Ezri a lot.
Also, your point about how we could be the Mirror Universe... so scarily true!
That evil beard is the best!
After 7 months still great. Thanks again, Jessie.
Couldn't help thinking about the parallels with the parallel Buffyverse, in which Cordelia wishes that "Buffy never came to Sunnydale". Two of my favorite episodes. One deeply tragic, the other darkly, brilliantly comedic.
Jessie, thanks for the list. I really look forward to your presentation on the mirror universe concept in Star Trek.
I completely agree with the top three because they were the ones that I remember most. The most memorable are the best. In a Mirror, Darkly was an absolute masterpiece, one of, if not the, best two-part episodes in Star Trek history.
that differentiation in "how we get here" is indeed beautifully well played in ENT. in fact, the idea might deserve distinction over OS positing the general concept.
You totally nailed it with your #1 pick! Thanks for the great video, Jessie
As soon as I can grow a full goatee, I going to model it after that epic triangular one! Soooon...
Always loved Enterprises In A Mirror Darkly!
And now I feel like I need to rewatch Enterprise and DS-9. Thanks.
Enterprise changed intro for Mirror episode. something, other show do very rarely. different intro sets different mood for episode. it adds to the experience.
after the intro with tanks and explosions You know: it will be Dark. and that's after Archer's way thru The Expanse.
Big fan of the Mirror Universe episodes, and the concept overall. Even the IDW comic book ranks among the best Star Trek comics, period.
The paper facial hair made me lose it. Thanks Jessie
This blue insignia background is very hypnotic to look at.
subscribed. I loved The Next Genration and Enterprise the most cause that's what I watched growing up. Forced to watch due tomy family, but still enjoyed enough. Enough to go back to it and many other iterations when I got older. And doing so again currently. It's nice to have a channel like this to indulge my fun in since I didn't really do too much of that in my younger years
Did you ever watch Fringe? They had an amazing parallel universe.
New subscriber, here. I really enjoy your take on the mirror 'verse.
Fabrisse ter Brugghe I loved Fringe, it was easily one of my favorite series when I was growing up.
*opens video* *Immediately loses it laughing at the paper goatee* OOOh, this is going to be a good one!! xD
I read a book when I was a teenager called The Same Place but Different, a wild YA fantasy novel in which kids are replaced by their fae dopplegangers and the way you find out a doppleganger is they are literally the mirror image of a person. If you're right-handed, your doppleganger will be left-handed. You part your hair on the right, your doppleganger will part on the left. Star Trek decided at some point that beards served the same purpose. lol
The mirror universe has always been one of my favourite part of Star Trek.
Late to the party I know...
I love what In A Mirror Darkly indirectly tells us about the Terans. They've got a 200 year jump start on technology... and because they're so dysfunctional they just stagnate. It's also interesting when we contrast The Terran Empire to the Confederation from Picard. The Confederation is much more successful than the Terrans because, bad as they are, they're still LESS evil. It gets at the theme that evil is self destructive.
I've also got some headcanons. Mostly that the big difference between humans and terrans is they've got a tweaked fight/flight response. As the meme goes, "But I'm a flightless bird." Also that Spock, while the rot was too deep for him to reform the Empire entirely and they lost Earth, managed to hold on to Vulcan and other imperial territory - like the Eastern Roman Empire didn't fall.
I finished s1 of Discovery yesterday and I definitely agree about Culber's death. I'm glad I knew about it in advance.
I loved how Discovery and DS9 were very creative with the mirror universe. Especially Discovery. But, among the hints it dropped about Lorca, his sensitivity to light is a bit questionable for me.
When I first saw him, my immediate reaction was to be happy to see a character who has a a sensitivity to light that is even worse than mine, but he was so shady (no light pun intended) a few moments later that that I thought "What? And he is so suspicious?", so, while I'm relieved he isn't an antagonist who has light sensitivity, it did seem that way. Though I might be the only one who feels uncomfortable with him lying about having light sensitivity, I tried googling it and couldn't find anything (the closest I found was TvTropes mentioning the Weakened by the Light trope)
I've historically never cared for Mirror Universe episodes.
Especially the ones IN DS9
They're just so hokey.
But I actually loved what they did with them in Disco.
That actually got me, and I was like oh okay. I see what you've done here
Remember that time we all realized we are in the mirror universe?
anyone else notice the TIE fighter engine sound when Lorca died?
I was waiting for it to be mentioned!
Jessie Gender, Great reflection on my Favorite Topic in Star Trek apart from Kahn !! And I do agree with you about Enterprise. Their take on the Mirror Universe was the best apart from the original. And next to that for me is Discovery's take on the Mirror Universe. The Deep Space 9 versions never grabbed my attention.
I need that Star Trek hoodie!
I actually quite liked the fact that Sisko sleeps with Mirror Jadzia and there wasn't any equivocation about it for a few reasons.
First, it was Ben's first sexual encounter since losing his wife (as far as we know) and that it took place during an episode where he'll literally get to see her alive again makes it a very complex situation. As the whole conceit of the episode was designed to put Ben through the emotional wringer, I think the writers handled it pretty well by adding the additional wrinkle that Mirror-Ben and Mirror-Jadzia were doing the old "horizontal monster mash" so Ben had to do the same.
If it was in a more modern setting, or even in another franchise, it would have come across as exploitative, regardless of the intentions behind it. But because of the work done by DS9 to establish the nature of the world they're living in and the characters we're dealing with, I think it works.
Plus, Mirror Jadzia's reaction to it is totally the response that should be expected of someone who doesn't know Ben like we do.
12. The Wolf Inside (alright)
11. Vaulting Ambition (still alright)
10. Terra Firma (Good)
9. What's Past is Prologue (Good)
8. Despite Yourself (Great Reintroduction)
7. Resurrection (Fun, as far as I remember)
6. Through the Looking Glass (Mirror Jadzia keeps this so high)
5. The Emperor's New Cloak (a lot of Fun)
4. Shattered Mirror (Great)
3. Crossover (Great)
2. In A Mirror, Darkly (Fantastic)
1. Mirror, Mirror (it's the original you might say. yeah I might've stolen this from Doctor Who)
The Mirror Universe might return in Picard Season 2!
I am not counting I, Excretus, The Tholian Web, and Into the Forest I Go as Mirror Universe Episodes, because they only shortly appear in there, if at all.
Completely agree that the Enterprise mirror universe was the best. I thought of that episode when Discovery went to the mirror universe.
oh my god, I know I'm late to the party with this comment, but as a certified non-fan of the mirror universe, I came into this video mostly just to see where you ranked in a mirror darkly, since it's the one mirror universe ep I actually like. honestly, the further into this video I got, the more excited I got about how high it was being ranked, and I actually started yelling a little the moment I realized you ranked it first!!!
Also Star Trek Enterprise was the only one that didn't feature any of the main cast from the prime universe
My favourite two are Mirror Mirror (my favourite TOS episode), and The Emperor's New Cloak (DS9).
Absolutely great listing. Great video
Quark in Crossover was hilarious. He does the lines in Casablanca spoken by the man who gets murdered by the Nazis early on.
While ENT: IAMD is a wonderful mirror episode, it's primarily a fun fan wank. Which is fine, just like DS9: Trails and Tribbleations was, so IMO TOS's Mirror, mirror should be #1 for the ending alone.
I know you did this years ago BUT for an Enterprise lover--can we give some love to the way they twisted the theme at the beginning?? I thought it was so cool and a lot of fun too.
While Enterprise isn't my favourite Star Trek series (although I do quite like it!), it's Mirror Universe two-parter is by far my favourite Mirror Universe episode (and it's also my favourite Enterprise episode).
ok, amazing points regarding mirror tyler
21:49 yeah that brought the episode down a lot for me :[
this may seem kinda silly, but every recap at the beginning of the episodes following Despite Yourself i learned to start hiding under a blanket, or cover my eyes, because they just *kept on* playing that scene (which i understand, is important to have in recaps) and im not very good with violence anyway, so seeing that over and over again was tough for multiple reasons.
I found it funny that mirror universe Tuvok was still just Tuvok
I was like TNG totally did a mirror universe episode and then I remembered that I had read one of the mirror universe books glass empires.
I completely agree with the top 3 and the order. But I'd like to see an updated list - where would you place Terra Firma?
Probably towards the top but not at the top.
The Mirror episodes are among my favorite ST episodes...
Also fantastic video by the way ❤❤
I love that you said Doctor Culber's development after his death didn't justify him dying, because I felt that SO MUCH. Being gay myself, I loved that STD included the first openly gay couple (even if I'm not a huge fan of STD), and when Culber died... I felt so cheated. I was excited to see him come back in the last season, but I felt the same as you, that when he went through wasn't necessarily justifying of his death in the first place, but that's also where I think STD fails miserably, I don't think it spends as much time on character development as it does on plot, and going forward I think character development should be the driving force of the show.
ALSO, KIRA. Incredible, one of the best performances in Star Trek, I mean I'm biased towards DS9, because it's my favourite of the Star Trek's, but Nana Visitor's portrayal of Intendent Kira was so riveting to watch.
ALSO ALSO, I was so happy to see Hoshi become Empress at the end of ENT. I always liked Hoshi, but felt she was underutilized, and seeing her outwit her way to the top made me so happy, haha.
The original Mirror, Mirror, is still my favourite
I agree about seasons 3 and 4 except the final episode that was depressing
Working my way through DS9, I have not enjoyed any of the mirror universe episodes except maybe the one with Quark and Rom. A big factor for me is just how much I dislike mirror Kira and how’s she’s written. I appreciate how you explained why you enjoy that character though which while I can’t say it works for me, makes more sense as to why they kept going back to this premise
Kurt Vonnegut's book, "Mother Night" premise is it's not so much of who you are, as oppose to what you appear to be.
I actually interpreted universe Mirror Ezri as being gay rather than bi (as Mirror Brunt said, "I'm not her type"), which more than anything else made me wonder if being joined would affect a Trill's sexuality. I don't think Mirror Ezri's sexuality was handled well by any means, but I do still wonder about that.
That last mirror universe episode of DS9 tho.. Vic Fontaine?? Alive? Really?? Also the 'every woman is bisexual in the mirror universe' theme is sooooo tired.
Awesome episode!
100% agree with this countdown :-)
my ranking def has every disc ep at the bottom, michelle yeoh as the emperor aside as an obv gem (and tilly masquerading as killy). [frankly, disc was so dark, that a cpl of ppl i watched it with were legit confused about which bits were mirror (I helped explain but frankly couldn't blame them). not to mention the total bs where they went "haha! we gave lorca a tell... which was not a thing before. and we retcon'd later bc it was stupid. moving on, no one saw that..."] OS next up, enterprise next, and every DS9 mirror ep objectively at the top.
Thank you so much. I enjoyed the rankings.
How about a what if scenario. What if in Star Trek Enterprise, instead of Captain Archer and his crew commanding the NX-01, what if they had commanded the NCC-1701 found in the original series ? Now, if that had happened, what ship would Captain Kirk command instead ?
If you like the mirror universe then you have to watch Star Trek Continues: Fairest of them All. It's like watching the actual show. Amazing.
Jesse I loved your list and I'm glad somebody did this is probably one of my favorite aspects of Star Trek is the Mirror Universe. It's so interesting to flip everything that you know. I still say mirror mirror is my favorite Star Trek episode of all time of any Star Trek. But I am really glad they didn't do a mirror universe and next-generation for one thing they needed to establish their own show and not redo the original series which they did a couple of episodes like and they didn't particularly work well. I thought it was a great idea to bring it back in Deep Space Nine but they almost got to the point and I say almost that they overused I love the way Nana Visitor gets to completely let loose and you see just how great an actress she is. Enterprise in a mirror Darkly was mind-blowing so great. I wish they'd given that show one more season cuz they were just starting to hit their stride. Jesse I don't know if you read any of the books but there is some great books about the Mirror Universe and of course they're not canon and they don't follow but one of the best ones is where it shows the aftermath after Kirk left and how we ended up where we were in Deep Space Nine and how the Terran Empire crumbled the really good read like I said not canon but still. Discovery took it to another level I mean they were just able to flat-out show you one of the coolest versions of the Mirror Universe ever. It ain't a lot of the books it makes it clear that there more than one Universe where the Terran Empire exist that's why they could all be a little bit different in some way and give the writers kind of an out if they want to change something. Another great video
Rinehardt 68 thanks for the amazing kind words! Ive read some of the books and comics on the mirror universe. Prob my favorite are the Shatnerverse MU trilogy starting with Spectre and the Mirror Broken comics!
I for the most part agree with you on your list. I would have added (although not the same parallel universe) the three Kelvin movies should be considered. Also tha aliens in the Enterprise episode were Tholens not Gorn.
On a side note someone mentioned in a Facebook group, what do you think the Borg are like in the mirror universe?
Mirror, mirror is #1 for the ending. IAMD is a close second. Only one Ds9 mirror episode is worth a crappy (1st one). All of Discovery mirror stuff was awesome.
In a Mirror Universe, I LOVE Discovery and Picard.
Even Jessie had to take off her clothes to talk about the Mirror universe properly!
Lmao this may be my favorite comment
@@JessieGender1 Evil is sexy!
I found Mirror Wars by James Earl, set in the 27th Century and features Admiral Frank Riker. Did I find it?
You did haha
@@JessieGender1 Did you know your series has it's own page under fan fiction on Memory Alpha?
Thank you very much. That was a great list and I liked it very much. Greetings.
Steffen Schuchardt thanks you for suggesting it!
@@JessieGender1 I have some more ideas. In time.
last 15 minutes, the best!
I too love parallel universes (I wish Doctor Who had done more with that - I wonder what a Doctor Who-Mirror Universe would look like...) so I enjoyed the Mirror-Universe episodes very much. I too wished that Lorca would have been more complex once his true identity is revealed and then I wish we could have seen the good Lorca.
Since you mentioned Seasons 3 and 4 of Star Trek Enterprise (which I also loved! :) ), could you do a Video explaining why you love this series? :D Especially since many People don't seem to like it.
Luca Schlichte for sure! I was planning on doing a video on the Xindi Arc at some point in the near future, and I’ll prob do one on Enterprise as a whole once I get through a rewatch in the coming months
@@JessieGender1 Thank you! :D That would be great! :D The first Episode of Enterprise I watched fully was Future Tense which instantly hooked me! :D
Have you seen the classic Doctor Who story Inferno? Takes a while to get to the 'mirror universe' but when it does the story is great.
@@lloroshastar6347 I've heard of that Story. :D Unfortunately, I haven't got the Chance to see any of the classic episodes yet. :/
The Mirror Universe, aka The Federation cosplays as The Dominion.
Scott Bakula is such a good guy I could never buy his portrayl of the evil mirror Archer honestly, but I still think the ENT episodes are the best Mirror ones.
havent even played the video yet , all i did was look at that mirror universe "beard" XD and i literally laughed out loud . welp everyone in house is awake now. great vid ^_^
Enterprise definitely had the best mirror universe as no crossover, a different opening, and it makes sense that all the characters would still exist. All the other ones are silly as it seems unlikely the same sperm and eggs would meet up.
UGh! Now I really want to rewatch Enterprise... I need to rewatch all of Trek really... but I get distracted in TNG and never go back. I suck.
Like your review Jess. However, during 20:00 you made a sort of "slight" against anti-Discovery trek fans (air quotes)--and the look away. Yep, we exist--I say it now and loud ST: Discovery is LOUSY! It simply doesn't fit, universe-wise, visually, techno wise. etc. Just one guy's opinion (well, not really one guy)..LOL! Keep up the good work! I am glad you're a Enterprise fan--that show was slightly underrated imo.
I've always considered Discovery an unusally well-made, high-budget FAN Star Trek project.
...I'm a lot happier that way. I mean, seriously, it just doesn't feel canon. Mainly because of the weird Klingons, but...yeah it just feels like fanfic. Or if I'm being generous, "an alternate universe".
I mean if the Abrams' Trek movies can be that...
Please find an acceptable excuse to wear the cardboard beard again! It really brightened my day :)
I love the mirror universe episodes.
Hey Jessie great job and thank you. Please please please add the fairest of them all even tho it not Canon. Should be That Star Trek continues. There was another episode I liked from the Farragut . Check that out too. It not about Canon it about where will Star Trek takes us next. Something Leonard nimoy said. I agree
We're in the mirror universe.
Can I just say... sex under false pretenses in the way Sisko did there is often considered rape. So, like... oof, that's awkward to watch now
we could become this: SPACE FORCE!
Hey your list your choice. I don't care for Discovery but if dig it dig it. But all in all I can get why you placed each episode where you did
What about emporer Georgio going back with the help of the gaurdion of forever
Honorable mention should go to Star Trek Continues’ amazing Mirror Mirror sequel.
Scott Filgo oooo I haven’t seen that one yet! I’ll check it out