DS9's Mirror Verse is enjoyable
...if you turn your brain off.
I do really like The Emperor's New Cloak, and the acting skills on the part of the main characters helped a lot. Viewed as a part of an entire series, the whole, evil and gay set-up is pretty damning, but viewed on its own, this episode, I do like it, credos to the acting again for adding depth to the fun as well, credos to the writers who manage to sneak things in that certain higher-ups might not have approved...
- Nana Visitor is awesome.
- I do like Kira Nerys as a character, but I gotta admit it, I find MU!Kira more attractive, which of course makes me very guilty since Kira Nerys is well rounded whereas MU!Kira is like, the stereotypically repressive role of femme fatale.
In the end though, MU!Kira is a very interesting character, I like how, somehow, the crazy archtypes in Mirror Universe are given some depth and freshen out. I'm totally into stuff like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and CLAMP, where the writers take a stereotype, and fresh it out or outright twist it. What I like about MU!Kira is that she is written and acted as lonely, she does feel isolated and on her own. Which was why she was so drawn to ourverse!Kira in the first place, because if she couldn't love herself, who could?
Come to think of it, MU!Kira is in some way, like ourverse!Dukat, but I still like MU!Kira better, I think she is less creepy because I don't think she sees the people she's with as...an inferior race, okay, MU!Sisko is up to debate, but she does respect MU!Ezri and loves her the way she is. Also, whereas Dukat needs to be loved...by the masses...MU!Kira seems less preoccupied with glory, than having fun and having someone by her side.
- Quark is very interesting and he can be a dear. I'm of the opinion that neither Worf nor Bashir was right for Jadzia, and that she totally should have either stayed single and a playa, or shacked up with Quark, possibly in an open relationship. Of course, this draws up the question of how healthy Quark/Ezri would be since that would also be kinda like Worf/Ezri, Ezri/Julian, or pretty much Ezri and anyone that Dax used to have a chemistry with. I like how honest Quark was about his feelings though, and my heart breaks for him a little, and I like how his mood immediately turned off when he realise that it wasn't 'his Dax'.
- While this episode isn't supposed to be heavy on the plot...and I suppose the decision to go for a romp in the Mirror Universe by the writers when there were so many other things to wrap up does warrant some criticism, I totally like this better than the Vic Fontaine or the Baseball episode. For one thing, the Dominion War is referenced in the beginning with Sisko and the Klingon General Dude. I also think it's another example of Sisko's racism towards the Ferengi that he seem to dismiss them so easily. Hey, wouldn't DS9 be really fucked if the changling had replaced Quark? So many slow poisons...
- It tugs at my heart strings also, when Quark instinctively reaches to defend MU!Ezri when Bashir had struck her, Quark, who is 'supposed to be' a coward.
- I smirked when MU!Bashir shot android Vic Fontaine, I've always found the concept annoying and excess*, look, you already have a 'host', Quark, and for the consoling role, there was Jadzia, O'Brien, and then there is Odo, and Kira, Garak and even Sisko, depending on what your troubles are. I also find the idea of someone creating a sentient(or at least sentient-esque) hologram who lives to entertain the crew, disturbing. Isn't that a slavery of sorts? I never liked the hologram thing anyhow, except for what O'Brien and Julian or the crew of TNG does together, because it's not healthy to have stuff that so 'realistically' simulates interaction with another person, while having all the power of course, in the hands of the player, it's sterile and it could bred bad social habits.
- Worf is boring in any universe. Whenever a Klingon in Star Trek rant about honour I have the strongest urge to shoot him in the back, phraser set to painful, but with Worf, one doesn't even want to bother.
- Another thing that stays the same is, Bashir will always have cause for ANGST, I really feel bad for MU!Bashir...I think he really is unhinging, and I like how O'Brien is sorta his anchor.
- MU!Garak is so tense, seriously, he almost always sounds strained, I suppose it's the surrounding. I think it makes sense that he's not as cunning as ourverse!Garak, because he is a Gul after all, a member of the military, in a universe where Cardassia is very strong and allied with the Klingons and at peace with Bajor. In ourverse, Garak works for the secret service, and Cardassia wasn't very strong after all.
- O'Brien register pretty low on my radar due to my perchance for the wicked and the crazy in fantasy, but I still like him, and if he's real instead of a character in an entertainment, I think I would really love him. I really like how the O'Brien in MU is also a decent man.
- I don't like O'Brien/Bashir, because O'Brien is Married With Children, happily, work and separate ambitions related troubles aside. Also, Julian has his lunches with Garak. In the Mirror Universe though, even if Julian and Garak has met, they wouldn't have their relationship of equals that I loved so much in ourverse, and O'Brien is single. Those two seem really close in this episode, Siddig's is doing his thing with the leaning over again... Bashir's line of "I hate it when you are right, Smiley", also again, supports /history/, it's the little things that makes the whole real.
- That ending with MU!Ezri and MU!Leeta, I have the impression that Ezri mostly went with Leeta to deflect Quark's attention, and that Leeta might have 'come to her rescue' after seeing Quark still there. Not to say those two didn't have fun sex...I think the attitude about sex in the Mirror Universe is a lot more loose than ourverse, ya never know when you are about to die after all. The Ezri and Leeta thing totally didn't have the depth that Kira/Ezri did though, both in the lines, and in the chemistry.
- I really like the chemistry that Nana Visitor and Nicole de Boer have in here, it's not OTP, but I get Kira's sense of loneliness, of being in a position where people are afraid of her. I get Ezri's sense of reluctance and attachment, like Brunt said, she's a particular person.
- The alternate universe, things are differently different...but there is still...a similar ring too it, it is like looking through a distorted mirror.
Kira in ourverse, does have intimacy issues, of sorts, related to the occupation, and the circumstances left over that keeps taking people away from her (Bareil). Kira has to worry about trust, who she could trust herself with, I mean, after having been in a position of relatively powerlessness for so long, even though she was hardly passive about it, going to fight, shouldn't there be issues about letting go? Look at the men that ourverse!Kira does end up with, they are the farthest thing from Garaks, they are the definition of decent such as Vedek Bareil and then Constable Odo. There was also Shakaar Edon...who is a politician, but still of the sort that Kira can unquestionably trust.
MU!Kira is the opposite, she was very much in the position of power, but she'll still have trust and intimacy issues, because you have people who get close to her only because she is powerful, wouldn't stay otherwise, and you can't be intimate with someone you are not equal to. I think Sisko, was mostly someone she is fond of, but she seeks out Kira, and then in Emperor's New Cloak, I think she does consider Ezri her equal.
Ezri in ourverse, have understandable identity issues that predated Dax, and she is also easily attached while prone to feelings of being trapped as well. She first sought out Worf, and then Bashir...but left him later on. Ezri Tigan joined Starfleet to get away from her family, but she no doubt harbour guilt of leaving her brother behind as well. MU!Ezri 'doesn't believe in anything' except getting paid, but she does like Brunt, she probably believes in the goodness that is MU!Brunt, Brunt who gets attach easily too. Both Ezri are sporadically blunt characters very in development.
Rec Request: MU!Kira x MU!Ezri please? Their relationship, as shown in this episode, is really interesting. Ezri's line at the end, "I owe her that much at least" totally indicate that they have a history. I think that Ezri does love Brunt, or was growing to love him because Brunt is a really good man in the Mirror Universe (who can cook!), but hey, that doesn't stop her from also loving Intendant Kira, or at least feel a really strong attraction. Really strong, that exchange they have at the very end.
I want to see that history, and I want to see what happens after The Emperor's New Cloak as well. Kira and Ezri had a lot of history, but the way Ezri said, "You shouldn't have killed Brunt", made it sound like that Kira has finally crossed an unforgivable line...something that has flew over Kira's head earlier when she was too busy being pleased that Ezri is not afraid of anyone, even her.
ETA March 30th: *Excess: Profound Waste of Airtime, I don't know if the introduction of Vic Fountaine is better or worse than bringing in Worf as a regular. DS9 was supposed to be about the Frontier, instead of Vic Fountaine, they could have shown more scene in Quark's bar. Instead of bringing in Worf and Klingon klap trap that was already done to death in TNG...they should have made Garak a regular, it was a major mistake that they didn't. They needed a regular Cardassian, Garak lives on the station, and is Dr.Bashir's regular dining companion, his regular absence from the show is bad structuring. I think there should have also been more Trill, and Jadzia doing science stuff, and of course, Keiko doing science stuff. What's with the stupid 1/3 limitation? I totally think the investigation in "Man Alone" should have been handled by Jadzia instead of Dr. Bashir...of course, what is Jadzia's branch of science? Is she the head of the science department? Instead of Jadzia standing behind the science station, there should have been so many storylines science specific starring her, such as, exploration of the properties of the orbs, maybe have her and Kira fight over that. Have mentions of Jadzia writing papers regarding beings like Q and The Prophets, cause hey, Julian's prizes get mentioned all the time.
I do really like The Emperor's New Cloak, and the acting skills on the part of the main characters helped a lot. Viewed as a part of an entire series, the whole, evil and gay set-up is pretty damning, but viewed on its own, this episode, I do like it, credos to the acting again for adding depth to the fun as well, credos to the writers who manage to sneak things in that certain higher-ups might not have approved...
- Nana Visitor is awesome.
- I do like Kira Nerys as a character, but I gotta admit it, I find MU!Kira more attractive, which of course makes me very guilty since Kira Nerys is well rounded whereas MU!Kira is like, the stereotypically repressive role of femme fatale.
In the end though, MU!Kira is a very interesting character, I like how, somehow, the crazy archtypes in Mirror Universe are given some depth and freshen out. I'm totally into stuff like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and CLAMP, where the writers take a stereotype, and fresh it out or outright twist it. What I like about MU!Kira is that she is written and acted as lonely, she does feel isolated and on her own. Which was why she was so drawn to ourverse!Kira in the first place, because if she couldn't love herself, who could?
Come to think of it, MU!Kira is in some way, like ourverse!Dukat, but I still like MU!Kira better, I think she is less creepy because I don't think she sees the people she's with as...an inferior race, okay, MU!Sisko is up to debate, but she does respect MU!Ezri and loves her the way she is. Also, whereas Dukat needs to be loved...by the masses...MU!Kira seems less preoccupied with glory, than having fun and having someone by her side.
- Quark is very interesting and he can be a dear. I'm of the opinion that neither Worf nor Bashir was right for Jadzia, and that she totally should have either stayed single and a playa, or shacked up with Quark, possibly in an open relationship. Of course, this draws up the question of how healthy Quark/Ezri would be since that would also be kinda like Worf/Ezri, Ezri/Julian, or pretty much Ezri and anyone that Dax used to have a chemistry with. I like how honest Quark was about his feelings though, and my heart breaks for him a little, and I like how his mood immediately turned off when he realise that it wasn't 'his Dax'.
- While this episode isn't supposed to be heavy on the plot...and I suppose the decision to go for a romp in the Mirror Universe by the writers when there were so many other things to wrap up does warrant some criticism, I totally like this better than the Vic Fontaine or the Baseball episode. For one thing, the Dominion War is referenced in the beginning with Sisko and the Klingon General Dude. I also think it's another example of Sisko's racism towards the Ferengi that he seem to dismiss them so easily. Hey, wouldn't DS9 be really fucked if the changling had replaced Quark? So many slow poisons...
- It tugs at my heart strings also, when Quark instinctively reaches to defend MU!Ezri when Bashir had struck her, Quark, who is 'supposed to be' a coward.
- I smirked when MU!Bashir shot android Vic Fontaine, I've always found the concept annoying and excess*, look, you already have a 'host', Quark, and for the consoling role, there was Jadzia, O'Brien, and then there is Odo, and Kira, Garak and even Sisko, depending on what your troubles are. I also find the idea of someone creating a sentient(or at least sentient-esque) hologram who lives to entertain the crew, disturbing. Isn't that a slavery of sorts? I never liked the hologram thing anyhow, except for what O'Brien and Julian or the crew of TNG does together, because it's not healthy to have stuff that so 'realistically' simulates interaction with another person, while having all the power of course, in the hands of the player, it's sterile and it could bred bad social habits.
- Worf is boring in any universe. Whenever a Klingon in Star Trek rant about honour I have the strongest urge to shoot him in the back, phraser set to painful, but with Worf, one doesn't even want to bother.
- Another thing that stays the same is, Bashir will always have cause for ANGST, I really feel bad for MU!Bashir...I think he really is unhinging, and I like how O'Brien is sorta his anchor.
- MU!Garak is so tense, seriously, he almost always sounds strained, I suppose it's the surrounding. I think it makes sense that he's not as cunning as ourverse!Garak, because he is a Gul after all, a member of the military, in a universe where Cardassia is very strong and allied with the Klingons and at peace with Bajor. In ourverse, Garak works for the secret service, and Cardassia wasn't very strong after all.
- O'Brien register pretty low on my radar due to my perchance for the wicked and the crazy in fantasy, but I still like him, and if he's real instead of a character in an entertainment, I think I would really love him. I really like how the O'Brien in MU is also a decent man.
- I don't like O'Brien/Bashir, because O'Brien is Married With Children, happily, work and separate ambitions related troubles aside. Also, Julian has his lunches with Garak. In the Mirror Universe though, even if Julian and Garak has met, they wouldn't have their relationship of equals that I loved so much in ourverse, and O'Brien is single. Those two seem really close in this episode, Siddig's is doing his thing with the leaning over again... Bashir's line of "I hate it when you are right, Smiley", also again, supports /history/, it's the little things that makes the whole real.
- That ending with MU!Ezri and MU!Leeta, I have the impression that Ezri mostly went with Leeta to deflect Quark's attention, and that Leeta might have 'come to her rescue' after seeing Quark still there. Not to say those two didn't have fun sex...I think the attitude about sex in the Mirror Universe is a lot more loose than ourverse, ya never know when you are about to die after all. The Ezri and Leeta thing totally didn't have the depth that Kira/Ezri did though, both in the lines, and in the chemistry.
- I really like the chemistry that Nana Visitor and Nicole de Boer have in here, it's not OTP, but I get Kira's sense of loneliness, of being in a position where people are afraid of her. I get Ezri's sense of reluctance and attachment, like Brunt said, she's a particular person.
- The alternate universe, things are differently different...but there is still...a similar ring too it, it is like looking through a distorted mirror.
Kira in ourverse, does have intimacy issues, of sorts, related to the occupation, and the circumstances left over that keeps taking people away from her (Bareil). Kira has to worry about trust, who she could trust herself with, I mean, after having been in a position of relatively powerlessness for so long, even though she was hardly passive about it, going to fight, shouldn't there be issues about letting go? Look at the men that ourverse!Kira does end up with, they are the farthest thing from Garaks, they are the definition of decent such as Vedek Bareil and then Constable Odo. There was also Shakaar Edon...who is a politician, but still of the sort that Kira can unquestionably trust.
MU!Kira is the opposite, she was very much in the position of power, but she'll still have trust and intimacy issues, because you have people who get close to her only because she is powerful, wouldn't stay otherwise, and you can't be intimate with someone you are not equal to. I think Sisko, was mostly someone she is fond of, but she seeks out Kira, and then in Emperor's New Cloak, I think she does consider Ezri her equal.
Ezri in ourverse, have understandable identity issues that predated Dax, and she is also easily attached while prone to feelings of being trapped as well. She first sought out Worf, and then Bashir...but left him later on. Ezri Tigan joined Starfleet to get away from her family, but she no doubt harbour guilt of leaving her brother behind as well. MU!Ezri 'doesn't believe in anything' except getting paid, but she does like Brunt, she probably believes in the goodness that is MU!Brunt, Brunt who gets attach easily too. Both Ezri are sporadically blunt characters very in development.
Rec Request: MU!Kira x MU!Ezri please? Their relationship, as shown in this episode, is really interesting. Ezri's line at the end, "I owe her that much at least" totally indicate that they have a history. I think that Ezri does love Brunt, or was growing to love him because Brunt is a really good man in the Mirror Universe (who can cook!), but hey, that doesn't stop her from also loving Intendant Kira, or at least feel a really strong attraction. Really strong, that exchange they have at the very end.
I want to see that history, and I want to see what happens after The Emperor's New Cloak as well. Kira and Ezri had a lot of history, but the way Ezri said, "You shouldn't have killed Brunt", made it sound like that Kira has finally crossed an unforgivable line...something that has flew over Kira's head earlier when she was too busy being pleased that Ezri is not afraid of anyone, even her.
ETA March 30th: *Excess: Profound Waste of Airtime, I don't know if the introduction of Vic Fountaine is better or worse than bringing in Worf as a regular. DS9 was supposed to be about the Frontier, instead of Vic Fountaine, they could have shown more scene in Quark's bar. Instead of bringing in Worf and Klingon klap trap that was already done to death in TNG...they should have made Garak a regular, it was a major mistake that they didn't. They needed a regular Cardassian, Garak lives on the station, and is Dr.Bashir's regular dining companion, his regular absence from the show is bad structuring. I think there should have also been more Trill, and Jadzia doing science stuff, and of course, Keiko doing science stuff. What's with the stupid 1/3 limitation? I totally think the investigation in "Man Alone" should have been handled by Jadzia instead of Dr. Bashir...of course, what is Jadzia's branch of science? Is she the head of the science department? Instead of Jadzia standing behind the science station, there should have been so many storylines science specific starring her, such as, exploration of the properties of the orbs, maybe have her and Kira fight over that. Have mentions of Jadzia writing papers regarding beings like Q and The Prophets, cause hey, Julian's prizes get mentioned all the time.