I watched most of “Enterprise” and its Mirror Universe Episode 2 thing. As much as I had (surprisingly) enjoyed Episode 1 (“poor Forrest bites the bullet again!”), I’m scratching my head about Episode 2. Enterprise’s Real Universe Vulcan Ambassador Soval made an appearance as Mirror Universe’s Downtrodden-2nd-class citizen Starfleet officer Soval. And, I liked his character (dignity, coolness, wow, Starfleet uniform Soval?), but there was the feeling of no-good-can-come-from-this (and nope, there wasn’t). Mirror Universe Archer became even more xenophobic, and plagued by hallucinations of Real Universe’s Archer and that Archer’s achievements (which Mirror Universe’s Archer considered to be a waste). Mirror Universe’s T’Pol tried to end the tyranny that is Mirror Archer. Mirror Hoshi Sato had some twisted tactics up her sleeve (not entirely surprising). In the end, the episode’s ending felt like “Star Trek’s Secondary Cast/People of Color Take Over.” Umm. Hmm. But, really, the way it ended for Soval, T’Pol, and the rest of Mirror Universe Enterprise’s non-human crew, it felt like an exercise in futility. Like, why give us this romp in the Mirror Universe when you only have a few episodes left?
I came away feeling like this: Gee, I wonder what would have happened if “Enterprise” had made Forrest captain or a starring admiral (admirals never really star in the show or get to be more than recurring characters in Star Trek); had Ambassador Soval as a main cast character (and therefore get more grittier with the politics of the Federation’s creation or Earth’s dealing with interaction with non-humans); and even had more quality air time for its secondary characters (yes, I’m talking about Hoshi and Travis (who has a well-chiseled body and sometimes looks like he’d love to act if they could only give him a few good lines)). We might have had better quality Star Trek (well, unless the writers screwed it up), maybe something more Star Trek:Deep Space 9-esque, with Star Trek: Next Generation’s equal opportunity positive feeling.
Heck, I always thought that DS9 was never fully appreciated; and its complex politics and references to an Earth in fear of war and terror would be fitting in this current age than it did back then. Oh, and the crazy soap opera ambiance of DS9 – everyone’s alienated from each other; everyone’s relationships are complex but significant, and so forth. Sure, DS9’s romantic relationships were nothing brilliant, but it was a step up than Next Generation’s. Even Voyager tried to push with the relationships on that show (well, let me not get on a Voyager rant). Had “Enterprise” played up on the positives of DS9, Next Gen, and Voyager, that would have been peachy.
I think we’re down to the last two or three episodes of “Enterprise” now. Oh well. I won’t mourn too much really. Maybe. We’ll see.