Mirror THIS, Pal!

First, a huge shout-out to both Delenda Est Carthago (who makes me regret all the Latin I learned in high school) and Ink Slinger - two blogs worth your attention, and who are on the blogroll. Of course, between settling things at work and prepping for a trip to Chicago this weekend, haven't had much time to write about anything (and of course, I'll be blogging this weekend if Mom lets me use her computer), but there is a matter that I've wanted to mention.

I have always enjoyed parallel world stories, and like many a geek, my inspiration came from the Mirror Universe episode of Star Trek. It was more than just an "evil twin" story, as it suggested...well, an Empire instead of a Federation. Our heroes with just a slight twist, and the moral that it's easier for civilized people to act like barbarians than vice versa. Our Kirk encouraged the Mirror Spock to help reform the Empire...and we saw the results on several episodes of Deep Space Nine. A Terran Empire torn apart by compassion, and overrun by a mirror Klingon/Cardassian alliance that made their positive counterparts look like Care Bears.

Many of the troubles surrounding Enterprise have been well-documented (and summarized in this article from Screenrant.com), but I am glad to say that last Friday's "In A Mirror, Darkly" has managed to do two things for me:

1. Make me want to watch the episode again (thank God in St. Louis it's shown on Friday and Saturday nights); and
2. Sell off my mother to see Part Two.

In all honesty, it does have its flaws - I still can't buy the premise that the divergence came at the time of First Contact (and, if it does, blows the producer's "Enterprise-is-in-a-parallel-world-thanks-to-the-Borg explanation), and prefer a "they're just the opposite" explanation from Star Trek: Dark Mirror.

(OK, I've read a Star Trek novel or two...but I've read more Doctor Who novels, so that's all right).

Admittedly, this has the same fanboy-continuity-porn feel as your average issue of JSA, only with the added advantage of giving the cast a little more opportunity to chew scenery. (And to Linda Park...you can be this captain's woman anytime, wink wink, nudge nudge, say no more....did I type that out loud?) I mean, why couldn't this have been the standard, rather than the exception? Why did we have to wait this frickin' long?

After this two-parter are three more episodes - one a two-parter about xenophobes on Earth (which will end with the bad guys changing their ways and realizing how we should all hold hands and embrace diversity), and then a wacky crossover with The Next Generation

Catch the Mirror episodes while you can, folks. It won't get any better than this, and that's sad. Trek deserved better.