In a parallel universe where humans have subjugated the known galaxy, something now threatens the balance of power. A starship has appeared that comes not only from another universe, but from the future. Whoever controls it may become an unstoppable force. And the conniving crew of the Enterprise won't let anyone keep them from it -- not even each other.
Whatever you may think of the mirror universe in general, or the execution of this episode in particular, you have to admit that the premise here is pretty clever. The original "Mirror, Mirror" was structured in such a way that made a prequel seem impossible. (Shhh, don't tell Star Trek: Discovery.) The solution: make this the first (and even to this day, only) mirror universe story that doesn't involve a crossover of characters between that universe and the "prime" universe.
Ah... but can you really just go fully episodic and tell a story in the mirror universe that has nothing to do with Star Trek as we know it? Well, the solution to that is to go grab another toy from that toy box, the U.S.S. Defiant, which disappeared without explanation a completely unrelated classic Trek episode, "The Tholian Web." Talk about an episode "for the fans"; this two-parter stitches together so many weird one-offs from the original series, Dr. Frankenstein would be envious.
We start with footage repurposed from a Next Generation movie, First Contact -- a table-setting prologue to tell us we're in the evil mirror universe. (They even use Jerry Goldsmith's score for that movie.) Then we get an alternate credit sequence with new footage (plus some licensed from the Paramount vault) and even actual music instead of that damn pop song. (I guess not everything about the mirror universe is terrible.)
From there, it's an hour of shout-outs and deep cuts to the Star Trek super fans. Reed and Phlox invent the agony booth. Vaughn Armstrong is back to play Forrest, here the captain of Enterprise. We see Tholians! Porthos is a Rottweiler. There's a mention of a "reptilian" alien (put a pin in that until part two). And yes, that crazy reveal of the Defiant. There's kind of no effort here at all to make this episode work for non-fans, or even casual fans. And perhaps that makes it fitting that it was during the filming of this episode (well... part two, reportedly) that the production learned that Star Trek: Enterprise was being cancelled at the end of the season.
I admit, Deep Space Nine made me tire of the mirror universe schtick, and retroactively, the extreme overdose of it in Discovery didn't help. So watching this episode, I appreciate the fun production work at the same time I rolled my eyes at it a little bit. All the human males are blackening their hair. Trip has extensive burn makeup. The sets are all lighted differently. Hoshi and T'Pol have new uniforms designed to show the most skin, and Phlox is costumed as a leather daddy. We see the destruction of the Enterprise, at the hands of a fleet of alien ships. So much money is spent, this has to be a two-part episode to cover the costs. (And that doesn't even cover the Defiant, which seems appropriate to save for part two.)
As always when you ask a Star Trek cast to play someone other than their usual characters, everyone here seems to be enjoying the chance to ham it up. Scott Bakula gives us an Archer who is half camp and half sinister. Malcolm Reed gets to be competent and good at his job. (It is the mirror universe.) Linda Park gets to play a Hoshi who flirts with anyone and everyone. And even in just this half episode, characters take turns seizing and losing the upper hand.
It's fun. Of course, it's incomplete without part two. And, as I mentioned, it feels like it's lost some luster retroactively, now that the amount of mirror universe content in Star Trek has more than doubled since this was made. But... I ultimately circle back to: "it's fun." I give "In a Mirror Darkly, Part I" a B+.
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