Mirror, Mirror (Star Trek: The Original Series)

"Mirror, Mirror"
Star Trek: The Original Series episode
Kirk with Spock's "mirror" counterpart
Episode no.	Episode 33
Directed by	Marc Daniels
Written by	Jerome Bixby
Production code	039
Original air date	October 6, 1967
Guest stars
Barbara Luna John Winston Vic Perrin Eddie Paskey William Blackburn Meade Martin Roger Holloway Frank da Vinci Pete Kellett Garth Pillsbury Paul Prokop Bob Bass Bobby Clark Johnny Mandell
Episode chronology
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List of Star Trek: The Original Series episodes

"Mirror, Mirror" is an episode of Star Trek: The Original Series. It is a second-season episode, #33, production #39, and was broadcast for the first time on October 6, 1967, and repeated on April 12, 1968. It was written by Jerome Bixby and directed by Marc Daniels. The title is an allusion to the phrase spoken by the Witch in the fairy tale "Snow White and the Seven Dwarves" by the Brothers Grimm--"Mirror, mirror on the wall/Who in the land is fairest of all?"

The episode has a transporter mishap swapping Captain Kirk and his companions with their evil counterparts in a parallel universe. In the so-called Mirror Universe, the Enterprise is a ship of the Terran Empire, an organization as evil as the United Federation of Planets is benevolent.

Plot

After failing to persuade the Halkan Council to allow the Federation to mine dilithium crystals on their planet, Captain James T. Kirk, along with Dr. McCoy, Scotty, and Lt. Uhura, return to the Enterprise. An unexpected ion storm causes a transporter malfunction, and the landing team beams aboard an unfamiliar Enterprise.

The group realizes something is amiss as they arrive on the transporter pad: a goateed Mr. Spock viciously tortures the transporter operator, Lt. Kyle, for carelessness in nearly losing the ship's captain. (Parallel universe crew members carry "agonizers", which superior officers use to punish them for dereliction of duty). Kirk deduces that they must have switched places with their mirror-universe counterparts, that the landing party from this universe must now be aboard his Enterprise, and that his landing party must impersonate their counterparts until they can find a way home. In this alternate universe, the USS Enterprise is called an "Imperial Starship" or ISS Enterprise, and a brutal Terran Empire has replaced the Federation. Officers rise in rank by assassinating their superiors (as Kirk discovers when Chekov nearly succeeds in assassinating him), and as a result all high ranking officers must hire a personal bodyguard. Uniforms in this alternate universe are very different; sidearms and daggers are standard issue, while the clothing itself is much more revealing. Torturing subordinates - by flogging, agonizer, or the 'Agony Booth' - is an acceptable form of discipline.

Meanwhile, on board the USS Enterprise Mr. Spock notices the changed personalities of the landing party and orders security to take them to a holding cell. The mirror Kirk tries to bribe Spock with rewards of "a command of (his) own" if he's freed, but Spock simply replies "fascinating" and continues investigating. Spock comes to the same conclusion as Kirk: the ion storm must have opened a barrier between parallel universes, and the two landing parties have switched places.

Back on the ISS Enterprise, Kirk goes to the captain's quarters, which are quite different from his own. He discovers that the mirror-Kirk has been ordered to annihilate the Halkans if they refuse the Empire's "request" to mine dilithium; horrified, he studies his counterpart's records further. In this universe, Kirk gained command of the ISS Enterprise by assassinating Captain Christopher Pike and was responsible for massacring 5,000 colonists on Vega IX, among many other atrocities.

Mirror-Spock informs Kirk that the ship is ready to attack the Halkans. Desperately, Kirk orders a delay in the attack for 12 hours. This piques mirror-Spock's curiosity, but he obeys the order; he does report the suspicious activity of his Captain to Imperial Command, and receives orders to kill Captain Kirk if he does not carry out the order to destroy the uncooperative Halkans.

Having failed to sabotage the weapons systems, Scotty and McCoy work secretly to figure out what happened with the transporter. While Scotty searches for a way to return them to the correct universe, Kirk goes to his quarters and meets the beautiful Lieutenant Marlena Moreau, who refers to herself as the "Captain's Woman". It appears that female crew members may attach themselves by agreement to particular men and gain protection and advancement through them. Kirk's hesitation to take Marlena has her growing concerned the captain may be tiring of her. Aware of the controversy on the bridge, she assumes Kirk has his own devious plans. Activating a device in Kirk's quarters known as the Tantalus Field, she laments the fast approaching demise of Mr. Spock, whom she is secretly monitoring with the device. As she reaches to silently "eliminate" him, Kirk pulls her hand back, startling and alarming her. What plans does the captain have? How ambitious could his latest schemes be, to defy starfleet itself?

Kirk stalls the mirror-Spock while his crew search for a way home, but Spock is suspicious. Spock, not wanting command of the ISS Enterprise as it would make him an instant target of assassination, decides instead to study the Captain as long as he can.

Scotty has, with the aid of McCoy, rigged up the necessary connections to make a return switch. Mirror-Sulu, the security chief, is distracted from his monitors at the vital moment of connection by Uhura seeming to encourage his previously rejected amorous advances. Kirk reaches the transporter room, but the mirror-Spock leads him at phaser-point to sick bay, where the landing party has gathered. In two ensuing fights, Kirk sequentially knocks the Vulcan and the mirror-Sulu unconscious (Marlena has "eliminated" Sulu's thugs with the Tantalus Field). Uhura, Kirk, and Scotty head for the transporter room again, while McCoy stays behind to make sure that mirror-Spock is all right. In the transporter room, they meet Marlena, who now knows the facts and asks them to take her with them. Kirk refuses on the grounds that the energy is set for four people. Marlena persists and is disarmed by Uhura.

Mirror-Spock suddenly comes to, and quickly mind melds with McCoy in order to read his mind. He discovers the switch, and decides to operate the transporter so that the entire landing party may return to their own universe. This convinces Kirk that this universe's Mr. Spock is still an ethical Vulcan guided by logic. He suggests to mirror-Spock that a Federation-like system is more logical than the ruthless barbarian Empire. Spock objects that one must have power; Kirk informs him of the Tantalus Field, and Mirror-Spock agrees to consider the idea (Marlena is presumably now on his side).

On board the USS Enterprise, Spock decides to attempt the beaming sequence at the same time the ISS Enterprise attempts theirs. The switch is successful. As the episode ends, Kirk meets his own universe's Lieutenant Marlena Moreau, who is quite a different woman from her counterpart in the other universe. Kirk tells Spock that Moreau "seems like a nice, likable girl" and that he thinks they "could be friends". The real Spock also comments that the ruthless attitude of the Mirror Kirk, Dr. McCoy, Scotty, and Uhura were refreshing, and "the very flower of humanity".

40th anniversary remastering

This episode was remastered in 2006 and first aired November 11, 2006 as part of the remastered Original Series. It was preceded a week earlier by "The Trouble With Tribbles" and followed a week later by "Space Seed". Aside from remastered video and audio, and the all-CGI animation of the USS Enterprise that is standard among the revisions, specific changes to this episode also include:

• The Halkan homeworld has been updated to look more realistic.
• The transition effect between the mirror universes has been smoothed and reworked with a zooming video effect.

"ISS" Enterprise with taller
bridge and other alternate details.

• The ISS Enterprise was changed, now more closely resembling the second pilot USS Enterprise. The Bussard collectors in front of the warp nacelles lack the swirling light effects of the USS Enterprise and include antennas. The ends of the nacelles have the earlier version series of exhaust ports instead of a dome. The bridge is taller, and the larger deflector dish is present. The hull is gun-metal gray, with the name "ISS ENTERPRISE" shown on the saucer.
• The agonizer that Spock uses on Mr. Kyle glows and sparks with red energy when activated.
• The agony booth that Mr. Chekov is placed in now glows with red energy and includes an image warping effect.
• The Tantalus Field effects have been enhanced.

External links

• The 2006 remastered "Mirror, Mirror" side-by-side comparisons
• Mirror, Mirror at StarTrek.com
• Mirror, Mirror at Memory Alpha (a Star Trek wiki)
• "Mirror, Mirror" original script analysis
• Mirror, Mirror at the Internet Movie Database
• "Mirror, Mirror" at TV.com