Love never fails. Lucy brings "In a Mirror, Darkly" Parts 1 and 2, episodes 18 and 19 of Season 4 of Enterprise. Part 1 was written by Mike Sussman and directed by James Conway. Part 2 was written by Mike Sussman and Manny Coto and directed by Marvin V. Rush. Like the 2009 film Star Trek, this double episode explores an alternate history. We talk about compassion, misogyny, dehumanization, censorship, and torture. We also chat about the ongoing story of the mirror universe, biblical references, and these episodes' special intro sequence.
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Connections:
- The Tholians first appear in The Original Series S03E09, "The Tholian Web," which also shows how the Constitution-class Defiant departed the prime reality.
- The mirror universe is first portrayed in The Original Series S02E10, "Mirror, Mirror." Its history is further expanded in several episodes of Deep Space Nine, much of Discovery Season 1, and Prodigy S02E14, "Cracked Mirror."
- Garak and Quark discuss the insidiousness of root beer and Federation principles in Deep Space Nine S04E02, "The Way of the Warrior" Part 2.
- T'kuvma warns against the Federation greeting, "we come in peace," in Discovery S01E01, "The Vulcan Hello."
- A memetic infection hits the crew in Strange New Worlds S02E09, "Subspace Rhapsody."
- Lieutenant Marlena Moreau is the "captain's woman" of the mirror universe Kirk in "Mirror, Mirror."
- As of Discovery S01E12, "Vaulting Ambition," the title of the Terran Emperor is "Her Most Imperial Majesty, Mother of the Fatherland, Overlord of Vulcan, Dominus of Qo'noS, Regina Andor, [Given Name] Augustus Iaponius Centarius."
- The shots of starship combat in the opening sequence are from assorted episodes of Enterprise and Voyager.
Works Cited:
- American Standard Version Bible. (1901). 1 Corinthians 13:12.
- Costanzo, M. A. (2009). The effects and effectiveness of using torture as an interrogation device: Using research to inform the policy debate. Social Issues and Policy Review 3(1), 179-210.
- Freire, P. (1970). Pedagogy of the oppressed (M. Ramos, Trans.). Seabury Press. (Original work published 1968)
For our next episode, we'll play the first four levels ofthe video game Star Trek: Voyager - Elite Force, developed by Raven Software. That's through the end of the Scavenger Base sequence. The game is available at GOG.com and has a widescreen patch for modern resolutions.
Before the Future Came is edited by Lucy Arnold, transcribed by Melissa Avery-Weir, and webmavened by Gregory Avery-Weir.
Our theme is “Let’s Pretend” by Josh Woodward, available under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
