In a Mirror, Darkly, Part II

The most amazing thing about this 2-parter is how they managed to make the Defiant look and feel so much like TOS Enterprise which should have made it look outdated, and yet they somehow make it seem futuristic and technologically advanced versus the 'Enterprise' era ships.

Extremely well done with the mirror characters that are so much fun to watch, and with all the nods to TOS. Seeing the Enterprise crew in TOS uniforms was awesome.

'Enterprise' got soooooo much better in seasons 3 and 4. I wish they had been allowed to continue, especially with this mirror storyline.

Good grief. The Defiant is like a bouncy ball. It's in one court then another. We will soon run out of ambitious characters to take over. At some point, I guess, someone will be smart enough to recognize that you trust no one. How did all these people get jobs? Anyway, it's a rapid fire episode with lots of action, twists, and turns. The aliens are suddenly targeted as the enemies. They have a right to defend their turf. Then they fall under the same delusions as everyone else. I guess the question we need to ask is whether or not there is any good in this universe? There is certainly a "Game of Thrones" vibe to all of this, although it predicted that serious. Even the music at the beginning has a little bit of that. It will be interesting to see what's next and if the forces of evil will be righted or do they actually become the way of the world.

The first episode of this double episode started promisingly. Once again an adventure in the mirror universe and once again the characters are a vile copy of their morally exalted counterparts on the other side.

In the second episode, everyone in the crew seems to be scheming and revolting against everyone else in order to ultimately become the new Emperor - and only through ONE captured ship from the other universe, whose technology is 100 years more advanced than what the Terran Empire has to offer. Doesn't seem like a strong empire if it can be brought to its knees by a single ship.

Archer seems quite inauthentic as a domineering wannabe captain and megalomaniacal usurper of the throne. Although Hoshi makes quite a convincing impression as a concubine, the end of the episode seems rather far-fetched. By the way, whoever came up with the idea that the uniforms for women in the mirror universe should be belly tops probably has no idea what purpose a uniform should serve. Speaking of uniforms: Why does the crew dress in the uniforms of the captured ship's crew? It's one thing that Archer puts on the green sweater for fun, but why do everyone else change their uniforms? What was the point of this action, other than fan service? By the way: What was the point of this double episode in the first place? In the other series there was at least always a connection between the characters on both sides.

The Gorn in this episode - oh my goodness. They have the charm of the old Japanese Godzilla films. Although in this episode these Gorn at least look humanoid enough to believably convey that this species can build and fly spaceships. In SNW, the Gorn seem more like the creatures from the Alien films - savage beasts with claws that could barely press a button on a control panel. Let alone have a progressive social structure.

Archer activates the powerful Defiant and uses the ship to defeat the enemies of the Empire, including the internal ones in his crew. Then he heads to Earth with the intention to take over the power in a coup. However, there is a final and unexpected betrayal that affects the fate of Archer and the Empire.

"In a Mirror, Darkly: Part II" is the conclusion of a pointless story of a violent universe. I was expecting some sort of interaction between the universes but the plot is limited to the parallel universe in a forgettable episode. I hope the music score of these two episodes prevail and replace the annoying theme of this series. My vote is five.

Title (Brazil): "Reflexo Sombrio 2" ("Dark Reflex 2")

This is the second part of a wonderful two-parter. While I loved the original "Mirror, Mirror" episode from the old "Star Trek", this evil parallel universe was way, way overused in some of the subsequent Trek spin-offs. At first I liked it when the crew of Deep Space 9 was visited by these evil parallel doubles but after so many follow-ups, it became way overused. What I loved about "Mirror, Mirror" was its originality. Fortunately, in "Star Trek: Enterprise", they managed to use the old concept but infuse it with wonderful originality and life. I think this two-parter is in the must see category for fans.

In the previous episode, Archer orchestrated a mutiny in order to try to steal a ship that was somehow stolen from the future. With it, he planned on taking over the evil empire and being its evil emperor. However, in part two, there were some hiccups, including a Gorn aboard the stolen ship that was trying to disable the vessel as well as the machinations of the evil and often disloyal crew. Can Archer manage to rule this awful parallel universe?!

This episode has so much going for it. Like part one, the normal intro for the show is replaced by an evil intro--complete with martial music and clips of war and violence! It also did NOT feature nice beings from our universe--just very, very bad ones from theirs. It was NOT like the nice Trekkie folks getting stuck there but as if it was a show intended for an evil audience to enjoy! It also featured a deliciously evil ending--with no redemption, no nice ending and just more of the awfulness that make this parallel world fun to watch. My only complaint is a minor one--why make a CGI Gorn when the CGI quality was that poor and obviously fake? I really think the original "Star Trek" Gorn looked better!!