Crossover

This is a sequel to an episode from the original "Star Trek". It's a follow-up to "Mirror, Mirror"--one of the very best of the old episodes. In this old episode, a landing party beams back to the Enterprise--only to discover it's AN Enterprise from a parallel world. This world is much like the original one except that the Federation is a force of evil and the Enterprise crew advance in rank through betrayals and assassinations! It's an incredibly cool episode--and a must-see for fans.

"Crossover" begins with Major Kira and Dr. Bashir arriving at Deep Space 9--except that it's not their Deep Space 9. Instead, it's from the same parallel world visited by the Enterprise. Interestingly, it shows the results of the previous contact has been drastic. The 'nice' crew members apparently did something to soften the evil Federation-- so much so that now the Cardassians and Klingons are the dominant force in the quadrant--and human are on the run! And, interestingly, the evil Major Kira is a high official in this evil empire--and a sexy official with attitude!

Too often the Trek shows are extremely nice and astoundingly perfect--often TOO perfect. With episodes like this one and the Maquis, you finally see a different sort of future--a dark, twisted and darkly funny one. Well worth seeing, though the original episode is a touch better.

Mirror, Mirror is one of the iconic episodes of the Star Trek franchise, with a cool factor that's off the scale. Although DS9 had a lot of iconic episodes (Duet, In the Pale Moonlight, etc.), Crossover is not one of them. And each subsequent DS9 episode related to the Mirror Universe (the MU) was weaker than its predecessor, diluting the waters further.

In "Mirror, Mirror", written by Jerome Bixby, the Empire is an analogue of the Federation, with multiple worlds making up the Mirror Empire, the same as the Prime Universe Federation. In the MU, Vulcan is member of the Empire. This is confirmed easily, as Mirror Spock receives orders from Mirror Star Fleet to murder Kirk and proceed as the new captain of the Mirror Enterprise. Again, MIRROR SPOCK...not Mirror Sulu, who is not notified about Mirror Spock's orders. Mirror Spock outranked Mirror Sulu. All this changed in Crossover, and not for the better.

Bixby's Mirror versions of Spock, Sulu, Kirk, and even the Federation were extremely original and memorable. How did Crossover compare? The episode does not have the same impact as Mirror, Mirror. Examples follow.

1- Mirror Klingons: Do not appear to have changed in the DS9 MU at all. In relation to character they remain essentially the same as Klingons have throughout the franchise.

2- Mirror Cardassians: Do not appear to have changed in the DS9 MU as one can detect. They were ruthless and merciless in the prime universe, and they appear the same in the MU.

3- Mirror Kira: Since Kira Prime was a complete badass, the showrunners did actually change thing up and depicted Mirror Kira as more spoiled and pampered, similar to the Roman aristocrats shown in the Spartacus series. It's a good concept, but it wasn't enough to make the episode memorable. Plus it was DS9, so there was a limit to how far they could go with this angle. This plays into the next item.

4- Wardrobe/Sex Angle: Some appear to rate the episode based on Nana Visitor's catsuits. Granted, they were nice to look at, and can even be called memorable. But female crew member uniforms in Mirror, Mirror have been certified by pop culture as LEGENDARY, as confirmed by all the cosplay based on them. And Kira Prime had a number of hot outfits as well, she had sex appeal and the showrunners knew it. The sex angle in general was played up in Crossover, but Kira Prime certainly wasn't celibate over the seasons, although she wasn't much for keeping concubines. So differences, yes... but again, not enough to make the episode any near comparable to the original.

5- Mirror Sisko/Obrien - Mirror Sisko was different, he leered a lot and laughed really loud, and had a "let's go to the brothel" kind of personality, which would suit a pirate. But was he memorable? Somewhat, but not nearly on the level of Mirror Kirk, who was unforgettable. Mirror O'Brien was exactly the same as O'Brien Prime.

6- Mirror Vulcans: Crossover's Mirror Vulcans were slaves. Jerome Bixby's Mirror Spock was a TOTAL BADASS. All of Bixby's Mirror Vulcans were. That look of terror on Mirror Sulu's face when Mirror Spock stated "...my operatives will avenge me, and some of them...are Vulcans." Mirror Sulu had to change his underwear after hearing that. But all that was gone with Crossover, the badass cool Mirror Vulcans Jerome Bixby created were no more. Not a good decision from the writers/showrunners.

7 - The Empire: Gone in Crossover. Also the entire concept was retconned into the "Terran Empire", and was replaced by the Bajoran/Cardassian/Klingon Alliance. None of this is anywhere near as wicked cool as Jerome Bixby's Empire.

8- The DIALOGUE: Mirror, Mirror contained some of the most iconic dialogue of the entire franchise. "First action, suppression of Gorlan uprising through destruction of rebel home planet. Second action, execution of 5000 colonists on Vega 9." WICKED cool in it's extreme ruthlessness. And that's just one small example, there is SO much more. Crossover's dialogue doesn't come close to the original, there is no comparison.

Mirror, Mirror is ICONIC. Crossover is not on the same level. (Strikes right fist over heart and extends arm in fealty to the Empire)

Kira and Dr Bashir travel through the wormhole and arrive at the mirror universe.

This is a good episode with enjoyable character moments.

The return to the mirror universe had been a long time coming when this episode was released, and though unoriginal, the plot is quite engaging. Essentially it is the same premise as 'Mirror Mirror', but we have a bit more background information relating to the mirror universe and similarly interesting alternate takes on characters.

There is quite a bit of exposition dialogue, which is fine, but if you are a fan of the hopeful ending of the original series episode you might end up feeling a bit depressed after this one. On the other hand, this does provide an ongoing narrative for DS9 and other Trek shows to expand upon.

Nana Visitor is the star of the show, as she throws herself into a double role of two Kiras. Her performance has divided opinions, but there is no denying she is entertaining and engaging on a number of levels. The main point is that she feels a different character to prime Kira, mainly due to the overt sexuality, and this works well for the character-driven aspects story.

Alexander Siddig, Colm Meaney, Avery Brooks and Armin Shimerman all have good material and give solid performances. I particularly like what the writers do with the mirror Quark. Andrew Robinson and Rene Auberjonois do well with the material they have, but the writing feels a bit one-note for their characters.

Visually, it appears that much effort went into changing the look of the station to make it feel different. The cinematography, lighting, sets, costumes and general art design is excellent.