In the twentieth episode of the fourth season of\u00c2\u00a0Deep Space Nine<\/i>, Jake is surprised by the appearance of someone he thought he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d never see again. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch\u00c2\u00a0Star Trek<\/i>.\u00c2\u00a0I enjoyed this episode and found it entertaining, but there are a number of perplexing writing choices along the way that I couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t ignore. Let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s talk about the complications behind liking something that is deeply flawed because THIS IS ONE OF THOSE EPISODES.<\/p>\n
Impetus<\/b><\/p>\n
I can buy a lot from a story, and I often find that I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m less nitpicky if the story itself is pretty damn good. For the most part, the adventure provided by \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Shattered Mirror\u00e2\u20ac\u009d is enough, but I couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t get\u00c2\u00a0over the leap of tricking Sisko to come to the mirror universe to fix the\u00c2\u00a0Defiant<\/i>. Yes, he helped construct it in some part, and yes, he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s got some expertise in the area. But the kidnapping plot seems like such a stretch. If the group of rebels doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t feel regretful about tricking people or doing what they see as necessary to get what they want, why not just kidnap Sisko by himself? Why drag his son into it? For a motivating factor? And even if that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the case, all Sisko needed to do was\u00c2\u00a0tell<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0the rebels how to make the\u00c2\u00a0Defiant<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0operational. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t understand why he needed to do the work himself. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not like we see him managing a large group of workers; he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s always by himself when on the\u00c2\u00a0Defiant<\/i>, so his contribution alone could not possibly have reduced the two-week workload down to three days.<\/p>\n
It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not the worst thing, I swear, but I couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t wrap my head around it.<\/p>\n
Jake<\/b><\/p>\n
One of the most rewarding things about \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Shattered Mirror\u00e2\u20ac\u009d is Jake Sisko, point blank. Watching this kid see his mother \u00e2\u20ac\u201c rather, a version of her, that is \u00e2\u20ac\u201c for the first time in nine years is a treat. AN ENDLESS TREAT. It is an emotionally challenging thing to watch because it was so easy for me to be torn between conflicting realities. I wanted Jake to experience this surreal phenomenon because he deserved it. He deserved to feel good and to see his mother. But Jennifer\u00c2\u00a0wasn<\/i>\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0his mother, despite being physically identical and having a similar characterization. I kept waiting for his disappointment to hit, and perhaps that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s one of the reasons I felt like the episode dropped the ball.<\/p>\n
Look, I completely understood Jake\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s excitement, and I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think the show was coy about that. Jake\u00c2\u00a0knew<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0this wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t his mother, but when faced with the reality of how he came to the Mirror Universe, we learn that he accepts Jennifer\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s actions\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 through the mouth of Jennifer. No, that moment should have come from Jake himself. As the battle for Terok Nor commenced, Jake felt shoved off to the side, except when the show could utilize him for dramatic tension and tragedy. By that point, I felt like Jake\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s role in the story had been reduced to a nonsensical level. Why wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t he upset about practically anything? He barely seemed bothered by Jennifer dying, despite that the first half of the episode showed us how much he cared for this woman he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d technically never met.<\/p>\n
Ultimately, I thought that the opening of this episode promised me that this would be a Jake-centric story when it wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t necessarily fault the writers for that because expectations shouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t always dictate a story, but at the same time\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 MORE JAKE PLEASE.<\/p>\n
A Glimpse of What Could Be<\/b><\/p>\n
Parallel universe stories are fun because we get to see the What If element of characters we already know. (Or situations or histories or places\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 you get the idea.) I\u00c2\u00a0do<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0love the Mirror Universe because it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s like a version of\u00c2\u00a0Star Trek<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s even grittier than\u00c2\u00a0Deep Space Nine<\/i>, one where people fight for survival every day, where people betray one another right and left, where anyone is disposable based on shifting values and needs. All bets are off in the Mirror Universe, and I won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t deny how fun that is.<\/p>\n
But then we get Kira hinting that she loves her masseuse (who is a woman) and Worf (!!!!! HE IS SO GREAT AS AN EVIL KING !!!!!!!) saying Garak is not his type and I am not exactly the biggest fan of sly references to these characters being ~not very straight~ in a parallel world where everything is wonky and surreal. Like, the whole point of the Mirror Universe is that it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the Federation Gone Wrong, where oppression is the modus operandi at\u00c2\u00a0DS9<\/i>, and it feels weird to couple that with any non-heterosexual expression. You shouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t align those things!<\/p>\n
Aside from this, I did find myself entertained by the morally ambiguous leanings of a rebellion determined to fight off their oppressors. The action sequences in \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Shattered Mirror\u00e2\u20ac\u009d are a rare sight in\u00c2\u00a0Deep Space<\/i>. (Really,\u00c2\u00a0Star Trek<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0as a whole!) The pacing was great, the stakes were high, and in the end, I still enjoyed this episode. I wanted to explain how that was complicated, though, because it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s rare that anyone just outright loves everything or downright hates everything. We exist in degrees, and my thoughts on this season, which are largely positive, also reflect the fact that I can still look critically at something I adore.<\/p>\n
I just want more Jake Sisko, okay???<\/p>\n
The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Shattered Mirror\u00e2\u20ac\u009d can be downloaded\u00c2\u00a0here for $0.99<\/a>.<\/p>\n Mark Links Stuff<\/b><\/p>\n – I am now on Patreon<\/a>! There are various levels of support, from $1 up to whatever you want! You’ll get to read a private blog, extra reviews, and other such rewards.<\/b> In the twentieth episode of the fourth season of\u00c2\u00a0Deep Space Nine, Jake is surprised by the appearance of someone he thought he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d never see again. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch\u00c2\u00a0Star Trek.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[640,614],"tags":[615],"class_list":["post-5732","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-deep-space-nine","category-star-trek","tag-mark-watches-star-trek"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5732","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5732"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5732\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5732"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5732"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5732"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n– I\u00c2\u00a0will be at numerous conventions in 2016! Check the full list of events on my Tour Dates \/ Appearances page.<\/a>
\n– My Master Schedule<\/a> is updated for the near and distant future for most projects, so please check it often.\u00c2\u00a0My next Double Features for Mark Watches have been announced here.<\/a>
\n<\/b>-\u00c2\u00a0Mark Does Stuff is on Facebook!<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0I’ve got a community page up that I’m running. Guaranteed shenanigans!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"