Day 42: DS9, Crossover

Show: Star Trek; Deep Space Nine

Episode Particulars: S2EP23, “Crossover”

 Summary: As Kira and Bashir make their way through the wormhole, several things combine in just the right way to send them, not to DS9, but to a place where the station orbits Bajor, humans are forced to work in ore processing…and the whole thing is presided over by Kira, with Garak as her right hand man. It soon comes out that this is the universe Kirk stumbled across a hundred years ago, and thanks to his involvement, some changes took place. Now an alliance of Cardassians and Klingons dominate the galaxy, with Bajorans like Kira (known in this universe as the Intendant) playing fairly important roles. The Intendant is naturally intrigued by Kira, and Kira has to play it carefully if she wants to have any hope of getting herself and Bashir home again. But it’s hard to tell who you can trust in a world where everyone’s ready and willing to stab each other in the back.

Standalone Thoughts: This episode may be very dark in tone, but it’s a lot of fun from a fan’s perspective. Not only do you get to see the characters you’ve (hopefully) come to like at this point with different personalities and ways of acting, but long time Trek fans will get an extra kick out of how the writers are playing with the canon. I believe the TOS episode “Mirror, Mirror” was a fairly popular one, so revisiting it in the 24^th century is an understandable choice. To go one step further and say that the events of that episode shaped the entire course of the Mirror Universe is a bold move, but I think the writers handle it well. It’s also believable, in a way—after all, a lot can change in a century. Do you think the people of 1917 had any idea that we’d be where we are today? By that standard, one empire falling and being replaced with another is kind of par for the course as far as history goes.

As for the aforementioned acting, I’m pleased to report that all of the actors bring their A-game. Pretty much all of the mirror characters have different, darker personalities, but they’re played in such a way that we can see familiar aspects in them. Odo’s sternness has morphed into complete authoritarianism, Quark is still underhanded but with a more obvious compassionate streak, and Kira and the Intendant have an entire conversation about what makes them different yet similar. The only two who don’t fully fit that mold are O’Brien, who is pretty much the same as he is on DS9 with perhaps a slightly more cynical edge, and Sisko, who has a much bolder, brasher personality. Even then, though, it doesn’t necessarily feel out of character for him, so it fits with the broad intent of the episode. Meanwhile, Nana Visitor plays both Kiras very well, and while Bashir isn’t very promising at the start of the episode (see below), he does prove that he’s resourceful, quick-witted, and good with words when he needs to be. In short, a creative premise, good writing, and great acting make this a very enjoyable episode, with just the right amount of humor and darkness to make it entertaining instead of overly grim. And since I’m not overly fond of “grimdark” material, that’s something I wholeheartedly encourage.

How it Relates to the Whole: While it doesn’t relate to the main storyline, we’ll be returning to the Mirror Universe a few more times over the course of the series, so like the Ferengi episodes, these should be noted as a subplot of sorts. If memory serves me right, there’s a story arc in and of itself here as we move forward, so I’ll be curious to see how that all plays out.

Other: *So, about Bashir in the teaser. After a very long spate where he was slightly awkward, but not in a distracting way, he spends a good two minutes being the oblivious, overly talkative Bashir from Season One, getting more and more cringeworthy as he goes. He does improve, thankfully, but that opening does feel like a step back. I do find it interesting, however, that Bashir’s biggest moments of personality shift have occurred when he’s around Kira. Either he’s slightly intimidated by her and runs his mouth off in an attempt to put himself at ease and/or try to make friends with her, or it’s somehow related to what was going on behind the scenes (Siddig and Visitor eventually got into a relationship, though I’m not sure at what point that started). Yet another small thing to pay attention to.

*When Bashir and Kira first arrive in the Mirror Universe and are boarded by some Klingons, the camera is at a much lower angle, shooting so that the actors tower over us. While it’s noticeable, it’s also pretty obviously been done that way on purpose to be disorienting, so kudos to the cameramen.

*It’s a nice touch that, when the Intendant mentions Kirk, Kira has no idea who he is. Because while he’s a legend among the 24^th century humans (and 20^th-21^st century fans), most aliens probably aren’t that familiar with him, especially if they’re not part of Starfleet or the Federation. This is emphasized when Kira asks Bashir about Kirk later, and Bashir confirms that they read about Kirk, and the Mirror Universe incident, at Starfleet University. Another excellent example of fairly subtle worldbuilding.

Best Line/Exchange: After denying Garak the best line in “The Wire”, I feel like I should give him the honor here;

(Garak has been explaining to Kira that the Intendant trusts her)

Kira: All you have to do is take a look at the guard outside to see how much she trusts me.

Garak: I arranged the guard. Oh, she trusts you. As much as she trusts anyone. So who better to betray her?

Kira: You’re taking quite a risk coming to me like this.

Garak: True career advancement requires risk.

After the stories Garak told in “The Wire”, it doesn’t seem surprising that his counterpart would be more than capable of this sort of “career advancement”, thus meaning that the previous episode laid excellent groundwork for this character interpretation. It’s also the exact sort of sly phrasing we expect from Garak, but with an edge that we’ve only caught glimpses of until now. And yet Andrew Robinson plays it in such a way that it feels perfectly natural, so much so that we wouldn’t necessarily bat an eye if “our” Garak acted like that (as long as we had some proper setup). See, this is why I love his performance so much, and why Garak is my favorite.

After the Fact Update: Interestingly, the DS9 Companion reveals that Worf from TNG was supposed to be in this episode, but actor Michael Dorn was unavailable (probably in the process of shooting TNG’s finale). So “many of Worf’s lines went to the mirror Garak”. I hope that doesn’t include my pick for Best Exchange; it just doesn’t feel like a Worf line to me.