Series: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Season 3, Episode 19
Original Air Date: April 17, 1995
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| via Memory Alpha |
Garak episode!
Sisko is kidnapped by Mirror Universe (MU) O'Brien and brought to the alternate dimension. The Terran Rebels want Jennifer Sisko (Felecia M. Bell), still alive in the MU, to join their cause and see "Real World" (RW) Sisko as the best bet for convincing her, especially since MU Sisko has been killed. Problem is, while the Siskos are indeed married in the MU, this Jennifer detests her husband.
The episode title is an homage to Lewis Carroll's classic novel Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There.
We see several characters' mirrors this time who didn't make appearances in Season 2's "Crossover," specifically Bashir, Rom, Dax, Tuvok (in a Voyager crossover) and the aforementioned Jennifer. The first four are all Terran Rebels though, as we soon learn, Rom's loyalties are conflicted. Interestingly, MU Dax (who suffers from a terrible mid-'90s hairstyle) is MU Sisko's lover so RW Sisko finally gets to have sex, a fact that pleased actor Avery Brooks. In fact, he gets to sleep with MU Kira, too.
Both Patrick Stewart and Brooks pushed for their characters to have more of a sex life. Kate Mulgrew, on the other hand, fought hard against the sexualization of Captain Janeway for understandable reasons.
I'm not a fan of the way DS9 uses the MU. For the original series, it was a fantastic one-off concept. But Deep Space Nine (and later Discovery) develops a whole separate story arc and I just don't see the point. It doesn't provide insights into the RW equivalents. It's just a separate thread. Maybe sometime, I'll watch all of DS9's MU episodes in one sitting and I'll appreciate them better. But as it is, it doesn't work for me.
That said, bringing Jennifer back was definitely an interesting idea, especially given the very different relationship the Siskos have in the MU. Others have criticized Bell's performance but I'm not sure what exactly they wanted from her. Did they really expect MU Jennifer to instantly fall head over heels for RW Benjamin? Clearly, it's a disastrous marriage in the MU and at episode's end, Jennifer is just coming to terms with the idea that there's a different, kinder, honorable version of her husband - the opposite of an evil twin. Of course, it's going to take some time for that to sink in.
Acting Notes
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| via Memory Alpha |
Felecia M. Bell was born in Los Angeles. In addition to DS9, she has had a recurring roles on both Days of Our Lives and General Hospital as well as a principal role on Night Man. She only has one feature film credit: Clara in Babyfever. Bell retired from acting in 2007 and has since worked as a holistic nutritionist.
Hmm...interesting to read this.
ReplyDeleteThank you.
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