Star Trek TOS S2E4: Mirror, Mirror

We have seen the enemy and he has facial hair.

See the Star Trek TOS Rewatch Index page for links to all the episodes covered so far.

“MIRROR, MIRROR” Rating: 9.3/10

The Mirror Universe has become a tedious Trek default. Deep Space Nine had a Mirror Universe episode just about every year of its run, in which the actors all got to play evil versions of themselves while wandering around increasingly half-baked plots. Discovery spent much of its first season mired in the evil Terran Empire, attaining dangerous levels of technobabble while the main storyline languished. Mirror Universe episodes are a supposedly fun thing you’re reluctantly dragged into, like a cruise ship or an office birthday party.

It's a relief, then, to return to the episode that started it all, and find that it remains untouched by the mediocrity of its successors. This isn’t the first evil double Trek episode: “The Enemy Within” and “The Alternative Factor” are both precedents. It’s got enough twists to make it feel new, though. And you can’t argue with that solid Cold War moral: We are better than them, even if we are them.