In the blooper reel, it shows Kirk, Uhura, McCoy & Scotty doing the Mambo down the corridors.

TRUE STORY: Barbara Luna got really sick while filming this episode. TPTB decided to begin filming the next episode and finish "Mirror, Mirror" when Barbara Luna recovered.

TRIVIA: Vic Perrin also did the voice of Dr. Zyn in "Jonny Quest".....Robot Spiders, anyone?

There seems to be a funny chain of command on the ISS Enterprise. Sulu seems to think he will be in command if he kills Kirk and Spock. Isn't Scotty generally 3rd in command. and then Sulu if Scotty is not available? Or is Sulu going to kill Scotty along with the others? If so, the dialogue never says..

Why was Scotty, Mccoy and Uhura on the away team? Did they really need to have a Doctor, Engineer, and communications officer on hand to negotiate for dilithium? I can hear M5 now..."non essential personel".

Everytime we see Scotty, He is sneaking around. Now I can sort of understand when he was in phaser control. But wouldn't it seem a lot more suspicious that the Chief Engineer would be sneaking around his own dept.?

John said: In the blooper reel, it shows Kirk, Uhura, McCoy & Scotty doing the Mambo down the corridors.
Check out the look on the faces of the redshirts standing guard. Priceless.
Also, another piece of evidence that our favorite cast was having the time of their lives making this show. So, why all the sour grapes now?

Jayson Spears: "Why was Scotty, Mccoy and Uhura on the away team?"


(It was called a "landing party" in the original show.)

Scotty could have been there to explain the technical reasons for needing the dilithium.

Uhura to record the meeting and to act as interpreter should the Universal Translator fail (much like Hoshi in "Enterprise.").

McCoy because Kirk trusts his advice and a Doctor would be a handy person to have around if someone gets sick or injured.

Ok friends - why hasn't ANYONE talked of the AGONIZER and its derivitives????

Like bearded Spock said: "The Agony Booth is a most effective means of discipline."

I'd say the Agonizer is another way.

I like the Agonizer better, its portable!

The events of this episode were discussed by Major Kira and Dr. Bashir in "Crossover"(DS9)when those two crossed over to this universe.

The final scene, set on the bridge, has a nit and I can't remember if it was mentioned in the Guide. Scotty can be seen standing next to Leslie, but when we cut to a medium shot of Kirk and McCoy, with the camera pointing in the direction of where Scotty and Leslie should be, neither one of them can be seen.

WHY WHY WHY no Mirror Leslie? Did he attempt to take Kirk on for the Captaincy? Did he already escape to the 'good' Enterprise and become one of the many below-deck Leslies? We have to know!

ANTI-NIT: It has been pointed out that it is unreasonable to suppose that small details like an acid-stain on McCoy's table (which proves to McCoy that, in some sense, they are still on the Enterprise and not a copy) would be unchanged in spite of the huge divergences which result in this bizarre universe. In other words, if alternate McCoy is a big jerk, he probably behaves in many ways differently from our McCoy, so it is unreasonable to expect him to spill acid in just the same way.
This has been pointed out before, but I have a possible solution. If we suppose that infinitely many parallel universes exist (as easy to suppose as that two exist) then there would be a separate universe for every conceivable set of data, including a set which paired repeated elements (the acid stain) with very different ones.
In any case of inter-universe switching, if the probability density function is uniform, the likelihood of landing in a universe with a matched datum like the acid stain would be very small; thus, we would still have the problem of why these nagging similarities exist.
BUT, I argue that the probability density function would NOT be uniform. It would heavily favor landing in a universe which resembled ours closely. In fact, EVERY instance of transporter use might precipitate a "switch," but in most cases, the switch would be to a parallel universe where only tiny changes had occurred and no one would notice (an unsettling idea!) But the major ionic-storm disturbance caused the landing party to skip over all the close matches, but still land in a universe which "overlapped" their own in as many small ways as could possibly be consistent with the big changes.
So, we needn't expect to find a gift from jerk-Kirk in McCoy's quarters since evil Kirk would be unlikely (perhaps)ever to have given him one, but evil McCoy would still work with acid. NOTE - there is no "ghost in the machine" weirdly compelling all parallel McCoys to spill acid - there are infinitely many copies of the good Doctor who never did. Those universes are just "farther" from ours, according to the probability-based metric I have defined.

Kinggodzillak said on Sunday, July 10, 2005:
"WHY WHY WHY no Mirror Leslie?"

That's because Alt-Leslie died and stayed dead...unlike "our" Mr. Leslie who has a revolving door on his casket

I rank this in the Top Five of Star Trek Episodes. Still, a few questions taunt me.

If this is a mirror universe, they why doesn't Spock and the Vulcan race rely on emotion and illogic to run their lives?

Why are the Halkans still peaceful? If they are "mirrored," shouldn't they be militaristic instead of pacifistic in the mirrored universe.

Bearded Spock makes a comment to find the truth, he would use McCoy who is more "sentimental." In the brief glimpse of the "mirrored" McCoy, he seems just as violent and barbarous as that whole dysfunctional crew.

Were the Vulcans conquered by the Empire? Or did they join? If they joined, does that seem logical? Also, it has been established they are more sophisticated than humans, as well as stronger. So how were the conquered?

>If this is a mirror universe, they why doesn't >Spock and the Vulcan race rely on emotion and >illogic to run their lives?

>Why are the Halkans still peaceful? If they >are "mirrored," shouldn't they be militaristic >instead of pacifistic in the mirrored universe.

Well, it's a parallel universe, not a completely opposite universe. Some things in the universe are going to be exactly as they are in "our" universe, although others (such as the Federation) evolved along radically different lines.

I agree with whoever Todd was quoting, there should have been more stuff that was differant than in our universe.

The mirror universe story was continued in the Deep Space Nine episodes "Crossover", "Through the Looking Glass", "Shattered Mirror", "Resurrection", and "The Emperor's New Cloak".

Maybe it should be more like Bizarro World in the Superman comics. The ISS Enterprise crew should say "goodbye" when they greet each other, and "hello" when they part from each other, et. al.

I always thought it'd be intriguing to see that the Romulans & Klingons in the Mirror Universe are the "good guys" counterpoint to the evil empire(Federation).

The orbit motion of the ISS Enterprise is fixed in the remastered version. Also, it is subtly different in external appearance, a different colour, and such things as a bigger deflector dish and pointy things on the warp nacelles. It would have been nice to nod to Diane Duane and make the registry ICC-1701 instead of NCC-1701.

The agony booth has a nice added effect. And the agonizer generates a violet spark on the victim.

GREAT ENHANCED MOMENT:

Uhura (Nichelle Nichols) in the Mirror Outfit.

She looks yummier.

I'm not sure where to ask this, but is Star Trek enhanced out on DVD?

The first season was released on a combo HD-DVD set on 11/20/07. Season Two was released on regular DVD on 8/5/08. Season Three will be out (also on regular DVD) on 11/18/08. No information yet on a Blu-Ray release. More info is here.

TV Land cuts most of the cool dialog in the tag. All that's left is Kirk making his move on Marlena.

Here's an analysis of Jerome Bixby's short story "One Way Street." Which he admitted was the springboard to this episode.

And, here's an analysis of the original story outline submitted to Trek.

I was reading Paul's message from 2005. A theory came to me (right up there with "the transporter always kills you and creates a copy"). Maybe every transport takes you to a parallel dimension, but they're normally so similar nobody notices. That would take care of just about all of Phil's "changed premise" nits. It's not a nit, it's just a slightly different universe!

Marlena mentions that Kirk has wiped 50 to 100 enemies out of existence, thanks to the Tantalus Field. If the ISS Enterprise has had the same experiences as the USS Enteprise, then below is a list of some of the enemies Kirk has zapped.
(Taking into account that 'Mirror Mirror' has no stardate, and is at the beginning of the second year of the 5-year mission, it's mostly First Season bad guys)
Nomad
Apollo
Lazarus
Kor
Anan Seven
Khan
Gorn Captain
Trelane
Kodos
Dr.Tristan Adams
Dr.Roger Korby
Gary Mitchell
Charlie Evans
Salt Vampire

You could also include several of Kor's men, some Eminiarians, Khan's supermen, some of Dr.Adams's staff, and maybe Ruk.

Kinda makes you understand why Marlena hates the Tantalus Field so much, when you see some of those names.

I don't think the Tantalus field would work on Nomad. That thing had kick ass shields.

I'm also betting that Gary Mitchell, Trelene, and Apollo would not be so easily destroyed. I could go either way with Charlie Evans though.

Steve - If the ISS Enterprise has had the same experiences as the USS Enteprise
Big assumption. Presumably the Empire has more of "seek out and conquer" attitude rather than exploration which could affect if there was a parallel adventure.

The Man Trap - Visiting scientists exploring a dead civilization - Probably not a high priority for the Empire, may not have happened.

Charlie X - If the Antares crew was as ruthless as the ISS Enterprise crew they probably would have tried to kill Charlie themselves.

Where No Man Has Gone Before - On the one hand, once you know the danger of trying to pass beyond the galactic barrier only an explorer would be stupid enough to try passing through it. On the other hand, you'd think someone like Imperial Kirk wanting to get that kind of god-like power himself. On the third hand what if Imperial Mitchell actually became more of a Christ-like figure who healed the sick and preached peace, love and understanding. No wonder Imperial Kirk wanted him dead. ;-)

The Naked Time - Another visit to a planet with a scientific expedition. Would the Empire waste the Enterprise on a shuttle mission like this? On the other hand, would the crew even realize they had the virus? "He tried to kill me!" "Well, it is Tuesday." ;-)

The Enemy Within - No idea if this would have taken place or not. On the other hand if it did it would be "good" Kirk who would have had to hide from the crew. ;-)

Mudd's Women - Like Imperial Kirk would risk his ship to save Mudd's. On the other hand in the Empire Mudd either would have been put to death or he would have gone into politics. ;-)

What Are Little Girls Made Of? - Another scientific expedition.

Miri - No idea if it would have happened or not.

Dagger of the Mind - The Empire would be all in favor of the brainwashing angle.

The Corbomite Maneuver - No idea.

The Menagerie - Wouldn't have happened, Pike was dead. Also I'd imagine rather than just quarentining Talok IV the Empire would have launched long-range weapons against the planet.

The Conscience of the King - After his decisive actions Kodos probably would have been a rising star in Empire politics.

Balance of Terror - Imperial Kirk would have been a lot more ruthless.

Shore Leave - No idea.

The Galileo Seven - Would the ISS Enterprise be running an errand of mercy? Would Imperial Kirk risk so much for a lost shuttlecraft?

The Squire of Gothos - Ummmm, whoa... no idea.

Arena - I doubt Imperial Kirk would have been able to use the Tantalus field on the Gorn captain unless he could use it while chasing after the Gorn ship. If a parallel to this episode happened either the Gorn or the Metrons would have had to be quite different as Imperial Kirk wouldn't have spared the Gorn.

Tomorrow Is Yesterday - I wonder why no one who invents reasons for why Imperial Earth is so different from Federation Earth never used the ISS Enterprise showing up in the past and mucking up the timeline as an excuse?

Court Martial - Killing a crew member... would that even be a court martial offense? Maybe a slap on the wrist.

The Return of the Archons - Maybe happened.

Space Seed - What would Khan be like in the Imperial universe? A peace activist?

A Taste of Armageddon - The Empire sending a peace envoy???

This Side of Paradise - Probably would have just written off the colonists as dead and never bothered sending the Enterprise.

The Devil in the Dark - Could have happened. Dead Horta slithering.

Errand of Mercy - I just can't imagine this happening in the Imperial universe... unless the alt-Klingons play the Federation role.

The Alternative Factor - If a parallel to this happened one or both Lazari would probably have been killed. Short Show Syndrome. ;-)

The City on the Edge of Forever - I have trouble imagining an Imperial version of this happening.

Operation--Annihilate! - No idea.

Amok Time - Yee gods and little fishies! What would an Imperial version of this be like?

Who Mourns For Adonais? - I doubt the Tantalus field would have worked on Apollo.

The Changeling - The shields would be too powerful.

Gonna play Devil's Advocate here. Been a while since I had a debate...

I'll clarify 'same experiences' as 'visiting the same planets', with an Imperial twist on mission status or motives. And when I say 'same', I'll rephrase that to 'many of the same adventures as the USS Enterprise, but not all.'
Something along the time lines, however, had to match somewhat for the ISS Enterprise and USS Enterprise to have Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Scott, Sulu, Uhura, Chekov, Kyle, and Moreau aboard both ships.

The Man Trap, The Naked Time, What Are Little Girls Made Of? ; scientific missions in our universe, but in the Mirror Universe I could see them being missions to acquire ancient weapons and science.

Mudd's Women; Kirk's not chasing Mudd to save him. He'd chase him to apprehend a thief and a felon and exert Imperial justice on him And then have his way with the three ladies.

The Menagerie; Talos IV, my friend, not Talok IV. Pick, pick, pick...

Space Seed; Khan is a peace activist? Or did he actually 'start' the Empire, leading the Earth down that pathway? Hmmm...

A Taste of Armageddon; No peace envoys. Troops to steal plans to their disintegration chambers and just two more class M planets to subjugate and absorb into the Empire.

Devil In The Dark; As Homer Simpson might say, "Mmmm! Horta burgers!"

The Alternative Factor; They could only kill one Lazarus, since the other is stuck in the dimensional doorway. My guess is Kirk wouldn't have believed our Lazarus when he tells Kirk that the other Lazarus stole the dilithium crystals, and would have thrown him into the Booth until Lazarus died.

Who Mourns For Adonais?; Apollo impervious to the Tantalus Field? He was just a very powerful alien. The thing about the Field is that there's no way to know it's coming. At the very least, if the Tantalus Field couldn't zap Apollo, Kirk's order for phasers fired would have had them aimed right between Apollo's eyes and not his power source/temple.

The Changeling; Kirk- "You will allow Mr.Spock to scan you. It is not an attack. Lower your shields."
Nomad- "Very well, Creator. My shields are down. You may scan me."
Spock- "Thank you."
Kirk- "Now, Marlena."
ZAP!
No more Nomad. Easy.

The Changeling; Kirk- "You will allow Mr.Spock to scan you. It is not an attack. Lower your shields."
Nomad- "Very well, Creator. My shields are down. You may scan me."
Spock- "Thank you."
Kirk- "Now, Marlena."
ZAP!
No more Nomad. Easy.

The descriptions of the other "Imperial" episodes sound quite plausible. However, I suspect that Nomad would never have been put into this position. The reason Nomad stopped its attack on USS Enterprise is because Federation Kirk communicated with it in an effort to make it stop. I'm pretty sure Imperial Kirk would have made no such attempt, would have arrogantly kept trying to destroy the probe and it's ISS Enterprise that would have been destroyed.

On the other hand, it's very possible that Imperial Jackson Roykirk's talents would not have been wasted on building exploration probes and Nomad would not even exist in that Universe. Could go either way.

Or Imperial Kirk would have tried using Nomad as a weapon, that is fostering the father image and manipulating Nomad so it could be used to kill off Klingons and other enemies of the Empire.

I wonder what the Mirror Universe Q would have thought about humanity.

Of course, the Empire works very different from the Federation. Would they have had any interest in M113 (the planet from Man Trap). A dead and barren world, no technology to steal. The only use the planet would be to them would be to stick undesirables on it. Of course, the Salt Vampire could come in handy as an assasin, due to its powers. It could appear to the target as someone they trust to get close enough. All the Empire would have to do is promise it all the salt it needs, and it would gladly work for them (the SV in the Prime universe had no qualms about murdering people, after all).

Since the Empire has no interest in due process, people like Harry Mudd and Cyrano Jones would have been executed long ago. So their episodes probably never happened in the Mirror Universe.

I brought this up in the By Any Other Name thread, but I'm guessing the Kelvins never made it to the Mirror Milky Way(maybe their ship blew up in the barrier, but unlike the Prime reality, no one made it off). If they had, the Empire surely would have found a way to get ahold of their technology.

After the attack on Cestus III, the Empire probably would have reduced the Gorn Homeworld to cinders, and then annexed their space.

Ditto for the Tholians.

All the "just like Earth" planets (Patterns Of Force, A Piece Of The Action, Bread And Circuses, etc) probably would have long since been conquered and incorporated into the Empire.

The Paradise Syndrome gets special mention here, because I can't see the Empire passing up the opportunity to get their hands on some Preserver technology. As to why it was seeminly never used, maybe their scientists just couldn't figure it out.

The Empire probably wiped out the Talosians (in the novels set in the MU, it is Imperial Policy to wipe out, or control, all telepathic species). The Melkotians, of Spectre Of The Gun, probably suffered a similar fate.

No doubt after some failed attempts at conquest, the Empire would give the Old Races (Organians, Metrons, and such) a wide berth.

Another plus, the Empire might have known a bit about the worlds of their galaxy, because of the Defiant data banks (assuming Empress Sato allowed anyone to see them). Those banks would have information of the worlds known to the Federation as of 2268 (the year the Defiant was lost in the interface). They could look up a world in the Prime universe (like Gideon)and send ships to conquer the Mirror version of said world (I'm sure the Empire had no problem "helping" their version of Gideon with the population problem).

Since the Q exist in their own Continuum, it's possible that there is no "mirror" Q. If you buy into the idea that Trelene is a Q, and a lot of Trek fans do, the same thing applies.

I wonder about the mirror version of Flint (Requiem For Methusala). What became of him. Was he so disgusted with humanity that he wanted no part of it anymore (like our Flint), or did he actively help the Empire.

So many possibilities...

Steve - The Menagerie; Talos IV, my friend, not Talok IV. Pick, pick, pick...
In the regular universe perhaps, but in the Imperial universe... *shifty eyes*

Apollo impervious to the Tantalus Field? He was just a very powerful alien. The thing about the Field is that there's no way to know it's coming.
Except Apollo is on the planet, not the ship. We don't know how far the Tantalus Field can reach, we only know that does work within the ship.

After the attack on Cestus III, the Empire probably would have reduced the Gorn Homeworld to cinders, and then annexed their space.

It would not have been so simple. The Gorn proved to be a match in technology and weaponry to the Federation, and the one we saw in the mirror universe was apparently just as aggressive and ruthless as the one Kirk had to fight. After the theft of the Defiant, Gorn and Tholians would have attacked the Empire to recover or destroy it, they could not afford to leave such an advanced ship in the hands of the humans. There would have been a war, which the Gorn obviously lost. Cestus III would never have happened in the mirror universe.

Concerning Apollo, I'm not sure Imperial Kirk would have lasted very long on his planet. Apollo had a short temper, he came close to killing Federation Kirk and his companions many times. The far less diplomatic Imperial Kirk would have been toast within minutes of meeting the old god. And in the mirror universe, maybe it would have been Ares, not Apollo waiting for them on that distant world.

Maybe the whole Apollo debate is for nothing, since I recall that the mission to Pollux IV was scientific, which almost eliminates it from being copied in the Mirror Universe.
The ISS Enterprise was probably blowing up Ceti Alpha V or Vendikar for something to do, while the USS Enterprise encountered Apollo.

Kirk took over from Pike in both universes, but our Pike was horribly disfigured after saving cadets. I'd guess that Imperial Pike probably stood around and let them die. Or maybe he was only partially-irradiated and wore his radiation scars as a badge of honor.

In a Mirror, Darkly(ENT) kind of puts some retrospective nits.

It appears that most of the galaxy went through its normal development, up until the time of First Contact with humans. The Terran Empire then conquered the Vulcans, and, using Vulcan technology, conquered the local area.

But if the Vulcans were slaves at the time of Empress Hoshi, how does Spock become so powerful on the ISS Enterprise? If Vulcans were held in as low regard as the were in IAMD, why does Spock's mention that some of his partisans are Vulcan cause such fear in Sulu?

I still don't understand the line "Oiling my traps, darling."

I mean, really? Come on! "Oiling my traps, darling"?! Was it supposed to have some kind of sexually-oriented innuendo attached to it or something?

I know that the Mirror Marlena Moreau (say that five times fast) was basically the Captain's private sex slave who had to bow down to his every whim and desire, but what the hell did she mean by that??!!

Even the Chief was repeatedly making fun of it in the Classic Guide, but he never bothered to say what HE thought it meant, either!

Am I reading too heavily into this? Am I over-analyzing something that just isn't worth the time and effort to think about for too long?

I wonder about that!

(oh, and the Mirror Universe is something I wish they had actually brought back on TNG, instead of waiting for DS9 to do it. Now, only non-canon novels and comics show and tell what the TNG characters' mirror counterparts were like!)

The latest series of novels are •••• good. The latest, Rise Like Lions, by David Mack, even ends with a more hopeful future for that wretched universe.

Yes, Andre, it was supposed to be sexual innuendo. Remember the time it was produced.

Star Trek Continues is an excellent fan-based Trek series that can be found on youtube plus their own website.
Below is the youtube link to a truly fantastic sequel episode to 'Mirror, Mirror' called 'Fairest Of Them All', which begins with Federation-Kirk in the transporter with Empire-Spock, and follows on with what happened after the imperial Kirk and crew returned.
10 out of 10 in my book!

http://youtu.be/dJf2ovQtI6w

I agree, it was a pretty good follow up.

An interesting factoid from the Watch TCM app: Barbara Luna was this close to being cast as Maria in the film version of West Side Story, until the producers reconsidered screenwriter Ernest Lehman's first choice, Natalie Wood.

Perhaps that happened in a parallel universe

Can you imagine the mirror universe version of that movie?

They probably are all arrested for sedition and executed at the end.

Did Spock want to win the fight between himself and Kirk, McCoy, Scott, and Uhura? He should have neck-pinched every one of them once they got close enough!
Too bad Kirk's 'woman' didn't turn out to be an Imperial version of Janice Rand. That would have been so cool to see her again, but as a different character. As Jon Stewart used to say in a high-pitched voice, "Awwwkward!"
There's a nit right from the start as the transference takes place. We clearly see the ISS Enterprise orbiting right to left over the planet, but every scene after that has them traveling left to right.
The ISS Enterprise also has it's own theme. Every time we come back from a commercial and see her in orbit, they play a dramatic score, rather than the usual Star Trek/Kirk theme.

There's a nit right from the start as the transference takes place. We clearly see the ISS Enterprise orbiting right to left over the planet, but every scene after that has them traveling left to right.

The re-mastering did away with that particular nit.

And speaking of the re-mastering...
I watched 'Mirror, Mirror' then Star Trek-Enterprise's 2-part 'In A Mirror, Darkly' and found a new nit.
In the Original Series and the re-mastered new special effects version of M.M., the ISS Enterprise is an older, less technological version of the USS Enterprise on the outside. It has a higher bridge dome, antennae out of the warp necelles, and has no domes on the rear of the warp engines-- it has some kind of plating, instead. In other words, the ISS Enterprise is the same as Pike s ship, the one from 'The Cage' pilot.
In 'In A Mirror, Darkly', Archer's crew captures the USS Defiant from the Tholians, brought there from the events of the TOS episode 'The Thoilian Web'. We see that it's the same as Kirk's Enterprise-- normal dome, no antennae, and domes on the rear of the warp engines.
Here's the nit;
If the ISS Enterprise is based on the USS Defiant, captured a century before, why does it look like the USS Enterprise 10 years before the Defiant's design? The orignal stpry concept, apparently, was that the Empire was about 10 years behind the Federation, but if they had a starship from 2268 (the time of 'The Thoian Web') what are they doing with a ship that looks like it's from the 2250's?

We really don't know what happened in the century between In A Mirror Darkly and this episode. Had Enterprise not been cancelled, future visits to the Mirror Universe were planned.

Perhaps we would have gotten our answer.

There are Hallmark Keepsake Ornaments this year based on this episode - Sulu, Kirk and Uhura. (I picked the Sulu ornament to highlight as I think it's the coolest looking of the three. )

Yeah, pretty cool.

And, here's a review of the Hallmark Ornaments for this year, from TrekMovie. Including an excellent tree-topper of the (not Mirror Universe) Enterprise. (Man, that Enterprise rocks, doesn't it? )

It sure dues.

The sphere things on the ends of the nacelles may have been found by Empire warp specialists to be a useless ornament, or that they impeded certain functions that allow the nacelles to serve in a hostile manner, such as releasing plasma or particles to stall a pursuing ship.

Re Pike: perhaps he did skip the rescue of the cadets, but someone important to Kirk was one of those cadets and Commander Kirk decides to assassinate Pike for failing to rescue any of the cadets and prohibiting anyone else from trying.

Re the range of the Tantalus Field. Perhaps it "piggy-backs" onto an existing communications and visual pickup network, OR... to keep it secret, Kirk could not employ talented help to exploit the device's full capability. Perhaps it could extend further, as far as the surface of Beta Geminorum IV or the Gorn ship being pursued. Perhaps the Tantalus field isn't just for eliminating - maybe it has the potential for "containing" or transporting the target person, but again, Kirk is not aware of those functions or unable to connect them... or he knows about them and just doesn't see any use for them!

Kirk could not become a "god" in the energy barrier because he isn't an ESPer. But he might try probing the barrier because one day, the Empire will encompass the entire galaxy, he is sure, and will need "breathing room".

I would venture that the First Federation will not tolerate the Empire's incursions. Their Balok will meet a Kirk who winds up, with his crew, interned on a FF planet.

"Mudd's Women" - more than likely, Mudd spirited away three women whose families or consorts want them found and returned. Small potatoes, but an Imperial Starship will have no trouble overcoming Mudd's little ship. And as someone noted, Kirk might enjoy the women's company while repatriating them. Mudd's Venus drugs might not be in the picture.

"The Enemy Within" - not gonna happen if there's no specimen collection trip. However, if the planet has an Empire outpost, the ore might be of potential interest to scientists, but an accident happens and someone, somewhere, gets duplicated. Just not on the ISS Enterprise, but on a freighter.

"The Man Trap" - the planet appears to have no useful artifacts, from a technological viewpoint. The inhabitants appear never to have progressed to a technological society. Robert and Nancy would have been of no interest whatsoever to the Empire, which would let them do as they want as long as they're not engaging in sedition. And it would not bother checking up on them at yearly intervals.

"The Naked Time" - the Empire wouldn't care about comparing Psi 2000's fate with Earth of the present (maybe in the mirror universe, it _is_ called by a catalogue number starting LAPG, which crew members nickname "La Pig"). So, no "polywater" gets onto the Enterprise, or the Tsiolkovsky and from that to the ISS Enterprise D.

"Charlie X" - The Antares crew would have to get the drop on Charlie to eliminate him. But if Charlie kept his nose clean enough to simply be shoved off and become someone else's problem, he certainly wouldn't find a compassionate daddy in Kirk. Kirk would probably have smirked about Charlie's infatuation with Janice, and played it for her to favour him, except she decides to jump ship the next time it's in port and abandon Kirk.

"Balance of Terror" - according to Diane Duane's history, the Romulans were defeated decades before Kirk's time, and they committed mass suicide.

"What Are Little Girls Made Of?" A disappearing scientist would be of no interest, especially since Exo III appears to have nothing of any value. (Wow, if they'd only known. Then Kirk would have landed with enough force to overcome Ruk, Brown and Corby. Kirk has Corby in front of the "pit", "So long!" Shove. "Sorry, Nurse Chapel, I'm afraid he had an accident.")

"Dagger of the Mind" - it wouldn't have been a psychiatric institute - it would have been a prison for political dissidents. Adams might have been pressuring Van Gelder to build a reconditioning device, but Van Gelder wanted no part of it.)

"Miri" - potential colonization site, then have to deal with the disease. Officers on the Enterprise might have abandoned Kirk and company, but when McCoy finds the cure, Spock rigs up a long-range subspace transmitter, signals Starfleet, and the Enterprise crew have to do some 'splaining'.

"The Conscience of the King" - non event. Kodos was decorated by the Empire for his heroism, but Kirk resents the guy for killing family and the parents of his friend Kevin Riley. Kodos is still a thespian at heart so, when he retired from politics, he started the Karidian Players (where'd he get that name?) and performs violent classical plays including an adaptation of the Great Salvation Purge of Tarsus IV.

"The Galileo Seven" - non event.

"Court Martial" - Ben Finney's complex scheme since he isn't in the line that would make him eligible to succeed Kirk without a few other people in the way first.

"The Menagerie" - non-occurring. Pike and his crew are not interested in the SS Columbia, so they never go to Talos. When an Empire ship does check it out, they encounter the Talosians and don't survive. A scant message the Empire receives indicates Talos is hostile and powerful, so the Empire orders the planet destroyed.

"Shore Leave" - even Imperials need R&R, and once they figure out they can enjoy the worst they can imagine, and still survive, Empire ships begin to visit the planet regularly, even as a few wonder what makes the planet tick.

"The Squire of Gothos" - Trelane would LOVE this bunch! Just as bloodthirsty as the ancient cultures Trelane observed! But eventually, Kirk would have had enough and loses twenty or thirty redshirts before he can overcome Trelane and then Mom and Dad come out and tell the boy it's time to come inside. They have admonishing words for Kirk, who as much as spits at the trees where they manifest themselves.

"Arena" - as noted above, the Gorns are soundly defeated while trying to help the Tholians retrieve the Defiant. (I assume Empress Sato ordered the "U" changed to an "I". Also, if she never allows the ship to be dismantled for reverse engineering, it would limit how much Empire engineers could learn from it, and how long it would take them to learn it.)

"The Alternative Factor" - Lazarus would not have the free-run of the ship like our Kirk foolishly gave Lazarus. The time ship would have been identified as the focus of the disruptions and blown to bits, then Lazarus would have been dealt with as a nuisance, though his knowledge might have been sought by scientists.

"Tomorrow Is Yesterday" - non-event?

"The Return of the Archons" - probably happened, but as soon as Landru was dealt with, the planet was annexed to the empire.

"A Taste of Armageddon" - follow-up to the Valiant as the system is annexed and its technology acquired by the empire.

"Space Seed" - Khan would have figured this was just the time for him, and just the place for him to become the ruler.

"This Side of Paradise" - who cares. They probably died or they're doing fine and we'll soon go there and make sure they're paying their taxes.

"The Devil in the Dark" - Momma Horta is killed, her children have no mother, and after those nuisance children are dealt with, the planet's all ours.

"Errand of Mercy" - maybe this is when the Klingons are conquered by the Empire (Diane Duane's novel) and all accept discommendation. The Organians figure these barbarians deserve each other.

"The City on the Edge of Forever" - science. The Guardian is interesting, but either this must be kept secret so that the Klingons don't use it to try to eliminate the Terran Empire, or the planet should be destroyed.

"Operation--Annihilate!" - Kirk orders the planet destroyed, without discovering any other way to neutralize a threat that might still exist. (Of course, the Defiant's logs might have a record of it.)

That covers the first season.

These are very interesting, Geoff.

I'd argue that "Court Martial" doesn't even happen. So what if he hit the button early? Finney was clearly planning to mutiny!

Phil more or less said the same thing in his book.

In a Starfleet where assassinations happen every day Finney's death would not even be a blip on anyone's radar. They would just write it off as another assassination.

We can debate how much the USS Enterprise and ISS Enterprise histories match, (I did it, too, above in 2012), but I think Kirk said it best; "Everything's duplicated. Almost."

The proof is in the dialog and just the whole set-up of the Empire;
1. We never saw 'our' Enterprise go to Vega 9, where the Imperial Kirk executed 5000 colonists.
2. We never saw our Enterprise to go to Coraline to deal with a rebel; uprising.
3. If Kirk assassinated Pike to get command, that sounds like he served under him. In our universe, Pike and Kirk never served together-- Pike was promoted and Kirk was assigned as his replacement.
4. Somebody created the Tantalus Field device, which doesn't exist in our universe.
5. Somebody created the Agony Booth (back in the days of Star Trek Enterprise, apparently), which doesn't exist in our universe.
6. The Tantalus field has killed Kirk's enemies, so their histories would end in the Imperial universe, but probably continue in our universe.
7. Chekov is sent to ther agony booth, something our Chekov wasn't. His history (timeline) is different because of that.
8. The two Marlena's have different histories- one is a captain's woman, the other a science specialist with no relationship with the captain. Another difference in timelines.
9. And if we throw in the events of Star Trek - Enterprise's Mirrow Universe episode, that showed a drastically different series of events occurring, not the least of which was that version of Jonathan Archer dying a long time before our Archer passed away.

My impression is that both universes overlap in places, and are completely different in others (ie. the ISS Enterprise went to Vega 9 at the same time as the USS Enterprise went to Gothos). This episode took place in one of perhaps only a few times that the two universes aligned where both Enterprises were in the exact same place at the exact same time.
Still, it's fun to theorize what parts are similar and what happened instead of our history.

Clearly not all the missions will match up. The primary mission of the U.S.S. Enterprise was to explore and find new worlds.

On the other hand, the Terran Empire was out for conquest, so any mission that involved exploration would be off the table for the I.S.S. Enterprise.

Some have mentioned what happened in regards to the Mirror Universe's versions of Trelane, the Metrons, and the Organians. Clearly the Empire is no threat to any of them and any attempt to conquer them would have been disastrous for the Empire.

However, In A Mirror Darkly offers a way out. The Empire no doubt possessed the logs of the U.S.S. Defiant, and said logs probably mention the Federation's encounters with those beings. I imagine the Empire would instruct all its ships to stay away from Trelane, the Metrons, and the Organians.

Why is the stardate in this episode "unknnown"? Are there no chronometers on the ISS Enterprise that Kirk can look at?

Why is the stardate in this episode "unknown"? Are there no chronometers on the ISS Enterprise that Kirk can look at?

Why is Kirk even dictating a captain's log, and where is he doing it? In Mirror-Kirk's cabin aboard the ISS Enterprise? Not a good idea to expose your identities for Security to discover!

They did this a lot in TOS, having Kirk dictate log entries when he has no mean of doing so.

Of course, it was really just done for exposition.

Kirk leaves 'his' quarters, enters a turbolift and gives Uhura orders to initiate a distraction for Scotty. The floor indicator light shows the turbolift is rising, which would seem to indicate the transporter room (the place we next see Kirk) is several decks above his cabin. This is contradicted by other episodes (probably) but also the Star Trek blueprints that place Kirk's quarters on deck 5 and the transporter room on deck 7.

I'll bet that back-handed smack Uhura gave Sulu hurt a little more than usual-- her left hand is wearing a ring that would hurt a little more than her fingers.

Marlena says that she is 'humiliated on the Enterprise'. Sounds like Mirror-Kirk likes to play the field, also, and by the time he comes back to the ship he doesn't need Marlena's 'services'.

I noticed that Mirror-Enterprise is more grayish, gun-metal grey, and dirty than our nice clean 'real' Enterprise, in the new effects version.

I think I actually owe 'Discovery' an apology! Season 1 established that the Mirror Universe inhabitants had slightly weaker eyes and preferred darker rooms, which I originally scoffed at. Meanwhile, I'm watching this episode and I'm noticing the 'moody', darkened rooms of the Mirror Universe. So, it looks like the producers took a cue from director of photography, Jerry Finnerman, and ran with his subdued lighting!

Jerome Bixby*, one of the many talented Sci-Fi/Horror authors that TOS employed, wrote this one.


*was also the creator of TZ's Anthony Fremont (make me mad, into the cornfield with you).

His original short story was far darker and creepier than the Twilight Zone episode.

Indeed it was. Of course, he didn't have to contend with network censors when he wrote the original story.

TOS was lucky to have such talent writing their episodes. Talent the later shows never availed themselves of.