So... What's wrong with "emperor's new cloak?"

[sonak]

This episode, a "Ferengi episode," and the last of the Mirror Universe one, gets a bad rap, if you check out internet reviews and such. I hadn't seen it since it came out, and recently re-watched it. It's actually pretty funny, much better than many Ferengi episodes and better than the previous mirror universe episode, "resurrection." Sure, it may come off as a fluffy waste of time in a season that had to wrap up the Dominion War and the series, but then "Take me out to the Holosuite" and "badda-bing, badda-bang" had the same issue.

This episode had a funny gag with the invisible cloaking device, a funny gag with mirror-Vic Fontaine, and a hot-looking Ezri. I think this episode should be more highly regarded.

 

[Bad Thoughts]

Personally, I found the MU exhausted by this point, and this was a step back from the rehabilitation of the Ferengi as buffoons. The cloaking device gag was funny. Nonetheless, I never find any reason to watch this episode (or let it play); I can't say the same for TMOTTH or B-B,B-B.

ETA: As Rom says, "I'm really beginning to hate this universe." Well put.

 

[DS9forever]

I like how the episode is like "Magnificent Ferengi" in presenting Quark and Rom as heroes. I think some fans don't like farce in Star Trek and want everything to be serious all the time.

The actors and the writers seemed to like the episode:

http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/The_Emperor's_New_Cloak_(episode)#Reception

 

[od0_ital]

It starts off with a faulty premise - the Mirror Universe had already been shown to have cloak technology in the second DS9 episode that crossed over to it.

Therefore, the entire episode is a waste of an hour.

 

[Terra Pryme]

It starts off with a faulty premise - the Mirror Universe had already been shown to have cloak technology in the second DS9 episode that crossed over to it.

It's possible that the cloaking tech the Klingon-Cardassian Alliance had wasn't that all sophisticated, since unlike what we saw in "The Enterprise Incident", there was no Klingon-Romulan alliance in the MU 23rd century. The KCA had only begun developing their cloak in recent years, which was effective at first, but when Smiley built his Defiant, he was able to modify its sensors to make the ship much better able to detect cloaked ships. A quick tie-in to the targeting scanners, and the majority of enemy ships could be destroyed with just one shot, forcing the Alliance to scrap their cloaking tech until they could better develop it, or in case of this episode, steal the superior tech from the regular Trek universe. This would work out any continuity issues here.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

It's also possible that it's not the same Mirror Universe.

 

[Finn]

^Yeah, I think they said something like that in the first MU episode.

 

[DS9forever]

It starts off with a faulty premise - the Mirror Universe had already been shown to have cloak technology in the second DS9 episode that crossed over to it.

Therefore, the entire episode is a waste of an hour.

Just because the writers forgot a five second visual scene from an episode made four years earlier? Not really.

 

[F. King Daniel]

It starts off with a faulty premise - the Mirror Universe had already been shown to have cloak technology in the second DS9 episode that crossed over to it.

Therefore, the entire episode is a waste of an hour.

If a continuity error makes an entire episode a waste, you must not like a lot of Trek...

 

[Dick_Valentine]

The battle scene at the end is a re-use of Shattered Mirror which is pretty lame.
If the budget didn't stretch to the SFX then they should've re-written it so the battle wasn't needed rather than trying to cram it in when they couldn't afford it.

 

[LeadHead]

For me, the episode both worked and it didn't.

The Ferengi had been killed over and over throughout the Mirror Universe episodes, so now Quark and Rom get to be the ones who crossover this time and make some history in the mirror universe. The poetic justice works on some level, but it always seemed to me that Sisko, Kira or Worf should have been involved more in the last mark the DS9 crew would make on that universe. Sisko because of his previous experiences and the Intendant murdering Jennifer. Kira because of the Intendant and Worf because of the Regent.

Dropping into the story that Jadzia had died was both interesting to add more anger and drive to the mirror Bashir character, but also the closing of a door for future stories in books which was unnecessary. Given how tragic her murder was, would it really have been so bad to have the mirror Jadzia still be alive?

Shattered Mirror raised the bar very high for battle and excitement in the mirror universe, The Emperors New Cloak wasn't even close to meeting that bar.

 

[MacLeod]

The first few MU episodes weren't to bad, but they went downhill with "Resurection"

It had a major plot hole, but that in itself doesn't make a bad episode VOY "Living Witness" had a major plot hole but was one of VOY better episodes.

I'm sure they could have found something else to do with either the Dominion War of if they must visit the MU, The Terran Rebellion.

 

[Seven of Five]

I think a lot of the interesting Mirror Universe characters had died by the time The Emperor's New Cloak rolled around, so the writers were somewhat misguided in doing one last hurrah. Making it into a Ferengi episode was also bad news, as they were stinking up the place by this point in the series too.

The cloaking device already being part of the MU in a different episode is more of a nitpick, but as I dislike the episode so much, it doesn't slide.

I also dislike the casual use of lesbianism/bisexuality in a 'cool, edgy' way, because the MU is soooo crazy like that. For a series that dealt with homosexuality in such a mature way in Rejoined, it was disappointing to see the way it was used here.

 

[sonak]

I think a lot of the interesting Mirror Universe characters had died by the time The Emperor's New Cloak rolled around, so the writers were somewhat misguided in doing one last hurrah. Making it into a Ferengi episode was also bad news, as they were stinking up the place by this point in the series too.

The cloaking device already being part of the MU in a different episode is more of a nitpick, but as I dislike the episode so much, it doesn't slide.

I also dislike the casual use of lesbianism/bisexuality in a 'cool, edgy' way, because the MU is soooo crazy like that. For a series that dealt with homosexuality in such a mature way in Rejoined, it was disappointing to see the way it was used here.

I do agree with the point about the portrayal of lesbianism in these episodes. What's especially funny is how dated that now makes it seem, with what was "edgy" in the mid- to late-nineties now just seems silly. It's hard to anticipate that what may seem "oh so outrageous" at one point may just seem juvenile a mere decade or so later.

 

[JD5000]

I think that this episode was just meant to make us chuckle. Whether you thought it was funny or not, I think it defies deeper interpretation.

 

[Seven of Five]

Perhaps. I like farce, but the Ferengi episodes went too far in that direction a lot of the time.

I'm on a DS9 rewatch and saw The House of Quark yesterday, and really forgot how funny it was. Quark dizzying Gowron with talk about profit; the sight of Klingons all gripping their PADDs trying to follow Quark talking; Grilka slapping Quark to initiate a divorce.

I think Quark's better episodes were when there were less Ferengi around him.

 

[Bad Thoughts]

Perhaps. I like farce, but the Ferengi episodes went too far in that direction a lot of the time.

I'm on a DS9 rewatch and saw The House of Quark yesterday, and really forgot how funny it was. Quark dizzying Gowron with talk about profit; the sight of Klingons all gripping their PADDs trying to follow Quark talking; Grilka slapping Quark to initiate a divorce.

I think Quark's better episodes were when there were less Ferengi around him.

With the exception of Bar Association, I completely agree. Quark was a great character on its own, and sometime, Rom was decent as well.

 

[JD5000]

I'm a big fan of the Ferengi-centric-episodes and Armin Shimerman, so I may be a little biased. I think those episodes are meant to be taken exactly as presented - farce. Well- or poorly-done - that's up to the viewer.

As far as "Emperor's New Cloak" goes, I thought the scene where Rom and Quark were attempting to move the "cloaked" cloaking device (what? why?) was hilarious. I bet it was a blast to act that out.

 

[od0_ital]

It starts off with a faulty premise - the Mirror Universe had already been shown to have cloak technology in the second DS9 episode that crossed over to it.

Therefore, the entire episode is a waste of an hour.

If a continuity error makes an entire episode a waste, you must not like a lot of Trek...

Continuity errors I can live with - they show up all over the franchise.

But errors that lead to gawd awful episodes durin' final seasons, when every episode should count for something, should be called out for bein' gawd awful.

As for the writers not takin' a visual effect into account - they should really watch their own show, or pay someone to watch it for 'em and smack upside the head when they fuck up as badly as 'The Emperor's New Cloak'.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

I'm a big fan of Star Trek comedy episodes. Good comedy episodes, like The Magnificent Ferengi, or In The Cards, Who Mourns For Morn or the B plot of Progress. Emperor's New Cloak was just dumb and hokey.