Spoilers Star Trek: Discovery 5x05 - "Mirrors"

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Otherwise known as TADA
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Some may forget that the ISS Enterprise in TOS Mirror Mirror was also represented by an earlier Enterprise design from The Cage with the spiked bussards and the chonky dome (I think TOS-R made that more consistent). In the mirror universe, it never seemed to receive the refit that the Prime Enterprise received between Pike and Kirk.
That's an incorrect fan myth. There was no differentiation between the USS and ISS Enterprises in the original version of "Mirror, Mirror". They did their usual mix-n-match stock shots for both ships.

During the universe jump sequence (quick flashing colors warning)...
... both Enterprises are represented by Second Pilot stock flybys. The one flying left to right is the USS. The one flying right to left is the ISS.

Orbital flybys of the ISS Enterprise, like the one shown during the opening log entry,....
... are Production stock shots.

The USS Enterprise leaving orbit after Kirk and bunch have returned...
... is a Production stock shot.

The general idea in that episode was that both ships are meant to be visually the same on the outside with the noticeable differences on the inside.


The ST: TOS-R bunch making the two ships visually different, because the fell for the fan myth, kind of declaws the universe change reveal. In the original version you have that wonderfully confusing "WTF was that all about!" moment with the screen popping and the ship abruptly changing directions. Then we cut to the transporter room for a "WTF is going on" moment. The ST: TOS-R version of the reveal is more of a bland "huh" when it flicks between the two ships with an "Oh, okay" when we cut the transporter room. Them making the Enterprises visually different also removes the "It's the same but it's not the same" element which is kind of the crux of the story. i.e. "It looks like our Enterprise but it's not".
 
Moll keeps talking of the dream of a colony in the Gamma Quadrant.

It made me wonder whether:

1. Is 32nd warp drive fast enough to go from the Alpha to Gamma Quadrants within a reasonable amount of time?

2. The courier network that Booker and Michael used instead of warp drive back in season 3 were basically transwarp tunnels (possibly the Borg transwarp network) that are super dangerous but allows fast access throughout the entire Milky Way galaxy.

3. The Bajoran wormhole/celestial temple still exists and Moll and L’ak plan to transit to the Gamma Quadrant through it.
 
I was hoping to like this episode more than I did.
-I'm torn about L'ak being a Breen. It was cool to see them unmasked, yet at the same time, I liked the mystery, and I really liked the Trek lit explanation for their inconsistencies. I'm hoping that DISCO incorporates some of that if they explore the Breen more this season, or if the Starfleet Academy series does. The fractiousness that was alluded to is my hope that there are different Breen subspecies, like in the novels, out there. I'm hoping we also see some Breen with snout helmets along with the newer versions (a design I did like too). I did like the gelatinous (?) face more than the organic face though, and I would've been cool with them just being gelatinous like that. The organic face looked more generic to me, more like a Sphere Builder. I would've been fine if he was from that species instead.
-I'm iffy about using the Breen. There's even lesser-known species from Trek lore they could've used to the same effect, though the nods to DS9 (for the most part) in this season are nice to see.
-I'm glad we got the L'ak/Moll backstory, though I felt it was a bit rushed. It was hard for me to buy that they would fall for each other like that the way it was depicted. I also felt that L'ak felt too human right off, and I didn't care for the tired idea that he has to break free from his culture. Maybe if they had threaded the backstory, in flashbacks, over the last several episodes, they could've expanded more on why they fell so hard for each other.
-I'm also iffy on the Moll/Booker relationship, though I thought Booker's rationale was okay, but I was more of a hook was there for Moll to be emotionally involved, because I sense that they are going to make her have doubts or a change of heart for storyline reasons instead of really tying her and Booker together. I wonder if this would've been better to just have Moll actually be Book's sister (by blood or adoption), or even a mentee. I also wonder if it would've been better to make her the same species as Book, though then her arc might repeat what he went through in Season 4.
-I thought the use of the ISS Enterprise was largely a waste. I was really eager to see Mirror SNW characters. But this largely could've been set on any Constitution class ship and it wouldn't have changed the story much. The history behind Dr. Cho would make for an interesting novel, comic, or Short Trek.
-I think not including Rhys on this mission after establishing his love for Constitution-class ships was a missed opportunity.
-I did enjoy the costuming for everyone a lot in this episode.
 
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I don’t buy that either.
Moll keeps talking of the dream of a colony in the Gamma Quadrant.

It made me wonder whether:

1. Is 32nd warp drive fast enough to go from the Alpha to Gamma Quadrants within a reasonable amount of time?

2. The courier network that Booker and Michael used instead of warp drive back in season 3 were basically transwarp tunnels (possibly the Borg transwarp network) that are super dangerous but allows fast access throughout the entire Milky Way galaxy.

3. The Bajoran wormhole/celestial temple still exists and Moll and L’ak plan to transit to the Gamma Quadrant through it.

Most likely the third option i would think.
 
That's an incorrect fan myth. There was no differentiation between the USS and ISS Enterprises in the original version of "Mirror, Mirror". They did their usual mix-n-match stock shots for both ships.

The ST: TOS-R bunch making the two ships visually different, because the fell for the fan myth, kind of declaws the universe change reveal. In the original version you have that wonderfully confusing "WTF was that all about!" moment with the screen popping and the ship abruptly changing directions. Then we cut to the transporter room for a "WTF is going on" moment. The ST: TOS-R version of the reveal is more of a bland "huh" when it flicks between the two ships with an "Oh, okay" when we cut the transporter room. Them making the Enterprises visually different also removes the "It's the same but it's not the same" element which is kind of the crux of the story. i.e. "It looks like our Enterprise but it's not".
TOS Remastered is not a "fan myth" and I am already aware of what appeared in the original broadcast (I even specifically called out in my post that this was something established more consistently by TOS-R). Just because you personally disagree with the choices made for TOS-R does not render it invalid. It's an official release and my references to it are fair.

If you want to debate whether TOS-R should be accepted by fans, that's a different topic altogether and not one I'm interested in engaging with in this thread about Star Trek Discovery.
 
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I think the graphic and the map shows the "Founder Homeworld" but has no mention of the Dominion itself.
 
IIRC, there was another graphic that mentioned the Jem'Hadar, but now that you mention it, I don't know for certain if there was a direct reference to the Dominion itself.
 
If I had to guess the one where Odo rejoined the Great Link in the DS9 finale. The one that served as the homeworld for most of the Dominion story arc.
 
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