ONE SPOCK, TWO SPOCKS, WHICH SPOCK IS THE REAL SPOCK?

 

Name: Spock Must Die!

Author: James Blish

Publication Date: 2/1970

Publisher: Bantam Books

Page Number: 118

Historian’s Note: I am assuming sometime after season 3. The latest episode mentioned is “Spretre of the Gun.” Events that take place during the book means it has to take place sometime after “Day of the Dove.”  

Cast of Characters:  Captain James T. Kirk    Commander Spock and another Commander Spock            Dr. Leonard H. McCoy AKA “Bones”              Lieutenant Commander Montgomery Scott AKA “Scotty”        Lieutenant  Hikaru Sulu              Lieutenant Nyota Uhura          Nurse Christine Chapel          Ensign Pavel Chekov      Yeoman First Class Janice Rand           Admiral Kor         Commander Koloth             Ayelborne       Claymare            Trefayne    

Starships and/or Starbases: USS Enterprise NCC-1701, Fleets of unnamed Klingon K't'inga-class battle cruisers and support ships

Planets: Organia and Qo'noS

My Spoiler filled summary and review: The book begins with Captain Kirk walking into a discussion between Dr. McCoy and Mr. Scott.  The two senior officers are having an argument about the transporter.  In what I think is probably the first time in what will ultimately become a major Star Trek fan debate: McCoy is wondering if the transporter kills its users and just makes copies of them.  Scotty thinks this is a lot of hogwash and Kirk mostly agrees.

That is when the horrible news came in.  The Enterprise had received word from Starfleet Command that the planet Organia whose powerful non-corporal inhabitants had forced peace between the United Federation of Planets and the Klingon Empire, has completely disappeared.  Almost if the Klingons were expecting it, a massive invasion begins with the Klingons scoring many victories against Starfleet.  To make matters worse the Enterprise was flying through disputed space at the time of the attack, and as a result our favorite starship finds itself behind enemy lines.  They brainstorm about what to do and Sulu suggests they use the fact that no one knows where they are to launch some sneak attacks on Klingon depots and supply lines.  This would cause damage that Starfleet on the front line should be able to exploit.  It has the downside of likely getting them killed but that is looking more likely anyhow.

The Federation is under siege 

Instead, the Captain decides to take the starship to where Organia was supposed to be.  Once there they discover that the area of space the planet was supposed to be occupying was covered with a type of shield.  They have no idea what this is and speculate it might be something that the Organians themselves have created.  If they get to close to it, they not only find themselves physically effected but mentally as well. 

They can’t penetrate the shield but Scotty thinks he has a way around it.  He can rig the transporter to create a temporary tachyon duplicate of whoever is in the transporter with all the memories of the original that will be sent to Organia faster than light.  There the duplicate will attempt to make contact with the Organians before returning to the ship and transferring all its knowledge to the original before vanishing.  Since they had been to Organia before, Kirk decides that it has to be him or Spock.  Spock volunteers.

Scotty sets up the main transporter room with the necessary changes. Due to the risk the transporter itself has to be closed up during the operation.  Spock climbs in and they begin the procedure.  However, something goes wrong and when they open up the transporter, they discover that instead of a temporary tachyon duplicate, the transporter created a full-fledged in the flesh duplicate of Mr. Spock.  Both Mr. Spocks however claim that they are the original.  

Kirk must figure out who is the true Spock 

Kirk labels them “Spock One” and “Spock Two.” He sends Spock One to his (their) quarters and has a meeting with Spock Two.  During the conversation Kirk is surprised at Spock Two’s violent thoughts toward his counterpart.  Spock Two is insistent there cannot be two and the duplicate has to be destroyed.  When he talks to Spock One, he finds him to be a little more reasonable and Kirk gives him his class ring so he can tell them apart. 

Kirk decides to have the two Spocks work opposite shifts and the only other crewmembers he lets in on this are Yeoman Rand and Nurse Chapel.  This however doesn’t work because it appears one of the Spocks commits sabotage that could leave them vulnerable to the Klingons.  This causes Kirk to relive both of them, explain the situation to the crew, and make Mr. Sulu the acting first officer.  (I thought it was odd that it was Sulu and not Scotty, as Scotty was next in the chain of command. However, Scotty was also trying to unwrap the mystery of the two Spocks with the transporter.  So, I assume that Kirk felt that the transporter work would take up too much of Scotty’s time.)

Scotty must find away to put this all back together, so Sulu rises to Kirk's right hand.

Shortly thereafter Spock One barricades himself in one of Dr. McCoy’s labs.  There he demands that the other Spock be destroyed.  While dealing with one Spock locked up, Kirk allows the other to return to limited duty at the science station but does not restore his command authority.  Kirk decides to get closer to Organia but doing so brings the entire crew under a type of mental attack.  After the retreat, Spock One also claims that he has information on Organia but will not share that information until after his demands are met.

Then a fleet of Klingon ships that consists of a K't'inga-class battle cruiser and a five support ships come into attack the Enterprise.  Using his superior tactical mind, Captain Kirk outwits and destroys the Klingon fleet.  They then must speculate to why the Klingons knew they were there.  Did someone tip them off (like one of the Spocks) or were the Klingons responsible for what happened to Organia and had a fleet there to guard it?

Uhura decides to channel her inner geek and sends messages to Starfleet using James Joyce’s fictional language Eurish.  Later in a senior officers meeting Kirk goes over possibilities with his crew and the two Spocks (with Spock One participating by intercom) actually have a rare moment of agreement on the presence of the Klingons.  McCoy announces that he has found a way to tell which Spock is the real Spock.  Scotty had run tests on some animals to see if he could recreate what happened with Spock and each time he did.  McCoy then examined the pairs and noticed that one in each pair died after a few days.  It turns out the dead ones were the duplicates, the process that created them made them mirror images and as such couldn’t process normal food without some accommodation. (McCoy has a very complicated explanation about this but I am not going to rehash it all here.)  Which ever Spock is the fake has been making modifications to his food.  To test they just have to give each Spock unmodified food and see who refuses to eat it.  Spock Two says okay while Spock One runs off. Spock One steals a shuttle craft and somehow equipped it with warp drive. 

McCoy solves the mystery of the Spocks

Scotty becomes convinced that the shield around Organia is artificial in nature and he is confident that he can fix the transporter so they can beam through it.  Taking all the bonus equipment that caused the duplication mess, they can now use it as a transporter again.   As they approach the planet again the same dreed feeling came over the crew, however they ignore it long enough to beam Kirk, the Real Spock, and Scotty down to the surface. 

Once they materialize on the surface Kirk and Scotty are instantly helpless as their nightmares come to life and paralyze them with fear.  To be fair, they probably should have expected that.  Kirk comes to and seems to be in ruins of the town he visited last time he was at the planet. He seems to have found Spock but it’s the wrong one.

Only one Spock is true Spock!

We get a showdown between the Spocks, and while I had almost no idea what was going on and neither apparently did Captain Kirk.  What the two Spocks seemed to do was to fight with the illusions however it was never clear to me.  The true Spock wins and the fake Spock perishes.  They meet up with Council of Elders of Organia.  Spock and Scotty work together to get the shield off of Organia.  Then the three officers are magically sent home to the bridge of the Enterprise.  Which is just in the nick of time too.  Up to this point Mr. Sulu was leading a ship that was being chased by a Klingon fleet commanded by Koloth, and although he was giving the Klingons a good chase it was inevitable that they were going to be destroyed. However now that the Organians were out of their cage the Klingons were in a lot of trouble.    The Organians punish the Klingons by taking away their space flight capabilities for a thousand years.

Kor and company are in for a shock!

The book ends with Spock explaining to his crewmates that he and his duplicate had a semi-telepathic connection.  That connection allowed him to sense that nature of his thoughts and Spock discover that his duplicate has no loyalty to the ship and crew and might even do them harm.  Spock stated that he could not explain it however while the connection was enforced.  The book ends with Mr. Spock answering McCoy’s original question about transporter death and soul transfer as irrelevant sense there is no way to test it.

Additional thoughts: This book was published one year after the series came to an end.  In his introduction Blish is clearly outraged at Star Trek’s cancelation and infuriated with studio executives who caused it.  He makes a prediction that this would not be the end and Star Trek would return.  Unfortunately, save for the cartoon, Blish would not live to see Star Trek begin its golden age staring with the first film in 1979.  Blish got the idea for this novel in the middle of his write ups for the original series episodes that were released in a series of books.   

I am quite certain that this is the first written account of Star Trek’s great transporter debate.  Does the transporter kill us and then just create a copy of us? What would be the religious implications if this were true?  The book gives a conclusive if unsatisfactory answer, that “a difference with no distinction is no difference.”  The strangest part of this episode, and one I didn’t care for, is they were actually trying to make a sort of transporter duplicate to begin with, just one made of energy tachyons and not regular flesh—if I am understanding it correctly, this made me feel really weird.  After all, why were they surprised when they ended up with an actual duplicate in the flesh?  The ethics of making a copy of one of your crew to perform a function temporarily then die when it is over is at least as worthy for some debate as the general transporter discussion. 

I think the book was very misnamed.  “Spock Must Die” is a very misleading title considering that Spock doesn’t need to die.  I suppose Blish could have called it “A Spock Must Die.” I am told the reason for the title was to drive up readers.  Still, I think my title for the review is better. 

Some ladies like the pointed ears!

There was one really weird part in this book and it had to do with an internal thought Kirk had.  Now I one of the things I like about the books is you can really get into the heads of the characters more so than the log entries that the define the series and franchise.  Granted you are often limited to the POV characters which in this book is primarily Captain Kirk with the occasional switch to Mr. Sulu when he is left in charge of the ship, and some surprise appearances by Kor and Koloth give them some short POV time.  However, this thought was so bizarre it made me stop reading for a minute.  While bringing Rand and Chapel into the know about the two Spocks, Kirk starts wondering what makes Spock so attractive to so many women.  It is not that Kirk lacks attention from the female sex it is just Spock doesn’t seem to have to work at it.  He then concludes in his brain that Rand and Chapel think Spock is hot because of unconscious racism that makes it a social faux pas to express natural sexual attraction for an “other” can be excused because he is white.  This sounds more like Blish’s own thoughts about why Spock was popular with female fans and ridiculous thought for Kirk to possess.  To his credit Blish has McCoy call out this view as stupid when Kirk shared it with him.  However, it is still a pointless to have Kirk have this thought at all.

I really enjoyed Uhura being such a queen nerd that she was able use such geekdom to full the Klingons with her knowledge of Eurish.  In addition to her engineering and music skills our favorite communication officer has no seemingly end to her talent. 

Lt. Uhura getting things done!

One of the things I enjoyed about the book is the reference to their pervious on the original series and some other off-air adventures as well.  A good example is when Koloth is shown to want revenge not just for “The Trouble with Tribbles” but also from a previous unaired conflict between them.  

“He had encountered—and been defeated by—James Kirk and his command on two previous occasions: the affair of the Xixobrax Jewelworm, and the dispute over the colonization of Sherman’s Planet.” (pg. 106)

 What strikes me as strange is during the entire book at no point is there a mention of the episode “The Enemy Within.”  Shouldn’t that have been the first past adventure mentioned after seeing two Spocks?  

“It looks like Spock has been made into two!  Remember when that happened to me?  Can you tell me which one of you is the evil one?”

  

Now it turns out there was an evil one but not for the same reason.  In fact, one would assume if Spock were split via a transporter he would turn into a full human and a full Vulcan instead of just good/evil.  Still, the previous “character turn in two” story should have been referenced.

It was good to see some of the classic Klingons such as Kor and Koloth get some time in the book even if it was just to see their reactions to getting their butts kicked by the Organians.  I have to wonder where was Kang?  I think Blish was writing this during the time of the third season and perhaps Kang didn’t exist as a character yet.   

Should it be canon: Okay so here is the big question since the books’ canon status has always been strange.  Should this book be canon?  As much as like the story there is a major problem with it fitting.  That of course in the end of the book where the Organians shut the Klingon Empire seemingly for good.  Now I am going to break one of my rules here and discuss the Star Trek franchise beyond when this work came out.  Obviously in order for this book to fit with the rest of the franchise this problem would have be addressed, for the Klingons will play a large role in all of the Star Trek incarnations going forward.  You would have to have a follow up story to explain how the Klingons got out from underneath the Organians thumb.  Maybe the Organians realized that restraining the Klingons so harshly would mean bad things for the galaxy long-term so they let them out within a year?  Or the Klingons could do something heroic and worthy to earn their way out.  Either way it would need to be addressed so right now my answer is no. Also remove the part about Kirk speculating about why women find Spock attractive.

Cover Art: There have been multiple covers in each printing but I am only commenting on my copy which is the original.  The cover is simple and shows Spock with a mirror image of himself.  The heads of the two are touching.  Their hands seem to pass through one another as if the other isn’t real.  Also, the rank insignia on the Spocks is wrong.  The uniform looks like a mix of his classic and the one from “The Cage.”  The later editions’ covers are nicer.   

Final Grade: 3 of 5

LOOKING IN THE MIRROR

 Episode Title:  Mirror, Mirror

Air Date: 10/6/1967

Written by Jerome Bixby

Directed by Marc Daniels

Cast: William Shatner as Captain James T. Kirk and Captain James T. Kirk        Leonard Nimoy as Commander Spock and  Commander Spock                        DeForest Kelley as Dr. Leonard H. McCoy AKA “Bones” and  Dr. Leonard H. McCoy            James Doohan  as Lieutenant Commander Montgomery Scott AKA “Scotty”  and Lieutenant Commander Montgomery Scott       George Takei  as Lieutenant  Hikaru Sulu and Lieutenant  Hikaru Sulu             Nichelle Nichols as Lieutenant Nyota Uhura and Lieutenant Nyota Uhura        John Winston as  Lieutenant Kyle and Lieutenant Kyle            Eddie Paskey as Lieutenant Leslie and  Lieutenant Leslie                Bill Blackburn as Lieutenant Hadley and Lieutenant Hadley         BarBara Luna as Lieutenant Marlena Moreau and Lieutenant Marlena  Moreau        Roger Holloway as Lt. Lemli and  Lt. Lemli                       Walter Koenig as Ensign Pavel Chekov and Ensign Pavel Chekov     Pete Kellett as Head of Kirk’s guard unnamed                Bobby Bass as unnamed imperial crewman          Bobby Clark as  unnamed imperial crewman          Johnny Mandell as  unnamed imperial crewman               Russ Peek as Spock's Vulcan Guard unnamed      Paul Prokop as unnamed imperial crewman                Vic Perrin as Tharn and Tharn        

Ships: USS Enterprise NCC-1701 and ISS Enterprise NCC-1701

Planets:  Halka and Halka

My Spoiler filled summary and review: Mostly I write these reviews by myself but today I have the opportunity, seeing that this is “Mirror, Mirror,” to work with my own mirror universe counterpart who I met after an accident involving my microwave.  (It turns out in the real world you can breach to the mirror universe using microwaves.)  We have agreed that each will cover the parts that take place in our respective universes.  We will both be offering commentary in the additional thoughts section.  Be warned I find my mirror self to kind of a creep but if you can’t get along with yourself who can you get along with in that universe? 

                The episode begins with Captain Kirk trying and failing to win a mining agreement with the Halkan High Council.  The Halkan are extreme pacifists and they are afraid that if they let the Federation mine dilithium crystals those crystals could be used for war.  Captain Kirk, along with his landing party of Dr. McCoy, Mr. Scott, and Lt. Uhura, has been trying to convince the High Council that their missions are peaceful.   The Halkans agree that Starfleet has peaceful intentions but their ships still carry weapons that can be used for war.  It would be a betrayal of their principals as a people to be party to any violence even if it was justified violence made in self-defense.

                While these negotiations have been going on a severe ion storm in space is playing havoc with the Enterprise’s equipment.  The Captain sees that these negotiations are going nowhere so he calls up to the ship to have the landing party beam back aboard.  As they are transported back to the ship something goes wrong.  Those transporting feel dizzy and the transporter room appears to change to them.

                I was looking forward to watching the Enterprise wipe out this pathetic group of loser pacifists, but when our most glorious Captain emerges from the transporter something is immediately wrong.  Kirk and the landing party seem confused that everyone is saluting him.  After Spock gives Kyle a taste of his agonizer for his gross incompetence with a transporter (it was so fun to see him cry and beg) the First Officer notices something is wrong with the Captain.  When he inquires Kirk confirms dizziness and will have Dr. McCoy check them out in sickbay.   

                

               When they get to sickbay we find out what is wrong.  These four are fakes!  They are duplicates from a parallel universe where Earth is run by peaceful weaklings and humans have no Terran Empire to dominate the galaxy with!  Yet in this universe of weaklings McCoy still manages to spill acid in the same place. The Fake Kirk wants to know what the Empire wants the real Kirk to do.  One thing is clear they want to stop the crew of the ISS Enterprise from carrying out their mission and destroying the cities of Halka.  They are doing this because their Federation teaches them that it is okay for lesser spices to deny them.  (As if that was the way any universe works.) He sends Fake Scott on assignment to sabotage the phaser units.  Little does he know that Mr. Sulu’s security doesn’t let anyone mess with the ship’s weapons.  

Mice in the uniforms of giants!

       

Of all the fakes, Lt. Uhura is the only one who seems like she is worth a damn.  The way she put Sulu in his place would sure make the real Uhura proud.  Then unfortunately the fake Kirk enters the bridge and everyone salutes thinking he is their great leader.   However the fake Kirk soon shows his weakness with dealing with the cowards on the surface.  Instead of reigning good Terran Imperial hell upon Halka he actually tries to prevent the Empire’s mission.  For those of us expecting to see worthless pacifists fry in this episode we were plenty disappointed.   I thought when the fake Scott couldn’t sabotage the engines the Halkans were done for. 

Showing proper respect to the Captain

For this action Chekov gathers some men to attempt to assassinate Kirk, he has been planning this for some time, but he doesn’t know this isn’t the real Kirk.  That should make it easier but Chekov is such a loser that he can’t kill this imposter.  Chekov gets captured by Kirk’s guard and one of his own men betrays him realizing what Kirk could do for his career.   At least fake Kirk handles that right: loyalty isn’t much when it comes late.  Speaking of this fake Kirk, he does give Captain’s logs at the strangest of times.  No mention where is he recording them, our Enterprise’s computer system?   Imperial auditors will have a field day with those reviews. 

The fakes all have a meeting in Kirk’s quarters. Since they aren’t smart enough to figure out things for themselves they have the computer do all the hard work of explaining how they got to our universe and how to get back to their own.  After they make plans to head back the fake Kirk and McCoy decide to do research on “themselves” and what is immediately obvious is that fake Kirk cannot deal with the real Kirk’s greatness.   They wonder about their own weak universe and how they will handle the great Terran warriors. 

Back in our sane Star Trek universe Mr. Spock has things well in hand.  All four crew members from the evil mirror universe are quickly placed in the brig.  The alternate Kirk tries to bribe Spock with money and power.  It is quite creepy to see a version of Captain Kirk who murdered his predecessor to gain his command. 

As fake Kirk witnesses that loser Chekov being justly tortured by the Captain’s Personal Guard, he is approached by our Mr. Spock.  Spock sees Kirk act weak by releasing Chekov from the full duration of “the Booth.”  Spock expresses his concerns about the Captain’s action in not following the Empire's righteous policy.  I liked the conversation between him and Spock, but I wish Spock were saying it to the real Kirk.

Spock thinking he is talking to his captain

Fake Kirk enters the Captain’s quarters and Lt. Marlena Moreau is there waiting for him.  Fake Kirk seems surprised because apparently this Kirk doesn’t sleep with women in his universe.  Kirk and Marlena have a bit of a lovers spat, which is pathetic as he is not the real Kirk.  Fake Kirk receives a call from Spock who informs him that Starfleet has ordered him to be executed if he doesn’t end his cowardice in three hours.  Marlena laughs as she observes that Spock was so loyal it will cost him his life.  Then Marlena explains to the fake Kirk the Tantalus field, the greatest weapon of Starfleet’s greatest captain.   Fake Kirk stops her from using it on Spock, which is the only good thing Fake Kirk does.   

Marlena goes to another room to change and Fake Kirk is contacted by Fake Scotty, Kirk tells him they have a three hour deadline and the chief engineer responds with actually a half an hour.   They have one shot to get home and if they miss it they’re done for.   For the first time I am cheering for the fakes I can’t stand to deal weakling characters anymore it is time to send them home. 

Sulu contacts Spock excited to get rid of Kirk who is now openly a coward.   It is too bad that Sulu doesn’t understand that this isn’t the real Kirk.  Spock blows Sulu off and the two exchange small threats.  Spock is however beginning to suspect that something is up beyond just Kirk disobeying orders.  He notices Kirk is not the only crew member behaving oddly, the strange behavior is displayed by almost every member of the landing party.  He also discovers that Kirk and Scotty are working together on a project in secret. 

Fake Kirk has never seen such beauty

The fake Scotty and McCoy are making their adjustments to the Enterprise’s systems in order to make their escape.  While they are doing this Uhura, the only fake worth anything, begins seducing Sulu so he won’t see what has happened.  When they are done she slaps him and uses her dagger to get away from him and off the bridge.  

The group of fakes meets up in sickbay but they are surprised by Mr. Spock.  The fakes may have the hearts of cowards but they can fight.  They manage to not only defeat Spock but seriously injure him in the process.  This is the price Spock pays for not bringing his Personal Guard and trying to solve everything himself.  I always knew he would pay for that one day but he is saved by his enemy’s weakness.  Realizing Spock will die unless they do something, they decide to risk returning home in order to save him. 

Sulu looking to take command

While the fakes are trying to save Spock, Sulu shows up with the security team looking to kill them all and make himself Captain of the Enterprise.  He might have succeeded if Marlena Moreau hadn’t chosen now to strike.  With his men disappearing into thin air the fakes take Mr. Sulu down easy.  The fake McCoy remains to take care of Spock while the others head to the transporter room. Marlena meets them there and lets them know that she is also a coward and wants to leave with them. Fake Kirk  tells her that is not possible for only the four can change places with their real selves.

Spock trading losers for warriors

 Spock wakes to fine that the fakes are weaklings who grant mercy.  He does a force meld on McCoy and the fake learns what a Spock interrogation feels like.  Spock cuts the power to the transporter which scares the fakes and the fake Scotty and Kirk argue of who should sacrifice himself to the stronger universe.  Mr. Spock arrives at the transporter to help the fakes leave our universe and get our heroes back.  Before he leaves fake Kirk gives a stupid speech, Mr. Spock tries to tell him his idea is dumb but gives up. 

Back home in our regular universe Kirk and McCoy muse with Spock listening that they may have preferred Spock with a beard.  They asked him how he was able to see through the doppelgangers and Spock says it was easier for the civilized to appear savage then the savage to appear civilized.  However he did feel that their counterparts represented at type of pure humanity that was most refreshing. 

Additional thoughts: Wow what an episode!  Sorry for those of you who don’t like my mirror universe self.  To be frank, I don’t like him either.  He is a piece of work and he will be back but I want to reflect on the episode myself and give everyone my thoughts.

Setting a Mr. Sulu for a fall

My first thought is about those wacky transporter accidents.  If there is a little thing wrong such as strange yellow dust the transporter it splits the Captain into two different people.  This time passing through an ion storm causes a malfunction that makes the away team gets transported into a parallel universe.  Not only do they get transported to the parallel universe but their clothes don’t, those still head home to their proper destination.  However, rather than leave them naked the away team is conveniently placed by the transporter into the clothes of their doppelgangers.  This also happens vise-versa.     

Mirror Spock sitting next to the throne

Speaking of clothes I really like the mirror universe uniforms they look really cool with their belts and ceremonial daggers.  Good idea having all their badges appear on the other side.  The women are really sexy, I don’t know if there is a man on this Earth who enjoys the exposed mid-rift on attractive woman more than myself.  It’s lot of skin but at the same time no naughty bits.  Uhura and Moreau are really rocking it.  

Wow!

We now have returned the same strange Captain’s Logs that we saw in “The Squire of Gothos” during the duel scene and almost all throughout “The Arena.”  “Excuse me Mr. Chekov before you assassinate me you will please allow a moment record my thoughts in a Captain’s Log?”  Also, as my counter-part pointed out, where is he recording these things, in the computer system of the ISS Enterprise?  Imperial Starfleet Command must have had quite the shock when they audit those logs.

"You want to get cut"

I have stated in the past that when I review these episodes I try not to take into consideration what comes later, because I want to review the episode in its own merits not judge what future writers add.  However I will note that I think it’s an absolute shame that Star Trek: The Next Generation never had a Mirror Universe episode.  There was of course there was that great book by Diane Duane, but really wish that had been a multi-part episode.  Episodes we do get in the later series are okay but most fail to truly embrace that magic that this episode provided.

What this episode gave us was not just the run of the mill parallel universe but a mirror universe.  However the mirror being used is not regular one but one from a fun-house.  In one universe humanity is united and peacefully co-exists with other worlds under the banner of The United Federation of Planets, where in the other humanity is still united but violently conquerors worlds into their oppressive Terran Empire.  Such differences and similarities that exist between the Federation and the Empire can’t be explained by simple alternate history.

For example when a drugged up Dr. McCoy accidentally goes back in time in “The City on the Edge of Forever” he alters history in such a way that the landing party near the Guardian of Forever is marooned as the universe around them changes.  In the universe where Hitler won World War II there was a never Federation, Starfleet, or starship Enterprise.  Yet in mirror universe although everything is different everything is also the same.  Captain Kirk is still the Captain of the Enterprise, Mr. Spock is the first officer, and McCoy, Scotty, Sulu, Chekov, and Uhura are all in the same positions in both realities. There is a slight change with Mr. Sulu as having the additional job of being head of the ship’s Gestapo.  However even the transporter chief is the same and Captain Kirk’s predecessor on both universes is Captain Pike.  Also both Pike’s careers meet rather violent ends, although ours doesn’t die.

Besides people there are other things.  Scotty notices that in both universes the Enterprise has the same level of technology; the only difference is the mirror Kirk’s primary weapon the Tantalus field, which isn’t even Terran technology.  (Speaking of which, shouldn't mirror Kirk have a lock or password on that device?  It seems strange he would allow it to be used by anyone who could find it.)  The two starships are on the exact same mission at the exact same time.  Other missions seem also identical with exceptions to Imperial brutality.  The spot where Dr. McCoy spilled acid happened in exact same place in both universes.  When they are trying to go home at no point are they able to communicate with our universe and tell them what the plan is.  It just develops on the other side naturally.   Just as our landing party is coming home, our Mr. Spock is there to help send the other party back.

Another important part I would like to make before my counterpart takes back over.   In the mirror universe, as it is presented in this episode, only the humans/terrans are different.  The Halkans are exactly the same in both universes: pacifists who will die before aiding terrorists but would also not help like-minded peaceful people because they may use violence in self-defense.   The characters of Mr. Spock are both identical the only difference is the mirror Spock is doing his best to survive and prosper in this horrific environment created by the Terran Empire.   

From a different universe

“Mirror, Mirror” has long regarded as one of, if not the, worst episode of the franchise. It was banned almost immediately after it aired.  I had to get special permission to view it and now that I have seen it I almost wish I hadn’t.  Impostors from a non-imperialist universe show up and outwit the officers of the Emperor’s finest starship?   Seeing it for myself I have to say that I don’t blame Roddenberry for having Gene L. Coon and Jerome Bixby shot one month after the episode’s first and last showing.

I can think of no greater betrayal of Roddenberry’s vision than this episode.  One has to go back to where we were in the 1960s.  After Emperor John I of House Kennedy destroyed Cuba after the Bay of the Pigs with the new sub-nuclear weaponry (all the fire power but none of the background radiation) and allowing Turkey to invade the Ukraine, the power of the Soviet Union was broken and humiliated on the world stage.  These early victories showed the world that best power on Earth was Imperial States of the American Empire. 

Then out of almost nowhere a TV writer showed up with a dream.  In the past science fiction always showed aliens conquering the Earth’s people until one powerful empire purged itself of weakness and made them leave.  Roddenberry had a different idea: imagine an Empire like ours that unified the Earth and brought our special brand of fascism to the stars.  Thus the show Star Conquerors was born and the world was never the same. 

This loser couldn't kill a fake Kirk

The worst part of this episode was the fake Kirk trying to talk Spock into betraying his Captain.  See this episode in a vacuum makes you think he might do it.  However the title says “Star Conquerors starring William Shatner” the Captain isn’t going anywhere.  We have this season and the next to finish before making cartoons and six great films.  After “Star Conquerors VI: The Discovered Country” a film that was made to celebrate our final conquest of the Soviet Union under the combined military leadership of Field Marshall Ronald Reagan and Fleet Admiral George H.W. Bush, Emperor John I himself said that we owe a special thanks to show Star Conquerors and if Emperor Abraham of House Lincoln hadn’t unified North America in the 19^th century we might not have William Shatner to play James T. Kirk.  William Shatner lives in what was once Canada, now just the Canadian region.    

Watching a worm squirm 

The only good thing that came out of this episode was I got to find out the in canon reason for Chekov’s execution and stuffing of his remains in the next episode.  Chekov was always there to show how useless Russians were but having his body stuffed and on display did that far better than when he was alive.  After the final Klingon surrender in “The Discovered County” it was funny to see stuffed Chekov in the room where the surrender was being signed.  Star Conquerors is always great for metaphor.

In closing the mirror universe is a scary place.

FINAL GRADE 5 of 5

FINAL JUDGEMENT 0 OF 10

A GOOD KIRK, A BAD KIRK, BUT IS ANY KIRK THE REAL KIRK?

Episode Title:  The Enemy Within

Air Date: 10/06/1966

Written by Richard Matheson

Directed by Leo Penn

Cast: William Shatner as Captain James T. Kirk    Leonard Nimoy as Lieutenant Commander Spock             DeForest Kelley as Dr. Leonard H. McCoy AKA "Bones"              James Doohan  as Lieutenant Commander Montgomery Scott AKA “Scotty”   George Takei  as Lieutenant  Hikaru Sulu    Nichelle Nichols as Lieutenant Nyota Uhura     Jim Goodwin  as Lieutenant Farrell       Grace Lee Whitney as Yeoman First Class Janice Rand       Eddie Paskey as Crewman Connors       Ed Madden as Geological Technician Fisher            Frank da Vinci as  Crewman          Ron Veto as Crewman           Sean Morgan as Crewman Gerald Thompson       Don Eitner as  photo double for Captain James T. Kirk

Ships: USS Enterprise NCC-1701

Planets:  Alpha 177

My Spoiler filled summary and review: The episode begins with the crew of the Enterprise exploring a strange new world.  The planet is Alpha 177, it doesn’t have much for intelligent life it’s most interesting life form is a doglike creature that has the a horn.  I call this creature "the unicorn dog," and I bet I’m not the only one who does.  The planet has radical changes in temperature where a daytime its normal humanlike environment the temperature at night drops to -160°. 

Is this what you thought you would see when I told you we would seek out new life?

            As the away team is collecting samples of the minerals and even one specimen of unicorn dog, Geological Technician Fisher is injured in a fall. His injuries aren’t that severe just cuts to his hand but he is covered in this yellow like substance that neither he nor anyone else knows what it is.  As he beams up to the ship to get medical attention the strange substance on him seems to cause a slight problem in the transporter.  Nevertheless, he successfully transports onboard.  Captain Kirk follows Fisher back up to the Enterprise through the transporter.  When Kirk emerges from the transporter however he seems to be a little lightheaded, so much so that Scotty feels he has to personally escort the Captain back to his quarters.  After they leave another Captain Kirk emerges from the transporter and this one has an angry look on his face.

Two Kirks come out of the transporter and both seem to be a bit off. 

            The disturbed Captain Kirk goes to the sick bay where Dr. McCoy is treating Fisher for his wounds.  When Fisher tries let his Captain know that his hand is better he is surprised when the previously concerned Captain ignores his improved medical situation.  When McCoy tries to talk to him Bad Kirk demands McCoy give him a brandy, which interestingly enough the doctor has plenty in store in sick bay as opposed to his quarters where you normally would keep that sort of thing.  McCoy gives Bad Kirk the brandy he demands and Bad Kirk leaves the sick bay chugging the stuff.

Brandy doesn't belong in sick bay it belongs in my belly.

            Mr. Spock having been notified by the Doctor of Captain Kirk’s weird behavior, goes to check on the Captain in his quarters.  When he questions Good Kirk he is simply told that he hadn’t been the sick bay and he thinks Dr. McCoy may be playing a trick on him.  Since Good Kirk was never in sick bay he is telling the truth. 

            Captain Kirk’s strange behavior starts to make a lot of sense to Mr. Spock when Scotty summoned him to the transporter room.  It turns out the unicorn dog creature that they beamed up was duplicated by the transporter.  One unicorn dog is nice while the other unicorn dog is nasty.  Scotty said that we cannot chance this happening to a man and so they have no way of bringing up the landing party.  Now this point I really want to know why they don’t grab a shuttlecraft to go pick them up.  The suggestion never comes up in the episode I considered to be huge dent in what is a generally enjoyable episode.  I don’t want to hear about how they hadn’t invented shuttlecraft yet they clearly had a bay door in the back of the ship so someone thought about shuttles.  The transporter was invented second because the budget wasn't big enough to allow landings.  Later in the episode they explain that the thermal heaters they try to beam down duplicated and they were nonfunctional.  I don’t know why they couldn’t come up with some in story reason to say they can’t use or a shuttlecraft; it would’ve been appreciated had they tried.

(Found this video from about ten years ago I am glad I am not the only one to find this odd.)

            Bad Kirk decides that it’s time for some sex so he uses his authority as Captain to allow himself into Yeoman Rand’s quarters.  When the Yeoman returns she is approached by her drunken commanding officer.  Now it is been hinted at that Yeoman Rand has a crush on Captain Kirk but her fantasies probably did not include the Captain surprising her in her quarters while he is drunk.  At first Bad Kirk tries to seduce her but when it’s clear she’s not going to be seduced he decides to resort rape.  Rand resists that she successfully scratches the Bad Kirk’s face.  During the attempted rape the door from her quarters opens just as Fisher walks by and he sees the Captain attacking the Yeoman.  Rand asked Fisher to get Spock so Fisher runs the intercom and calls the First Officer.  Unfortunately for Fisher the Bad Kirk received all of the incredible fighting skills that Captain Kirk possesses any easily kicks the crap out of Fisher sending him to the sick bay. 

Yes it turns out Bad Kirk is evil.

            When Spock confronts Good Kirk he of course denies it.  The two men both head down sick bay where Rand and Fisher are being treated.  In sick bay Grace Lee Whitney puts on a great performance as someone who’s just been a victim of an attempted sexual assault.  She’s able to project all the natural emotions of the shock of someone that she knows having tried to assault her and the irrational feelings of guilt and hesitation to report for fear of ruining his career.  Not knowing why he did it she tries to look to her own actions no matter how unfair that is to herself for an explanation.  Good Kirk doesn’t have the injuries that Rand inflicted on Bad Kirk, but both Rand and Fisher still insist it was him.  Spock having seen what happened to the unicorn dog figures out exactly what has occurred.  Spock explains that it is an impostor who is currently on the ship.

            Spock encourages the Captain to keep most of this a secret because if the crew learned the complete truth the captain might appear less-than-perfect and could undermine Kirk’s ability to command the ship in the future.  Personally I think Spock is underestimating the crew of the Enterprise, but Good Kirk agrees with him.  Unfortunately, appearing imperfect may be the least of Good Kirk's problems because it  is also apparent that his inability to command is growing.  While all this is going on Lt. Sulu is bravely leading the away team in survival techniques to fight off the cold.  But all the survival techniques in the galaxy won’t save them indefinitely.

Mr. Sulu and the away team freezing to death.

            Good Kirk performs the ship wide announcement that there is impostor on board who looks just like him but I scratches on his face and he orders a ship wide manhunt for the false Captain with phasers ordered to stun.  Bad Kirk hearing the announcement goes into a frenzy of anger at the other version of himself taking command of his ship.  Bad Kirk finds a makeup in his own quarters, which makes me wonder what exactly Captain Kirk actually has makeup for, and uses his appearance to fool a crewman into giving him his phaser.

Bad Kirk hears Good Kirk giving orders from his chair

            Good Kirk, under the guidance as Mr. Spock, comes to the conclusion that Bad Kirk is hiding in the engineering decks of the ship. Good Kirk and Mr. Spock go down there to try to confront him.  They do so and Good and Bad come face-to-face. Good Kirk tries to talk Bad Kirk into surrendering, by pointing out that they need other.  Bad Kirk rejects the offer from his counterpart and actually tries to shoot him with the phaser.  Mr. Spock however uses what will be known as the Vulcan nerve pinch to subdue Bad Kirk.  This prevents Bad Kirk from shooting Good Kirk but he still fires his phaser and damages part the ship’s engine.  The part that he’s damaged is connected to the transporter so not only is the transporter broken in terms of the normal function is now completely deprived of power.  The fate of Mr. Sulu and his away team are getting grimmer by the moment.

When your internal struggle becomes external

            In sick bay they restrain Bad Kirk.  Mr. Spock makes an interesting observation, despite calling Bad Kirk “the impostor” in reality both sides are parts of what is the actual Captain Kirk.  Each contains an element of Kirk’s nature. The Good Kirk is compassionate, intelligent, and brave.  Without his other half however he is weak and indecisive.  The more he remains separate from his other self he loses ability to focus and take command.  The Bad Kirk is strong, bold, and a fighter.  Unfortunately without his other half he is prone to violence whenever he gets scared or just annoyed.  The longer he remained separated from his other self he becomes more and more like an animal.  Also neither Kirk can survive without the other which is demonstrated as Bad Kirk starts to die in sick bay his vitals get better with the arrival of Good Kirk.

I bet there are many days Spock wants to nerve pinch his Captain.  Today was a dream come true!

            
            Scotty, being the miracle worker that he always is, finds a way to get the transporter working and thinks he can reverse the problem that caused separation.  They do a test on the unicorn dogs and although they succeed in recombining the animal into one creature the animal dies as a result.  Spock concludes that because the animal lacked intelligence it didn’t understand what was happening thus causing become terrified and died.  He reasons Captain Kirk can be recombined and he will most likely survive because his intelligence can comprehend what is happening to him.  Dr. McCoy disagrees he says that it unknown what caught killed the unicorn dog and if they try this with the Captain he was likely end up just as dead.  As each moment passes the away team is inching closer and closer to their own deaths.

The final and sad fate of the unicorn dog

            Good Kirk makes the decision to take the risk and Bad Kirk agrees but it is merely a ruse to trick Good Kirk so that he can escape.  It is unfortunate for Good Kirk that his other self is the part that inherited his mad fighting skills as he is easily beaten.  Bad Kirk scratches his counterpart so they look more like and heads to the bridge take command.  He orders the ship out of orbit condemning the away team to its fate; however a recovered Good Kirk and McCoy arrive.  Bad Kirk insists the ship is his and that his counterpart can’t take it from him.  Bad Kirk begins to falter because he has been separated from the rest of him for so long; this allows Good Kirk and McCoy to take Bad Kirk down and drag him to the transporter room.  Bad Kirk rejects this the whole time claiming he wants to live to which his counterpart says that they both will in each other.

            In the transporter room the two Kirks board the transporter pad and it is activated.  In a testament to the skills of Scotty, Captain Kirk is successfully restored.  The first thing the restored Kirk does is he orders that the away team to be brought back up to the ship.  With the away team rescued in the nick of time, Dr. McCoy confirms that they’ll be all right in the long term, Kirk heads back to the bridge. On the bridge Kirk thanks Spock for “the both of us,” but he does also confides that he is disturbed to see a part of himself that he wished not to have seen.  Yeoman Rand attempts to clear the air with the Captain was clearly having trouble doing so, Kirk puts her at ease.  That is how the episode should have ended but unfortunately we are also given a glimpse into how out of touch Mr. Spock can be with human emotions where he says the most tone deaf thing to Yeoman Rand about how Bad Kirk had interesting traits.

Additional thoughts: So Captain Kirk has makeup in his drawer. Is makeup fashionable for men in the 23^rd century?  Or is Captain Kirk more of a style trendsetter? Maybe he just has it in case a woman gives him a hickey?

            Joking aside this episode is the first to introduce what would become a common plot device in many great Star Trek episodes: bizarre transporter accidents.  Originally conceived in order to save money on the budget, the transporter, a device that takes objects both living and inanimate apart molecule by molecule turning them into energy and moving them from one place to another has endless possibilities for great stories.  When you think about it the concept is absolutely terrifying.  Yet they’re used in every episode and we’re later told that transporters of the safest form of transportation and accidents are almost always unheard of. But when they do have accidents watch out the strangest and most bizarre things can happen.  A person can be split into two different people and one of those people can desire to consume the other.  Funny thing is in this case we’re talking about the Good Kirk wanting to consume the Bad Kirk.

            There is of course also the inevitable question on rather it is morally ethical to force Bad Kirk to go over the recombining procedure against his will.  The episode never really explores this but I would say yes.  Bad Kirk isn’t a person he is half a person and in his separated state he is incapable of making rational decisions about himself or anyone else. Now in the episode the Good Kirk does, a bit reluctantly, choose to be recombined with his other half, and the episode does point out that Good Kirk is the one that retained Kirk’s intellect.  However I would argue that had both been unwilling it would have fine for Spock to force both of them.  As they are not two people but one person whose mental state in such a shape that they can’t be trusted to make a rational judgement on the matter, so Spock and McCoy would be well within their rights to force such a procedure on dissembled Captain for his own good.  Good Kirk had been shown to not be completely capable at making decisions without the help of either Spock or McCoy.  

  

One of the things I’m thinking about after this episode is when Captain Kirk reflects on this adventure he had how exactly does he remember it?  Does he only remember from the perspective of the Good Kirk? Do both sets of memories run simultaneously?  Can he recall the memories of both halves with equal precision?  It is a shame this is never addressed.

            This episode also features another common plot point in Star Trek one that I don’t particularly care for.  That is Starfleet’s demand for some form of perfection from its officers particularly its captains.  It’s unrealistic and goes against the concept of an idealized future.  In this episode Spock and McCoy prop up Good Kirk like the corpse in The Weekend at Bernie’s.  They realize that Good Kirk is no longer capable of functioning as a starship captain but continue to help him do it because to do otherwise would undermine the crew’s confidence in him and also potentially ruin his career having been formally relieved.  When you think about it this attitude is a disservice to all involved and rather insulting to the crew of the Enterprise.  I find it absurd that a fully trained crew of men and women who have chosen to explore the unknown depths of space can’t be reminded that their Captain is a human being with frailties like every other human being because if they are they may all lose faith.

Good and Bad the final struggle

            In a rational world Captain Kirk would’ve immediately been relieved of command the moment Rand and Fisher made their assault allegations against him, at least temporarily as the ship’s senior officers investigated the allegations.  Once it was determined that Kirk had been split into two people Spock would’ve remained in command up into a time Kirk was restored.  Once he has been restored Kirk should be allowed to his resume command without any dent to his career or reputation.  After all it wasn’t his fault of the transporter split him into two people, so his reputation shouldn’t suffer from it.  But no Starfleet is run by irrational boob heads and if Spock and McCoy don’t prop Kirk up he’ll stay out.  How does Starfleet even function?

            Also for those who think William Shatner’s a bad actor really should watch this episode. Not only does the character of Captain Kirk tend to suffer from popular misconceptions and stereotypes about him, but unsurprisingly the actor associated tends to suffer them as well.  If William Shatner was such a horrible actor how the hell did he start a TV show on a major network in almost every decade of his career?  In this episode Shatner has to play three different versions of the same guy and he pulls it off exceptionally well.

FINAL GRADE 4 of 5