TOS: Season 2, Episodes 4 and 5 (Jan 14, 2020)

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Series and Season: Star Trek: The Original Series, Season 2

Episode #, and Episode Name: 4 – “Mirror, Mirror” and 5 – “The Apple”

Setting the Stage: I started at 8:00 pm on January 14th, 2020 with the husband and pupper, mostly because husband requested to watch this one with me because “it’s important”. I watched the second while working out, but it was a long day and I’m exhausted, so only two episodes today. I’m still watching via Netflix and using their episode order.

As a point of order, a dear friend of mine (and Trek fan since birth) pointed out that the Season 2 credits did change a bit… they now list Kelley in the credits. I totally missed that in my last post, my bad Bones!

Quick Summary with my Impressions: “Mirror, Mirror” starts off with four of the crew being sent to the Mirror Universe. It’s interesting that I’ve seen so many versions of it, but now I get to see the original. Spock is sporting a beard, everyone has funky outfits, and apparently corporal punishment is a thing on the Mirror Enterprise. Kirk seems to jump to the correct conclusion quite quickly and this is not the first time that’s happened. The leap in logic is a little much for me. They really are laying the Nazi stuff on thick this episode, like we didn’t already know this universe was supposed to be the “bad” one. Oh Sulu that’s not a good look on you, and I’m not talking about the scar but instead his intentions toward Uhura. Chekov is an ambitious little Slytherin in this episode, but gets owned. In our Enterprise, Spock knows what’s up and imprisons the Mirror landing party. Back on the other ship, Kirk is SHOCKED to find a woman in his bed. Mirror Spock has been ordered to kill Kirk, and Uhura is the biggest badass on the ship when she has it out with Mirror Sulu. Cue the big fight scene, where the Mirror Spock stunt guy totally sticks out like a sore thumb. Mirror Kirk’s lady love takes out most of Mirror Sulu’s men, and the landing party heads to the transporter room where the parties swap back to their respective universes.

I enjoyed this episode as it was the tried and true “good vs. evil” episode, before it was tried and true. I do like Spock better with a beard, and I hate that I agree with McCoy on something. It was fun to see the crew have to act as themselves part of the time, and their “evil” half the other part. I give this episode 9 gold stars and a pat on the head.

In “The Apple” I find that Chekov reminds me of the dad in My Big Fat Greek Wedding, but instead of everything being Greek, it’s Russian. Oh no, more killer flowers! Didn’t we do this already? Spock finds a rock and throws it out, only to blow up some part of the path ahead. Scotty is having a problem with the Enterprise, but it’s because of something on the surface of the planet. Why are we having issues with the transporter again? Spock is hit with the same killer flower after pushing Kirk out of the way, and the two men have a very interesting exchange. Wait, now there is killer lightening, what the hell is going on? Kirk is showing uncharacteristic regret about staying on the planet because it cost the lives of three of his men. He’s starting to display the pressure of command. By far the funniest line of the episode is “I wont hurt you”, which is said after Kirk just punched the guy, sigh. We meet the strange villagers who do not understand a lot of concepts and are another set of miracles mysteries to McCoy. I still don’t understand why they thought Spock’s name was so funny. Oh no, not another machine controlling the planet! The machine, Vaal, gets upset when two of the villagers begin to kiss and orders his minions to kill the landing party because they are too dangerous. Kirk seems to be struggling with the impending doom of the Enterprise and its crew, but then has an idea (just in the nick of time) when Vaal wants to be fed. Kirk destroys the machine, “frees” the village, and the Enterprise is back to usual. McCoy and Spock argue scripture a bit, and they make a really awful joke about Spock looking like Satan.

I wasn’t a fan of the dialogue in this episode. Chekov was a total horn dog, the humor between Kirk and Scotty just didn’t land right, and there was a lot of heteronormativity (I know, I know, it’s the 60s). I did like the story line and was glad that Kirk destroyed the machine with phaser beams instead of talking to it until it explodes. I give this episode 4 and three-quarter milkshakes.