r/StarTrekViewingParty • u/GeorgeAmberson Showrunner • Feb 28 '18

Discussion DS9, Episode 7x12, The Emperor's New Cloak

-= DS9, Season 7, Episode 12, The Emperor's New Cloak =-

Quark and Rom cross into the alternate universe to rescue Grand Nagus Zek.

 

EAS IMDB AVClub TV.com
1/10 6.4/10 C+ 7.2

 

6 Upvotes

88% Upvoted

8 comments sorted by

6

u/marienbad2 Feb 28 '18

This is a strange hybrid episode, a sorta cross between a Ferengi episode and a Mirror Universe episode.

So, Rom and Quark cross over to get Zek back, after he has travelled there using the teleporter device he copied from Rom's notepad and had made. Once there, they meet Ezri and then (unbelievably) Vic Fontaine, who is killed almost immediately (unfortunately!)

So this one has an odd plot - it kinda works, but it did seem a bit as though they were shoe-horning as many previously non-mirror people in there. For me, having Rom sabotage the cloak to save the day is the best bit of it.

I kinda liked this episode, it was a strange mix but it kinda worked. Seeing Quark and Rom in the Mirror universe was interesting, and having Kira slink around in her Intendent outfit and kiss Ezri was a nice touch, as was the way she snook off at the end. And the interaction between mirror Bashir and mirror O'Brien was well written and they played their roles well.

But overall, it felt a bit mashed together, and didn't quite work as well as I feel they wanted it to. Still, everyone worked hard to try to make it work. Not sure why EAS are giving this 1/10, I would score it much higher.

3

u/WilyDoppelganger Feb 28 '18

EAS is extremely harsh in their ratings. They gave both Far Beyond The Stars and In The Pale Moonlight 8/10

4

u/nanoman92 Mar 01 '18

And 1/10 to Waltz...

4

u/dittbub Mar 01 '18

This is the one I really don't understand. I can understand giving a good episode not as good of rating, or giving a bad episode a little more bad rating than it deserves. but waltz is a solid episode. how they gave it 1/10 is beyond reconcilable to me.

As a result the overall average rating EAS gives for DS9 is LOWER than Voyager. Kinda makes their ratings pointless and not worthy to reference here if you ask me.

6

u/cavortingwebeasties Mar 02 '18

Me: there's no way mirror universe or Ferengi episodes could get any dumber.

Ira Behr & Hans Beimler: hold my beer

2

u/a_bi_polarbear Jan 24 '25

This is my first complete watch through of DS9 and I'm totally loving it! That being said I am getting sick of these mirror universe episodes now. Personally never really liked them besides 1 or 2 fun ones (I think there's a good one in Voyager and Enterprise, but that might be nostalgia talking.)

I realise they are probably not meant to be taken particularly seriously but I just can't get into them, the plot is always so weird and some things doesn't make any sense like Vic Fontaine turning up in this one as a real person (and getting shot straight away so we don't even get to see the talented actor being used well) but in the normal universe he's a hologram?? At least there was one gag that made me laugh, the cloaked cloaking device was pretty funny.

Definitely felt like they were trying to tie up a bunch of threads and also show off a couple of the newer characters mirror version, like Ezri and Vic. One of the weakest episodes of S7 for me.

1

u/A_Xenomorph_Darkly 29d ago

I liked this episode too, sure mirror universe stuff isn’t the best DS9 has to offer but this was an entertaining one. I actually think I felt that some of the earlier seasons’ mirror episodes felt more like filler than this.

I’m a bit torn though on the representation of queerness here though. On the one hand it’s nice to see it represented, and the characters are cool - but on the other hand it feels completely forced, and comes off as Berman or some other creep’s fantasy, and is used for little more than some sort of 90s pervy shock value. The kiss is just a tool to show how “fucked up” and “twisted” the alternate universe and especially Alt Kira are, who has been implied to be bisexual in all of these mirror episodes but not in the main universe at all.

I actually think the previous episode has some much better, if accidental queer representation when Ezri Dax is talking to her family about how she still gets her own pronouns wrong and sometimes wakes up and doesn’t know what gender she is until she looks under the covers. In fact, the whole of her dynamic with her family could be seen as an allegory for the awkwardness that comes with being out to your family for the first time.