The Cerritos gets close to a spatial rift and is pulled through it…

They’re back! Times two! It’s great to see our favorite ensigns-turned-lieutenants back. Sad and annoyed it’s the final season.

It’s a cute episode where the Cerrito comes face to face with themselves in this mirror (but not Mirror) universe. The writers slip in some subtle characterization here, with a glimpse of what happens to Rutherford when Tendi doesn’t return, Billups embracing his royal heritage, “Remarkable!” instead of “Fascinating!”, and Boimler being “in” with the bridge crew.

The main focus, however, is Lt. Beckett Mariner/Captain Becky Freeman. (Captain Carol Freeman, for reasons unknown, has been reassigned to the dreaded Starbase 80.) Evidently ‘Mariner’ is Beckett’s middle name, and this alternate Mariner never felt the need to avoid using the family name. She is also – ironically? paradoxically? – a tyrannical commanding officer who hates her job and wants to go back to being a loose cannon. To that end, she kidnaps her doppelganger and returns to the other ship in her place.

We see some back-and-forth with each Mariner pretending to be the other. Both fail in an amusing manner. Tyrannical Mariner addresses Freeman as “Mother”, something she never does. The other Mariner (ours) is too nice which, while funny, is also flawed in that the crew should be way too terrified of her to not follow her orders instantly regardless of what they think of them.

There is also a running gag about who is in the prime (“real”) universe and who is the copy, which basically sums up the whole episode: nothing profound, perfectly good but not great, an enjoyable installment.

Verdict: A light, humorous episode with the great visual of seeing two of everyone. 7/10

Rigel Aiur

http://www.BluetrixBooks.com