The Next Generation Never Had A Mirror Universe Episode

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The so-called Mirror Universe from the “Star Trek” franchise was first glimpsed in the original series’ 1967 episode “Mirror, Mirror.” That episode saw Kirk (William Shatner) and a few of his Enterprise crewmates accidentally beamed into a parallel dimension thanks to an ion storm. This parallel universe was similar to Kirk’s home, only everyone was evil. The U.S.S. Enterprise was now an imperial ship of conquest, and it was common for underlings to assassinate their superiors in order to advance their careers. Starfleet officers were also all equipped with widgets called Agonizers, which their bosses used to inflict painful punishments.

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The Mirror Universe wouldn’t be seen again until the 1994 “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” episode “Crossover.” There, it was revealed that the Imperial Fleet had been overrun by Klingons and Romulans in that alternate reality, leaving humans enslaved by a new Empire. (It was all very bleak.) Characters from the Mirror Universe would also show up for four additional episodes of “Deep Space Nine.” After that, there was an amusing two-part episode of “Star Trek: Enterprise,” titled “In a Mirror, Darkly,” that took place entirely within the Mirror Universe. Finally, at least half of the first season of “Star Trek: Discovery” featured Mirror transplants or side jaunts to the realm of evil. Oh yes, and Empress Philippa Georgiou (Michelle Yeoh), the protagonist of “Star Trek: Section 31,” hailed from the Mirror Universe.

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Weirdly, the only time “Star Trek: The Next Generation” even came close to exploring the Mirror Universe was 1993’s “Dark Mirror,” a non-canonical tie-in novel by Diane Duane. “The Next Generation” itself never dabbled in the Mirror Universe, which seemed odd to Trekkies. Surely an evil version of Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart) would’ve been fun to write?

Brannon Braga, who served as a staff writer on “The Next Generation,” eventually addressed the lack of Mirror Universe episodes on his show at a 2017 “Star Trek” convention (as covered by TrekMovie). There, he revealed that the Mirror Universe was banned from the series by a creative mandate.

“Banned” may be a hash word. Perhaps it was just strongly discouraged. Braga pointed out that he was actually able to break a lot of the creative bans that show creator Gene Roddenberry and/or executive producer Rick Berman put into place. For example, time-travel stories were supposed to be banned from “The Next Generation,” but that didn’t stop Braga from serving as a story editor on “Time’s Arrow” (an episode set mostly in the 19th century). He was also supposed to steer away from dream sequences, but still ended up writing “Phantasms,” an episode that is all about dreams and visions. “I broke all the rules,” Braga declared.

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When it came to the Mirror Universe, though, Braga remained hands-off. Perhaps he would have pushed the envelope a little more, had he and the show’s other writers thought up a good story idea. Inspiration never struck, however, so Braga and his fellow writers on “The Next Generation” remained in the regular “Star Trek” universe. As Braga recalled:

“We were a little frightened at doing it, and doing it badly, and maybe never really figured out what the ‘Next Generation’ take would have been on it.”

Which is fair. The crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise-D is so kind and diplomatic that it feels like they would’ve easily been able to face off and negotiate with their “evil” selves. Characters from “The Next Generation” wouldn’t encounter an evil parallel universe until the second season of “Star Trek: Picard,” which was also partially set in an alternate reality overseen by an Earth-ruled genocidal tyrant. The evil “Picard” universe, however, was not the Mirror Universe, but some other realm, perhaps created by Q.

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This, of course, has led to a fan theory that the Mirror Universe was a Q creation all along. But that’s just a (“Trek”) theory.