Star Trek: Discovery The Wolf Inside Review
Star Trek: Discovery: Season 1, Episode 11: The Wolf Inside. This Star Trek: Discovery The Wolf Inside review maintains that the episode offers a unique take on the logic of the Mirror universe, with its exploration going deeper than any other the franchise has attempted so far.
Within the first 40 years of Trek‘s existence, the Mirror universe has gone from a one-time thing to a small but significant part of the property. Several episodes of Deep Space Nine helped map out the geopolitical landscape of the timeline, while an entire story arc of Enterprise was set almost entirely in it. Although each iteration of the universe retained the basically rotten character of The Original Series‘s version, they managed to flesh it out further so that it was no longer just a memorable gimmick.
It is in these footsteps that Discovery appears to be following, with the show making a mere 11 episodes into its first season what might be the most radical departure from established Mirror universe canon yet. While Trekkers with long memories might remember DS9 suggested the existence of an implicitly-noble resistance made up of normally sinister Romulans, Discovery goes further and shows a diverse alliance of unlikely freedom fighters. Leading the resistance is none other than Voq (Shazad Latif), a surprising turn that flips the franchise’s tradition of making good guys bad and thus raising questions about how the Mirror universe works.
Take the case of Sarek (James Frain) for example. Although his doppelgänger appears, he is a part of the anti-Terran resistance and thus a good guy. How is it that he somehow defied the cosmic nature of the Mirrorverse to retain his prime timeline’s noble nature? Is it a fluke, or are there others like him? Or perhaps he’s not so benevolent after all. In fact, I think that that’s just the case here, with the show set to reveal him as a villain at some point from now.
Latif also deserves mention for his dual role as Voq and Tyler. With the former’s primary timeline version increasingly asserting itself, Latif is forced to undergo the transition from the human Tyler to the Klingon within. He exhibits incredible commitment to the transformation, straining his voice as it tries to replicate the guttural language of the warlike aliens. I mentioned in my last review that this was one of the most promising elements of the season’s second half, and I think it will continue to be in future installments of Star Trek: Discovery.
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