Guest Star:
Philip Anglim as Bareil Antos
 

"Your taste in men frightens me sometimes!" "I'll be sure to tell Worf you said so." "Tell me what?" "Don't be nosey!" -- Kira, Dax and Worf

Kira is shocked when an intruder beams into Ops and it turns out to be Bareil, her lover who died three years ago. But this isn't the Bareil she knew, it's his counterpart from the Mirror Universe and whilst initially he kidnaps her in a bid to escape the station, he is later released and they eventually become friends. She starts to fall in love with him, but is she in love with this man who is vastly different from her Bareil, or is she trying to recreate the man she lost years ago? When the Intendant (Kira's Mirror counterpart) arrives on the station it becomes evident that Bareil is working for her in order to steal an Orb of the Prophets to use as a token of power back in their universe. When Kira learns of their plans, Bareil decides he cannot betray Kira because their relationship did mean something to him. He turns the tables on the Intendant and they both return back to their own universe, mission aborted.

Review: 
 
Now this is something DS9 hasn't done for quite some time; a real stinker! While fans of Philip Anglim were doubtlessly thrilled by his return to the Trek universe, I'm afraid I don't consider myself one of them, and I was less than impressed.

The illustrious Mirror Universe and its various characters have in the past offered such great potential for fun, if slightly comic book-style adventures. Although originally conceived for the original Star Trek, DS9 has also fared exceptionally well with the storyline. We've relished such wonderfully off-beat, over-the-top characterisations as the Intendant -  Kira's flamboyant, dominatrix doppleganger; the snivelling Garak; the horrendously war-like Regent (Worf). Even if the plot was stupid, as in the case of Shattered Mirror, it's still a helluva lot of fun! So how on Earth did they manage to make Resurrection such a dreadful yawner?

Probably by relying too heavily on the "romance" between Kira and Bareil. I never bought into it before; the two lack chemistry, and their relationship was only ever once used well - and that was in The Collaborator. Needless to say I managed to restrain my tears when he popped off in Life
Support and I can't say I'm particularly thrilled to see his Mirror universe counterpart here.

The relationship that develops between Kira and Bareil has an interesting tinge to it - partly because she, probably unconsciously, is trying to turn this "Mirror Bareil" into "her" Bareil. But whilst Nana Visitor is game, Philip Anglim's performance is pretty limp, and the relationship fails to click. It's also ill-timed considering Kira recently learned that Odo was in love with her. Poor Odo doesn't seem to get a look-in at all here, as if the writers have adopted an out-of-sight out-of-mind mentality. We don't see his reaction to seeing Kira reunited with her dead lover. And we don't even see any evidence of Kira even considering Odo's feelings - she's even seen cavorting with Bareil right outside Odo's office! Now that, to me, is just a little insensitive!

I haven't even mentioned some of the dreadful plot holes, yet. First of all, why has it become so easy for people to transport between the two universes? Doesn't that take away the novelty factor a little bit? Oh dear, I've run out of milk, why don't I transport to the Mirror universe and borrow a pint! Secondly, if the wormhole hasn't been discovered in the Mirror universe (as I believe was established in Crossover) then the Bajorans in that universe know nothing about the Prophets (I believe this is reinforced in a conversation between Kira and Bareil here) - so how the hell do they know about the existence of Orbs? And why would they want to steal one? Surely it would mean very little to the Bajorans in that universe? And how did the Intendant manage to beam over without being noticed? Was everyone in Ops on a simultaneous coffee break?

Truly, the story stands to very little scrutiny. Even the appearance of the delightfully camp Intendant isn't enough to elevate the proceedings, with Visitor's delicious performance marred by her repetitive, poorly-written dialogue (though I enjoyed the bit where she knocks out the guard, saying "you don't know the first thing about giving a massage!") And whilst Visitor at least tries to make the romance seem credible, Anglim once again sinks with his usual bland, sleep-walking  performance.

The one scene I liked was the dinner party, where Bareil gets one up on Worf (which was fun!). Apart from that, Resurrection is one of the biggest piles of rubbish DS9 has ever churned up. Bleeugh.

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