Alternate Realities

Latest in the thematically organised ‘collectives’ of episodes (we’ve already had Borg, Klingon, Time Travel and Q box sets), the five-disc Star Trek: Alternative Realities Collective brings together an impressive selection of shows from all five of Trek’s TV iterations, from The Original Series through to Enterprise.
Given how much fun Star Trek has always had with alternate timelines, parallel universes and doubled characters, this was bound to be a highly enjoyable set – and it is. The first two discs focus on the Mirror Universe – that swashbuckling alternate reality in which the goody-goody Federation is an evil empire and our favourite characters a bunch of lusting, brawling ne’er-do-wells – offering the episode that started it all (Mirror, Mirror in its spiffy remastered version), and subsequent trips in DS9’s Crossover, Through the Looking Glass and Shattered Mirror (notable for bad Kira being such an egotist that she wanted to get it on with her ‘good’ self). Disc 2 features Enterprise’s two brilliant Mirror Universe episodes (which also tie in cleverly to TOS episode The Tholian Web and demonstrate just how much fun Enterprise was becoming in its fourth season before its untimely cancellation) and some further forays into alternate universes in weird TOS instalment The Alternative Factor and head-fuck Parallels from TNG (in which Worf is married to Deana Troi).

Disc 3 contains some classics – The Enemy Within and Turnabout Intruder from TOS, Frame of Mind from TNG and Shattered from Voyager – but are these really alternate universe stories? While some are essentially body-swap tales others concern what are essentially subjective experiences of other realities rather than parallel dimensions. That quibble aside, these are all great fun. Discs 4 and 5 are more coherent, perhaps, examining the theme of alternate lives (and divergent timelines). TNG’s Yesterday’s Enterprise rightly remains a fan favourite, as does the moving The Inner Light, in which Picard lives out a whole alternate lifetime in a matter of minutes. DS9’s beautifully written and Hugo-nominated The Visitor – exploring an alternate timeline in which Jake Sisko loses his father – is another stand-out show (many would say one of the best of any Trek series), and perhaps the highlight of the whole set.

The final disc brings together more tales of divergent timelines (though none quite of The Vistor’s calibre): Timeless and Course Oblivion from Voyager and E² and Twilight from Enterprise (which features a touching exploration of the Archer T’Pol relationship as it might have been).

Each disc features a shortish featurette looking at the episodes in question; put them together and you’d have an hour-long featurette, which might have made for less choppy viewing. All in all, this a lovely collection which has lots of fun with a number of related SF staples, and it’s obvious how much fun the various Trek casts had exploring these alternative realities; if you don’t own these episodes already (and, perhaps, even if you do) then you’ll have almost as much yourself.


Box Set Contents:

Disc One:
Mirror, Mirror
Crossover
Through The Looking Glass
Shattered Mirror
Mirror Universe featurette (Part 1)
Disc Two:
In A Mirror Darkly (Part 1)
In A Mirror Darkly (Part 2)
The Alternative Factor
Parallels
Mirror Universe featurette (Part 2)
Parallel Dimensions featurette
Disc Three:
The Enemy Within
Turnabout Intruder
Frame of Mind
Shattered
Twisted Realities featurette
Disc Four:
Yesterday's Enterprise
The Inner Light
The Visitor
Before And After
Alternate Lives (Part 1)
Disc Five:
Timeless
Course: Oblivion
E2
Twilight
Alternative Lives (Part 2)

Star Trek: Alternate Realities Collective, Paramount Home Entertainment £34.99