10 MORE Character Reveals That Didn’t Have To Go THAT Hard
7. Mirror Lorca's History Of Grooming And Sexual Assault
Members of the Terran Empire always run the risk of being one-note. When it was Kirk in Mirror, Mirror, he was a simple bad guy, end of story. However, Mirror Spock had the capacity to be more than his goatee might suggest, which always makes a more interesting character on the screen.
Gabriel Lorca appeared in almost every episode of Star Trek: Discovery's first season, though his true nature was hidden for most of that time. As each episode progressed, audiences were shown a cold, cynical person, though one who wasn't above a bit of flattery to achieve his ends. The big reveal in Vaulting Ambition that he was, and always had been, from the mirror universe, managed to shock and surprise.
However, part of the reveal included the fact that he was a child abuser and guilty of sexual assault. This gave room for pause. Georgiou informed Michael Burnham that her counterpart had been groomed by Lorca, while the audience simultaneously discovered he had abused, and then discarded, a lover named Ava, sister to that universe's Maddox.
While no one was under any illusions that Lorca was a nice person, this stripped any ambiguity to his ambitions away, effectively making him a moustache-twirling, cardboard cut-out type of villain. The fact that Jason Issaacs played him with depth and range served to make this more frustrating.
Frankly, he was bad enough - this felt a step too far.