Star Trek Deep Space Nine: "Crossover"

First, a brief summary: Kira and Bashir enter the wormhole to go from the Gamma Quadrant back to the Station in the Alpha Quadrant. When they exit the wormhold, they find that a plasma leak in their Runabout's engine has caused them to crossover to the mirror universe first visited by Kirk in the Original Series episode "Mirror, Mirror."

In the alternate universe, humans are slaves. Bajorans and Klingons belong to the Alliance, which dominates the Alpha quadrant. Kira is a ruthless leader known as the Intendant who places little value on the lives of anyone who is not Bajoran. Sisko, at first, cares little about anything but himself, as he leads a human crew given a ship by the Intendant. As the show progresses, he learns something and assists Kira and Bashir in getting back to their Station. Bashir, interestingly, is assigned to the mines of Bajor, and people laugh when he tells them that he is actually a doctor.

What, exactly, can we learn from all of this?

It seems to me that this episode has one central lesson, which is that nature only accounts for part of who we are. We are more than the sum of our parts. Even when the very same person is born into extremely difficult circumstances, that person can transcend his/her limitations and make something better of him/herself. In the alternate universe, Sisko and Miles O'Brien revolt against the stereotype imposed upon them. They stand up for equality and for a better life for others in their situation. There is something extraordinary about this.

Even though humans form values based upon their experiences, we are capable of rising about our experiences to express greater truths of human existence. That's the lesson of this episode.

Thoughts?