Reminder: ‘Discovery’ Episode 7 ‘Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad’ Debuts Tonight

| October 29, 2017 | By: TrekMovie.com Staff 162 comments so far

Star Trek: Discovery debuts its seventh episode tonight. We seem to be in for quite a ride with a wild Disco party and the return of Harry Mudd.

Preview: “Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad”

Star Trek: Discovery – Season 1, Episode 7

As the USS Discovery crew attempts to let loose at a party, an unwelcome visitor comes aboard bringing about a problematic and twisted sequence of events.

The episode will be available in the US on CBS All Access at 8:30 pm ET (5:30 PT). In Canada it airs on the Space Channel at 8:00 pm ET (5:00 pm PT).  And it will be available on Netflix outside the USA and Canada on Monday at 8 am BST.

Promo videos

NEW clip from Variety

CBS episode preview

Party clip from EW released earlier this week

Photos

Followed by ‘After Trek’ episode 6

The sixth episode of the Discovery after-show After Trek streams live on CBS All Access tonight at 9:30 pm ET. With Rainn Wilson, Anthony Rapp, and Wilson Cruz. If you tweet questions to @startrekcbs with the tag #AfterTrek they may be answered during the show.

After Trek also airs on Space in Canada at midnight ET and will be available on Netflix on Monday.

What say you?

TrekMovie will be posting a full review of “Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad” later. But you don’t have to wait to offer your views in the comments below.

 

SHARE TWEET PIN SHARE

Related Articles

162 Comments
oldest
newest
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

The Wrath of Mudd

“Keptyn, you know this man?”

haha good quote!

Shook hands with Walter Koenig yesterday at LA Comic Con. Nice.

I watched both TOS Mudd episodes yesterday. Leaving Harry Mudd where he was found to stew in his own mess is a Star Trek tradition, so I’m not surprised Lorca decided to leave him the last time. Now, I wonder how this is going to turn out…

Why do those hand phasers always have a 30-second long power-up sound?

What I mean is: It was okay as a gimmick in one scene or two, but it seems that every time someone draws a weapon now it goes bzzzzzZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Finding it harder and harder to find something to complain about that you have to nipick this?!?! What’s next, someone’s hair is out of place? The lettering on the ship is off by a millimeter?

Oh, I’m hardly “COMPLAINING”.
Yeah, it’s a nitpick but I’m really just wondering aloud.

If I utter any any actual complaints, they’re usually directed towards writing issues, like the writers’ handling of expository dialogue. Things are starting to look better and better in that regard though.

If they’re going to do it (I like it), why wouldn’t they do it every time.

Nitpick anyone?

Where is Phil Farrand when you need him?

The lameness continues……..

On the contrary!

On the contrary as well! I have my first four star Discovery episode :) This is pure, classic, Trek.

How did Micheals retain knowledge of eve ts when they did not happen yet-
horrible writing

For a whole other season.

Oh, don’t worry, we don’t mind your presence, no matter how lame you might be. Stick around.

Ive been here posting before lol

edge of tomorrow and ground hog day

Cause and Effect (TNG)!

“Supernatural” “”Mystery Spot”

Only half throughbut LOVING this episode. Soooo Trek!

why didnt Saru see the coming of death in any of the Mudd encounters

I agree. That’s my nitpick.

they are called “plot” glands. If the plot doesn’t call for their use they will be forgotten about. xD

Eh who knows. Maybe they did in one timeline but one we didn’t see.

On the Trek movie podcasts they have said that Doug Jones told some comic-con crowd that if Saru sees the threat directly then his threat ganglia don’t come out. He is more like the dog at the door that starts barking but nobody knows why. I don’t believe we ever saw him in a way that showed whether or not they came out when Mudd was first discovered. After that he knew he was a threat so no need to make an appearance. These are all guess though based on what the podcasters had to say, It could be they just didn’t want to show it.

Because the writers are horrible and are not use to. a cerebral following.Star Trek continues is far superior but most who watch Discovery do not even know what Star Trek continues is.

That was awesome.

An episode that was totally Star Trek. Love this show.

Definitely my favorite episode so far and I loved the character moments. The ending was good. It had enough closer for the episode and yet some hints that there was more to come. Also the humor was well done.

I don’t post often, but that episode was awesome. I was worried it would be a re-hash of cause and effect, but it was it’s own story and really well done.
Next week looks awesome too.

The cast is really starting to find their groove. This seriously felt like classic Trek, and I am loving it! More please!

Excellent episode!

Who employs you to say this?

I just saw this episode and I was overwhelmed because it was not what I expected in a very good way. I thought this would be a typical time travel story that uses the typical Trek time travel resets. Superficially that was true but this episode was so much more, it really was about not knowing what is around the corner and realizing that the things we seek (money, position) are often not the things we need. The whole idea of this episode (and to some degree the last one Lethe) is that sometime the things we run from (like our family disappointments in Lethe) or relationships (like in this episode) will ultimately keep us in repetitive patterns. I loved the message that only by breaking these patterns can we have change and from change comes hope. This is the real message of Star Trek.

Glorious episode! I’m in Star Trek heaven or should I say Sto’Vo’Kor. I’d say more but I’m to happy for words.

Very enjoyable episode.
Now, to the nit-picks:
–Space whale? Really? With bones and lungs… and extra roomy inside? (In fact, virtually nothing about the space whale makes any sense.)

–Why does everyone who wants to take over a starship know exactly how to do it? Are there NO security measures? Don’t tell me Worf’s in charge…

–Does Stella’s Daddy have a super-fast spore ship, too? They got there in minutes. Is the galaxy a lot smaller than we were told?

–Harry, Stella’s a stone fox. You’re not exactly Space Brad Pitt, btw.

–Dark matter; is there nothing it can’t do?

Mudd knew how to take over the ship because he had an unlimited amount of tries. Each time he failed, he was able to learn a bit more about how to get around Discovery’s security.

sorta like Tom Cruise in edge of tomorrow

I actually like how, at one point, you see Mudd yawning from tiredness. It was a nice touch… while the regular crew were caught in a 30 minute cycle over and over, Mudd was proceeding in a “straight line” through the loops. By the time they were done, it would be like Mudd had just pulled a very active “all nighter”, going over 24 hours without sleep.

I’m a complete know-nothing where crime is involved, but give me that device and unlimited walk throughs and even I could eventually figure out how to rob Fort Knox! Like playing Doom in “god mode”.

Exist. VSL and MOG eliminate it.

Starfleet ships have been easy to steal for hundreds of years now. Almost as reliable in Trek as killing the red shirts.

Which are now shuttle pilots…

Who said it has lungs? It’s probably similar to the spaceborne creature from TNG, which attached itself to shuttlebay doors.

The first shots show it ‘breathing’ and expelling ‘air’ from blow holes. (The scanner shows its ribs.) I suppose it could dive down into a planet’s atmosphere and suck in some air… but I can’t imaging that would allow it to leave its home star system; it would be too dependent. They said it ate particles of some damn thing or other. None of that explains how it travels between stars. Does it fart warp drive? What do flippers do in a vacuum?

@CmdrR — It surfs solar winds. DS9 already showed us that with the right construction a vessel can achieve warp speed on those solar winds alone.

The writers of the show are not expecting cerebral fans-just the profits-perhaos they are ferenghi?!!

Wasn’t it anti matter?

Overall, a very good episode.

– I know nothing about Space whales but we’ve seen space creatures before. it struck me as odd that it can survive in space AND in the pressurized, breathable shuttle bay but who knows…rare creature

– Mudd had a cheat. He’s obviously a brilliant guy and familiar with operating space craft. Those first few arrivals was him figuring out how to do everything.

– I dont recall if it said where Stella and Dad were but if Mudd was nearby, can we accept that they were too?

– Some woman love the bad boy

He has a time loop machine and the thing he wants to do is discover Discoverys secrets?
Sell it to the Klingons and they can take over.

Oh Lordy..this was the best! So classic Trek and more!

I realize Mudd had to go to __________ for continuity’s sake, but it seemed odd that Starfleet would do it, considering how murderous ______ is.

Decent episode, though.

ya should be locked up forever

Problem would be they couldn’t prove it in court if they wanted to.
Prosecutor: “Mudd killed Captain Lorca!”
Defense Attorney: “No, he didn’t, Captain Lorca is alive. Sitting right over there.”

You only have the word of a high on mushrooms engineer that he murdered anyone – and, in the remaining timeline, nobody died.

And when this show started, I thought I would not be able to stomach Stamets, and he is rapidly becoming my favorite character- I love that this event has further driven him wackadoo.

Favorite moment was the second timeline (that we saw) with Lorca’s “I don’t give a damn” and then “I still don’t give a damn” to Burnham and Tyler’s requests.

Yeah that did strike me as odd. But I suppose they see him as an annoyance (sure, a very deadline one in this case) but in the midst of a war, they decided he was nullified.

I’d have sent him to a pysche ward as that was the canon with him, that he had spent time in a hospital.

That was totally fun!

This was classic Trek I approve of this ep.
I’m so far enjoying Discovery. Each ep is one big improvement over the last.
The preview for next weeks ep really has my interest.

Pretty decent episode but crap ending.

Also the glimpse we get of the time ship in the scan of the space whale looks kind of like the one from TNG where the guy pretended to come from the future.

Episode “A Matter of Time”

That episode was a personal favorite of mine.

Funny thing, the timing was off in the second half of this episode. As others mentioned, the timeline where Burnham and Tyler danced seemed a lot longer than all of the others, considering Stammets had to again convince Burnham he wasn’t crazy. And at the end, Stella and her father arrived incredibly quickly.

I liked it, maybe even best so far. But it has issues.

Since Mudd killed Lorca 53 times, Does that mean Discovery was stuck in that time loop for 53 days?

I think it was 30mins per kill

The loop was only thirty minutes, no? So I guess technically 53 half hours in a row…?

And just to get more confusing, if it’s a loop that resets itself back to the start of the thirty minutes, surely they actually didn’t lose any time at all.

Possibly Mudd aged 26.5 hours, and possibly Stamets did.

If the time crystal’s lattice is so unstable, how does it last through 53 30-minute loops? Is it not independent of time, as indeed Mudd is?? Wouldn’t that mean it would give out?

@CmdrR — I don’t even understand what this crystal is … is it canon? And if not previously introduced, how could such a technology not be known? It’s like the Omega 13 device in GALAXY QUEST. Could be very useful.

Mostly because the writers dont care about canon nor do they care that their plots are incoherent.How did Micheal retain knowledge when the events did not happen yet.She seemed to retain knowledge of events that did not happen yet.
In addition he no longer had this device 10 years later?Spock prime could get this device and rechange the timeline as 31 should have already.

Why didnt they just destroy the whale with mudd inside to end the loop upon the 1st few resets. Give it the Vulcan Hello 🖖

that would be my solution to save the Discovery and Lorca and crew, 1 dead space whale with Mudd in exchange for survival.

The animal is rare and protected. Which brings up another question; is it still sitting in the cargo bay with a spaceship stuck in its guts?

If you were the captain of science vessel turned war ship and the enemy used bald eagles with machine guns surely you take out the bald eagles no? I thought the episode was good but just doing what we love to do is nit pick lol I like the romance between Ash and Michael and that sexy ship voice. I hope we get to see a Saru and Tilly episode.

Fortunately , Lorca didn’t have to kill any space whales or bald eagles during this episode!

Their solution to the problem was very star trek, not killing protected whales and finding another way. Star Trek loves whales! since The Voyage Home 🐳🐋

He beamed out after the first time. Burnham detected another transporter signature on the second loop.

This is Discovery’s “Naked Now.” But it’s a blatant hijack of TNG’s “Cause and Effect” with one crew member who is able to sense the timeloop, and build up newer developments in the repeated time loops (related to revelations made from the previous ones) until *BLAM* A deep-cut canon reference shows up at the end.

Now we have a “log entry” format to go with at the episode’s start, and we find out the the Federation is winning the war thanks to the Discovery (I can’t seem to recall anything decisive the ship has done since Corvan 2, but I’ll take Burnham’s word for it). Also, we’ve had time to see Stamets fast-forward Burnham/Tyler to a better starting point (Tyler’s “I’m not going anywhere” is pretty scary, if some fan theories are correct). All in all, entertaining, but pointless.

It’s not pointless if you look at the show as a character drama, which it is. Our characters have learnt something and grown.

The time-loop story is a classic sci-fi trope and you could easily make the case that TNG stole it from somewhere else. Nothing wrong with different shows putting their own spin on it. Over time I’m sure we’ll see a Jekyll & Hyde variant, a body double variant, etc. Also, in Cause and Effect, everyone was remembering snippets of their past passes thru the time loop so it had a very different vibe.

I think the log was meant to show us time passing as well. So everyone is getting to know each other, Michael/Ash especially, Michael settling in at her bridge crew station, Starfleet turning the tide of the war etc.

The passing of time makes sense for many reasons, mostly the relationship aspect and also Admiral Cornwell being a hostage for an extended period.

The Naked now was MUCH worse than this episode.
unlike that episode this one was FUN!

They were all able to sense the timeloop in “Cause and Effect”. Beverly heard voices. Picard thought he’d already read a book once before. Geordi saw “after-images” and lost his balance.

Amazing how Discovery is the most important ship in the war.yet the Enterprise is in a better class and the flagship of the fleet.
Why do the Kelvins not use this instant travel device?Captain Janeway could have used it as well.

bruce,

Re: Why do the Kelvins not use this instant travel device?

You mean the Kelvans? Probably for the same amazing reason they didn’t adapt Enterprise’s transporters to transwarp them home?.

If you meant the USS Kelvin, for the reason that Kirk was the only Starfleet Captain to bring his ship back relatively intact, i.e. not requiring a major overhaul, upgrade or replacement, after during his 5 year mission.

Ultimately, Discovery is a doomed ship with its technology getting the blame for its eventual demise.

bruce,

BTW If Prime Captain Kirk’s ship was the “flagship of the fleet”, what was Commodore Decker’s USS Constellation? Chopped liver?

The party clip? Abso-efffing-lutely moronic. Hopefully we will have advanced as a species beyond getting drunk and/or high and acting like idiots sinking to the lowest level of self-expression by that time. Who “wrote” this shhhttt show?

I agree, 100%. When other Trek’s brought in parties and alcohol, they always did it in a classy way (except maybe Scotty getting the alien dude drunk, but that was to save the ship).

@My name….is Jim — right, Sulu and Chekov lusting after the Klingon at the end of ST:V were so dignified.

You two must be the life of the, well, party.

@GuestA7 — riiiiight … they should just get into bar fights as an acceptable release of stress in the future like Trouble with Tribbles where they likely also got drunk first …

Yes… it would be so much more dignified to go to an alien world to drink while ogling half-naked green Orion slave girls.

Or to go to Argelius and get your drunk on while ogling a half-naked Argelian dancer, and to invite to take that dancer home while her husband watched.

Yeah… no one ever tossed a few back and engaged in any solicitous behavior in Star Trek, ever. My goodness… the type of “future” you would want to live in.

Risa is just one a big drinking and orgy planet, no one ever complained about that.

Certainly no one in Starfleet. ;)

You seem like a lot of fun.

Amen brother/sister.

A couple of thoughts:
1) Was that stolen Andorian space gear Mudd was wearing?!
2) Stella should have been about 10-15 years older for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that it’s only 10 years prior to TOS so 13 years or so prior to Mudd creating an android replica of Stella that is at least 50, and, can Hollywood please get over the tendancy to give much older men super hot young wives?
3) For a season that was “about war,” hopefully the fears of many that this would be just one flashy space battle after another have been assuaged. This is the least warlike war story I can remember seeing. Other than the very brief battle over the mining colony, next week looks to be the first time since the double pilot episodes that we have seen “actual war.” It’s been talked about a lot and is very obviously the context of the episodes, but I almost feel like we haven’t seen enough of Discovery’s exploits to make the war seem like a real part of the show. For goodness sakes, they are going to take time out of their day to rescue a Space Whale! You’d think the ship most instrumental to winning the war would be going from one mission directly into another, not just cruising the interstellar void, throwing parties, etc. I know the majority of war is often waiting, but this seems excessive given the importance to the war they have indicated the Discovery holds.
4) In general, I am loving this show! :)

Ad 2). No. Key Elliot, who played Stella in TOS, was only 37, when the show was produced, although she looked a little bit older. Roger C. Carmel was 35 (!) then and looked much older, Rainn Wilson is 51 now.

Holy crap you’re right!!! So glad life isn’t as hard on us as it was on those who grew up through the Great Depression and war years!!!

Also smoking.

Not only that… but the androids recreation of Stella was done through Mudd’s direction, I doubt they actually met her. So anything they created would have been Mudd’s interpretation of Stella which, as we know what kind of person Mudd is, may not be the truest likeness, both physically and psychologically. It’s possible that Stella was actually a real sweetie, who only asked Mudd to come home sober now and then and maybe clean up after himself now and then and Mudd, who obviously didn’t want to be in the marriage in the first place, blew that up into the complete nagging shrew we saw in TOS.

It’s all a matter of perspective, and Mudd would be the textbook example of an “unreliable narrator”.

Mudd killing Lorca a dozen times = the best sequence of this episode!

By the way, why does Stella’s father look like some sort of Ferengi tycoon with that cloak and staff? He probably acts somewhere outside Federation space, since being a smuggler (or whatever he is) would get him in a Federation prison?

It’s a typical tos plot they had several characters just like this on the edges of Fed space.

Yeah, they had some fun with that one. Is it actually murder when no one really got killed?

I thought the episode was kind of uneven. The whole opening act with the party felt out of place to me. I get that these people are in a tense environment and need to unwind and blow off steam from time to time but I was kind of turned off watching Tilly and half the bridge crew acting like a bunch of sluts. I guess I’m just an old prude; I’ve never been much good at parties either. The 20th Century music also felt oddly out of place to me; it would be over 200 years old and I’d like to think that we’d have a better representation of 20th Century music than a Bee Gees track.

The final pass thru the time loop was the best for me as it shows the crew working quickly together to turn the tables on Mudd. The final scene with Stella and her father was amusing but, as someone who grew up on TOS, I would not have minded a few more overt references to the original Stella; maybe a quick sniff and “have you been drinking again?” quip just as they beam out.

Overall it held my attention (and that’s all I can ask of any show) but it felt like a bit of a filler/fluff episode with no real progress made on the overall arc; next week’s looks more interesting to me.

Who was acting like a slut?

I do find it interesting that you referenced “Tilly and half the bridge crew”…Im not sure whom but “slut” is generally a term for women. And yet, the women kissing and dancing were doing so with men. So they must be sluts too. (Ofcourse there was that same sex female couple dancing too which was a nice touch).

I saw nothing really out of place or bothersome in people dancing and getting cozy at a party.

The term “slut” as I used it was applicable to both genders in that scene. I don’t know, I guess I was expecting more professional behavior all of the time from officers. But like I said, I willingly cop to being something of an old prude and I know some of my sensibilities are old and outdated.

Parties in the military do happen, don’t they? These are young people, who need to unwind…

Military parties happen and are usually off the hook.

My only question about the party was Michael and Ash being called to the bridge. Shouldn’t they have been “off duty”. Wouldnt want someone intoxicated reporting for duty.

I suppose we can assume both were “on call” and not drinking (Michael definitely wasnt).

I a couple kissing. And some less than erotic dancing. It was a party. As I recall from being friends with military people, their parties can be crazy.

*especially in the middle of a war. I’d be drunk and grope-y occasionally too.

@TonyD — were you offended by the regular antics of the members of the 4077th MASH unit? Every other episode usually had Hawkeye and BJ looking for a post-op hook-up in in the supply room with a nurse (not to mention Frank and Margaret). And they threw regular parties for morale — that was a common theme. So that was either a complete misrepresentation of the off-duty time of military personnel, or one that can’t be ignored.

Seeing as the show takes place over 200 years in the future I guess I was expecting them to set a better example or be evolved beyond that kind of behavior. I know I’m probably coming off as a party-pooper and hopelessly out of touch. Its no big deal though, just one person’s observation of one small part of the episode.

@TonyD — well that’s a different issue.

@TonyD — and an issue which I don’t think TREK has ever suggested didn’t persist in some way or another. Kirk’s allusion to the little bar “where the women are soooo …” and Scoty’s barroom brawl in “Trouble With Tribbles”, among other examples. I’m not saying they shouldn’t aspire to a higher standard, just that one doesn’t necessarily at this point and time in canon either …

In 200 years, humanity is not going to shed so much of our behavior that having wild parties and having a ribald time now and then is going to fade away. Otherwise, we’re just emotionless Vulcans without the logic skills.

I would like to think that the changes will be subtle, but important ones… folks will still get drunk, but will never drink and drive. People will still hit on people with the hopes of hooking up (and don’t say that isn’t the case, or otherwise you can NEVER explain Captain Kirk, or why Risa is such a popular tourist destination) but will not feel the need to drop a Roofie on someone or engage in date rape. We’ll still have all the fun, but will handle that with maturity all the way through.

Otherwise, the future would be kind of a bore… and Risa will be out of business!

I actually liked the inclusion of the Bee Gees track, and don’t think it was done by accident. We didn’t hear the Bee Gees track the first pass through, but ever subsequent time, after we saw everyone DIE, you would come back and the first thing you would hear was “Staying ALIVE”. I took it as a subtle little in-joke.

And I don’t get why no one ever had a problem with Kirk and Picard reading Shakespeare, and Picard loving classical music. So it’s OK saying that people enjoying and playing music that will be some 500 years old (from their perspective) is OK, but listening to and enjoying anything from our era is somehow wrong.

@JamfoFL — the problem I have, especially after watching the episode, is that it was all 20th century music from a specific 30 year period of pop music. It doesn’t really make sense, and seems somewhat anachronistic without some rationale. Had this been a themed party, then it would have been a little more acceptable, or if Tom Paris had been the DJ. But so far there’s no direct correlation to explain why they’d be listening to only music from this particular era. Unfortunately, I think it is merely an anachronistic narrative invoked by the producers to connect with the audience, without an in-universe explanation. And that’s OK, just unnecessarily complicated for Trekkies.

@Curious Cadet… I can understand that line of thinking, but would refute that with the following.

For one thing, and it pains me to say this, Stayin’ Alive is actually 40 years old this year. That puts a 40 year spread between the music; that’s almost two full generations! And I don’t think you’d find anyone who would say that either of those songs are representative of any single period of pop music; one is from the Disco era, the other from the modern Hip-Hop era. 300 years from now, a DJ selecting one song from the 1970’s and one from the 2010’s WILL be “mixing it up”. And, to be fair, I believe we heard a grand total of three songs (one of which was only played in one of the time loops), so if we had been at the party longer, maybe we would have heard something from the 2050’s, then the 2100’s, etc.

There could also be an in-universe explanation. We know that there will be, in the Trek version of Earth’s history, a devastating third World War. We could probably assume that, during this period, there is going to be a dearth of upbeat, party-friendly dance music, with any popular songs that are created focusing on the war, suffering, etc., like the music of the Vietnam Era. While it still might be very popular by the time of Discovery, it’s probably not very dance friendly. So there could be a gap of decades where there is little to choose from. We even know, from Cochrane’s jukebox, that it was loaded with the likes of Roy Orbison and Steppenwolf, with nothing that we heard from a period in “our future”.

And that brings me to the last, and most practical explanation, for why you’d only hear a song or two from our era: usually, attempts to write a “song that has not yet been written” are poor. You either end up with a song that sounds very close to the music of the past 50 years, but then has to be specifically mentioned on-screen to give it a frame of reference (“Wow! I haven’t heard that 2117 classic from The Warp Core’s in years!”), or you end up with some kind of pseudo futuristic atonal nonsense like something lifted from “Buck Rogers”. I find those take me out of the moment MORE than using something from our era. Unless, of course, we want to find a way to get another groovy hit like “Steppin’ in to Eden” thrown in there!

Of course, that’s just my humble opinion… but I think our sample size at the party was WAY too small, the actual amount of time between the release dates of the two songs was appropriate, and I’d much rather hear a few real songs from the archives than hear some crap attempt to “make something up”.

That’s the weird thing. Picard listening to centuries old Opera is fine for some reason but Kirk listening to Beasties Boys or the Discovery crew listening to Wycliffe is wrong? What’s the difference? It’s all just old forms of music that they still recognize and listen to. And in Picard case the music is way older.

I guess because the other music is too contemporary for Trek nerds? And? As shown music will last for centuries. ALL music. If it still exists someone will still listen to it and appreciate it, like classical music today.

Another great episode. Really enjoyed the different takes as small things changed each time. Lorca’s reaction to the “space whale” was amusing and telling of his character. Definitely digging this slightly less hinged version of Stamets. They are doing a fantastic job with Tyler’s character. If he does end up being a Klingon as some suspect, it’s going to be bummer when it goes down. Looking forward to next week but not to being one step closer to the “mid-season” break.

yes would be a heart breaker, can they save the real Ash and out the Voq

@Brian — yes it was great to see the wide range of Rapp and depth of Stamets. I’m a little confused as to why the first time we saw him he appeared intoxicated … was this before he got caught in the loop? Might have to look at that again …

You know… If Tyler is Voq I’d think he would welcome the chance to have Discovery destroyed.
The only possibility I can think of to counter this is when he was turned into an undercover Human agent his memories were altered and only way for his true self to show is by some sort of command.

That would actually make the most sense. How else to stand up to interrogation etc? He MUST believe he’s really Ash. What could happen is if/when the truth is known, he has a crises of conscience about his own identity.

In the short time we’ve seen him, I feel they have to keep the character. He’s pretty cool.

Yeah, he’s -way- too human to be a Klingon is disguise. Arne Darven is one thing, but the way Voq is portrayed, it’s too big a leap to assume he’s consciously putting on that act. He can only be a sort of Manchurian candidate sort of deal.

Here’s a head-scratcher: when Tyler died in one of the loops, would he revert to Klingon form (if he IS Klingon) as he disintegrated? I was watching that death closely to see if we got any clues. There were none :)

@scotchyscotchscotch — why would he revert to Klingon form when he died? If he is Voq, he’s been genetically modified to look human. If he’s the same kind of plant as Darvin, then perhaps his organs would be different, but he may not be like Darvin. Of course, I’m not sure what’s left, other than they turned him into a human? This theory is starting not to make any sense …

The other option is, Ash is Ash but Voq is going to become Ash and trade places later.

The only issue is that Ash lied to Lorca when he said he’d been L’Rell’s play thing for months when we know that isnt true.

That could also be an implanted memory.

Transplanted memories?

Agreed. However it would be logical to assume that they want to study Discovery, so having it destroyed would be as a last resort.

I like the german title of the episode: T=Mudd²
BTW. The TOS episode “The enemy within” has the german title “Kirk:2=?” an the TNG episode “Second Chances” is “Riker:2=?”. Very creative…

So true. I loved that too. Nice nodd only we Germans can appreciate.

I loved this episode. Best one yet. No much nostalgia. Mudd, Space Whale, Time Loop… just what I want to see…

BTW: A crazy thought came to me while watching the summary at the start. The revolving saucer FX was certainly added to the series’ concept long after the original sneak peak was released. Back then, the outer saucer was connected firmly to the inner part, with some Death Star-like trench in between. Later they separated both elements and came up with the spinning idea…

Maybe they had the idea for it when the big Fidget Spinner hype started back in early 2017. DISCO might be the galaxy’s most expensive Fidget Spinner ever built :-) Nice way to connect with current trends among youngsters LOL

SO much nostalgia, not NO.

We now have a self contained story with loose connections to the overall season narrative. It was quite good. Could have done without the “pop” party.

I’ve been seeing some complain about Mudd killing people. But with the time resets they are never truly dead and Mudd kills less each reset as he understands the crew. Mudd only really Targets Lorca (he was pissed) and in the end when presented with an easy win doesn’t even care. I don’t think killing was his true objective just a little quirk he realized he could get away with because of the time crystal.

I agree, and he also knew just a few minutes in if this loop is still perfecting the takeover, or if this is the real one. Notice he killed a lot while trying to gather intel, and then in what he thought would be the “final” loop when he gets the ship, he killed no one.

Yup!

Yeah, he was “enjoying” killing Lorca because it wasnt real. Which isnt to say he wouldnt kill. He was a vile person in TOS, not a fun loving rogue as some want to pretend.

Not my cup of chai, alas. It was well-produced, and Rainn Wilson and the cast seemed to be having a good time, but I felt it was at my expense and the ongoing storyline of the show. I couldn’t buy into Mudd’s suddenly awesome technical prowess, and it was never clear to me how in the space of 30 minutes Stamets ever managed to convince Burnham and Tyler what was going on quickly enough that they could defeat Mudd just as (conveniently) he’d acquired the knowledge to take over the Discovery. TNG’s “Cause and Effect” (or GROUNDHOG DAY, for the matter) managed, by contrast, to do the same thing much more convincingly.

So not terrible, but mostly a filler episode, which I’d hoped we wouldn’t be getting on a streaming series with only a fifteen shows this season. Oh well, the important thing is that we escaped the time loop, and at least next week’s show, from my perspective, looks a lot more interesting.

Mudd blundered his way through controlling the ship. He had 50-60+ tries to understand its controls and how to access all the critical systems. It wasn’t instant technical prowess. He still forgot things that ultimately proved his downfall.

Yup. And clearly Mudd is brilliant. He’s a mad man but brilliant. We’ve seen him pilot ships. He’s not an idiot, clearly.

And they skipped the mundane-ness of showing Stamets convincing Michael every loop. Once we saw it once, they skipped it every subsequent time.

Once Stamets knew Burnham’s secret, it would have been easier to convince her to jump onboard. I think this episode scratched two longstanding itches for me:
1. Burnham’s human nature vs Vulcan upbringing was finely nicely utilized without smashing us over the head. Her discomfort at the party, her confusion regarding Tyler (if he’s a Klingon, at least he knows how to dance) and, I would imagine, her exposure to Vulcan logic would ensure she would take Stamets’ claims seriously, assuming he tells her each time “hey, I’ve done this a bunch of times now”. She is a scientist, and not a particularly emotional one, so I could buy her considering Stamets. Tyler clearly trusts Burnham so he’s along for the ride.
2. The crew actually all working together to problem-solve.

I kind of wish they’d kept the number of episodes down to keep things tighter. Stranger Things and Mindhunter (just recent examples) do some pretty solid storytelling in just 8 or 9.

Fun science note: Time crystals are real, and they are a new phase of matter. http://news.berkeley.edu/2017/01/26/scientists-unveil-new-form-of-matter-time-crystals/

Loved that little tribute to Q said by Mudd to Lorca.

Lol it did sound familiar when he said that line for some reason. Yeah nice Q reference.

Definitely the most fun episode this season, with it’s obvious lifts from past Trek shows with time-looping plots. But it also suffers from the same problems those shows often had with pat resolutions.

That moment when the tiny bit of Jerry Goldsmith came through right after the Baron´s ship left – definite goosebumps!

The episode was a) entertaining and b) very unlogical.

I prefer to ignore b), however as funny it is as strange it is.

What i find odd, why does Lorca let Mudd leave?
He still has the knowledge about the Spore drive. And he knows Michael is on board the Discovery. He still is a danger to all of them. He also could sell his secrets to the Klingons anonymously through subspace communictation while Stella is sleeping or post it on Subspace-Leak.

Because it will now be hard to have anyone be convinced by him. Now he doesn’t have the ship to back his words up. The Klingons would be more interested in how he escaped their own ship. (he still has a payment he owes.) Also for all the things he did right he still doesn’t know how the drive works only that it needs Stamets.

@Nebula1701 — still, he knows a lot. Eventually somebody would believe him enough to try even some of it out. Though, owing the Klingons something definitely explains a lot about why Mudd stays out of the limelight. It would be hard to conduct that kind of business without it getting back to them.

@nebula1701 — seriously, he’s already done enough to get himself arrested and thrown into a Starfleet stockade — commandeering a starship during wartime — that alone would have been enough to arrest him. The ending felt too much like a wink to the end of “I Mudd”, in which they left him in the care of the androids. Yes it’s poetic punishment, the kind of cowboy move Kirk pulled at the end of “Space Seed”, but it’s not especially realistic — especially since we know that Mudd obviously escapes that “captivity” and comes back to haunt Starfleet again 10 years later.

Has anyone else had issues locating this episode on Netflix? I’m in South Korea at the moment, and usually I can watch the newest epsidoe by 1600 on Monday, but it’s already 0800 Tuesday and nothing. I’ve checked differnt devices, refreshed my Netflix login…I’m a little annoyed that everyone has been able to enjoy this new episode while I haven’t :(

Well I’m not too far from you time and location wise. I’m in the Philippines and the episode came on Monday as advertised.

First time I watched the show on Netflix (live in America). I thought I would have to wait to get back to America to watch it. Nope! You have to love the ease of technology today. And was so thrilled to know I have access to Netflix abroad. I assumed I can only watch the American site since I signed up to that one.

And I’m sure the episode has been up for you by now.

All these disgusted, “people will have evolved beyond partying” comments aren’t really enticing me to go to my first Trek convention.

It’s just so silly. Humans have been partying in every culture for thousands of years. My guess is we still will in another 300. Adults drinking, dancing and making out with others? Think of the children???

If you have not been to a convention yet why go now?

I almost nodded off a couple of times with this one. But I’m digging the phaser. Not much else.

What no enemy could do(destroy the federation) this show will do in a few weeks without firing a shot.
I have not met ANY star trek fans who like this.
One person I know who likes this did not know who Capt Picard or Kirk nor Spock was.The producers want this type of audience to make $,
they are Ferenghi and realize that there is no $ in the 23rd century but they dont know that they dont know.
Im glad Orville is on tonight.