Activate your time crystals; it’s time, once again, for the Shuttle Pod crew to assemble and discuss Star Trek: Discovery episode 7.
Star Trek: Discovery Season 1, Episode 7 – Debuted Sunday October 29th
Written by Aron Eli Coleite & Jess Alexander
Directed by David M. Barrett
At The Disco 6: “Magic To Make The Sanest Man Go Mad”
In this episode of Discovery, the crew revisit a tried and true sci-fi trope: the time loop. In this episode of Discovery, the crew revisit a tried and true sci-fi trope: th- oh… sorry.
This week on the Shuttle Pod, crewmembers Kayla and Matt are able to break themselves free of the normal timestream to talk about Harry Mudd’s magic, whether or not we ship #Byler, and Stamets’ fun new demeanor.
Plus, as much as we want to, can we really trust Ash Tyler? Tilly is adorable as a would-be wing-man for Burnham, and is that beer pong? Is releasing someone who literally murdered a Starfleet captain approximately 55 times into the custody of an arms dealer a good idea? All these questions and more answered in this week’s podcast. Listen above!
This was a great episode even though it had some flaws. I think we need to start a fan campaign to get a Mudd spin-off! The rest of the episode was fun and held up well. I’m a very old-school TOS fan and am having to adjust to STD but I’m enjoying it overall so far.
Agreed. Between “Khan on Ceti Alpha V” and “Mudd TV”, I’d choose Mudd in a heartbeat.
“MAsh”. Their shipping name should be MAsh.
THROUGH EARLY MORNING FOG I SEE
VISIONS OF THE THINGS TO BE..
Mudd doesn’t have top secrete knowledge. He only has surface knowledge. He doesn’t have any technical specs. He only knows 1 drive needs spores and 2 drive needs a random crew member.
He doesn’t know how any of it works.
Time Crystals are based on real science btw! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_crystal
To be honest, when I first heard “time crystal”, I thought of a quartz crystal as used in a normal crystal oscillator clock i.e. quartz clock…
Mudd is a civilian and outside of sector 001 I think its only those in starfleet or the larger fleets that don’t use it. I’ve always believed its those on the outer colonies that under the Federation umbrella that need money.
are not under*
He must need money. Why else would he be so interested in arranging Mudd’s Women to marry “rich” lithium miners or get caught selling fake patents. Mudd is always a profiteer.
Maybe they released Mudd to an arms dealer because Starfleet has business with that particular arms dealer… or is that too dark? lol
Cue the section 31 arguments…
Trek has NO money. Except when it does.
23rd Century Trek always had money. If you’re referring to Kirk’s statement about its non-use in his time, I think it was pretty clear from context he was referring to cash.
“Scotty, you’ve earned your pay for the week.” -Kirk ‘Doomsday Machine’
I quote that line all the time.
I also use Scotty’s way of thinking 2 or 3 steps ahead, thinking big picture, to approach much of life.
Shouldn’t Harry Mudd be really tired, since he’s aware of the time going on. Does he nap during some of the resets? There are a few inconsistencies in the ep, OF COURSE. I still liked it.
maybe only his mind is transferred to the new timelines and his body is fresh and new?
I was thinking the same thing. Mudd experienced 54+ resets, and each was 30 minutes. That is 1630 minutes, or 27 continuous hours.
This could explain why he was so easily duped the last time around. He was tired!
Ah… I just finished listening to the podcast, and they made the same calculation there. Sorry! I didn’t realize that before posting.
Vulcans do painful death stoically. First the flaming shuttle pilot/terrorist… now Burnham munching Dark Matter Skittles. Both must have gone through excruciating pain, but neither so much as made a face!
Lorca needs a visor.
…or Ray-Bans.
Sounds like an opportunity for product placement.
Ka-ching!
Shades would totally jibe with his bad-dude persona.
Shades. Definitely shades.
Five by five is a radio communications expression that means ‘loud and clear’.
Also appears in movie, ‘Contact’. Ellie says she reads Mission Control “5 by 5”. As a shortwave radio buff and radio astronomer, that makes perfect sense.
I have to disagree that no one likely knows about Burnham sacrificing herself for Tyler. Burnham and Stamets have to come up with their plan for defeating Mudd by adjusting non-critical systems and they have to get Mudd to reset the timeline to implement it. There is no way that Burnham would “trigger the reset” by dying without having the plan in place with Stamets. At best, she could not tell Stamets the exact true reason that she will kill herself (Tyler), but I think she would though she might soft pedal it as she would always try to save others. But as you said, there is no guarantee that Mudd will reset the timeline, so it is a big risk. And if she doesn’t tell Staemets, he would likely guess the reason.
I don’t see any reason at all for this character to be Mudd. He doesn’t fit the existing personality, and it’s not like Mudd was so well known that it was useful for promotional purposes. Also, the ways they try to tie it to the known character are… questionable. It’s Burnam being Spocks’s secret sister all over again, references for references sake.
I’m fine with it being a new thing I just don’t see why they have to cannibalism existing characters to make new characters. Why not just make a new character? Does everything need to be a reference? I don’t understand why people applaud things just for being vaguely familiar (especially when they’re actually not).
Yeah. I have mixed feelings about this. I was in the “why?” camp but the Sarek/Mudd stuff is starting to (very) slightly grow on me. And it might just because of the vague familiarity/curiosity about where they’re going?
That said, I hate Enterprise-style “This is how Mudd ended up with Stella,” or (although slightly emotionally resonant) “This is why Sarek was mad at Spock for joining Starfleet” explainer stuff.
The TNG-era shows were always weakest (Trials and Tribble-ations aside) when they started to cannibalize what had come before.
I thought Stella was too nice and pretty here. She should have been tough and unattractive, which is why Mudd is always far away from her in Kirk’s time, and gives him motive to get away from Stella and Daddy in future Discovery episodes.
Agreed.
Technically, Mudd was already with Stella, that is why he ran away from her!
I’m in the same camp as you guys, as to the ‘why’ of using Mudd and Sarek/Amanda. So far, it looks to me this is just a way to say to old-time fans “See, we’re Really in the Prime Universe! Really!” Because your average viewer in the target demographic probably knows little to nothing about those characters. Otherwise, thus far in the series, not getting the Why of either. And I don’t necessarily need a ‘backstory’ to every character I was exposed to growing up, but that’s where we are.
Also, agreed.
I trust they are going somewhere with Sarek/Amanda . . . as for Mudd, I think he’s just been an amusing fan service filler within the larger arch of the season to get us back to the primary plot of the Klingons. But at the same time I don’t see the harm in bringing back old characters within the context of the established narrative, regardless of whether new fans notice.
Ehh, I’m more comfortable with Mudd showing up here than the Burnham/Sarek thing and I think they’ve handled his use better. At least his appearance carries some dramatic weight. It’s not too much of a stretch to see him as the same character who shows up ten years later. (I never cared much for I, Mudd, preferred the character in Mudd’s Women where he’s very clearly capable of being genuinely dastardly.)
“Five by five” is not only military lingo (used in radio communications) but is also used by amateur radio operators.
It actually simply denotes optimal signal strength and readability.
oh, I really should listen to the WHOLE podcast before typing comments…
And in the amateur radio world, 5 by 5 is average signal strength. A perfect signal is usually noted as 5 by 9, or 5 by 9 plus.
Strength and clarity isn’t it?
Readability (clarity) and Strength. The last number is signal strength. The signal meters on modern radios go up to 9, and some go over that by showing as +decibels. We mostly say “you’re coming in at five nine.”
A disco in the Disco. Now I understand the name of the show: “Disco very”.
They seriously need to lose the “Star Trek” name in this show. Rename it “Discovery” and I would start to watch it. I have seen bits and pieces of this show online. No way in gods green earth is this Star Trek. It’s anything but Star Trek. In my opinion (everyone is entitled to theirs) this show has no right to be labeled Star Trek. The last 3 movies (Star Trek 2009, Into Darkness, and Beyond) did way better job at representing the franchise.
I only read bits and pieces of your comment, but doubt your opinion means much since you haven’t seen the show.
And I don’t plan too. As is my right. Like it’s your right to watch it. I stand my ground on how I feel. I have watched every Star Trek series (save this show) to date. So you will have to excuse me when this show isn’t Star Trek. But that is just my opinion.
Who is talking about rights, lol? Yes, you have a right to your utterly valueless opinion. Congrats. You haven’t even seen the show, why would anyone care what you think of it?
Please don’t make me explain what I meant about “right”. My “utterly valueless opinion”? Should your opinion of the show be considered “utterly valueless” because you watch it? I have seen enough pics/clips online of the show to form my opinion.
And I was at one point thinking about giving the show a chance. But the more pics/clips I see online, the more I decided against giving it that chance.
How disappointing it must be for you to realize that nobody cares.
Sean, it seems kinda weird someone has to actually explain this to you but yes, if you’ve formed an opinion on something you’ve never actually seen, that opinion is pretty much worthless. The only way to have a learned opinion about something like a TV show is to actually watch it. Your opinion may not change, for what it’s worth, but at least it’s based on something other than seeing a few clips and making the baffling decision to take part in a forum where everyone else HAS seen and is actively discussing it. Do you have opinions about books you haven’t read, movies you haven’t seen and people you’ve never met in the same way?
Sean thinks an uninformed opinion has as much value as an informed one, apparently. I’m not too shocked that no one cares what he thinks about Discovery.
It’s your right to not watch the show. It’s not your right to criticize a show you didn’t bother to watch (except for “bits and pieces,” which means not really).
If you feel the last three films did a better job of representing the franchise, you need to either watch (or troll) harder.
The last three movies have their moments, and as a true Trek fan I appreciate them, but STD taps wonderfully into a much longer history, and in a way that still feels current.
Totally agree with you, Holden.
You certainly are entitled to your opinion.
But Discovery is going to continue to carry the Star Trek name.
But, you don’t have watch it if you don’t want to.
I used my view of the Star Trek that I knew and gauged against Star Trek Discovery. Well I set my reservations aside and finally gave the show a chance. I have now just got done watching “Choose Your Pain” episode 5 if that tells you anything. The show isn’t bad at all. I rather enjoy it. So I am not against admitting I am wrong about bashing it without giving it a fair chance. I would watch another episode but need to go to bed.
On a side note, NCC-1701-A, give it a rest will ya? If nobody cared as you say, why are people posting under my discussion?
Our work is done.
It warms my heart that you gave the show a chance, Sean (if it doesn’t turn out to be your cup of tea, well, that’s your right :)).
Sean, I owe you an apology. I just saw this comment after your one above. I’m truly glad you’ve given DSC a chance. If only more fans sitting on the fence would take this leap of faith and do the same.
Again, I apologise.
And welcome aboard ;)
Thank You. But no apology needed. I was being a bit of a horses backside. I just got done with the episode before the season final. Wow that went by quick.
Holden: I had to laugh at your comment. You got me there. :)
Food for thought from two of our most influential SF writers (love ’em or hate ’em) from recent history:
Harlan Ellsion:
And we are all told from the moment we open our eyes, that everyone is entitled to his or her opinion. Well, that’s horsepuckey, of course. We are not entitled to our opinions; we are entitled to our INFORMED opinions. Without research, without background, without understanding, it’s nothing. It’s just bibble-babble. It’s like a f@rt in a wind tunnel folks. So, I get opinions.
Asimov:
Anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that “my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge”
After having watched the show, I can honestly say… This. IS. STAR. TREK.
Really enjoy this podcast. I like that the Trekmovie team doesn’t do a huge blow-by-blow recap at the top. You guys get right into the discussion, which I appreciate.
I don’t think of Mudd as a pscychotic, evil killer. He was a cheap (and bad one at that) small time criminal/hustler.