On the newest episode of Star Trek: Discovery, Harry Mudd returns and makes the crew endure a time loop to find out what is special about Discovery.
On the last episode of Star Trek: Discovery, Michael helped rescue Sarek, Tyler got to know the crew, and Admiral Cornwell was captured by Klingons.
“Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad” begins with a voice-over of one of Michael’s personal logs about her life on Discovery. Michael talks about Stamets and how his experiences with the spore drive have let him loosen up. She talks about making friends with Tilly, and how she finds Tyler interesting. She shares her frustration with trying to fit in on Discovery, and finds the upcoming crew party a challenging event.
At the party, Michael watches everyone else have fun. The electric goes out for a moment, then the music begins again. Tilly comes over and asks Michael about Tyler, and Michael is awkward about her feelings. Tyler stands up and makes a toast. After, he comes over to talk, but they get called to the bridge.
As they walk and chat, they run into Stamets and Culber. Stamets hugs Michael when she apologizes. Culber says sorry for his partner's behavior, mentioning the change brought about by the spore drive. Stamets shows them a device Culber put in his arm to help with the spore drive connection. Stamets comments on Tyler and Michael’s relationship, which becomes an awkward moment and the two continue their journey to the bridge.
On the bridge, the crew finds an endangered creature called a gormagander and transports it to Discovery to send it to a facility. Harry Mudd walks out of its mouth and starts shooting people. Michael runs and sends a message to the bridge. Mudd removes his helmet and talks to Lorca through the camera. He says he will find out what is on Discovery so he can sell to the Klingons and kill Lorca as many times as possible. Lorca says he cannot take the ship, and Mudd admits no, not this time. He uses a device and the Discovery starts exploding. All of the sudden, the the audience is transported back to Tyler’s speech at the party.
Michael and Tyler make their way to the bridge, but this time Stamets runs after them instead of them all running into each other. He tries to explain something is wrong and they have been in this time before, but Culber comes. Before Culber pulls him away, he shouts about the gormagander. When the two get to the bridge they hear Saru say the object is a gormagander, and they look at each other. They tell Lorca not to beam the creature on board, but Saru says it is Starfleet protocol as it is endangered. Michael offers to run the operation and Tyler wants to be on security, Lorca agrees and the two leave.
They transport the creature and Michael runs diagnostic. The ship announces a black alert, despite Lorca not ordering a jump. Tyler and Michael rush to engineering and find Mudd at the controls. Tyler asks how Mudd escaped and he says his pet Stuart helped him, then went his own way. Mudd demands information on how to work the spore drive. He has a forcefield up and has taken over the computer. Stamets shoots him from behind, lamenting about how it is a strange day. Stamets says they have gone through this situation many times but the Discovery crew has yet to win. He tells them he will see them soon and the drive explodes.
This time Tyler asks Michael to dance before the bridge announcement airs. Stamets pushes through the party looking for Michael. He finds her as she is going to see the gormagander. He explains they are caught in a thirty minute time loop. She thinks he is messed up because of the spore drive and he interrupts her to say her words before she can finish.
Lorca is called to medical, but the computer changes course and Mudd appears. Lorca is confused as to how Mudd is there and what he wants.
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Meanwhile Stamets explains the situation to Michael and says he must be able to remember everything because of the tardigrade dna he used so he can activate the spore drive. Stamets tells Michael she needs to ask Tyler about Mudd. He asks she tell him a secret so he can make sure she believes him without wasting any time. She whispers in his ear and he says he is sorry. She asks where they can find Mudd, and he replies Mudd is probably killing Lorca.
Mudd pushes Lorca into his secret weapon room and asks about the weapons, and Lorca reminds him killing a Starfleet Captain is a bad idea. Mudd says he has killed him 53 times. He notes he is low on time this loop and then kills Lorca with one of the weapons before time resets.
Time resets to the party and Stamets turns to Michael and says she has never been in love. He explains what is going on and how she told him that secret. She says she believes him and he tells her to get information on Mudd from Stamets, saying he likes her and will talk. Tyler comes over to talk but they are called to the bridge and Michael misses her moment.
She and Stamets talk and she confides relationships are out of her comfort zone. Stamets dances with her and tells her about how he and Culber met. He says he heard Culber humming an alien opera and told him to stop. Instead Culber sat beside him, continuing to hum. They were both honest with each other from the start, and he tells Michael that is important to a relationship. He notes time is up and they hold hands as the ship explodes.
Time resets and Michael asks Tyler to dance, Stamets looking on. The two dance and she asks about Mudd. She says honesty is important and tells him what is going on, though he has trouble believing at first. He kisses her, then they are called to the bridge. She tells him to ignore it and he tells her a story about Mudd robbing a bank. Michael figures out Mudd has a time crystal. The two join Stamets to find Mudd.
On the bridge Mudd appears and transports Lorca to the brig. He threatens the crew with a weapon made from dark matter. Michael, Stamets and Tyler arrive, then he throws the dark matter weapon at Tyler and he dies. Saru stops Michael when she moves towards Mudd, who in turn threatens to kill Saru if no one tells him how the drive works. Stamets reveals the implant in his arm and admits he is what makes the drive work. The two beam to engineering and Michael calls Tilly.
Michael tells Tilly about the time loop as Tilly inspects the gormagander. She says Mudd has a crystal but he must have a greater energy source. She also says Mudd will probably figure out how to work the drive this loop and then send them to the Klingons. Plus, the dead will stay dead. Tilly finds a ship inside of the gormagander. Michael says she has an idea..
Mudd is using Lorca’s room as his own when Michael arrives. She mentions Stella and he tells a tale, then sends their location to the Klingons. She puts herself up to sell to the Klingons instead of Discovery. Mudd confirms she is who she says, but asks what she wants. She says she wants Tyler back, then swallows a dark matter ball and dies. Mudd is forced to restart the loop.
In the latest loop, the group goes to the bridge and is ready when Mudd appears. They tell Mudd he wins. Lorca offers everything to him if his crew is allowed to live. Mudd accepts and sends the location to the Klingons, telling the crew his time loop tech will dissolve soon. The computer says the Klingons have arrived and Mudd takes Stamets and Michael with him to greet the Klingons.
As they walk, Stamets notes Mudd has been doing everything for himself, not to return to Stella. He says Stella’s father is an arms dealer who put out a reward for Mudd’s capture. Tyler appears with a phaser and Michael is able to disarm Mudd. They reveal Tyler rerouted the Captain’s chair and Stella and her father Barron Grimes are who he is beaming aboard. Mudd married Stella for her dowry and ran away.
Stella and Barron beam aboard and she rushes to Mudd. She asks where he has been and he claims he went off to fix his reputation. She says she know who he is and does not care. Grimes thanks the Discovery crew and they say their payment is keeping Mudd aways from Starfleet. They agree and leave.
Michael and Tyler have a short, awkward talk about their relationship and what Stamets told them about their time loop experiences. He stares at her and says he is sad about not remembering their kiss. Michael’s voice over returns and she thinks she is fitting into Discovery.
Star Trek: Discovery delivers another entertaining episode in “Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad.” Time loop episodes are a hit or miss, but I think Discovery was able to show the bits of loops without being too redundant. Some Discovery fans believe Tyler is a spy or Voq in disguise, which are interesting theories. I liked him this episode, though I am not sold on him and Michael together and still wonder if he is truly who he says. I loved the moments between Stamets and Michael and am enjoying their friendship. Also as a Wynonna Earp fan, it was a fun surprise to see Katherine Barrell as Stella.
Star Trek: Discovery releases new episodes Sunday nights at 8:30 p.m. on CBS All Access in the USA. Canadians can watch at 8 p.m. on Sundays on Space, and other countries can watch on Monday’s on Netflix.
Check out the preview for the next episode of Star Trek: Discovery below.