DISCO S1E7 "Magic To Make The Sanest Man Go Mad" Review by AnswerMan

Horrible:Meh:Adequate:Good:Fantastic

OMG with these long titles! I find them to be very superfluous, but I guess we're sticking with it, so whatever. This episode was a really nice try. It's a very Groundhog Day-esque time travel episode, with the return of a familiar villain, Harry Mudd, who has decided to take revenge on Lorca for deserting him in the Klingon prison by stealing his ship and selling it to the Klingons. To do so, he sneaks on board via a space whale, and then proceeds to use a time loop to slowly figure out how to take over the ship. By learning every aspect of the 30 minute time frame in attempt after attempt, he eventually learns exactly how to seize complete control. He also takes sick pleasure in murdering the crew and Lorca over and over.



The one thing that Mudd doesn't take into account is Stamets, who apparently exists outside of space and time now due to the tardigrade DNA. Also, they are just using Stamets now in place of the beast? I kind of thought that the jump with Stamets was a one shot deal, as it has already been demonstrated that the process is seriously harmful to the pile of meat that is plugged into the machine when they use it. But no, I guess while everyone knew that releasing the tardigrade and freeing it from slavery was the right thing to do, it's ok to just plug a human being in there and ask him to tough it out. Even in the face of obvious side effects like a complete change in personality.

Anyway, Stamets figures out what's going on and realizes that he can't stop it all by himself, so he goes about recruiting Burnham to help him. He convinces her of the truth, and she tells him her deepest, darkest secret (she's never been in love....BORING) so that next time she'll believe him quicker. She does, and Stamets works with her to get Tyler to be convinced as well. Here's where it goes off the rails. For some unexplained reason, just because Stamets teaches Burnham how to dance, the next time the time loop begins, she remembers everything. Then more and more people remember everything, for reasons that are never explained. Are they just getting better at quickly explaining everything to each other every time? Or has something fundamentally changed? We'll never know, but it all culminates in the entire bridge crew telling Mudd that he can just have the ship as long as he doesn't kill anyone. He agrees, but (plot twist) they've intercepted his communications and he's not selling the ship to the Klingons. Instead his estranged significant other and her father are there. And here's where it goes from being off the rails to completely off their damn rocker. Mudd, who has literally brutally murdered the entire at least 50 times over, is let go with a light-hearted "and don't you come back around here again," even though he now has knowledge of the spore drive. What. The. Fuck.

Despite major flaws, this episode still scores an Adequate rating because it is incredibly fun to watch. The groundhog day thing, the party with the drunk Tilly, and getting to know Stamets, Burnham, and Tyler. I am actually very disheartened to not be able to give it at least a good rating. I really enjoyed this episode, but was left entirely confused by the resolution. I might change my mind if there is anyone out there that can explain how the entire crew was suddenly aware of the time loop in the time that it took Mudd to walk from the cargo hold to the bridge. I want to like this show so much, and it gets so much right when it comes to the fun factor and the details. But man, really? They just let Mudd go?

Published December 19, 2017