I have to say, this week’s episode, “Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad”, is the best Discovery episode we’ve seen all season. It’s a tightly written, thrilling story that has all the things I enjoy most: action, suspense, personal connections, and a little bit of romance. We needed a bit of this magic in the series. This week, we got it. Dare I say it was a masterpiece? I’ll say it. Masterpiece. Spoilers abound:
1. Frame story
As humans (I hate myself for being so general), we like bookended stories – ones that begin a certain way, take a long route around a complex, or not so complex, story, and end up the same way they began – but with some growth; some change. This episode began with Burnham’s personal log. I thoroughly enjoy the use of personal logs throughout various Star Trek series. It allows us, the viewer, to see the characters innermost thoughts; ones they would not allow other characters to see. Burnham is fairly positive in her log, well, positive for Burnham. She recounts how she now fits in on Discovery, how she has made a friend, and how she has a meaningful job. She seems settled, but not content. Not happy. Burnham also reveals how her history has made it difficult for her to forge friendships, but how she longs to step out of her comfort zone – and she is stepping out of that comfort zone – by going to a party. Disco party!
2. Temporal Loop
The main element that made this week’s episode so successful was one of my favorite sci-fi tropes: the temporal loop. I love a quality temporal loop. Oh, the possibilities of a temporal loop! We begin the episode with a story that changes slightly each time we see it on screen. Whether it’s Burnham and Tyler’s interaction with Stamets as they head to the bridge after being called from the party, or the way in which the Discovery decides to beam the gormagander (as the show describes it: a space whale) on board because it is an endangered species, or how we eventually find out Stamets is the only one that KNOWS the crew of the Discovery is stuck in a temporal loop, the layers upon layers of story, detail, and personal interaction make this episode a classic. I can’t say enough good things here. I don’t want to go into too much detail so you can enjoy the mastery of writing that is “Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad,” but it turns out Harry Mudd is the one responsible for the temporal loop. He’s back and he’s attempting to gain as much information as he can about the Discovery’s spore drive in order to sell it to the Klingons. Additionally, he gets to enjoy killing Lorca in multiple ways, multiple times – he mentions 53 times at one point, and after doing so, destroying Discovery.
3. Burnham & Tyler
From the very first time Burnham and Tyler met, it was obvious something was there, or meant to be there at a later date. This episode is that date. We hear Burnham talking about Tyler in her personal log; she respects him for how much he’s endured while being held as a Klingon prisoner. We see various interactions between the two throughout the various temporal loops, and Burnham becomes more and more open with him as time goes on, or repeats itself. The two dance together. She tells him she likes him. He kisses her. He agrees to help. Together, they save the day.
4. Mudd
Harry is the villain of this episode; the Klingons are just lurking in the background. He’s a villain that manages to come off as truly bad, despite the fact that I hate Lorca for abandoning Mudd on the Klingon ship. Mudd is responsible for the temporal loop and seems to enjoy coming back over and over in order to torment the crew of Discovery, as well as murder Lorca over and over and over again. Mudd has made some wild claims, such as robbing a bank on Betazed; I guess they didn’t see him coming. Another claim he made is that he fell madly in love with a woman named Stella, the only woman he ever loved. Things did not work out according to plan, he had to flee his creditors, and leave his one true love. As it turns out, Mudd had actually fled with Stella’s dowry money. (How is that still a thing?) Now, she and her father, an arms dealer, are on the hunt for Mudd. Burnham and the Discovery crew alert the father and daughter to Mudd’s location and we see him sent off to a traditional life of *possible* wedded bliss. Stella is thrilled to see her love again. And another story comes full circle. There could not have been a better end for Harry Mudd in this episode. Maybe he’ll be back, but this was a masterful turn for the con man.
5. Frame story
(I know this is kinda cheating the 5 thoughts concept.) Our masterpiece of an episode ends with Burnham again revealing her deepest thoughts in her personal log. We’re like intruders reading her diary. Shakespeare used the soliloquy, Star Trek uses the personal log. Pretentious comparison? I hope not. Burnham states that just as repetition breeds repetition, change breeds change. The idea that we never really know what’s coming – sometimes we just have to step out of our routine – and what we’re looking for is just around the corner. Burnham changed and stepped outside of her comfort zone, and is happier for it. She takes risks, and they pay off. She saves the Discovery, and Tyler is there waiting for her. This episode made a change, and as a viewer, I’m happier for it.
