Spoilers Star Trek: Discovery 1x07 - "Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad"

[Tesophius]

As for music, I liked the sound effects and the accompanied theme/dramatic music, or whatever it's called. But using current music style at their DISCOparty has its problems. There's nothing wrong with people enjoying retro music, but from a TOS-era perspective 2017 or 1990s music should be just as random as 1920's or 1780's or 1850's music. Thus, they should have a healthy mix of all of historical musical styles, for more realism. I think TNG addressed this in an interesting manner where just the best of the historical critically acclaimed compositions were still enjoyed, but a wider mix makes more sense.

But, in all honesty, I don't really care about this one aspect.

 

[Tesophius]

it is a good DSC episode as well.

Yes, because it's just like old Star Trek.

 

[GeekUSACarl]

As for music, I liked the sound effects and the accompanied theme/dramatic music, or whatever it's called. But using current music style at their DISCOparty has its problems. There's nothing wrong with people enjoying retro music, but from a TOS-era perspective 2017 or 1990s music should be just as random as 1920's or 1780's or 1850's music. Thus, they should have a healthy mix of all of historical musical styles, for more realism. I think TNG addressed this in an interesting manner where just the best of the historical critically acclaimed compositions were still enjoyed, but a wider mix makes more sense.

But, in all honesty, I don't really care about this one aspect.

Considering this is the first time Discovery used music, how is it not keeping in tradition of Trek doing varied musical styles?

it's very much varied from other styles depicted in trek, and very much vintage to the Discovery crew.

 

[Locutus of Bored]

Then you're clueless and/or delusional.

Infraction for flaming. Comments to PM.

 

[137th Gebirg]

But, it also makes no sense whatsoever. We all like different things. But, when I don't like something, I stop watching. I know, too much common sense for a forum like this. I just feel sad for those people though. There's clearly something missing in their lives.

Exactly. Not liking something, then hate-watching it and coming to a forum just to shit all over it is the textbook definition of trollish behavior and should not be tolerated here.

Such a weird helmet

I dig it. Has a very TOS vibe. Looks like a hand-me-down from an Andorian military surplus sale.

 

[GeekUSACarl]

Exactly. Not liking something, then hate-watching it and coming to a forum just to shit all over it is the textbook definition of trollish behavior and should not be tolerated here.

I dig it. Has a very TOS vibe. Looks like a hand-me-down from an Andorian military surplus sale.

Yeah at first I wanted to hate it, just like the time crystals, but then after a second or so of getting over myself I thought "jesus that's effing cool"

 

[Tuskin38]

After Trek confirms it is an Andorian Space suit, and has anime inspiration.

 

[GeekUSACarl]

After Trek confirms it is an Andorian Space suit, and has anime inspiration.

I hate most anime, so much. I can get over that though considering it looked so cool.

 

[Mudd]

It's frigging old, folks. Really, really old.

So is this kind of complaining - at least sixteen years old on this BBS alone.

Those of us who were fans of Enterprise back in its first year ranted and railed over the posters who tore the show apart in the Enterprise forum. What the hell was wrong with them and why couldn't we have a place where folks who liked the show could just enjoy themselves?

We were told that it's a discussion board, not a fans-only space.

 

[dahj]

That was a really good episode, instead of trying to find a clever new plot twist for the old time loop standard, they did a character driven episode and it was goofy, and fun and adorable. I loved it.
(I hope Stamets stays this chill once he gets off the mushrooms)

Conveniently, it's the 50 year anniversary of the first airing of I,Mudd this Friday, should be a nice follow up to this episode

 

[DigificWriter]

I haven't commented on the episode itself yet, so here's my review:

"Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad" was, for me, the best episode of DSC so far, and a great example of how to do a "bottle show".

I have mentioned this before, but prior to his appearance in "Choose Your Pain", I was only tangentially familiar with Harry Mudd, and yet I've absolutely loved his two appearances in DSC thus far. Rainn Wilson feels like the perfect antagonist for DSC's crew, especially Lorca, and the setup of his plan was the perfect framework for some great character interaction and development, particularly for Stamets, Burnham, Tyler, and Tilly.

It was fun getting to see Burnham loosen up a little bit, by necessity, and connect with Tyler, especially since Sonequa and Shazad have electric chemistry. It's sad that the two characters don't seem to remember their first makeout session, but hopefully we'll get to see them get a 'proper' one that they do in fact remember at some point before season's end.

Anthony Rapp's Paul Stamets has become my new favorite "everyman" Star Trek character, and I love that his interactions with the mycelium network have had such a 'loosening' effect on his personality, since it made for some fun interplay this episode between him, Burnham, and Tyler. I especially got a kick out of the scene where he danced with Burnham and told her about the first time he met Culber.

I thought it was great that the crew were able to outcon and outsmart Mudd the way that they were, and it'll be interesting to see if we see him and/or Stella and her father again before the first time he encounters the Enterprise a decade later.

I've seen people online comparing MtMtSMGM to TNG's "Cause and Effect", but the episode that it personally reminded me the most of is Voyager's "Before and After", at least structurally, which is nice since BaA just happens to be one of my favorite episodes of Voyager.

 

[F. King Daniel]

Loved the party, which was basically one of my nights out. Staments is high on spores. I prefer him cranky but I'm curious where it's going. I love that Lorca's engineer is high and his security officer was tipsy for this episode.

The episode was fun and I liked the stuff with Burnham and Tyler, but it suffered for it's need to adhere to continuity. Mudd murdered again and again, in horrific ways yet gets away with a verbal warning. Why? Because he has to appear in TOS. Bollocks to that. I also question them managing to arrange all they needed to arrange (convincing Lorca, for one) in the last 30 minute window.

So, decent but flawed.

 

[pst]

i'm late to the party but maybe there's something in here that hasn't already been covered here by now:

i appreciated that they took a science fiction trope and personalized it, making escaping the time loop and saving the day hinge on burnham's personal relationship with tyler. but i wish they hadn't dredged up an old, relatively tired sci-fi convention to do it. i don't think discovery, in the first third of its first season should be doing episodes that we can point to and say "TNG did it better". that was one of the fundamental problems with enterprise, especially in its early days - it rehashed older plots from previous series and didn't do them better. discovery has some great writing cred, surely they could've come up with something more unique than "time loop".

i also have difficulty with the episode opening with the bloodied bodies of discovery crew members littering the corridors and the resolution being a jokey, just stick him with his overbearing wife and father in law conclusion. there's a tonal disconnect there that honestly feels emblematic of this show: it's star trek, but it wants to be edgy, but rather than say something new about the stories it's telling, it's just using more blood and guts and cursing to tell relatively toothless stories.

 

[Cake]

Why did they cast such a young actress to play Stella? I hate it when they give old guys much younger love interests in movies and series. The actress is only 27 and Wilson is 51. It looked more like father and daughter kissing. Why should young, pretty and rich Stella be interested in Mudd who in addition to his character deficiencies does not even look particular good for his age. I never had a problem with suspending my disbelief when it comes to all the scifi and fantasy stuff, but seeing all the time on TV young good looking female characters be interested in much older men is annoying. Those kinds of couples are way overrepresented in the media.

 

[Guy Gardener]

IDK - If Stamets picks up on anything from Ash about that, and remembers, it would blow his cover. Remember we didn't see every loop but per Mudd, he'd killed Lorca 53 times (implying 53 loops to that point) - so it was at least 55+ loops. No wonder Stamets was ready to throw himself out an airlock.

Those are the loops where he could have fun and get shit done.

There may have been 50 to a hundred loops to get the ships computer to bend to his will, where he had to be quiet and careful.

 

[GeekUSACarl]

i also have difficulty with the episode opening with the bloodied bodies of discovery crew members littering the corridors and the resolution being a jokey, just stick him with his overbearing wife and father in law conclusion.

Ya know I thought the same, and maybe this is me being a fanboy and brushing this aside,

but if you think about it, by the time of the resolution, he hadn't killed anyone, and none of them save stammets have any memory of him killing anyone, no one lost any friends or loved ones,

it seems the worst crime he committed since escaping prison was against the space whale.

 

[Succubint]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_crystal

Time crystals are a real scientific thing, btw.

 

[Timo]

Funny, Mudd looked pretty ageless to me. Could have been thirty under all that facial hair.

And we can always say Mudd planned to stay bloodless. No harm in killing people who won't stay dead. We don't know what he felt when he found in the penultimate loop that he had actually won but he had still just killed Tyler - perhaps he actually considered doing one more loop and only went "Naahh" because he was getting dog tired?

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Mr. Adventure]

MtMtSMGM

LOL

 

[gblews]

The party scene immediately reminded me of that BSG episode where the pilots are accidently killed. I was expecting something similar. Something did happen, just not violence.

This was one of those classic Trek whimsical episodes with comedic overtones and dire consequences attached. More cordial interaction between crewmen while off duty. Now, where are all those folks who claimed a few episodes ago that the show had none of this? The episode was arc related because of the Klingon aspect, but didn't push the arc forward. So, not a true standalone.

We find out Burnham has never had a significant other, certainly no surprise. It's been painfully obvious that she is not very good in any social situation, which would preclude an intimate one.

I don't know what it is, but I'm not that taken with Mudd. I have been a Rainn Wilson fan since he did a guest shot on Dark Angel years ago, but so far Mudd isn't doing anything for me. Seems like a competent performance, I just can't get into the character. I was a bit disappointed when he removed the helmet after emerging from the space whale.

Love Lorca and his attitude. "I don't give a damn", translates to "do whatever you want with the thing, just don't bother me about it".The character is refreshingly original in the Trek-verse.

Burnham is such an intriguing character to me. She's not Vulcan, and that's a good thing, so she is capable of displaying the full range of human emotions. It's going to be interesting watching them being rolled out incrementally this season. Her flirtation with Tyler is purely biological and not something she can control with any of her Vulcan boo bop bam.

Tyler is also beginning to show his personality, although for now, it's confined to Burnham's development. Wondered why Tyler didn't seem to have a security team. I'm sure we'll see this at some point.

This episode is further evidence to those who claim the show doesn't have "this" or doesn't have "that". It's on the way, you just have to wait for it.

Gave the episode a 7.5.