En route to the bridge with Tyler, Burnham bumps into Stamets.
These are the moments that make life so gloriously unpredictable!
With an eye roll, Lorca gives the go-ahead.
Credit: Michael Gibson/CBS
Needless to say, things dont go as planned.
The timeline then snaps back to the party.
The engineer proves the key to Discoverys ultimate triumph over Mudd.
Initially, Stamets attempts to stop Mudd fall on deaf ears.
Burnham and Tyler still doubt him, but Stamets tells them it all starts with the gormagander.
When they arrive on the bridge and see the creature in space, they know somethings afoot.
This time, they suggest treating the creature skeptically, but Saru urges Lorca to bring it aboard.
However, as Burnham and Tyler head to see the gormagander, the ship goes into black alert.
They head to engineering, where they find Mudd sipping out of a goblet and tinkering with the drive.
When Tyler tries to shoot the intruder, his shot is blocked by a containment field.
Stamets appears and shoots Mudd from another angle, but the victory is short lived.
As days go, this is a weird one, Stamets says.
The ship explodes again.
Meanwhile, Stamets finds Burnham as shes heading to examine the gormagander and explains his significance.
But hes also the missing element Mudd is chasing to make the spore drive work.
She whispers something to him and says, Im sorry.
The repetition has already been lost, in a sense, so Stamets teaches Burnham to dance for science.
The loop resets yet again.
(Side note: Easily the best musical episode ofDiscoveryyet.)
Burnham cuts to the chase and explains the situation, and Tyler asks if shes using Vulcan humor.
When she says shes not, he remarks how the night has gotten weird and kisses her.
On the bridge, a scene thats both serious and silly unfolds.
Broken, Stamets reveals his secret to Mudd.
Burnham cooks up a final plan.
In a remarkable scene, Mudd asks whats in it for her and Burnham says Tyler.
Mudds forced to reset the timeline again.
Playing on their own terms, Discovery finally outsmarts Mudd.
The swindler enters the bridge and a dour Lorca offers him the ship.
Dont make a run at con a con man, Mudd says skeptically.
Im not, Lorca explains.
Im negotiating with a businessman.
An exultant Mudd takes the bait, just as the computer announces a Klingon ship has appeared beside Discovery.
But its soon revealed that Tyler reprogrammed the captains chair to deceive Mudd.
Turns out youcancon a con man, Burnham tells Mudd.
Its a peculiar resolution to a peculiar but engrossing episode.
Once the action subsides, Burnham and Tyler discuss their romance or lack thereof.
What Im feeling is complicated and strange, Burnham says.
Tyler instructs her to take her time, only joking that hes sad we missed our first kiss.
