A page ripped from the comics

If "Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad" establishes anything, it's that Stamets' sporegasms give him a kind of superpower to perceive things others can't, like being trapped in a time loop. Anything else?

Well, he does have a weird, seemingly throwaway line in this episode. After colliding with Burnham and giving her a sweet hug ("Why would you apologize for a random act of physical interaction? Y'know, these are the moments that make life so gloriously unpredictable!"), he turns to Tyler and, for no apparent reason, says, "You're a very tall man." Only...he's not. Tyler is on the tall side, but he doesn't seem to tower over other men around him. Saru towers. Tyler doesn't. But Stamets thinks he does.

Klingons are pretty tall, though. Hmm.

And then Stamets follows up with this: "May I say, you're astonishingly grounded for having endured seven months of torture." It's almost as though something he sees triggers this observation about the extreme unlikelihood of Tyler's story. Hmm again.

So Stamets has a superpower. Does it let him see Tyler's secret identity? Stay tuned...

Random thoughts after Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad (SPOILERS)

• Far be it from me to judge, but doesn't it seem like a terrible idea to let people get drunk on a ship with a spore drive during a war? I mean, isn't that what your mother always told you? No getting drunk on a ship with a spore drive in the middle of a war? No? That was just my mother?
• Oh Burnham. You just can't catch a break, can you? Well, love is highly overrated anyway.
• Spore-tripping Stamets is everything.
• Spouse: Why didn't they just put Mudd in the brig? Me: Same reason Kirk didn't. Spouse: Which is? Me: Better story.
• We will not ask why, if time-repeating tech exists, it hasn't been exploited as a weapon. Same reason we will not ask why, if time turners exist, Dumbledore doesn't just go back in time and kill Voldemort. Or why the Doctor doesn't prevent the Daleks from being invented. Hey...LET'S KILL HITLER!
• So Stamets must remember dying all those times. That's a pretty bad trip. 
• If someone tells you to tell them a secret that you've never told anyone so that they can convince you in the next time loop that you've had this conversation before...you do NOT say "I've never been in love." Especially if you're Michael Burnham. That's like making your password 1234 or hiding your key under a doormat. OBVIOUS.

Also, in the preview for next week's episode: Cornwell! Secret rescue mission is go! But what are those things in front of her face? Klingon torture devices? Barbecue utensils? Oh dear.

Bonus: A planet! At last! 

And: I really hope we start getting some insight into Lorca's motivations...which I hope are not loathsome. Because a) waiting for the other shoe to drop is only pleasantly suspenseful for so long; b) it's bad enough worrying about Ash Tyler; c) Jason Isaacs is so damn charismatic, and d) I crave the endorphin rush I'm going to get from the big reveal, when all the misdirection is stripped away and the redemption arc becomes apparent. I want to believe. (I know, wrong show.)