Susan Arendt of the Continue podcast and Genii Online fills in for Sabriel as Discovery returns to the airwaves. Are we surprised that our heroes have found themselves in the Mirror Universe, or that hot tortured guy may be a Klingon? We gush over Captain Killy and Jonathan Frakes’ directing, puzzle over Lorca’s origin and his relationship to Burnham, and ponder what’s next for the crew of the I.S.S. Shenzhou.

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Set 90 years after Enterprise and 10 years before The Original Series, Star Trek: Discovery has the potential to cross over with familiar characters new and old. Who would we like to see appear as guests on Discovery? Sabriel and Ken brainstorm everything from specific Klingons to Mirror Universe doppelgängers to Kelvin Universe cast members to T.J. Hooker. Come for Sabriel’s William Shatner impression — stay for our bonus review of Star Wars: The Last Jedi!

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Humanity may have evolved beyond materialistic needs by the 24th century… but here in 2017, all we want are Star Trek books, toys, and DVDs! For the Trekkie or Trekker in your life, or maybe just for yourself, Sabriel and Ken share their wish lists of the best Star Trek merchandise available this Christmas / Hanukkah / Kwanzaa / Yule / solstice / holiday season — whether it’s celebrating the 51st anniversary of The Original Series or boldly exploring the frontiers of the franchise’s newest show, Discovery.

Our gift recommendations:

• DVDs

All Amazon.com links are affiliate links that we’ve pledged to donate to the ACLU.

Featured image courtesy wintersoul1

Harcourt Fenton Mudd: scoundrel, con-man, forger, misogynist, thief, sociopath. When Captain Kirk’s recurring villain was reinvented for Discovery, his list of crimes expanded to include murder. Previously a harmless ne’er-do-well, Harry Mudd, portrayed on The Original Series and The Animated Series by Roger C. Carmel, became more than a thorn in Captain Lorca’s side when played by Rainn Wilson. Is he even still the same man?

In this episode of Transporter Lock, Bri and Ken offer their character analyses of Harry Mudd. What are his motivations, his morals, and his redeeming qualities, if any? If Star Trek was addressing social issues of the 1960s, was Mudd meant to represent gender inequality? And if Mudd’s a misogynist, does that make Captain Kirk a feminist? Has Mudd appeared too often on Discovery, and will we see him again? All this and more in this week’s show!

Who else would you like us to dedicate an episode of Transporter Lock to? Let us know!

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Star Trek: Discovery is off the air for the next two months, and its mid-season finale has left us with many questions. In this episode of Transporter Lock, Bri and Ken offer answers and fan theories to listener questions, submitted via email and reddit:

• How does Discovery align with Gene Roddenberry’s vision for humanity’s future?
• Who is the bigger threat to the Discovery‘s crew: Lorca, or L’Rell?
• Who are Michael Burnham’s parents?
• Where are the Andorians?
• How does Lorca keep his Tribble population under control?
• Are Ash Tyler’s memories of sexual assault his own — or is he misremembering Voq’s life?
• Would Anthony Rapp come out about his sexual assault by Kevin Spacey had Star Trek not given him a voice?
• How come we see no evidence of the spore drive in future iterations of Star Trek?

Thank you to everyone who shared their questions! Did we not answer yours? Hit us up on Twitter!

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The first half of Star Trek: Discovery‘s first season ends with a bang: Mutiny! Klingons! Mêlée! Rescues! Kisses! Explosions! Sabriel and Ken wrap up “Into the Forest I Go”, in which villains fall, traitors rise, and Stamets crashes. Is Starfleet’s war with the Klingons coming to a close? Is the USS Discovery‘s next voyage within their control? What could the next half of the season hold? Tune in to find out!

Trigger warning: This episode of Transporter Lock discusses the contents of the episode of “Into the Forest I Go”, which contains torture, PTSD, and sexual assault.

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In their quest to adapt a crystalline tower to a giant sonar used to detect cloaked Klingon ships, Saru finds the peace he has sought his whole life — and he’s willing to abandon his mission, kill his crewmates, and derail the war effort to keep it. What a jerk! Or is he a tragic hero who deserves, if not our pity, at least our sympathy? There is no harmony between Ken and Sabriel in their assessment of Doug Jones’ character in this, the penultimate episode of Discovery‘s fall season. Also: Is Admiral Cornwell really dead? And who’s third in command of the Discovery? And how is the ship’s spore drive like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild? Find out in our podcast!

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Links mentioned in this episode:

• Charlynn Schmiedt’s podcasts

It’s Groundhog Day aboard the USS Discovery and on the Transporter Lock podcast, and we’re stuck in a time loop reviewing this rom-com Star Trek episode. Is this episode repeating not just itself, but also TNG’s “Cause and Effect“? Is the crew’s after-hours party a chance for us to see them as people, or just a painful reminder of the worst aspects of Ken’s college years? Can you spot the Andorian and Tholian technology in this episode as well as Sabriel does? What would Harry Mudd’s Dungeons & Dragons alignment be? And is David Mack’s Desperate Hours novel a worthy prequel to the CBS series? Stay tuned to find out!

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Remember the TNG episode “Dark Page”, where Deanna Troi projects herself into Lwaxana’s mind to learn a dark secret and relieve her parent’s guilt? Burnham and Sarek are doing their best reenactment in this week’s episode, “Lethe”. Meanwhile, Lorca whips out the vodka and the sleaze to distract Admiral Cornwell, who’s all too receptive. Will Lorca pull a “In the Pale Moonlight” to keep her quiet? Or are Vulcan extremists conspiring with the Klingons to do Lorca’s dirty work? And why are Vulcans so incredibly racist?! The only person who doesn’t care about any of this: Stamets, who’s high as a kite after powering the spore drive. Groovy!

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The crew of the U.S.S. Discovery has trust issues. Acting Captain Saru doesn’t trust Burnham; the kidnapped Captain Lorca doesn’t trust Harry Mudd; and the poor tardigrade doesn’t know who to trust. Can everyone put aside their differences long enough to escape the Klingons and use the spore warp drive for a rescue mission? Sabriel and Ken take some detours to Rura Penthe, Iowa, and the Grand Ole Opry as we weave our way through the fifth episode of Star Trek: Discovery.

Stream the audio edition of Transporter Lock above or subscribe on Apple Podcasts, YouTube Music, Spotify, Amazon Music, Overcast, Pandora, Pocket Casts, iHeartRadio, TuneIn, Podchaser, or the Internet Archive.