‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Is Seeing Dead People

Spoilers for Star Trek: Discovery Season 2, Episode 2 “New Eden” past this point.

The crew of Star Trek: Discovery is seeing dead people. Or at least, that’s what seems to be happening in between all the regular madness of space donuts and pre-warp civilizations mysteriously appearing halfway across the galaxy. So who is Tilly’s (Mary Wiseman) ghost?

First, the set-up. Tilly gets knocked clean out while exploring the strangely gravity-dense asteroid the crew took on board last episode. When she wakes up, Discovery is on red alert… The pre-warp civilization they’ve found is about to be wiped out due to an extinction level event, and only they can save them. Also, they have to save them without the residents of the planet knowing they’re being saved, or they’ll find out about all that post-warp stuff.

Tilly, luckily, has a sounding board in the sick bay who helps her figure out what to do, a new character played by Handmaid’s Tale‘s Brianna/Oferic, Bahia Watson. They’ll use the asteroid to suck up all the space debris rocketing towards Terra Elysium (I believe that was the name of the planet), and pull it to safety. The friend sends her off, and Tilly saves the day. Then that same friend shows up on deck and calls her “Stilly,” just as the elevator doors are closing, jogging Tilly’s memory. She tracks down her old yearbook and remembers the woman’s name: May Ahearn (again, believe that’s how it’s spelled). Young May (Claire Qute) tells “Stilly” how great she is, and then Tilly finds out some shocking info… May isn’t on the crew of Discovery at all. Because she died, years ago.

Scratching your head about all this? Is Discovery a supernatural show all of a sudden?

Well, not quite. Earlier in the episode, a disturbed Stamets (Anthony Rapp) explained to Tilly that the mycelial network that powers the ship’s immensely powerful spore-drive is sort of a connection between life and death. He claims his dead boyfriend Hugh Culber (Wilson Cruz) has been giving him advice; and since matter needs to go somewhere, why not into the spore network post-life? Stamets is concerned about this, of course. As much as he wants to see Culber again, he says that his life is on “this side of the network.”

So is Tilly’s ghost connected to this? Is the mycelial network starting to leak dead people into the “real” world?

One thing fans have wondered about with this show, since it is a prequel, is why — given the immense power of the spore drive — it isn’t in use beyond Discovery. They’ve played with this idea a number of times on the show: using up the spores; blowing it up; saying they’ll only take one last journey. But this episode reopens that particular can of wormy mushrooms.

If the mycelial network leaks more ghosts than a ghost containment system opened by an EPA official, that might be a good reason to shut it down permanently. Though, I guess, nothing ever dies.

Between angels and ghosts — and this week’s subject matter that found Pike (Anson Mount) confronting his religious past — Discovery is definitely delving down the metaphysical road. Will it all ultimately end up having a scientific explanation? Most likely… But given the amount of heart and fun the first two episodes have shown between all the seeming supernatural strangeness, we’re definitely on board for the ride.

Stream Star Trek: Discovery on CBS All Access