In “Star Trek: Discovery” Season 1, the titular ship is captained by Gabriel Lorca (Jason Isaacs) — a tough, but fair leader who isn’t afraid to be spontaneous when it comes to operating in uncharted territory. He’s also not afraid to butt heads with his crew when it comes to getting them to obey his orders, as seen in Season 1, Episode 4, “The Butcher’s Knife Cares Not for the Lamb’s Cry.”
When Lorca orders Lieutenant Stamets (Anthony Rapp) to put aside his research to activate the experimental Spore Drive, he motivates him by suggesting it will cement his place in history. He says “How do you want to be remembered in history? Alongside the Wright Brothers, Elon Musk, Zefram Cochrane?”
“Star Trek” fans on Reddit weren’t happy that the show name-dropped the high-profile businessman. Many people thought it was an awkward reference, including r/U mr_mini_doxie, who wrote, “Oh, yeah. That one made me cringe hard.” u/Anndra27 joked that because Lorca holds Musk in high regard, the line is the “first clue he was from the mirror universe.” Meanwhile, u/OrwellianUtopia1984 added, “We’re already in the mirror universe. Our Musk IS the mirror Musk.” Well, that’s a scary thought.