Mudd's Women

Last updated

"Mudd's Women"
Star Trek: The Original Series episode
Harcourt Fenton Mudd 2266.jpg
Roger C. Carmel as Harry Mudd (1966)
Episode no.Season 1
Episode 6
Directed by Harvey Hart
Story by Gene Roddenberry
Teleplay by Stephen Kandel
Featured music Fred Steiner
Cinematography by Jerry Finnerman
Production code4
Original air dateOctober 13, 1966 (1966-10-13)
Guest appearances
Episode chronology
← Previous
"The Enemy Within"		Next →
"What Are Little Girls Made Of?"
Star Trek: The Original Series season 1
List of episodes

"Mudd's Women" is the sixth episode of the first season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek . Written by Stephen Kandel, based on a story by Gene Roddenberry, and directed by Harvey Hart, it first aired on October 13, 1966.

Contents

In the episode, the Enterprise pursues a vessel and rescues its occupants Harry Mudd, an interstellar con man, and the three mysteriously beautiful women he is transporting to become the wives of settlers.

This is the first of two episodes of the original series to feature Harry Mudd. He also appears in "I, Mudd", the animated series (TAS) episode "Mudd's Passion", and in Star Trek: Discovery , as a recurring character.

Plot

The USS Enterprise, under the command of Captain Kirk, is in pursuit of an unregistered cargo spaceship. The ship overloads its engines in an escape attempt through an asteroid field. Kirk orders Enterprise's shields extended around the other spacecraft to protect it until its occupants can be transported aboard Enterprise. This action severely strains the Enterprise's systems and destroys all but one of the lithium crystal circuits in the Enterprise's warp engines. [note 1]

The Enterprise beams the cargo ship's three passengers and captain aboard, just as an asteroid impact destroys their spaceship. In the transporter room, the captain gives his name as Leo Walsh. The three women who accompany him are stunningly beautiful, and they distract the male crew members of the Enterprise, excluding Mr. Spock, whose Vulcan heritage makes him immune to female charms. The women are intended as wives for settlers on the planet Ophiuchus III and are introduced as Ruth Bonaventure, Eve McHuron, and Magda Kovacs. All three signed on with Walsh to escape a situation in which their marriage prospects were slim or non-existent.

Kirk convenes a hearing, during which the computer contradicts Walsh's testimony, reporting that his ship master's license has been revoked and forcing him to reveal his true name, Harcourt Fenton Mudd, a criminal with an extensive record. The hearing ends as the final lithium crystal fails.

Without lithium crystals, the Enterprise must limp on reserve power to the storm-plagued planet Rigel XII to obtain new crystals from the miners there. Ben Childress, the chief miner, having been in contact with Mudd, demands his release along with the women in exchange for the crystals. The Enterprise's remaining power is insufficient to maintain the ship's orbit for more than a few days, threatening a fiery reentry into the planet's atmosphere, so Kirk is forced to allow Mudd and the women to beam down to the planet. However, once there Childress reneges on the deal.

At an impromptu party with the three miners, Eve becomes angry when they begin fighting over the other two women, and runs away into a magnetic dust storm, with Childress and Kirk in pursuit. Kirk beams back to the Enterprise to try to locate them from orbit. Childress finds Eve, brings her to his quarters, and falls asleep. On waking, he is confronted with a much plainer Eve.

Kirk and Mudd beam back down to the planet to deal with Childress. The captain reveals that Mudd has been giving the women the Venus Drug, which creates a transient, illusory beauty, and that the other two miners have already been married to Ruth and Magda. As Childress confronts Mudd over the deception, Eve snatches a dose of what appears to be the Venus Drug, but is in fact a placebo. This restores her self-confidence to the point that Childress finds her as attractive as before. Pleased, he gives Kirk the replacement crystals. Kirk offers to take Eve away with him but she opts to stay with Childress. Eve tells Kirk, "You've got someone up there called the Enterprise." The ship continues on its way, with Mudd in custody.

Production

The story was one of three submitted for production as the second pilot of Star Trek , the others being "The Omega Glory" and the selected episode, "Where No Man Has Gone Before". [1] It was filmed as the second episode of the first season, after "The Corbomite Maneuver". [2]

Gene Roddenberry told Stephen Kandel he wanted a swashbuckling character as the guest lead. Several weeks later Kandel presented his idea, "Mudd's Women", and started to write the script but disliked that Roddenberry repeatedly rewrote it. Roddenberry took credit for Kandel's story when screen credits were submitted to the Writers Guild for approval. [3]

Reception

Zack Handlen of The A.V. Club gave the episode an 'A' rating, describing the character of Harry Mudd in particular as "a familiar character type, but an enjoyable one". [4]

In 2015, Wired suggested this episode was skippable in their binge-watching guide for the original series. [5]

In 2016, TVLine ranked Eve finding out Kirk had given her a placebo rather than the beauty pill as number 13 on the top twenty moments of Star Trek: The Original Series. [6]

Notes

  1. ↑ In later episodes warp engines are powered by dilithium crystals rather than lithium crystals. The in-universe relation of a lithium crystal to a dilithium crystal has never been explained. It is possible its use was replaced by dilithium, or it could be a related component.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leonard McCoy</span> Fictional character from Star Trek

Dr. Leonard H. McCoy, known as "Bones", is a character in the American science-fiction franchise Star Trek. McCoy was played by actor DeForest Kelley in the original Star Trek series from 1966 to 1969, and he also appears in the animated Star Trek series, in six Star Trek films, in the pilot episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, and in numerous books, comics, and video games. A decade after Kelley's death, Karl Urban assumed the role of McCoy in the Star Trek reboot film in 2009.

"The City on the Edge of Forever" is the twenty-eighth and penultimate episode of the first season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek. It was written by Harlan Ellison; contributors to and/or editors of the script included Steven W. Carabatsos, D. C. Fontana and Gene L. Coon. Gene Roddenberry made the final re-write. The episode was directed by Joseph Pevney and first aired on NBC on April 6, 1967.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Where No Man Has Gone Before</span> 3rd episode of the 1st season of Star Trek: The Original Series

"Where No Man Has Gone Before" is the third episode of the first season of the American science-fiction television series Star Trek. Written by Samuel A. Peeples and directed by James Goldstone, it first aired on September 22, 1966.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christine Chapel</span> Star Trek character

Christine Chapel is a fictional character who appears in all three seasons of the American science fiction television series Star Trek: The Original Series, as well as Star Trek: The Animated Series and the films Star Trek: The Motion Picture and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. Portrayed by Majel Barrett, she was the ship's nurse on board the Starfleet starship USS Enterprise. A younger version of Chapel appears in the 2022 series Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, portrayed by Jess Bush.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spock's Brain</span> 1st episode of the 3rd season of Star Trek: The Original Series

"Spock's Brain" is the third season premiere episode of the American science fiction television series Star Trek. Written by Gene L. Coon and directed by Marc Daniels, it was first broadcast on September 20, 1968.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Janice Rand</span> Fictional character in Star Trek

Janice Rand is a fictional character in the American science fiction television series Star Trek: The Original Series during its first season, as well as three of the Star Trek films. She is the Captain's yeoman on board the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701), and first appeared in the episode "The Man Trap". She had significant roles in the episodes "The Enemy Within", where she fights off an evil version of Captain James T. Kirk; "Charlie X" where a young man with god-like powers falls in love with her; and "Miri" where she is infected with a deadly disease while on an away mission and is kidnapped by jealous children.

Number One (<i>Star Trek</i>) Character of the television series Star Trek

Una Chin-Riley, commonly and originally only known as Number One, is a fictional character in the science-fiction franchise Star Trek. She is Christopher Pike's second-in-command during his captaincy of the starship Enterprise.

"Charlie X" is the second episode of the first season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek. Written by Dorothy C. Fontana from a story by Gene Roddenberry, and directed by Lawrence Dobkin, it first aired on September 15, 1966.

"The Man Trap" is the first episode of season one of the American science fiction television series Star Trek. Written by George Clayton Johnson and directed by Marc Daniels, it featured design work by Wah Chang and first aired in the United States on September 8, 1966.

"What Are Little Girls Made Of?" is the seventh episode of the first season of the American science fiction television series, Star Trek. Written by Robert Bloch and directed by James Goldstone, it first aired on October 20, 1966.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Corbomite Maneuver</span> 10th episode of the 1st season of Star Trek: The Original Series

"The Corbomite Maneuver" is the tenth episode of the first season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek. Written by Jerry Sohl and directed by Joseph Sargent, it first aired on November 10, 1966. In the episode, the Enterprise encounters a massive and powerful alien starship and its unusual commander. The episode has been well-received and frequently appears on lists of the best episodes in the series.

"Arena" is the eighteenth episode of the first season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek. Written by Gene L. Coon and directed by Joseph Pevney, the episode was first broadcast on January 19, 1967.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tomorrow Is Yesterday</span> 19th episode of the 1st season of Star Trek: The Original Series

"Tomorrow Is Yesterday" is the nineteenth episode of the first season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek. Written by D. C. Fontana and directed by Michael O'Herlihy, it first aired on January 26, 1967. It was the first Star Trek episode to be written solely by a woman.

"A Private Little War" is the nineteenth episode of the second season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek. Written by Gene Roddenberry, based on a story by Don Ingalls, and directed by Marc Daniels, it was first broadcast on February 2, 1968.

"The Omega Glory" is the twenty-third episode of the second season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek. Written by Gene Roddenberry and directed by Vincent McEveety, it was first broadcast March 1, 1968. In the episode, Captain Kirk must find the cure to a deadly disease and put an end to another Starfleet captain's cultural interference. The story was one of three outlines submitted for selection as the second pilot of Star Trek, the others being "Mudd's Women" and "Where No Man Has Gone Before".

"Elaan of Troyius" is the thirteenth episode of the third season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek. Written and directed by John Meredyth Lucas, it was first broadcast on December 20, 1968.

"Let That Be Your Last Battlefield" is the fifteenth episode of the third season of the original American science fiction television show Star Trek. Written by Oliver Crawford and directed by Jud Taylor, it was first broadcast January 10, 1969.

"The Alternative Factor" is the twenty-seventh episode of the first season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek. Written by Don Ingalls and directed by Gerd Oswald, it first aired on March 30, 1967.

"Mudd's Passion" is the tenth episode of the first season of the American animated science fiction television series Star Trek: The Animated Series. It first aired in the NBC Saturday morning lineup on November 10, 1973, and was written by Stephen Kandel who had written the previous "Mudd" episode, The Original Series's "I, Mudd", as well as the teleplay for Gene Roddenberry's first "Mudd" episode, "Mudd's Women".

"The Terratin Incident" is the eleventh episode of the first season of the American animated science fiction television series Star Trek. It first aired in the NBC Saturday morning lineup on November 17, 1973, and was written by American screenwriter Paul Schneider who had previously written the Original Series episodes "Balance of Terror" and "The Squire of Gothos". It came from a one-paragraph story idea by Gene Roddenberry based on Gulliver's Travels.

References

  1. ↑ Whitfield, Stephen E & Roddenberry, Gene (1968). The Making of Star Trek . Ballantine Books.
  2. ↑ Herbert F. Solow; Robert H. Justman (1996). Inside Star Trek: The Real Story . Pocket Books. ISBN   0-671-00974-5.
  3. ↑ Solow, Herbert Franklin; Justman, Robert H. (1996). Inside Star Trek The Real Story. Simon & Schuster. p. 64. ISBN   0-671-00974-5.
  4. ↑ Handlen, Zack (January 22, 2009). ""The Enemy Within"/"Mudd's Women"". The A.V. Club . Retrieved June 12, 2009.
  5. ↑ McMillan, Graeme (January 28, 2015). "WIRED Binge-Watching Guide: Star Trek". Wired. ISSN   1059-1028 . Retrieved July 24, 2019.
  6. ↑ Mason, Charlie (July 19, 2016). "Star Trek's 20 Most Memorable Moments". TVLine. Retrieved July 4, 2019.


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.