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"Mudd's Women"
TOS, Episode 1x03
Production number: 6149-04
First aired: 13 October 1966
Remastered version aired: 26 April 2008
← 4th of 80 produced in TOS →
← 6th of 80 released in TOS →
← 66th of 80 released in TOS Remastered →
← 6th of 727 released in all →
Teleplay By
Stephen Kandel

Story By
Gene Roddenberry

Directed By
Harvey Hart
1329.8 (2266)
  Arc: Harry Mudd (1 of 3) →
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The Enterprise rescues a con man named Harry Mudd who is trafficking in mail-order brides.

Contents

[edit] Summary

[edit] Teaser

The USS Enterprise chases an unregistered starship, a small class J cargo vessel. Fleeing, the ship approaches an asteroid belt with a Schiller Rating of 35. The small ship's peril increases further when its desperate speed causes its engines to overheat.

[edit] Act One

Harry Mudd's "cargo"

As the cargo ship drifts into the asteroid belt, the Enterprise is forced to extend its shields around the ship, and this extreme power expenditure destroys three of the crucial lithium crystal circuits. Scotty manages to beam the ship's master and three lovely women off just before an asteroid destroys it with a dead-center hit.

The ship's master, speaking with a broad Irish brogue, identifies himself as Leo Francis Walsh. He claims he avoided the Enterprise out of fear that it was a hostile vessel. In the transporter room, Scotty and McCoy are immediately transfixed by the three women, as are all the male crew members as the women saunter through the ship. Walsh, a charismatic figure but clearly a con man, plays up the women's effect in a manner suggestive of a pimp, but notes that Spock, being half-Vulcan, is immune to their charms. Captain Kirk is enraged by the irresponsible actions of Walsh, who explains that the women, Eve McHuron, Magda Kovacs, and Ruth Bonaventure, are not so much crew as cargo...

[edit] Act Two

Still insisting his name is Walsh, the captain tries to blame Kirk for the accident. Kirk has him confined to quarters pending a hearing. Meanwhile, all ship's power is being channeled through a single lithium crystal circuit and the crystal has a hairline fracture at its base. The bypass circuits were also burned out in the rescue attempt. Repairs are needed, and that means a visit to the nearest source of crystals, the mining colony on Rigel XII.

Mudd's inquiry

Before the ship's hearing, Walsh meets with the women and coaches them on their testimony, advising them not to lie, but mysteriously ordering them not to submit to a medical exam. At the inquiry, Kirk learns the women are to be wives for settlers on Ophiucus III; each voluntarily left a situation where her marriage prospects were slim or non-existent. Leo Walsh's real identity, Harcourt Fenton Mudd, also comes out, and his Irish brogue promptly disappears. He has a long history of convictions for smuggling, transport of stolen goods, and purchasing of a space vessel with counterfeit currency, and has been sentenced to psychiatric treatment, which was ineffective. His ship's master's license has also been revoked. Kirk decides to hand Harry Mudd over to legal authorities as soon as possible. Toward the end of the hearing, the final lithium crystal fails and when Harry overhears Kirk's orders to contact the miners on Rigel XII, he begins to plan how the situation can work to his advantage: the women can work their charms on the "lonely, isolated, overworked, rich lithium miners," and get a much better deal for themselves. Harry himself dreams of taking over the Enterprise with all his new fortune. Strangely, he delivers this whole speech in front of Vinci and another security guard.

[edit] Act Three

U.S.S. Enterprise entering orbit of Rigel XII.

Using their allure, the women learn about the miners; there are three of them, one for each woman. The mystery of the women deepens when Ruth sets off an alert on McCoy's medical scanner. McCoy wonders whether they're actually so beautiful as they seem, or whether there's something else responsible for their allure. Eve visits Kirk's quarters, claiming she's feeling harrassed by the men onboard, but is unable to go through with her flirtation, blurting out that Harry put her up to it. She flees to Harry's quarters and tells him she's feeling ill, saying "It's time." Magda manages to steal a communicator; Harry uses it to contact the miners before Kirk, and hammers out a deal. But back in Harry's quarters, the women begin physically breaking down, turning terribly old and haggard. Just in time, Harry finds a pillbox he had hidden in his mattress, and gives one pill to each of them, immediately restoring their good looks.

As Eve is turning the crystalline "Venus pill" over in her hand, Spock is examining a burned out lithium crystal. The miners come onboard the Enterprise, but when Kirk offers them an equitable price he learns they really want to barter. They want to look at Mudd's women, and maybe trade for them. On top of which, they want Mudd released, the charges dropped. Mudd has Kirk over a barrel as the ship's functions are starting to shut down without the crystals.

[edit] Act Four

The inhospitable surface of Rigel XII.

Kirk, Spock, and Harry beam down to the forbidding surface of Rigel XII, where the women are now living it up with Ben Childress and the other miners. Childress keeps Kirk waiting for the crystals, and the miners start fighting over Ruth and Magda. Eve, already conscience-stricken about the deception, runs out into a storm. Childress goes out to find her, and the two go missing as the Enterprise, still without the crystals, begins to run out of energy. Back aboard ship, Kirk snaps at Scotty, but apologizes, and Scotty tells him the ship has five hours of power left.

Childress finds Eve and brings her back to his quarters, and the Enterprise locates them through the heat of a cookstove in his hut; Eve is cooking for Childress. Kirk and Harry prepare to beam down. Childress and Eve, both prickly characters, begin to warm up to each other as Eve proves more resourceful than Childress expected. But soon Eve's looks begin to fade again. As they start fighting, Kirk and Harry arrive, and explain about the Venus drug, which Childress had heard of but thought was a legend. He and the other miners are dismayed to learn that Harry has sold them a bill of goods: The women's natural beauty and allure has been enhanced by the Venus drug. Two of the miners have already married Mudd's women. The chief miner is angry, and Eve berates him for being more interested in the pill than in a real woman. She takes the pill and turns beautiful again. Childress isn't happy because her beauty is a fake, but Kirk reveals that he switched the pill with a placebo. Eve's beauty is the result of her own self-confidence. Childress is happy about this, and asks her to stay and talk. Kirk and Harry beam back up, and Kirk turns down Harry's request to let him go.

[edit] Log Entries

  • Captain’s log, stardate 1329.8. The USS Enterprise in pursuit of an unidentified vessel.
  • Captain’s log, stardate 1329.1. We’ve taken aboard from unregistered transport vessel its captain and... and three unusual females. These women have a mysterious magnetic effect on the male members of my crew including myself. Explanation unknown at present!
  • Captain’s log, stardate 1329.2. On board the USS Enterprise, a ships hearing is being convened against the transport vessel's captain. I becoming concerned about the almost hypnotic effect produced by the women.
  • Captain’s log, stardate 1330.1. Position 14 hours out of Rigel XII. We’re on auxiliary impulse engines, fuel low, barely sufficient to achieve orbit over the planet. Lithium replacements are now imperative! The effect of Mudd’s women on my crew continues to grow, still totally unexplained. Harry Mudd is confined to his quarters under guard.
  • Captain’s log, transporting down to surface of planet Rigel XII to acquire replacement Lithium crystals; expect further difficulty from miners.
  • Captain’s log, have transported aboard the Enterprise to implement search with infrared scanners and sensing system. Magnetic storms on the planets surface are cutting down speed and efficiency of our equipment. Search now in progress for three hours eighteen minutes.
  • Captain’s log, I’ve expended all but 43 minutes of power; ship's condition critical. Search now in progress seven hours thirty one minutes. Magnetic storms are easing.

[edit] Memorable Quotes

"Aye."
"Amen to that, Scotty."

- Scott and McCoy, after Mudd's women walk out of the transporter room


"But men will always be men no matter where they are."

- Mudd, to his ladies


"Is this your crew, Captain?"
"Well, no, Captain. This is me cargo."

- Kirk and Mudd, on the ladies


Ruth Bonaventure in Sickbay

"Blast that tin-plated pot!"

- Mudd, after the computer contradicts him during the interrogation


"I wonder what makes it do that!"

- McCoy, after Ruth sets off some unusual readings on the biofunction monitor


"I read once that a commander has to act like a paragon of virtue. I never met a paragon."
"Neither have I."

- Eve and Kirk, in his quarters


"You'll find out that ship's captains are already married, girl, to their vessels."

- Mudd to Eve, on Kirk


"Take it. It's not a cheat. It's a miracle for some man who can appreciate it and who needs it."

- Mudd to Eve, on the Venus drug


"Oh! The sound of male ego. You travel halfway across the galaxy, and it's still the same song."

- Eve, to Childress


"Is this the kind of wife you want, Ben? Not someone to help you, not a wife to cook and sew and cry and need, but this kind. Selfish, vain, useless. Is this what you really want?"

- Eve to Childress, after taking the pill


"There's only one kind of woman."
"Or man, for that matter."
"You either believe in yourself, or you don't."

- Kirk and Mudd, after revealing Eve swallowed a fake pill


"Ever try considering the patent medicine business?"
"Why should I work your side of the street?"

- McCoy and Kirk


"The fact that my internal arrangement differs from yours, doctor, pleases me no end."

- Spock to McCoy, on the location of the Vulcan heart

"Incorrect"

- Lie detector, repeated line during Mudd's interrogation


[edit] Background Information

[edit] Story and Script

  • The theme of the virtuous hag and the faithless beauty appears frequently in literature, often with a magical element wherein one woman can be either and a man must decide which one he wants her to be. The most familiar example is probably in the Wife of Bath's tale in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales.
  • This story, written by Gene Roddenberry, was one of the candidates for the second pilot, which is probably why it has an earlier stardate despite being filmed after "The Corbomite Maneuver". The other candidates were "Where No Man Has Gone Before" (which became the second pilot) and "The Omega Glory" (filmed near the end of the second season).
  • Harry says to Mr. Spock: "You're part Vulcanian, aren't you?" Harry was somehow able to distinguish this in Spock, apparently on sight. It is possible that, in the early days of TOS, Mr. Spock was meant to look more human than most full-blooded "Vulcanians," which would explain Harry's ability to recognize his hybrid status on sight. In later episodes, and throughout the films and later series, Spock is considered to look like any full-blooded Vulcan.
  • This and TOS: "Where No Man Has Gone Before" are the only episodes where the crystals that power the Enterprise's engines are called "lithium". Throughout the rest of the series, the crystals are called "dilithium."
  • Spock's description of the crystals as "beautiful" is a rare expression of his aesthetic sense. Later, in Assignment: Earth he will refer to Isis the cat as a "lovely animal."
  • This episode's final scene aboard the bridge is the series' first suggestion that Vulcans have a different arrangement of internal organs than Humans. Specifically, McCoy places the Vulcan heart at roughly the place of the Human liver. This would later be made more explicit in TOS: "The Omega Glory".
  • In a story memo, associate producer Robert H. Justman wrote, "On page 55 we see Benton riding a digging machine toward his cabin. Let's eliminate this device right now."

[edit] Cast and Characters

  • This episode marks the first appearance of Roger C. Carmel as Harry Mudd. The character returns in TOS: "I, Mudd" and TAS: "Mudd's Passion".
  • Eddie Paskey appears in green coveralls for the only time in the series as "Connors" in sickbay.
  • Although his offense record says that Harry Mudd is 6'1", Roger C. Carmel was actually 6'3". This can be seen in comparison to the other cast members (including 6'1" Nimoy) who are all shorter than he.

[edit] Costumes

  • The velour uniforms used in this episode have shrunk since they were first used in "The Corbomite Maneuver". According to Justman/Solow's book Inside Star Trek: The Real Story, the velour uniforms shrank every time they were cleaned. The actors' union requirements specified that the costumes had to be cleaned daily.
  • Despite the introduction of the red operations division tunic in this episode, Uhura is seen in a gold command division uniform both here and in "The Corbomite Maneuver". She also incongruously wears a sciences division assignment patch, rather than the appropriate command "star".
  • When Mr. Farrell plots the course ordered by Mr. Spock, his shirt has no insignia on it. This error occurs because it's actually a recycled shot from "The Enemy Within". Both Farrell and Kirk are missing their insignia at some point during the course of that episode.
  • Mudd appears to be wearing the same clothing on the Enterprise that he wore in his mug shot.

[edit] Sets and Props

  • Kirk's quarters have a window in this episode and a few others to follow. These may not be his normal quarters because Spock directs the turbolift to take him, Mudd and the women to Deck 12. The window will disappear in subsequent episodes. Kirk's quarters are later situated on Deck 5.
  • The quarters used by Mudd and his ladies is Kirk's quarters set with all of the furnishings removed.
  • This marks the first appearance of the soundstage circlorama used for different planets throughout the series, which was lighted with different colored filters, to give an appearance of many unique-colored atmospheres. Associate producer Robert Justman came up with this idea after realizing that reusing the same cloudy background from the two pilots over and over again would result in all planets looking the same.[1] The backdrop lighting used in this episode for Rigel XII, with tornadic streaks in it, was also utilized in "The Enemy Within".

[edit] Production

  • Harlan Ellison visited the set during the filming of "Mudd's Women".
  • A reaction shot of DeForest Kelley in the transporter room is actually lifted from later in the episode in sickbay. This creates a continuity error: McCoy wears his usual uniform, but in the close-up reaction shot he wears his medical tunic. In the same scene, an editing glitch has the women shown lined up in a row before they have stepped off the transporter pads.
  • The very first close-up of Kirk (sitting in his chair) is recycled from the last scene of "The Man Trap". The same shot is used again twice in this episode: at the beginning of Act One, and Act Three.
  • Footage of the asteroids is reused from "The Cage".
  • Alexander Courage composed the music for this episode's trailer, one of only two times music was written specifically for a preview. His sultry trombone music was so appropriate, it was used in the actual episode as the women stroll through the corridors, while the rest of the score was written by Fred Steiner. Courage composed the soundtrack for the preview of "The Man Trap", which he scored, likely as his first assignment for the new series, as that episode was the first one aired.
  • Jerry Finnerman photographed the women in soft-focus in this episode, a technique he would use frequently in the series.

[edit] Production Timeline

[edit] Video and DVD releases

[edit] Links and References

[edit] Starring

[edit] Guest Star

[edit] Co-Starring

[edit] Featuring

And

[edit] Uncredited

[edit] References

asteroid; asteroid belt; bypass circuit; converter assembly; cook stove; captain's log, USS Enterprise (NCC-1701), 2266; deflector shield; desktop monitor; distress signal; double jack; drug; earpiece; USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) library computer; gelatin; Halium experimental station; Human philosophy; hypnotism; infrared scanner; J class; lithium crystal; lithium crystal circuit; magnetism; magnetic storm; master; Master's License; mile; miner; mineral; Ophiucus; Ophiucus III; patent; police record; pound; registration beam; Rigel; Rigel XII; Saturnius harem girl; sea rancher; Schiller Rating; sensing system; sensor probe; solitaire; starship; subspace communication; subspace radio marriage; ton; transporter; unnamed asteroid belts; unnamed Class J starships; Venus drug; viewer; Walsh, Leo

[edit] Timeline

2263
2266 
Enterprise pursues Mudd's craft.

[edit] External link


Previous episode produced:
"The Corbomite Maneuver" 		Star Trek: The Original Series
Season 1 		Next episode produced:
"The Enemy Within"
Previous episode aired:
"The Enemy Within" 		Next episode aired:
"What Are Little Girls Made Of?"
Previous remastered episode aired:
"Obsession" 		TOS Remastered Next remastered episode aired:
"Assignment: Earth"
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