Mudd's Women

"Mudd's Women"
Star Trek: The Original Series episode
Karen Steele, left, as Eve McHuron with Maggie Thrett as Ruth Bonaventure, center, and Susan Denberg as Magda Kovacs
Episode no.	Season 1 Episode 6
Directed by	Harvey Hart
Written by	Stephen Kandel story by Gene Roddenberry
Original air date	October 13, 1966 (1966-10-13)
Guest stars
Roger C. Carmel Karen Steele Susan Denberg Maggie Thrett Gene Dynarski John Kowal Seamon Glass
Episode chronology
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List of Star Trek: The Original Series episodes

"Mudd's Women" is an episode of Star Trek: The Original Series that was first broadcast on October 13, 1966, and then repeated on May 4, 1967. This is the sixth episode of the first season, and it was written by Stephen Kandel, was based on a story by Gene Roddenberry, and was directed by Harvey Hart. This episode introduced the (slightly) recurring character Harcourt Fenton Mudd, a galactic con man, and his beautiful female "cargo" in their only episode

Plot

On stardate 1329.1, the USS Enterprise, under the command of Captain James T. Kirk, is in pursuit of a stolen J-class cargo spaceship. This cargo ship, overloading its engines to avoid capture, tries to make a daring run for an asteroid field. Kirk orders the Enterprise's shields cast around the other spacecraft to avert its imminent demise until the cargo ship's occupants can be transported aboard the Enterprise This action, however, destroys all but one of the dilithium crystal circuits in the Enterprise's spacewarp engines.

The Enterprise does beam aboard the cargo ship's passengers (three women) and its captain (one man) at the same time that an asteroid impact destroys their spaceship. In the transporter room, the man steps forward and introduces himself as "Leo Francis Walsh". The three women who accompany him are stunningly beautiful, and they distract many of the male crew members of the Enterprise. The women are destined to be wives for settlers on the planer Ophiuchus III, and they are introduced as ""Ruth Bonaventure", "Eve McHuron", and "Magda Kovacs".

Kirk has Walsh taken into custody and then he convenes a ship's hearing. With Walsh in the spotlight, he is forced to reveal his real name, "Harcourt Fenton Mudd", a criminal wanted in several star systems and with a long rap sheet of crimes. Kirk doesn't charge Mudd's women with anything at the moment. For now, he has a bigger concern: the welfare of his ship. Meanwhile, in the sick bay, Dr. McCoy notices a strange reading on his medical panel when Ruth walks in front of it. He has her walk past it again and asks whether she's wearing some exotic perfume or something radioactive. Ruth innocently replies, "No, I'm just me," and she leaves sick bay while McCoy remains baffled by his medical panel.

As a result of the burnout of the dilithium, the Enterprise must limp on her reserve power to the planet Rigel 12, one that is plagued by constant storms, to obtain new dilithium crystals. Mudd, however, gets the use of a communicator device, signals ahead to Rigel 12, and makes his own deal with the chief dilithium miner there, Ben Childress. Mudd's deal is for Childress to give the dilithium crystals to Kirk in exchange for Mudd's women, and to have Mudd released. Taking one look at the women's stunning beauty, Childress and his fellow miners (Herm Gossett and Benton) excitedly agree.

Kirk flatly refuses this deal. Time, however, is running out for the USS Enterprise, whose orbit now begins to decay, threatening an impending fiery reentry into the planet's atmosphere. Kirk is forced to give in, and he allows Mudd and the women to beam down to the planet. Childress immediately becomes so involved with Eve that he forgets all about the plight of the Enterprise. Annoyed and wondering what is taking so long, Kirk nervously watches the last bit of his starship's momentum dwindle away.

Eve becomes dissatisfied with being treated as a sex object. She runs away in anguish, enduring harsh dust storms, and Childress pursues her. Using ship's sensors, Kirk tracks down Eve and discovers the secret to the women's startling beauty. Mudd has been giving the women the illegal "Venus drug", which makes them appear much lovelier and more exciting than they really are. Without the drug, the women appear to be plain. Once the deception is uncovered, the angry Childress confronts Mudd for pulling a fast one.

Kirk gives Eve a fake pikk of the Venus drug, which she believes to be an authentic one, and then she unknowingly begins to reveal her natural inner beauty, impressing Childress. Ultimately, Mudd's women decide to marry the miners after all. Mudd is handed over to be arrested, and Captain Kirk gets his desperately-needed dilithium.

40th Anniversary remastering

This episode was remastered in 2006 and aired on April 26, 2008 as part of the remastered Original Series. It was preceded two weeks earlier by the remastered "Obsession" and followed a week later by the remastered "Assignment: Earth". Aside from remastered video and audio, and the all-CGI animations of the USS Enterprise that is standard among the revisions, specific changes to this episode also include:

• Mudd's stolen J-class ship has been redesigned in CGI.
• The two ships enter a more realistic-looking asteroid field.
• A more dramatic view of Mudd's ship as it is destroyed by an asteroid collision.
• The planet Rigel 12 has been given a more realistic appearance.
• The establishing scene of the mining colony has been changed, now several of the domed buildings appear together on a more detailed surface of the planet.

Reception

Zack Handlen of The A.V. Club gave the episode a 'A' rating, describing the character of Harry Mudd in particular as "a familiar character type, but an enjoyable one".^[1]

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".^[2] It was filmed as the second episode of the first season, after "The Corbomite Maneuver".^[3]

References

1. ^ Handlen, Zack (22 January 2009). ""The Enemy Within"/"Mudd's Women"". The A.V. Club. http://www.avclub.com/articles/the-enemy-withinmudds-women,23001/. Retrieved 12 June 2009. 
2. ^ Whitfield, Stephen E and Roddenberry, Gene (1968). The Making of Star Trek. Ballatine Books. 
3. ^ Herbert F. Solow and Robert H. Justman (1996). Inside Star Trek: The Real Story. Pocket Books. ISBN 0-671-00974-5. 

External links

• Mudd's Women at StarTrek.com
• Mudd's Women at Memory Alpha (a Star Trek wiki)
• Review of the remastered version of Mudd's Women at TrekMovie.com
• Full Episode of Mudd's Women at CBS.com
• Mudd's Women at the Internet Movie Database
• "Mudd's Women" at TV.com