Mudd's Women

From Fedtrek

Harry Mudd's "cargo"

The Enterprise rescues a con man named Harry Mudd who is trafficking in mail order brides.

[edit] Summary

The USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) chases an unregistered starship, a small J class cargo vessel. Fleeing, the ship enters an asteroid belt. The small ship's peril increases further when its desperate speed brings on engine failure. Worse, 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.

The ship's master, Leo Francis Walsh, tells Captain Kirk that the women, Eve McHuron, Magda Kovacs, and Ruth Bonaventure, are not so much crew as cargo...

Meanwhile, all ship's power is being channeled through a single lithium crystal circuit -- and the crystal has a hairline fracture at its base. Repairs are needed, and that means a visit to the nearest source of crystals, the mining colony on Rigel XII.

A ship's hearing is convened to address the various offenses committed by Leo Walsh, and at this 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-existant. Leo Walsh's real identity, Harcourt Fenton Mudd, also comes out. Towards the end of the hearing, the final lithium crystal fails -- and when Harry overhears Kirk's orders, he begins to plan how the situation can work to his advantage.

Using their allure, the women learn about the miners, especially how to contact them. With a stolen communicator, Harry manages to contact the miners first, and hammers out a deal. When the miners board the Enterprise, Kirk offers them an equitable price -- and 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.

Things are going well for the miners and for Harry Mudd, but Kirk needs those lithium crystals or his ship will spiral into Rigel XII. Then the miners discover 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 are married, and the chief miner is quite unhappy -- until he learns the truth about his potential wife Eve, and the Venus drug.

[edit] Log Entries

• Captain’s log, stardate 1328.8. 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 vessels 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; ships condition critical. Search now in progress seven hours thirty one minutes. Magnetic storms are easing.

[edit] Memorable Quotes

"Don't you think you could "accidentally" manage to leave me behind here? On this planet, that would be punishment enough."

"I can't do that, Harry. But I will appear as a character witness at your trial... if you think that'll help."

"They'll throw away the key!"

- Harry Mudd, Kirk

"There's only one kind of woman..."

"Or man, for that matter-- "

"You either believe in yourself or you don't."

- Kirk, Harry Mudd

"Blast that tin-plated pot!"

- Mudd, after the computer reveals his lies.

"No, an alien smart enough to do that would be smart enough to keep my medical scanner from going bleep!"

- Dr. McCoy on the odd medical scanner readings from the women.

[edit] Background Information

• The velour uniforms used in this episode seem to have shrunk since they were first used in "The Corbomite Maneuver".
• 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 "Corbomite". The other candidates were "Where No Man Has Gone Before" (which became the second pilot) and "The Omega Glory" (finally filmed near the end of the second season).
• The first draft of this episode's script was completed on 23 May 1966. A final draft was completed on 26 May, with a revised final draft turned in on 31 May.
• This episode is the first appearance of Harry Mudd. The character returns in TOS: "I, Mudd", and in TAS: "Mudd's Passion".
• When Mr. Farrell plots the course ordered by Mr. Spock, his shirt has no insignia on it. (This error would also crop up in "The Enemy Within"; both with Farrell and Kirk.)
• Kirk's quarters has a window in it in this episode and a few others to follow. The window will disappear in subsequent episodes.
• The quarters used by Mudd and his ladies is the Kirk quarters set with all of the furnishings removed.
• Eddie Paskey appears in green coveralls for the only time in the series as "Connors" in sickbay, although it sounds like DeForest Kelley calls him "Thenners."
• Also unique to this episode is the reaction the medicomp panel has to Ruth. Only two lights are visible on the panel and it makes some very bizarre sounds. As McCoy himself says, "It's not supposed to do that!"
• 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.
• Although his offense record says that Harry Mudd is 6'1", Roger C. Carmel was actually 6'3" (witness his height compared to Shatner in several scenes).
• The backdrop lighting used in this episode for Rigel XII, with tornadic streaks in it, was also utilized in "The Enemy Within".
• 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.
• Harry says to Mr. Spock a very peculiar line: "You're part Vulcanian, aren't you?" Harry was somehow able to distinguish this in Spock, apparently on sight. This may mean that Spock was not the only nor the first Vulcan hybrid. 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, however, and throughout the films and later series, Spock looks like any full-blooded Vulcan.
• VHS edition available through Amazon under ISBN 6300213080, 2-episode DVD with "The Enemy Within" under ISBN 6305513414.

[edit] Links and References

[edit] Main Cast

• William Shatner as Kirk
• Leonard Nimoy as Spock
• DeForest Kelley as McCoy
• James Doohan as Scott
• George Takei as Sulu
• Nichelle Nichols as Uhura

[edit] Guest Stars

• Roger C. Carmel as Harcourt Fenton Mudd
• Karen Steele as Eve McHuron
• Susan Denberg as Magda Kovacs
• Maggie Thrett as Ruth Bonaventure
• Gene Dynarski as Ben Childress
• Jon Kowal as Herm Gossett
• Seamon Glass as Benton
• Jim Goodwin as John Farrell
• Jerry Foxworth as Security Guard #1
• Eddie Paskey as Connors
• Frank da Vinci as Vinci
• Unknown actor as Bobby

[edit] References

asteroid, asteroid belt, double jack, J class, Leo Walsh, lithium crystal, lithium crystal circuit, magnetic storm, Ophiucus III, Rigel XII, Schiller Rating, subspace radio marriage, Venus drug

[edit] External Links

• Mudd's Women article at the Non-Canon Star Trek Wiki

This article is orignaly from Memory Alpha. You can view the original article at http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Mudd%27s_Women. It is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial licence.