1.04 : Mudd's Women.

[Dave]

1.4 : Mudd's Women.

Galactic con man Harry Mudd, with mail order brides in tow, encounters Captain Kirk and the Enterprise.

After 'The Cage' was rejected by NBC, Roddenberry included 'Mudd's Women' as one of the three candidates for the second pilot.

Roger C. Carmel is great as Harry Mudd.

Mudd calls Spock a "Vulcanian".

For some reason NBC never complained about the 'Venus Drug', when they would later make Harlan Ellison rewrite 'City on the Edge of Forever' because of a drug addiction reference.

The Venus Drug is not only able to smooth wrinkles, it will fix your hair and give you fresh make-up including false eyelashes!

 

[Extollager]

It's unfortunate that, in only a few weeks, broadcast of this one would be followed by another teleplay in which a key moment is an irresistible blond woman losing her smooth skin etc. (when Vina is "exposed" in "The Menagerie"). Gene Roddenberry was responsible for both stories. It's as if he were preoccupied with the pathos and shock value possible for this situation.

The station exterior on the desolate planet is good and the howling wind plays its part. I'd forgotten that a bit of music used a lot in "The Alternative Factor" was used as far as back this one.

 

[Danny McG]

He was in another episode with a planet of identical android women and he was the king

Roger C Carmel - Mudd

 

[Dave]

Interesting that Harry Mudd is also going to appear in the new Star Trek series, Discovery, currently in production.

 

[Extollager]

If I wanted to be Clever, like English majors are trained to be today, I'd work up something about a masculinist agenda in this "text," whereby women are socially constructed as dependent for their proper functioning upon male provision for their needs. Mudd's women (note the patriarchal construction of the term) depend upon Harry to give them the crystalline "Venus drug" so that they may retain their youthful beauty, while the conventionally-female-gendered Enterprise requires the male Captain to ensure that "she" secures fresh "lithium crystals." Those, of course, are controlled by the miners, who are all men.

The professor or graduate teaching assistant responsible for the course would probably like this line of critical inquiry, but I'm doubtful that it is actually very illuminating of the episode. But it's easy to do.

 

[Rodders]

Last nights viewing was this episode. This was an episode that I'd seen before, but had forgotten most of it. Personally, I found Harry Mudd to be quite sinister, but I wonder whether that's just my point of view as he did come across as a harmless character.

I wasn't sure why the women were going along with Mudd. Was it the youth enhancing drug, or where they part of the plan? The main lady, Eve, was excellent, I thought although the miners were a bit harsh criticizing the women for being old when they themselves were rougher than a robbers dog.