"Mudd's Women" is not one of "Star Trek's" better episodes, but it raises some interesting questions about sexual politics and male-female relations. Roger C. Carmel makes his first of two memorable appearances as one of the most beloved of "Star Trek" bad guys, interstellar rogue Harry Mudd. In this episode Mudd functions as a sort of galactic pimp, providing "wives" to "lonely" settlers in isolated earth colonies. All three of "Mudd's women" are otherwise plain women whom the illegal "Venus drug" has given unnatural allure. The episode veers unevenly between drama and farce, the male crew of the Enterprise being reduced to a bunch of sex-crazed adolescents; even Spock, as hard as he tries to hide it, feels the heat. The irony is of course that the lithium miners who strike a bargain with Mudd don't really want wives; they're only interested in women as sex objects, not true partners or equals. The irony is that none of the miners are particularly handsome, but they only want beautiful women, nor do they stop to consider that the glamour girls they want would be unlikely to agree spend their lives in a desolate mining camp. To put it succinctly, men are pigs. In the course of the episode the surly miners' boss, Ben Childress (Gene Dynarski) meets his match in Eve McHuron (Karen Steele), the only one of the girls with a conscience. One is left with the impression that despite their rocky start these two have the makings of a genuine connection. Both Dynarski and Steele give excellent performances. This episode reminds us of just how much women's roles have changed since the 1960s, a change that "Star Trek" itself helped bring about.
Review of Mudd's Women
