Harcourt Fenton Mudd. Rouge trader and smuggler who attempts to evade the Enterprise, driving his inferior ship into a dangerous asteroid belt, narrowly escaping death thanks to Kirk's persistence in transporting him on board instead of the alternative, sacrificing his own ship's Lithium crystals which keep the power operative at effective levels. He has company, however, three women whose beauty hypnotically captivates the males on board the Enterprise, a secret Harry Mudd has in his possession, the Venus drug which "produces" loveliness! Seeing DeForest Kelley('Bones' McCoy) and James Doohan (Scotty) all google-eyed and transfixed was hilarious, when their eyes first catch a glimpse of Mudd's Women upon transporting over from the destroyed trader ship (which Mudd "confiscated"). Spock's reaction to his human crew's inability to shake off the effects of Mudd's Women is also a treat, his observations, not necessarily in word as in the look on his face, particularly when acknowledging to Kirk that he recognizes what is going on around him, not hiding his amusement, though. The rest of the plot concerns Kirk's getting Lithium crystals from a less-than-desirable planet where three miners live and work, prone to magnetic storms with an ionizing atmosphere that can kill humans if they do not protect themselves after a period of time. Regarding the women, Karen Steele (as Eve) has a solid part, just looking for a man to make her happy, butting heads with Jim Goodwin's ornery miner, Farrell. Eve doesn't get along with Mudd but knows that he is kind of her ticket to a potentially more fulfilling life. The Venus drug essentially masks the plainness/ugliness that Eve, Magda (Susan Denberg) and Ruth (Maggie Thrett) are hiding. The drug allows them to appeal to any man, before long the ship is overrun with lust-occupied minds, even Kirk unable to resist the impulse to stare (I just get a kick out of Kirk's stunned silence, the beauty of the women interrupting him mid-sentence as he was starting to scold Mudd for that stunt in the asteroid belt). The suspense of the plot derives from the dying last remaining Lithium crystal keeping the Enterprise running, and how Farrell is playing hardball with Kirk over a supply the crew needs in order to survive, wanting an exchange, the girls (and Mudd's release; Harry is crafty and clever, that's for sure)for the crystals. I really enjoyed "Mudd's Women" as a teenager when I first starting watching Star Trek, but as an adult the episode is more than a bit campy. Mudd is basically another Lost In Space's Captain Tucker (Albert Salmi), costumed like an intergalactic pirate, thick voice full of bluster, bushy mustache, always thinking about that next con and how he can benefit himself at the expense of others. I must say that my favorite scene could be Mudd's "interrogation", a sort of trial where he must face up to charges, caught in one lie after another thanks to the Enterprise's "truth machine".I think he's a fun character, but I am more drawn now to more serious, complex stories within the original Star Trek series. I consider this an amusing diversion, not a sterling example of the much beloved series.
Review of Mudd's Women
