In "Mudd's Women", the Enterprise rescues the people of an unidentified ship sending out a distress call: Mr. Mudd & his "cargo" of 3 intoxicatingly beautiful women. The women are being transported as mail-order brides. The presence of the women aboard the Enterprise creates quite a distraction to the men on duty. It turns out that these 3 women aren't your standard beauties, but are putting on a con with Mudd using an illegal substance called the Venus drug that causes them to appear differently than what they are. Mudd tries to get himself out of trouble when the Enterprise makes a pitstop on Rigel XII for lithium crystals. But eventually the truth comes out.
This episode has a moral, I'm just not sure what it is. The men aboard Enterprise turn into bumbling buffons in the ladies' presence. The 3 are portrayed as just objects of physical desire for these men who have no interest in any of their other qualities. The miner gets upset when he learns the truth that this woman is more "homely" than she appeared when on the drug. But in the end, she takes a placebo pill and it turns out, all she needed was self confidence to be beautiful the whole time. Now that she is beautiful, the miner accepts her again. I guess the moral is that you have to be gorgeous for a man to want to marry you? And that a man should be rewarded for not hitting or molesting a woman? Way to go Star Trek...
The only redeeming part of this episode is Roger C. Carmel's portrayal of Mudd. This performance might be detrimental to a good Star Trek episode, but in one so devoid of plot, suspense, and action, Carmel's hammy, over-the-top, mustache-twirling persona is a breath of fresh air. He's really the only thing that could keep my interest over the duration of the episode.
Star Trek: Enterprise later did a similar episode involving Orion women, "Bound". For once I'd actually say the ST:E version is better than TOS and makes more sense.
This is still not a good episode. I wouldn't recommend it.
This episode has a moral, I'm just not sure what it is. The men aboard Enterprise turn into bumbling buffons in the ladies' presence. The 3 are portrayed as just objects of physical desire for these men who have no interest in any of their other qualities. The miner gets upset when he learns the truth that this woman is more "homely" than she appeared when on the drug. But in the end, she takes a placebo pill and it turns out, all she needed was self confidence to be beautiful the whole time. Now that she is beautiful, the miner accepts her again. I guess the moral is that you have to be gorgeous for a man to want to marry you? And that a man should be rewarded for not hitting or molesting a woman? Way to go Star Trek...
The only redeeming part of this episode is Roger C. Carmel's portrayal of Mudd. This performance might be detrimental to a good Star Trek episode, but in one so devoid of plot, suspense, and action, Carmel's hammy, over-the-top, mustache-twirling persona is a breath of fresh air. He's really the only thing that could keep my interest over the duration of the episode.
Star Trek: Enterprise later did a similar episode involving Orion women, "Bound". For once I'd actually say the ST:E version is better than TOS and makes more sense.
This is still not a good episode. I wouldn't recommend it.