This whole episode is weird. I'll go through the story problems and then the problem of its treatment of women (also a story problem tbh).
So the story is that Harry Mudd is transporting cargo across the galaxy and that cargo happens to be... women. Cool. But these are strange women that seem to have an effect on the crewmen more than your usual visiting woman. They were building up this great mystery of these women. Bones and Scotty seem attracted to them, but more than usual. Even hardheaded Kirk is tempted by these women. There's a lot of hints throughout the episode that these women are more than human, might be paranormal or something. The first hint is that Mudd requests that the ladies refuse any medical examination, implying that they are somewhat beyond mere human. This implication is made nearly explicit when Bones sees that one of the women make his medical screens go a little crazy. And, finally, Bones remarks that the women aren't more attractive than any other women he's seen. So, at this point, I was expecting some crazy Siren-like stuff. Then this plotline is dropped entirely and we find out that the women are beautiful because of this drug. Okay, maybe that could be why the men were so attracted to them (even Kirk) and the medical screens went crazy. But that's not explained at all!! They just make your better looking. Literally, that's it. There's no explanation why every man would be head over heels for them or why Bones' screen would go crazy. You could make the argument that it's the pills that caused that, but, again, in the explanation all they give us is that the pills make you look good. So these are just more attractive women that usual, nothing here to warrant, in my opinion, the male reaction and Bones' screen.
Except, wait, no, that's not what happened at all. No, the women didn't need the drugs at all, they had it inside themselves the whole time! It was just a placebo! This doesn't explain the three tension builders I mentioned earlier and, since they're just regular humans, doesn't explain the instantaneous shift from homely to beautiful. No one can change their appearance that fast, no matter how much they believe in themselves. Dropped plot threads and nonsensical explanations of events aren't the only things plaguing this episode.
The treatment of women is downright disgusting. Eve is the one woman who rejects Mudd's abuse and tries to find a better life for herself. Still, she accepts the abuse from the head miner and works for this ungrateful man. He only appreciates her when she's beautiful and when she's turned homely, he rejects her entirely. I was hoping for a "looks don't matter" cliche, but instead we get the miner only accepting her because she's beautiful. Really? Also he's definitely an abuser and only refrains from assaulting her because Kirk and Mudd walked in. Ugh. There's so many problems wrong with this episode it's hard to count them all. Disappointing, especially since the rest of the series (so far) has been so stellar.
Only giving it the extra star because Roger Carmel is a great actor here. Otherwise, confusing in its plot and disgusting in its treatment of women.
So the story is that Harry Mudd is transporting cargo across the galaxy and that cargo happens to be... women. Cool. But these are strange women that seem to have an effect on the crewmen more than your usual visiting woman. They were building up this great mystery of these women. Bones and Scotty seem attracted to them, but more than usual. Even hardheaded Kirk is tempted by these women. There's a lot of hints throughout the episode that these women are more than human, might be paranormal or something. The first hint is that Mudd requests that the ladies refuse any medical examination, implying that they are somewhat beyond mere human. This implication is made nearly explicit when Bones sees that one of the women make his medical screens go a little crazy. And, finally, Bones remarks that the women aren't more attractive than any other women he's seen. So, at this point, I was expecting some crazy Siren-like stuff. Then this plotline is dropped entirely and we find out that the women are beautiful because of this drug. Okay, maybe that could be why the men were so attracted to them (even Kirk) and the medical screens went crazy. But that's not explained at all!! They just make your better looking. Literally, that's it. There's no explanation why every man would be head over heels for them or why Bones' screen would go crazy. You could make the argument that it's the pills that caused that, but, again, in the explanation all they give us is that the pills make you look good. So these are just more attractive women that usual, nothing here to warrant, in my opinion, the male reaction and Bones' screen.
Except, wait, no, that's not what happened at all. No, the women didn't need the drugs at all, they had it inside themselves the whole time! It was just a placebo! This doesn't explain the three tension builders I mentioned earlier and, since they're just regular humans, doesn't explain the instantaneous shift from homely to beautiful. No one can change their appearance that fast, no matter how much they believe in themselves. Dropped plot threads and nonsensical explanations of events aren't the only things plaguing this episode.
The treatment of women is downright disgusting. Eve is the one woman who rejects Mudd's abuse and tries to find a better life for herself. Still, she accepts the abuse from the head miner and works for this ungrateful man. He only appreciates her when she's beautiful and when she's turned homely, he rejects her entirely. I was hoping for a "looks don't matter" cliche, but instead we get the miner only accepting her because she's beautiful. Really? Also he's definitely an abuser and only refrains from assaulting her because Kirk and Mudd walked in. Ugh. There's so many problems wrong with this episode it's hard to count them all. Disappointing, especially since the rest of the series (so far) has been so stellar.
Only giving it the extra star because Roger Carmel is a great actor here. Otherwise, confusing in its plot and disgusting in its treatment of women.