TOS - 1.06

Mudd's women was the sixth episode broadcast on Star Trek The Original Series (TOS) - airing on October 13, 1966.

This one I understand is a fan favorite, widely acknowledged as a classic - primarily for the impressive and memorable performance of guest star Roger Carmel as the title character.

I can agree that Mr. Roger is formidable, and very much iconic in the Star Trek canon.  But I'm afraid the rest of this episode falls far down my list of TOS shows that hold up to a critical and/or modern eye.

I can certainly appreciate the intent behind the "message" of the episode - beauty that is only skin-deep ultimately is meaningless.  At least I'm pretty sure that's what Rodenberry (who conceived the story) was trying to say here.

And look, I get it - it is undeniably a historical truth that beautiful women have been at the crux of many conflicts and wars over the years.  Yes, beautiful women can turn men into simpering animals; but this show is so ham-handed about it, it's pretty much cringe from beginning to end.

I've watched this show twice before writing this - and I must say, I really can't understand what happens to Mudd's ship at the beginning.  The Enterprise is chasing him through space, and Mudd's ship breaks up or something (for no real reason) and they beam aboard him and then the women - who immediately turn the crew into slack-jawed horn-dogs.  Ok.  It's not particularly written or acted well, and it's not at all intentionally funny which is a real shame.

And then it turns out Mudd is trafficking the women to become wives of miners on some random planet. Um, anyone find this objectionable?  Anyone?  Bueller?

Apparently sex trafficking is a thing in the future and Kirk and co. are ok with it, even if they don't like Mudd.  

Then a ticking clock is clumsily thrown in with the last dilithium crystal cracking.  Shout out to the first appearance of the mother-effing Dilithium Crystal up in this biznatch.

So then we are down on the planet in some different show where random guest actors play the miners and all the sudden it's Seven Brides for Seven Brothers with everything but the song and dance.  Oh those Sobbin' Women!

And then there's a Venus Drug which creates illusionary beauty and now the women are ugly or something, but they're not - it's just less make-up and different lighting.  An intriguing an idea, much like the rest of this episode, that unfortunately is not elegantly pulled off at all.

And in the end, the women are content to stay with the miners and one of them even goes so far to tell Kirk that (paraphrasing) "Sorry, we can't bone because you've got this lady up there called 'Enterprise"  Yes, that's pretty much the actual dialogue.

I'll repeat - I don't mind what Gene Roddenberry was trying to say - at least I think what he was trying to say; that beauty is temporary and to some extent subjective, and that what matters is a deeper human connection.  That's all good, and I think if you watch this episode closely and pay attention that's the message that you'll get.  However, you reeeeally have to pay attention - and that's very difficult considering how slow this episode is.   Like I mentioned, I watched it twice and I'm still not sure I'm right about what the show was trying to say.