‘Star Trek’ Retro Recap: ‘Mudd’s Women’

Written by John Edward Betancourt 

I think perhaps my favorite thing when it comes to these Retro Recaps in general, is experiencing the wonder of the first time an important character appears on screen. Because back in the day, the first appearance of say, Scotty on Star Trek, was nothing more than an afterthought, since no one had a clue that he would become one of the most famous engineers to ever serve in Starfleet. But now, years later, seeing him for the first time on screen is a huge deal. Because this is it, this is the moment he took his first steps on a grand journey, and this just so happens to be on my mind today, simply because the next episode of Star Trek features the introduction of an iconic character, one that you might say, ended up becoming of the greatest thorns to ever stick in the side of Captain James T. Kirk; Harcourt Fenton Mudd.
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Yes, that’s right, good old Harry Mudd arrived on the series before we even saw our first Klingon and well, his story in ‘Mudd’s Women’ was quite the breath of fresh air. Because not only did it do a fine job of establishing immediately what Mudd stands for and what kind of character he would be going forward, this is a tale that managed to wipe away the bad taste I had in my mouth regarding ‘The Enemy Within’. For rather than take the easy way out when it comes to the complex issues this particular story presented, it addressed them head on in thoughtful fashion and that made this episode quite the fascinating journey when all is said and done, one that truly embodied the spirit of the franchise through and through since it dove into a touch of social commentary.

In fact, I was quite impressed with how this story dove into how women are treated and viewed in modern society, since Mudd’s desire to keep this trio of women young speaks volumes to how looks are valued over anything else when it comes to women, and how often times if they’re not at ‘their best’, they’re immediately ignored or forgotten. Plus, it also took a moment to explore the notion of toxic masculinity, specifically how there are men out there who don’t exhibit self-control when they see an attractive woman, and while much of that was a result of the Venus drug that Mudd was providing the women aboard the Enterprise with, the fact that Kirk and Spock and a handful of others were able to handle themselves spoke volumes to how inappropriate behavior and a lack of respect are an outright choice and it was quite surprising to see a message this relevant in a story that’s fifty-three years old.

However, while it was nice to see such brilliant commentary play out on screen, we need to talk about the wonder of Harry Mudd in this particular tale, because I simply cannot get over the magic present here when it comes to his little cat and mouse game with Captain Kirk. Because these two really are perfect foils through and through, and it was just a delight to see Kirk work to bring Mudd down and then see Harry find a way to rebo and get the best of one of Starfleet’s finest. And what’s truly amazing here, is that if one ever had the opportunity to view other Harry Mudd related episodes before this one, you’d never know that these two were first-time enemies in the slightest. The chemistry here is just that good and it really is just a treat to learn that their first showdown was a high stakes poker game with the Enterprise as a bargaining chip.

If anything, this really was quite the refreshing story. Because this was the franchise at its best. For it featured danger and thrills with the ship slowly falling into disrepair with its dilithium crystals (or lithium as they are called here) shattered and it featured a collection of minds working together to solve a grandiose problem and of course, it brings about the genesis of one legendary character, one that would cause all kinds of trouble down the line for not one, but two crews in the Star Trek universe. Because Harry Mudd would return to the saga in Star Trek: Discovery and well, this one was just a treat, and I loved it through and through and hopefully this episode signals the end of the growing pains for this magnificent series because these are the kind of stories that I could simply get lost in, all day long. Until next time.  

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